Props to the alternate ability modifiers for the classic races. So many possibilities open up for these races now that wasn’t present before:

• Dwarf: Strength opens up dwarves for both fighters and barbarians! Dwarf has always been a solid race mechanically, with an awesome racial power (dwarven resilience) and a few great feats. In particular, Dwarven Weapon Training (+2 damage and proficiency with all axes and hammers!) and Shield the Fallen (adj. bloodied allies get +2 to all STs and Defenses!) are both very powerful and work well for either a fighter or a barbarian. It was always tempting to play either one as a dwarf already but the lack of a primary ability score always kept me away. Now I have no excuse!
• Eladrin: Another awesome race that was crippled by having Dex and Int as primary scores, making for only a handful of good builds (wand wizard comes to mind). Adding Charisma into the mix really opens the class up for both Bards and Warlocks. Fey step is such a nice racial power that I can definitely see considering Eladrin for either of those classes.
• Elf: Int/Dex is a weird combination. I know some classes use it. An obscure rogue build sure does. In any case, elves have one of those awesome racial powers that is super useful, elven accuracy, so for those classes that can use those stats, elf will be high on the list, I’m sure.
• Halfling: Dex/Con is another one of those combinations that doesn’t see a ton of use, though the idea of a super dark and creepy Halfling assassin does have some appeal!
• Human: Humans don’t get any ability mods, but heroic defense is yet another example of one of those awesome super useful racial feats. Getting a bonus to either an attack roll or a saving throw when you miss is huge. At higher levels failing a saving throw can be very rough, so the party really needs a nice group of powers they can draw one and so having a flexible like this one is awesome. My only regret is that I doubt I’ll be able to bring myself to take a third at-will anymore when I play a human (which is fun if not usually super useful!) since this power is definitely one of the crucial use at just the right time abilities!

More Essentials thoughts…

This level 2 wizard utility power from HotFL is a pretty faithful 4e interpretation of Charm Person, which has been missing from the edition so far. It doesn’t have 1e’s sliding duration based on the target’s Intelligence, which is sad, but on the other hand, it is explicit about what happens when the charm wears off. That’s something that always puzzled me ever since Bargle first Charmed me in the Red Box.

Instant Friends is kooky in that it doesn’t use an attack roll to judge success, but a saving throw. That’s fun because it gives a level-1 wizard a chance (although a small one) to make a friend of a level 27 Storm Titan. What the heck, why not give it a try? (Don’t bother with Orcus, though; he get a +5 on saving throws.)

Wow, a pretty potent utility power for level 2. This seems too fun not to take, especially since a wizard can hide this in their spellbook and bust it out when they aren’t planning to get into a lot of fights that day. I’m not sure how I feel about this; I get nervous when spells become available that risk trivializing skills (i.e. diplomacy), but then again the saving throw does make this pretty risky (though spell focus, as always, throws a monkey wrench into things).

Disintegrate

Yeah, but ONCE PER DAY, Emirikol. That’s a daily power. Let’s not go crazy disintegrating these townspeople.

More Essentials thoughts…

Here’s the horizontal character sheet from Heroes of the Fallen Lands (click for a larger version):

Essentials character sheet

The character sheet can fit on one page, which is great. It will require you to write pretty small, though.

There are 26 lines for Powers and Feats, which includes Race Features and Class/Path/Destiny Features too, I guess, since there is no section set aside for those. The PHB character sheet had something like 70 lines for all that information, and it sometimes got crowded at that.

There’s no place to write down your Paragon Path and Epic Destiny.

There is quite a generous allotment of space for your Character Sketch, however! Hooray!

More Essentials thoughts…

First of all, I’m glad to see that, after a Red Box panic, Prestidigitation is among the Heroes of the Fallen Lands mage cantrips.

Second, I see that all mages get a new cantrip, Suggestion:

That seems like the sort of nonsense a mage of the Enchantment school would get up to, but apparently all mages are kind of skeevy like that. And wizards wonder why people don’t like them.

Apparently, once per encounter people like them quite a bit. While I like the flavor of suggestion and would definitely rub my hands together giddily at the idea of getting my hands on it virtually for free as a wizard, it does give me some pause.

