Yes, I realize we're not giving them oversized dual-wielding on their own. The issue I see is that there's nothing preventing them from getting miss damage with an off-hand waraxe. Should we maybe restrict the feature and powers to only work with weapons that have the off-hand property?
I was thinking about this and the problem is the Two-Blade Warrior feat. When making any two-weapon build you have to take this feat into account as it is easily accessible by any class, making anything unbalanced. Another problem with the feat is its reading, it states "You can wield a one-handed weapon in your off hand as though it were an off-hand weapon." Some people read this as meaning that the weapon gains the off-hand property. Stupid feat with its stupid wording.
Anyway I have edited the above class feature to take this into account.
On another note I do not think that the guild should be called Night Talon. Only because the Assassin has the Nightstalker build already and the names may get easily confused.
Eh, I'm not too attached to it. It was just the first thing that came to mind. :3
The level 16 feature of the newly released executioner states that you deal half damage on a miss with all at-will weapon attacks.
I'm glad that my thinking is also shared by WoTC and as such I feel that the above class feature is not out of place.
It's a pretty good idea for a feature, imo. It's subtle, but really adds to the average DPR.
So, would anyone mind if I add in my Ranged Weapon build (Stalker's Eye) to this page? I would list it under the class features section and then add in the build guide, and work up a few powers, edit the front page, etc.
Just wondering if anyone had any objections.
As for what it would contain, I was thinking:
Guild of the Phantom Sniper
You gain proficiency with military ranged weapons. You gain a +1 bonus to attack rolls with bows, crossbows, and thrown weapons. In addition, your shrouds deal extra damage when you invoke them on a ranged or area attack. The extra damage equals one half your Wisdom modifier.
I would also replace Shade Form with a power that grants sustainable invisibility, allowing the Assassin to play sniper.
EDIT: I changed the name so it sounded less like Night Stalker. Hope nobody minds me taking some initiative with this.
I added an alternate Phantom Sniper build as the first one seems too overpowered. The original build deals more damage than a Nightstalker and yet is a ranged build and is more accurate than any other build.
My build focuses on damage spreading.
Yeah, but it was intended more as a precision sniper build, so shooting one dude and having it ricochet to another dude doesn't really fit the flavor. I'll try screwing around with it to see if I can give it some more reasonable restrictions.
Discuss! :3
…I just had a thought. Does it concern anyone else overmuch that "optimization" would demand the use of a spiked shield or gauntlet axe for the off-hand in the Hidden Talon build? Should we maybe go ahead and give those as freebies?
EDIT: Also, spiked chains appear to be the ultimate Hidden Talon weapons.
A spiked shield is fine by me but I wouldn't give it free proficiency.
The guantlet axe is unusable with the dual-wield powers and so isn't that optimisable.
The spiked chain is good for the fighter as well. It doesn't bother me that you can also use that weapon with this build.
Realized the bit about the gauntlet axe shortly after posting. :3
The comment about the spiked chain was basically my train of thought after reviewing the powers, tho. That one seems to get left out in the cold in this edition, in rather stark contrast to its status as the only melee weapon worth using in 3.x. Only rogues really care about it in core! :3
What are peoples opinions on this build. I feel that it is overpowered compared to other Assassin builds and should be scaled back to once per round maybe?
Thoughts?
Its very easy for an Assassin to get cover if it MC's into Warlock.
You mean concealment. And isn't Shadow Walk from a PMC feat? If it is, that would be burning five feats and taking a newb-trap paragon option just for Wis to damage whenever he walked 3 or more squares. Easier to hybrid into it and use a pact bow, but the stats don't quite match up.
Anyway, I scaled it back to 1/round. Anyone else have any suggestions to balance this out?
EDIT: Hmmm… Elf Assassin/Warlock could get by with a 16 Dex, 16 Con, 12 Wis. That would be 18, 16, and 14 after bonuses. The Warlock half would suck, though. Would need Versatile Expertise to even get off the ground.
I seem to have come across a rumor that WotC's dev team intends to fix this assassin at some point. Should we maybe keep track of what's likely to need editing here, since the shrouds seem to definitely be what's going to be altered?
Might be a good idea. I know a few of the upper level powers have interactions with shrouds that might need to be altered.
Levels 1-30 powers and 4 paragon paths ready for evaluation and play-testing!
New stuff scheduled for this month. Fingers crossed.
Two items. Five feats, one of which should have been a baked-in errata. And an ACF against shade form that drops an extra shroud when you use it.
Disappointing.
I wasn't expecting them to actually fix anything. At the very least the feats are good, but I wouldn't drop Shade Form for the new power, personally.