Should Evaluate be worth +2?

[Railstar]

Originally Posted by philosophyguy

The Evaluate maneuver seems underpowered in combat. Compare two options: take an Evaluate maneuver and then attack, versus attack and then attack again on your next turn.

I wouldn't mind boosts to Evaluate, but I think that is the wrong option to compare it to: Attack and then Attack again is actually limited to a fairly specific set of circumstances – namely that you are already standing within weapon reach, something I would not recommend doing longer than necessary.

Think of what other options you can compare it to. For instance, standing outside of range – you can use Evaluate on anyone you could Move-And-Attack against, so compare it with some of the other options in those circumstances.

Move-and-Attack = -4 to hit, max skill of 9, -2 defences.

Move-and-Attack (slam) = normal attack skill, but probably less damage than your weapon, has a chance of hurting or knocking down you, and still -2 defences. Also, if they Dodge, you rush past them, meaning they could turn and attack you from behind on their next turn.

All-Out Attack = decent attack options, but if it doesn't work then no defence at all next round.

All of those options seem very risky to me, since they leave you exposed to a hit immediately after. The one with the fewest risks has a severe attack penalty, making it still a very unreliable option. The cautious choice would be to slowly step closer while Evaluating for +1 (up to +3 if you keep at it) from a position of relative safety.

Essentially Evaluate is what you do when you do not want to risk being the one to rush in first and lower your defences. Evaluate also makes the risk of the other guy rushing in first even higher, because the attack they expose themselves to by rushing in will have the bonus from Evaluate.

At high skill, Evaluate remains useful for offsetting penalties for your first attack – such as from Deceptive Attack, or aiming for the weapon hand, or a Disarm if you want to stay outside the reach of their weapon.

If you stand and Evaluate from 1 hex away, it's a bad idea. But if you start Evaluating from 5 hexes back, it becomes a much more sensible option.