slayer stances

The HotFL slayer shares two stances, Battle Wrath and Poised Assault, with the knight, but where they depart, the slayer has some very nice power!

  • Berserker’s Charge: It’s hard to imagine not wanting this around for charges (+2 speed and +2 attack). Seems like a pretty solid pick.
    Of course, one of the main times you charge is when you’re stunned, in which case you won’t have the minor action to activate this stance. Still. CHARRRGE!

  • Duelists Assault: Maybe it’s just me being super greedy, but I can’t pass up damage bonuses like this. It starts at +4 and climbs by 2 each tier. The catch? The target must have no creatures adjacent but you. My feeling is that this is a must have stance for the slayer and is worth seeking out opportunities to take advantage of it!
  • Mobile Blade: This lets you move up to your Dex bonus when you hit an enemy with a basic attack. This would be a lot more impressive if it were a shift, but as a move, it likely subjects you to several OAs, which makes it not worth the trouble in my book.
  • Unfettered Fury: A -2 to attack for a +4 to damage that increases by two each tier doesn’t seem worth it compared to Duelists Assault and Battle Wrath. I would almost always choose one or both of the other before choosing this one (unless the DM assured me I’d be attacking bulbous, extremely low-AC flesh sacks of hit points for the rest of my adventuring career).

    Agreed. This stance screams out “mathematically unsound decision”. But you didn’t hire the Slayer for his math skills.

More Essentials thoughts…

Tags:

3 Responses to “slayer stances”

  1. Nathaniel says:

    Something to remember about Unfettered Fury is that with the revised damage expressions of post MM2 monsters, a DM can build a challenging encounter without using monsters that are 3+ levels above the PCs. This means it’s easier to hit than before. Obviously every DM will approach things differently.

    The -2 is also fairly easy to compensate for. Charge and it’s only -1, combat advantage negates it entirely. Leaders can give bonuses.

    Add in the new human racial power and you can have a reliable +4 damage attack.

  2. Terry O'Carroll says:

    Paul wrote: “Of course, one of the main times you charge is when you’re stunned, in which case you won’t have the minor action to activate this stance. Still. CHARRRGE!|”

    Not with an Essentials fighter. You’re using a melee basic attack whether you charge or not, so you’re charging all the time. Playing in the Red Box Game Day, the slayers were only moving to set up charges. May as well get the +1 to hit. With Berserker’s Charge, I can see that being used all the time, especially with the Horned Helm (common magic item in Essentials).

  3. Please let me know if you’re looking for a article writer for your blog. You have some really good posts and I believe I would be a good asset. If you ever want to take some of the load off, I’d absolutely love to write some content for your blog in exchange for a link back to mine. Please blast me an e-mail if interested. Regards!

Leave a Reply