Close Encounters of the Essential Kind! Week 4

And finally, we come to the end of the chapter. The final encounter was technically harder than the last. There were four lizardfolk, another Dragonborn, and a recurring enemy*.

-Or so I gathered, I hadn’t played in the previous chapter, so I had no real idea who this guy was.

The session opened with a skills challenge. Like most published skills challenges, it ended up being “everyone roll dice for a few minutes before we get to the next encounter.

Others have ranted about the way skills challenges are handled, and have more experience with them than I do, and I have very little to add. They always feel to me, however, like you’re being punished somehow for decisions you made in character generation that have very little bearing on the game.

Consider this, in a month of Encounters, I’ve slogged through 4 fights, and one skills challenge. While you can build your character to be more well-rounded, taking points out of your combat attributes to buff up your skill checks, this is a small part of the game, and it really feels like you should focus on fulfilling the obligations of your role first, and worrying about skills second.

Taking feats to make you better at skills challenges, such as Skill Training or Skill Focus, come at a high opportunity cost, especially at low levels. This isn’t always true; I’m sure there exist builds that are rewarded for a very high skill check in regular play. But, with each class having select skills to choose from, it’s very easy to end up in a skills challenge where your best skill checks go to waste.

Now, some could point out that, in a balanced party, this ensures that every character gets a chance to shine. However, skill challenges are meant to be cooperative! You need to get a majority of your party to succeed! So having one guy with a stellar Nature check, and everyone else sighing because Wisdom is one of their low stats to begin with, is of limited usefulness!

Think about this for a second. If Nature comes up in a skill challenge, you are rewarded for each character who has Nature trained. If you sat down and built your party together, with each character having a different specialty, so that the group is well-rounded, you can actually be penalized in a skills challenge!

To be fair, no skills challenge (at least, not a well-designed one) should rely on only one skill. But it does cause the flow of the game to stop, as you realize that you may have nothing to contribute to the party’s success, and, in fact, you may be an active hindrance!

Luckily, we scraped by, and while we didn’t get the jump on our enemies, we at least were able to save the NPC’s. Which brings us to the encounter itself.

First of all, I’ve been playing DnD in various incarnations for years. While I do understand that first-level heroes are pretty tough these days, it still surprises me when the game designers consider a viable encounter to include multiple enemies who are higher level than the PC’s.

Case in point, this encounter had us facing a Dragonborn and four Lizardmen. Our party was bulked up by the addition of a Thief, so we had six PC’s, all first-level. I highly suspect that the enemies were second-level, as they took quite a bit of punishment.

The real kicker, though, was the ‘recurring enemy’. This guy was definitely an elite, and a highly obnoxious one at that. He was obviously a Skirmisher, since he had a minor action ability to shift three squares, making him very hard to pin down.

But even worse, he had an immediate action ability. If you attacked him in melee, he immediately got a counterattack, and was able to shift away!

I guess the main reason this annoyed me was that I had chosen this fight to mix it up in melee with my new sword, but after taking 19 points of “retribution damage”, I felt pretty irritated. It’s hard enough to be a melee-based character; an opponent like this just adds another layer of frustration.

The Knight couldn’t keep the guy in his aura, and I was forced to chase after him, only to get stabbed in the gut for having the nerve to…attack him?

But what really got my goat was this. Essentials purports to be an easier ‘jumping-on’ point for new players. The classes are less complex initially, and you make less choices at first-level. My Slayer, for example, does everything on his turn, and that’s just fine.

The enemies, however, are as complex as ever! They have minor action abilities, reaction abilities, and all manner of tricks that the characters do not possess! I can just imagine a new player hotly asking the DM how, exactly, the enemy can move in, attack, shift away (so no opportunity attack can be made), and then, when struck, the enemy gets to attack back and dance out of melee range!

