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4e Confused about power levels

   
4e Confused about power levels

Long story short, I am confused about the power levels, capabilities, and depth of high level characters in fourth edition.

If I am understanding everything correctly, at 30th level, a character will have access to

2 at will powers (same as a first level character)
4 daily powers
4 encounter powers

And then
7 utility powers.

Am I wrong in feeling that this is amazingly narrow for a dimigod (which is what many 30th level characters are).

At 30th level, you will have players still doing 3d10 damage; something that first level warlocks are capable of.

By no means am I a power gamer, but I am truely confused by the new setup. I also feel I should add that I am not anti-4e. I've been playing for a very long time (since early in second edition), so I've seen the game go through drastic changes before.

Sadly, I'm just not understanding the new one very well. Perhaps the pieces will come together more once I actually play a character up to that level. Perhaps there are connections I'm not seeing yet which will enable 30th level characters to be more potent and diverse than what I am seeing.

But, I am not seeing it. And I want to. I want high levels to mean something.

Well, you've got 4 encounter powers (4 rounds of actions) that are at your power level. the at will powers are enhanced as you gain levels (changing as you increase in power tiers) but they are supposed to represent the 'normal' actions of a character of your type not the extraordinary stuff.

We're just conditioned by other games/editions to feel that higher levels = more options.

The issue with this, however, is that with a higher number of options, we've got a higher number of solutions. In 3.5, this disparity becomes startlingly clear with the difference between a level 16 warrior & a level 16 wizard.

This higher number of solutions in the hands of PCs, in turn, requires enemies to have more options of their own. That means larger enemy statblocks and more difficulty running the game. The simplicity of the game falls apart, it becomes harder to access for new players, and balance is liable to go out the window without exceedingly high amounts of playtesting (which is never 100% reliable compared to releasing a product to hundreds of thousands of people). Like levels 16+ in 3.5.

At high levels, many of your options are going to be from magic items. These too, keep in mind, are limited.

Also, there's a kind of strategy in timing when to unleash your best abilities. If you had 10 at will powers, 20 daily, 20 encounter powers at 30th level, then that aspect of the game would be restricted somewhat.

That's how I see it in terms of design. I'll have tor reserve personal judgment until I play at the epic tier (which I gotta say, is far more appealing at a glance than in 3.5).

Note that in Demigod's abilities there are one that makes his encounter powers unllimited.

At-will stuff is overrated.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SpaXe View Post
Note that in Demigod's abilities there are one that makes his encounter powers unllimited.

At-will stuff is overrated.
Course, your character gets eaten by a plot Grue around that time. Isn't there a trope for that?

That of course being when you get the best stuff at the point where you no longer have any use for it, and therefore it doesn't matter one iota.

Well, if you square 30, you get 900, so if we include a multiplier that exceeds 10 for being a demigod, then yes, his power level is OVER NINE THOUSSSAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNDDDDD!!!!!one!!eleventy-one!!!!1




 

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