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I've googled some but not found a definitive answer. I did however see that 'exploits' are now an in-game term. This is not how I mean it in the question: I mean game-breaking loopholes.

A short while after the release of DD4.0, it was claimed that non-combat conflict / challenges were 'broken', and apparently some developer attention was paid to a 'fix'.

What I'd like to know is: what official 'fixes' have been made to DD4.0 base set, first printing, that I'd really need to know about before I start playing?

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The D&D term "exploit" does not refer to exploits in the computer game sense. Instead, it is what the powers of martial classes are called. Just as arcane classes like Wizards use "spells" and divine classes like Clerics use "prayers", martial classes like Fighters and Rogues use "exploits". – Matt Sheridan Sep 27 '10 at 18:59

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up vote 12 down vote accepted

There are actually quite a few of them; Wizards of the Coast has been steadily tweaking and updating the system once every three months or so for a few years now. The errata PDFs can be found at the D&D web site at this link. You want the "Compiled Rules Update."

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Awesome, thanks! – Tobiasopdenbrouw Aug 22 '10 at 13:25
No / at the end of the link. :) – Bryant Aug 22 '10 at 13:33
Sorry. :) First time adding one, and the little helper box had a / at the end of its link, which I thought I was supposed to emulate. – Jadasc Aug 22 '10 at 13:41
up vote 9 down vote

D&D 4e is complex enough so that there's always going to be a hole that'll allow determined players to break the system. Right now, the clever minds of the Character Optimization board have figured out a way to generate an average of around 130 damage per round at level 16; the same character can reliably do over a thousand points of damage in one round at level 30.

In MMORPGs, there's a basic design tenet: hundreds of thousands of players are going to find exploits that a hundred developers won't see, just because there's more of them. Same thing applies to D&D, alas. Therefore, the only completely impervious fix is the one where you ask your players not to be jerks.

That said, Jadasc's pointer is a good one, although I think his link is wrong: the errata PDFs here contain a lot of fixes. It's kind of a long document, but it's not actually necessary to read the whole thing -- just check the stuff your players take or the powers you take.

Oh, and one final addendum: the Essentials rulebooks, coming out this fall, will contain all the fixes to date. If you're going to be starting the game in a month or so, it might be worth waiting; depends on how much one hates reading errata documents.

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+1, tx for fixing the link. And there's a difference between players being d*cks, and basic non-combat challenges not being balanced in RAW. – Tobiasopdenbrouw Aug 22 '10 at 13:40
Oh, sure. But I honestly wouldn't classify the skill challenge stuff as game-breaking loopholes; everything that falls into that category so far has required players to actively want to exploit it. – Bryant Aug 22 '10 at 13:45
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@Tobias: Yeah, the original skill challenge rules being "broken" was more a matter of WotC developers getting the math wrong so that they did not work as advertised. Those rules weren't exploitable, just frustrating. – SevenSidedDie Oct 12 '10 at 14:58
up vote 4 down vote

For a consensus look at current flaws in 4e, look at this CharOp page

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