Sure, he wasn’t as dangerous as the dragon had been, but it definitely brings up a few questions in my mind. Firstly, these Encounters were designed with Heroes of the Fallen Lands in mind. So the classes are:

• Fighter (Knight). Your basic Defender, he penalizes and punishes adjacent enemies.
• Fighter (Slayer). Melee Striker, tough, deals significant damage. Has some pretty good ranged options, too, if you examine him closely.
• Cleric (Warpriest). Melee Leader. Sun Domain brings heals, temporary hit points, and bonus saves.*
• Rogue (Thief). Melee Striker. Not so tough, not quite as accurate (more on this below), but can deal a lot of damage. Decent ranged options.
• Wizard (Mage). Ranged Controller, with a slice of damage.

Our party had a Ranger (Hunter) and a Warlock (Hexblade), but technically, these characters weren’t meant to be used until next chapter. As you can see, the classes are primarily melee-based. The dragon, who had a breath weapon and could fly, as well as the skirmisher, are very hard opponents for melee builds!

An experienced player knows to always have a good ranged option when these situations come up, and how to effectively combat them. Which is fine, but again…I thought Essentials wasn’t intended for experienced players?

It’s my own fault, of course, after I got hit by the guy once, I really should have backed off and switched to my bow. I didn’t, because I wanted to show off my fancy sword some more, but after the second hit, I’d had enough of that nonsense!

Either way, we won, I’m not bitter or anything, I just feel like there’s a real issue with Encounters this season. A lot of people complain the encounters are too easy, and, technically, they are…because the people playing them know what they’re doing! The newer players that Essentials seem designed for*, however, will likely run into some serious difficulties.

*Which is another odd point. Essentials characters are easier to make and play, but whether or not this new paradigm is really intended for new players is debatable. For every action Wizards of the Coast makes to establish Essentials as the ‘new’ DnD, they make another action which undercuts this position.

• Essentials is announced, and Essentials products will dominate for the next year. Essentials-based errata to the Player’s Handbook is added to the Character Builder (such as the new attribute bonuses for races), and item rarity is introduced. This is after updates were delayed a month.
• We are told that Dark Sun and the rest of the Essentials updates will happen next month.
• Living Forgotten Realms is told that the new errata is legal, including the rarity rules. What items are uncommon, and examples of ‘rare’ items are not announced for another month. No way to implement the new rules is given.
• It’s announced that on November 16, a new online Character Builder will be implemented. The old ‘Character Builder Classic’ will no longer receive updates. The new builder will have Dark Sun and Essentials.
• We still don’t know how old Feats will be implemented with Essentials, as the new products present Feats that do not have Heroic/Paragon/Epic requirements. Also, Essentials products have no racial or class-specific Feats.
• The Class Compendium is announced, which updates the original PHB classes and builds, with no changes other than errata, and presented in the Essentials format. The Fighter, which is previewed (now called the Weapon Master build), is relatively unchanged, having At-Will, Encounter, and Daily Powers, as well as his existing marking and punishment mechanics.

Meanwhile, Encounters is showcasing the new builds in a very unusual manner, by throwing the ‘less complicated’ characters into very challenging battles. I just don’t get it; what is the goal of Essentials? It really seems like Wizards of the Coast themselves can’t decide whether this is a relaunch or a new paradigm for the game.

The Hexblade

Putting these larger issues aside, let’s talk about the Hexblade and the Thief. First, the Hexblade. I’ve only seen the Fey-pact Hexblade in play, so I can’t discuss the Infernal (or the DDI Star-pact) build.

The Good: much like the Slayer, the Hexblade has good defenses, and a very satisfying damage mechanic, adding it’s Charisma and Dexterity to damage dealt. The Pact-Blade is an excellent weapon, as it mimics the Bastard Sword, a weapon that isn’t currently available in Essentials. As a result, the fact that the Hexblade must hold an implement in their off-hand is a non-issue; their Pact-Blade was every bit the equal of my Slayer’s Greatsword.

The Hexblade lacks stances or a weapon talent, but makes up for this in several ways. First, when they hit with their At-Will melee attack, they gain a +2 bonus to defenses against the enemy struck. They can also seamlessly move in and out of ranged combat, thanks to Eldritch Bolt.

