Iron Armbands of Power

[Tequila Sunrise]

Hi gameologists! Just thought I'd ask what the Brilliant attitudes toward this item is: Useful? Broken? Boring? Great bonus that you don't have to think about?

I'm the kind of DM that would either ban it for being too good, or (more likely) homebrew versions for ranged, area and close damage.

[Agita]

Great bonus you don't have to think about; kind of boring, but good. Don't see why not.

Also, there is a version for Bow and Crossbow attacks. Bracers of Archery, IIRC. Close and area versions should be fine. Just refluff the damn things and done.

[Tequila Sunrise]

My thoughts exactly. (Tangent: why are casters always getting left out of the party? Their versions of weapon focus is crap, and items seem to be designed to keep them from getting bonus damage. Although there is the staff of ruin. Eh whatever, another five minutes of homebrewing.)

[Keldar]

Compare Two Weapon Fighting to Dual Implement Caster and tell me again spellcasters are always being left out of the reindeer games. 

[Agita]

Compare Two Weapon Fighting to Dual Implement Caster and tell me again spellcasters are always being left out of the reindeer games. 

Spellcasters are being left out of the reindeer games. There.

Martial multiattackers like Rangers don't need TWF to rape face, they just do. Spellcasters, on the other hand, need Dual Implement Casting to boost their damage.

[Tequila Sunrise]

What book is this dual implement caster from? Never seen one in play.

[Keldar]

Arcane Power iirc.  Basically allows you to add the enhancement bonus of a second implement you are wielding to all your arcane implement attack's damage.  Costs extra cash to do take advantage of, or an extra feat (for Staff Fighting).  Vastly superior in the long run to Two Weapon Fighting as far as a single feat goes, though TWF opens up many nice feats while DIS does not.

[Banor]

Not mention a DEX 13 requirement that can be hard to get for a lot of Arcane classes. It's my major gripe about spellcaster in 4E : Most of their "Vanilla" feats are way too requiring. I mean Weapon Focus vs Astral Fire ? I already house ruled a Implement focus in my home games but I fail to see why they weren't there at the first place...

[Tequila Sunrise]

Wow, that's a pretty sweet feat for an arcanist. Costly cash-wise, though.

I already house ruled an Implement focus in my home games but I fail to see why they weren't there at the first place.

Ditto. It's almost like the designers are keeping the casters down in 4e to make up for their awesomeness in previous editions.