Feat tax? (4e)

[Tequila Sunrise]

Okay so it's essentially a 'fix'. Why not just give it to a PC for free instead of forcing a char to spend a slot they may want to spend otherwise?

That's a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, PC defenses don't scale properly either -- which WotC has of course, in its infinite wisdom, created even more feat taxes for.

Fact is, there are at least half a dozen feats on top of the Expertises that are arguably feat taxes -- the eight paragon and epic NAD boosters, which simultaneously don't do enough to fix the math and over-fix it, and then there's Armor Spec which most people don't have a problem with despite the fact it gives an unconditional bonus to AC.

Anyway if you work out the math, the actual bonuses that PCs lose by 30th level are:

4 from attacks, and even more from Bull Rush, Grab and similar attacks that don't get enhancement bonuses.

2 from AC, assuming masterwork armor but not Armor Spec

4 from NADs

People have come up with all sorts of ways to fix the math, but they usually aren't quite right because the missing numbers don't fit into the tiers nicely. I of course have my own way of fixing the math, which is superior IMO.

PS: It's not gishes or dual wielders who are generally hurt even more by feat taxes; it's players who for whatever reason want to use both a weapon and an implement, or w/w or i/i. Paladins and clerics for example can use both weapons and holy symbols, but to do both effectively you've gotta take two Expertises. Wizards have a feat at paragon levels that allow them to wield a second implement, but to do it effectively you've gotta pay another tax. The half-elf has a racial ability that lets them use an out-of-class power, which usually means a second type of weapon/implement, which means you've gotta pay another tax...