The Pact Boon is especially nice; should an enemy be reduced to 0 hit points while it’s adjacent to them (note, they don’t actually have to land the killing blow), they get a short-range teleport, even when it’s not their turn (but only once per turn), which greatly enhances their mobility.

The Encounter Power is also quite nice, making you invisible to your opponent; you can use this to reposition yourself, get combat advantage next turn, or simply to escape your foe if you’ve taken a beating.

The Bad: while the Hexblade has good AC, they have less staying power than the Slayer. They are excellent against a single opponent, but multiple foes could present a serious problem.

The Infernal Warlock does have the ability to wear chainmail, so while their AC might be a little lighter, they make up for it with Constitution. In theory this would make them better at facing multiple foes, but until I see one in play, that’s only a guess.

The Ugly: the Hexblade has a Daily Power. That’s not a bad thing, but their choices are somewhat suspect. Hellfire Blast is a close blast 3 that does some serious damage, but it’s not party-friendly, making it a little difficult to use effectively.

Mists of Madness sounds quite awesome initially; it’s like a close burst 1 version of the Wizard’s Charm of Misplaced Wrath. Unfortunately, to use it right, you need to have multiple enemies surrounding you, which is a bad place to be in for the Hexblade.

Armor of Winter’s Grasp is also a close blast 1, but it at least grants the Hexblade a bonus to their defenses for the encounter, and against all attacks, not just a single enemy. It’s probably the best choice for the Fey-Pact, should they get into a sticky situation.

For as much as I praised their teleport above, it has a flaw as well; you can’t count on it triggering when you need it to. If the group is content to focus-fire on enemies adjacent to you, it can grant considerable mobility; but that requires the party to base it’s tactics around what you’re doing.

When all is said and done, the Fey-Pact reminds me a lot of the Censure of Pursuit Avenger; a high-AC Striker that can solo a single enemy quite effectively. And if the enemy disengages, that’s fine, you can simply Eldritch Blast it if you don’t feel like chasing them!

It’s a good class, but there are a lot of battles where it should probably stay out of melee, which unfortunately, negates it’s better class features. The class design may be more elegant, but you need to employ more strategy to use the Hexblade effectively, which means it’s not a class I’d suggest to a starting player.

But it does look like it’s a lot of fun to play!

I took a closer look at the Thief as well, and, to be honest, it’s very much like the basic Rogue in play. It has several advantages; built-in Melee Training with Weapon Finesse, superior, in fact, to the Feat, since they get their full Dexterity for damage. This gives them a solid basic attack, making this version of the Rogue better for delivering Opportunity Attacks. Also, the Rogue can choose ‘Tricks’, which apply a special benefit to their attacks.

You only get to pick two, like the Fighter’s Stances, but there are some very nice abilities here. The ability to apply them on Opportunity Attacks and Charges is rather nice. The Rogue also has some ranged support, since they can use a Shortbow. However, the class has some issues.

First, it’s damage mechanic, Sneak Attack, is the same as it’s always been. If they have Combat Advantage, they add 2d6 bonus damage to their attack. This gives them a much higher damage potential than either the Slayer or the Hexblade, but the damage isn’t static, and is somewhat less reliable. It also requires a condition.

Now, people will argue that Combat Advantage isn’t hard to get, and for the most part, this is true. The Thief also has a few tricks to let them use their Sneak Attack when they can’t get it, or deal bonus damage anyways if they can’t (one of their Tricks allows them to apply their Charisma bonus to damage if they don’t have Combat Advantage).

But the random nature of Sneak Attack can work both for and against you. On average, the Thief isn’t likely to do much more damage than the Slayer, for example. A Half-Orc Slayer with 20 Str/16 Dex and a Greataxe is going to dish out, on average, 14.5 damage per hit.

A 20 Dex Rogue can, with Sneak Attack, deliver 17.5 damage per hit on average with a Short Sword. However, the Slayer has a few significant advantages. First, they get their Weapon Talent (+1 to hit with all weapons) at first-level.

The Rogue gets +1 to hit with all Rogue weapons at second-level. This may not seem like a big deal, but that means their best possible attack bonus is +8 (+10 with advantage).

