Cannonball
2008-08-03, 06:19 AM
While thumbing through the PHB's fighter powers, I started looking over the various stances that sporadically appeared at various levels. For those who haven't looked at stances, they're essentially self-buffs. All the ones in the PHB are a minor action to activate and last through the entire encounter. Also, you can only be in one stance at once. Activating another stance ends the first.
This means three things:
If you choose a lot of stances, you reduce your ability to "Nova". Only one stance per encounter will do you any good - if you have more, they need to wait until the next encounter to make use of them effectively.
Stances need to be used early in order to be most effective. They last the entire encounter and improve you in various ways so if you want to use them, use them in the first round. If you take a lot of stances, you can safely use one per encounter and let them carry you through the fight.
They're incredibly efficient. Just activating a stance is a minor action which means you can still use an at-will so you're always doing a decent amount of damage (the at-will + the stance's damage). The more enemies you add, and the longer a fight goes on the better stances become.
In the Fighter list, there were some Utility Stances - mostly minor effects - and some Daily Stances. It's the Daily Stances that I'm most interested in; each one turns the Fighter into a Hero. There are scant few powers that can compare to the stances for pure damage potential.
Even the lowest stance, Rain of Steel at level 5, sweeps aside minions adjacent to you automatically and adds another swing of your sword to any enemy tougher than that. Per round. For the whole combat. If you're surrounded completely and have that stance up, you do 8[w] + whatever else you used on your turn. Woe betide if you're mounted and are surrounded.
The Fighter's Daily Stances are as follows:
Rain of Steel (level 5)
A very simple stance. Merely inflicts 1[W] to any enemy that starts next to you (poor minions...). Like all stances, it's a minor action to activate so feel free to swing with an at-will for some more damage in the same turn. Crack the Shell and Dizzying Blow do have some status effects, but damage-wise they're trumped almost in the first round alone. If there are more enemies than just one around you, then Rain of Steel blows them away...and it'll keep adding more damage for the whole fight.
Unyielding Avalanche (level 15)
Arguably the best stance a Fighter has, Unyielding Avalanche turns you into a DEFENDER (yes, in all caps). It grants regeneration equal to your con mod, and a small bonus to AC and Saving Throws. And last but not least, it strikes everyone who starts next to you for 1[W] just like Rain of Steel...except those people are slowed too! Sweet mercy, if you were looking for an ability that meant your enemies had to fight you and no one else then look no further. Unfortunately, Unyielding Avalanche doesn't easily over take Dragon's Fangs or Serpent Dance Strike in pure damage. But if the combat lasts a few rounds against multiple opponents it will overtake them eventually - also, you can't miss with stances so you'll always get full benefit.
Reaper's Stance (level 25)
Compared to other powers of its level, Reaper's Stance has the smallest lead. But like all stances, it over takes other powers because it just lasts so long. Reaper's Stance grants you a 19-20 threat range (unimportant - you should have the crit increaser for your weapon) and gives you a bonus to damage equal to your dex mod. That'll be a few extra points on every attack you make for the entire fight. Finally, it inflicts 1[W] and ongoing 10 damage to any enemy starting next to you. If the 6[W] powers of this level do an average weapon damage of about 27, then Reaper's over takes them in three rounds minimum. You're only missing out on the useful extra effects but the end damage is potentially more than worth it.
Force the Battle (level 29)
The pinnacle of a Fighter's Daily Stances, Force the Battle turns you into an almost literal God of War. It improves the damage of your At-Wills and Encounters by 1[W]. And any enemy next to you is subject to an At-Will attack from yourself as a free action. To put that in perspective, if you were fighting only 1 enemy and were using nothing but At-Wills, Force the Battle almost triples your damage output per round. The other powers at this level don't hold a candle to this stance. It's that good.
So~! Now that I'm done trying to persuade you all of the awesomeness that are stances, I'm willing to hear your opinions on them. Anyone have good things to say about them as well? Bad things? Had you even looked at the stances closely before hearing about them?
This means three things:
If you choose a lot of stances, you reduce your ability to "Nova". Only one stance per encounter will do you any good - if you have more, they need to wait until the next encounter to make use of them effectively.
Stances need to be used early in order to be most effective. They last the entire encounter and improve you in various ways so if you want to use them, use them in the first round. If you take a lot of stances, you can safely use one per encounter and let them carry you through the fight.
They're incredibly efficient. Just activating a stance is a minor action which means you can still use an at-will so you're always doing a decent amount of damage (the at-will + the stance's damage). The more enemies you add, and the longer a fight goes on the better stances become.
In the Fighter list, there were some Utility Stances - mostly minor effects - and some Daily Stances. It's the Daily Stances that I'm most interested in; each one turns the Fighter into a Hero. There are scant few powers that can compare to the stances for pure damage potential.
Even the lowest stance, Rain of Steel at level 5, sweeps aside minions adjacent to you automatically and adds another swing of your sword to any enemy tougher than that. Per round. For the whole combat. If you're surrounded completely and have that stance up, you do 8[w] + whatever else you used on your turn. Woe betide if you're mounted and are surrounded.
The Fighter's Daily Stances are as follows:
Rain of Steel (level 5)
A very simple stance. Merely inflicts 1[W] to any enemy that starts next to you (poor minions...). Like all stances, it's a minor action to activate so feel free to swing with an at-will for some more damage in the same turn. Crack the Shell and Dizzying Blow do have some status effects, but damage-wise they're trumped almost in the first round alone. If there are more enemies than just one around you, then Rain of Steel blows them away...and it'll keep adding more damage for the whole fight.
Unyielding Avalanche (level 15)
Arguably the best stance a Fighter has, Unyielding Avalanche turns you into a DEFENDER (yes, in all caps). It grants regeneration equal to your con mod, and a small bonus to AC and Saving Throws. And last but not least, it strikes everyone who starts next to you for 1[W] just like Rain of Steel...except those people are slowed too! Sweet mercy, if you were looking for an ability that meant your enemies had to fight you and no one else then look no further. Unfortunately, Unyielding Avalanche doesn't easily over take Dragon's Fangs or Serpent Dance Strike in pure damage. But if the combat lasts a few rounds against multiple opponents it will overtake them eventually - also, you can't miss with stances so you'll always get full benefit.
Reaper's Stance (level 25)
Compared to other powers of its level, Reaper's Stance has the smallest lead. But like all stances, it over takes other powers because it just lasts so long. Reaper's Stance grants you a 19-20 threat range (unimportant - you should have the crit increaser for your weapon) and gives you a bonus to damage equal to your dex mod. That'll be a few extra points on every attack you make for the entire fight. Finally, it inflicts 1[W] and ongoing 10 damage to any enemy starting next to you. If the 6[W] powers of this level do an average weapon damage of about 27, then Reaper's over takes them in three rounds minimum. You're only missing out on the useful extra effects but the end damage is potentially more than worth it.
Force the Battle (level 29)
The pinnacle of a Fighter's Daily Stances, Force the Battle turns you into an almost literal God of War. It improves the damage of your At-Wills and Encounters by 1[W]. And any enemy next to you is subject to an At-Will attack from yourself as a free action. To put that in perspective, if you were fighting only 1 enemy and were using nothing but At-Wills, Force the Battle almost triples your damage output per round. The other powers at this level don't hold a candle to this stance. It's that good.
So~! Now that I'm done trying to persuade you all of the awesomeness that are stances, I'm willing to hear your opinions on them. Anyone have good things to say about them as well? Bad things? Had you even looked at the stances closely before hearing about them?