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Does Draji Palatial Practice (4e) apply regardless of whether the attack hits or misses? The phrasing is "when you use", not "when you hit".

From Dark Sun Campaign Setting, page 107:

Draji Palatial Practice [Arena Fighting]

Benefit: ... When you use a power associated with this feat, the target takes a —2 penalty to attack rolls until the end of your next turn.

It seems to me that you can give a round-long automatic -2 to-hit penalty to whichever enemy you choose within range, and the power doesn't have to hit. The flavor is good -- you're so scary you frighten them even without hitting them -- but it's a strong feat, and I couldn't find any errata.

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You are correct, it does not require a hit

If the feat required you to hit with your attack, it would specifically state so. For example, one such feat that requires you to hit with an attack is Potent Challenge (Phb 199):

If you hit a foe with an attack granted by your Combat Challenge class feature, add your Constitution modifier to the damage roll

Notice how this feat states "If you hit", calling out specifically that the feature is used when you hit. A Combat Style feat that specifies it's benefit activates on a hit is Hunting Spear Student (Martial Power 2, 116):

When you hit an enemy with a power associated with this feat, that enemy is slowed until the end of your next turn.

Most Combat Style feats use similar wording for similar effects. A Combat Style Feat that uses the same wording as Draji Palatial Practice is Harrowing Swarm Scout (Martial Power 2 116):

When you use a power associated with this feat, you can use your bow or crossbow instead of a thrown weapon.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thank you! How is this not game-breaking? An at-will auto-hit -2 attack penalty to hand out to anyone for a full round seems very strong for a single heroic-tier feat. As a player I like it, but I thought it must have gotten some errata at some point because it seems too good to be true. \$\endgroup\$
    – ichthyophile
    May 13, 2022 at 17:28
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    \$\begingroup\$ @ichthyophile I don't think its game breaking, player characters in 4th edition are incredibly powerful and a -2 to hit penalty on specific powers is the least of what they can do. The powers this feat applies to are at wills from different classes. And none of those at wills are particularly good. This -2 is pretty similar to the penalty provided by a mark, so it's not unprecedented, especially since most marks can apply for free, fighters apply them even if they miss and Paladins don't even have to attack. So, in short I'd say it's an ok feat but it doesn't break anything. \$\endgroup\$
    – Hikari
    May 14, 2022 at 4:04
  • \$\begingroup\$ In a case where a rogue is considering between vanilla Piercing Strike (PH1 p118) and Deft Strike (PH1 p118) with Draji Palatial Practice, the options are taking an attack vs. reflex (say, +2 effective to-hit bonus on average) and risking a miss, or taking a slightly less accurate attack in Deft Strike but 100% guaranteeing that the target will take a -2 to attacks for a round. Is it still better to take Piercing Strike? And similarly, how does Sly Flourish stack up? Is it better to add Cha mod damage (but possibly miss) or hand out a guaranteed -2? (Ignoring the Deft Strike movement perk) \$\endgroup\$
    – ichthyophile
    May 15, 2022 at 14:42

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