does anyone have an idea or thoughts of what these are like?
Oversized holy symbols with big spikes, chains and cupholders.
Seriously though, I'd like to know what a superior implement can bring to the table and how it differs from a standard implement beyond requiring a feat to use it.
Crystal Orb
Deathbone Rod
Might they grant a +2 bonus to attack rolls? That's what it looks like from these character sheets, since they each have a +5 in their dominant ability mod, and their Attack roll bonus is +7 each.
There are a couple in the Dark Sun spoiler characters.
Crystal Orb
Deathbone Rod
Might they grant a +2 bonus to attack rolls? That's what it looks like from these character sheets, since they each have a +5 in their dominant ability mod, and their Attack roll bonus is +7 each.
Both of those characters are humans, so I'd guess they took Implement Expertise as their second feat.
If you assume they took Implement Expertise and Superior Implement Proficiency, then you come up with the following numbers:
Crystal Orb gives a +1 to attack rolls against will and psychic attacks deal +2 damage.
Deathbone Rods gives a +1 to attack rolls against will and necrotic attacks deal +2 damage.
All of the Illusionist's attacks are +7 vs. Will, xdx+7 psychic damage, so there's not a lot of play there, but the Warlock has a +7 on all vs. Will attacks and only a +6 vs. Fortitude and Reflex, the warlock also has xdx+7 on all necrotic attacks and only xdx+5 on non necrotic attacks. For this reason I suspect that Superior Implements will be +1 to attacks vs. one defense and +2 to damage with one damage type. Definitely powerful, but very interesting and flavorful.
Amazing how much difference +2 hit makes.
Now, these seem to be only be a bonus against a certain defence, but for most classes (most notably the Telepathic psion, or the illusionist wizard) getting powers that all target one defence is not too hard.
For this reason I suspect that Superior Implements will be +1 to attacks vs. one defense and +2 to damage with one damage type. Definitely powerful, but very interesting and flavorful.
This would be pretty balanced when compaired to superior weapons. Which offer +1 to hit, or +1.5 damage. So a situational +1 to hit, and a situational +2 damage seems to be in line.
For this reason I suspect that Superior Implements will be +1 to attacks vs. one defense and +2 to damage with one damage type. Definitely powerful, but very interesting and flavorful.
This would be pretty balanced when compaired to superior weapons. Which offer +1 to hit, or +1.5 damage. So a situational +1 to hit, and a situational +2 damage seems to be in line.
Most builds incorporate attacks against only one defence – For example, pretty much every single Cunning Bard spell is against Will. So even if it's against one defence, it's covering most of the character's attacks.
For this reason I suspect that Superior Implements will be +1 to attacks vs. one defense and +2 to damage with one damage type. Definitely powerful, but very interesting and flavorful.
This would be pretty balanced when compaired to superior weapons. Which offer +1 to hit, or +1.5 damage. So a situational +1 to hit, and a situational +2 damage seems to be in line.
Most builds incorporate attacks against only one defence – For example, pretty much every single Cunning Bard spell is against Will. So even if it's against one defence, it's covering most of the character's attacks.
True, but if you had options to hit multiple defenses, you get a "bonus" anyways, often bigger then +1.
"A Heroic Tier Feat gives a character access to one superior implement type - Holy Symbols, Orbs, Rods, Staffs, tomes, Totems, or Wands. The Feat can be taken again for another type. For each type there are four enhancement examples with explanations of all of the keywords included. For example, here's the list for Wands:
Accurate Wand - Accurate
Cinder Wand - Empowered Crit, Energized (Fire)
Dragontooth Wand - Deadly, Unerring
Rowan Wand - Distant, Energized (Lightning)
Accurate is as basic as you would expect, offering a +1 to hit. The Cinder Wand offers an extra 1d10 damage on a crit (scaling upward in Paragon and Epic) along with a +2 damage bonus to fire attacks used with the wand (also scaling upward). A GM could easily build a Glacial Wand or what not by replacing a few simple keywords. Be aware that this system only takes up two pages of the book.
My opinion is that this can be a very powerful option for many builds, but given the specificity of the bonuses a player will absolutely have to be crafting their own implements by now or have a DM that basically seeds what they want for their build."
"The cost is almost non-existent, amounting to just a few gold. They can be enchanted just like any other item.
The limit on abilities is whatever is included. Either the implement is Accurate or it has two other abilities, though I suspect a DM could easily take this idea and tweak it to suit.
I think it's balanced vs. superior weapons in that superior weapons are... superior. And so are these!
In terms of giving casters a bit of catchup to the options melee and ranged had, yes this does a lot to help.Deadly - +1 to all damage rolls, scaling to +2 and +3 by tier.
Distant - Range of area and ranged attack powers is increased by 2.
Unerring - +1 attack bonus to attacks against Reflex."
Discuss
Yep ki focii are left out... So monk might as well use a superior staff, I recommend Unerring, Deadly.
Does... that... work? Eugh, it's the whole cunning staff argument again, except this time backwards! I guess it'll depend on how the exact wording of these superior implement bonuses function.
Still... it's an implement... being used as a weapon... which allows the monk to treat it as an implement. /boggle
On the other hand, this might do a *lot* to stop the domination of weaplements. There are a lot of bonuses of weaplements, but none of those can compare to the straight +1 to hit that an accurate superior implement can give -- and for certain builds you can get even more out of it than that.
Bye bye Cunning Quarterstaff. Hello superior staff implement!