Already, arcane characters have a lot of amazing ways to use arcana to substitute for many skill checks:

• Arcane Muttering: A level 2 skill power that lets you make an arcana check in place of a bluff, diplomacy, or intimidate check.
• Sorcerous Vision: A level 11 sorceror feat (that a wizard could multiclass into if they were so inclined) that allows you to substitute arcana for an insight for perception check.
• Knock: A ritual that lets you use arcana +5  in place of thievery to open locked doors for the price of 35GP and 1 healing surge.
• Seek Rumor: A ritual that lets you use arcana in place of streetwise to gather information at a +5 difficulty.

Each of these abilities makes me a little nervous, because while I recognize that skills aren’t the biggest focus in D&D, I like the idea of each character having a moment to shine with them (i.e. the rogue opening the crucial lock to break into the house, the ranger spotting an enemy hiding in the shadows, the bard making a clever bluff). It’s kind of annoying to imagine that with a few feats, powers, and rituals an Arcana-heavy wizard or sorceror could be AMAZING at common uses for no less than 8 skills (when you include arcana).

More Essentials thoughts…

A level 10 Rogue utility power from Heroes of the Fallen Lands:

Nimble Fingers
Minor action, Melee 1.
Prerequisite: You must have training in thievery.
Target: One creature
Effect: You draw one weapon that is sheathed or worn (but not held) by the target, stow a single item on the target, or retrieve a single item the target has stowed. If you are hidden from the target, the target is not aware that you have used this power.

The phrase that grabs my fancy is stow a single item on the target. Offhand, I can’t think of a combat use for for stowing a single item on the target, but I’m itching to stow. Rather than a complete tactic, it seems to offer a tactical hint or puzzle – a tactical building block – like my beloved mage hand. I hope some Essentials thief makes Nimble Fingers the cornerstone of an extremely irritating career.

More Essentials thoughts…

The HotFL martial builds (knight, slayer, and thief) have a common schtick for their utility powers: most require training in a specific skill. For instance, the level 2 Knight’s utilities Battle Leader, Glowering Threat, Minor Resurgence, and Push Forward require Diplomacy, Intimidate, Endurance, and Athletics respectively.

I like this idea: it makes my skill choices feel a little less meaningless. Honestly, my dwarven fighter’s Endurance check does not come up that much. I chose it to match my character concept. It’s nice that it might get me an extra utility choice.

Some of the utility choices are executed better than others. Among the level 6 thief utilities, Hidden Blade has a Thievery prerequisite and Slip Aside requires Stealth. All rogues get Thievery and Stealth for free, so this isn’t much of a prerequisite.

Here’s a game: Guess the skill prerequisites for the level 6 Knight utilities, just based on their names. (To see the answers, highlight the section or hit Ctl+A.)

Knight’s Challenge intimidate
Helping Hands healing
Rapid Advance athletics
Dauntless Endurance endurance, good job!

More Essentials thoughts…

Each class chapter is illustrated with some new iconic heroes.

Take a look at the iconics from the Fighter chapter: Lyriel, the elf knight, Fargrim, the dwarf slayer, and Shara, the human slayer. They all have something in common:
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After some strange experiments among the 4e Player’s Handbook classes, WOTC settled down and mostly published Dual Ability Dependent (DAD) class builds – ones that required a strong primary ability for attack rolls and damage, and a secondary ability that provided bonuses for various class features and powers. Most of the Heroes of the Fallen Lands classes follow this pattern.

The thief is an odd exception:

Ability Scores
Determine your ability scores (page 38), ensuring that Dexterity is your highest score. […] Strength and Charisma are also important to a thief, so consider making one of them your second-highest ability score.

At first glance, the Thief looks like a MAD (multiple ability dependent) build, since it has powers that reward both Strength and Charisma. On closer inspection, the thief is actually pretty SAD (single attribute dependent). There are no class powers that use Strength or Charisma. Strength and Charisma are used in a bare handful of optional at-will tricks and utility powers, none of which dazzle me.
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The Knight and Slayer fighter builds are presented in separate sections of Heroes of the Fallen Lands, and have very little in common. They have different armor proficiencies, different powers and even different roles. Here’s what they share:

Of the at-will stances, Slayer and Knight share Battle Wrath (+2 to damage) and Poised Assault (+1 to attack).

Both Knights and Slayers get the Power Strike encounter power feature.

Of the Level 2 utility powers, Knight and Slayer share Minor Resurgence (gain 5 temporary HP when bloodied) but the other 3 choices differ. (Since all these utilities are labeled “Fighter Utility 2”, can a Knight take one from the Slayer section and vice versa?)
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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…