The Slayer, as I showed, has a potential attack bonus at first-level of +10, with Poised Assault Stance, and +12 with advantage. Granted, that’s cutting into their damage potential, since the Greatsword only deals 5.5 damage per hit as opposed to the Greataxe’s 6.5, but let’s take a closer look.

Our Half-Orc Greataxe Slayer has an attack bonus of 5 (Strength bonus) + 1 (Weapon Talent) +2 (Proficiency bonus) = +8. He can use Poised Assault to get +9. He’s slightly more likely to hit than the Thief at base, and does more damage.

If the Thief gets Combat Advantage, his damage, on average, is only one point better (although it can deal significantly more or less). However, our Slayer could, if he wanted to, change stances, taking a -2 to hit, to gain +4 damage.

Again, his maximum damage potential isn’t as high as the Rogue, but his average damage becomes much better in this scenario (+7 to hit and 18.5 vs. +8 to hit and 17.5). And remember, the Slayer gets more hit points, and better AC out of the deal!

Ok, fine, the Thief is a bit squishier in melee. No problem, how about that short bow?

You can’t flank with a Shortbow, but the Thief will likely get Combat Advantage in the first turn, by simply having a higher Initiative than their enemies (an often-underrated Class Feature). And, they have a Trick that lets them apply their Sneak Attack damage in one of two conditions.

Either A, no enemy is adjacent to the target or B, an ally is adjacent to the target. In this scenario, our Thief has a +7 to hit (+9 with the Combat Advantage his Tricks can grant), and can dish out an impressive 18.5 damage per turn. Nice!

While a Slayer can be built to be very nasty at range, doing so puts them at a liability in melee in one form or another. And while Melee Training could mitigate this, it’s still costing you a Feat, and our Thief has a Feat to use as well!

Plus, the Thief can use their Backstab at range, while the Slayer can’t use Power Strike outside of melee. Sadly, there are still a few issues.

The Thief can only use Backstab if they are within 5 squares of their enemy. Similarly, one of the two Tricks they can use to get Combat Advantage at range also requires them to be within 5 squares of their opponent. And while it won’t come up often, the Shortbow has a lower range than the Longbow.

So while being an archer makes your Thief more survivable, and allows you to deliver a high amount of ranged damage, you need to be fairly close to your enemies, which means you need to be careful to avoid being forced into melee.

Luckily, the Thief does have a very nice feature; many of their Tricks, including the two that allow you to get Combat Advantage from range, allow you to move your speed before attacking. So in an optimal situation, the Thief uses their trick to move into range for the attack, and then use their move action to back away again. And if they have concealment or cover to work with, they could conceivably hide as well!

Technically this works in melee as well, but not all of their Tricks protect them from Opportunity Attacks. So what’s the problem?

While the Thief is more elegantly designed than his brother Rogues, and a much better skirmisher, it does take some finesse to play him correctly. At all times, you must keep in mind that you’re not invincible, and try your best to minimize the possibility of being attacked or pinned down. This may mean that you must occasionally forgo doing damage in a turn. Sure, you could park yourself next to your Defender, but your mobility might go to waste.

Rogues of all stripes rejoiced when they were told they could apply Sneak Attack on enemy turns, but for the Thief, this may actually be a trap. Sure, they have one of the most punishing Opportunity Attacks in Essentials, but keeping yourself in melee to deliver it can be conducive to your health!

Again, this isn’t a class I’d suggest for a new player. Essentials may be less intimidating to a new player, but I don’t feel that it’s that much “easier”. Well, unless you want to play a Slayer, of course.

That’s enough rambling for now, though. See you later this week, when I get to talk about The Rejects!

Related articles

• Skill Challenges: All in the Cards. from At Will (at-will.omnivangelist.net)
• Dungeons and Dragons Season 3 Essentials: Keep on the Borderlands Week 8 from Wielding a Bohemian Ear Spoon (panzerleader.wordpress.com)
• Close Encounters of the Essential Kind! – Week 3 (weebeegamers.com)