I am trying to create a 4e Dragonborn Storm Magic Sorcerer (DEX/CHA) and have chosen the Kapak Draconian subrace. I picked up the optional Instinctive Flight racial feature and saw this fun feat:
Draconian Wings
Prerequisite: Bozak or kapak draconian, Instinctive Flight racial feature
Benefit: You ignore the speed penalty for wearing heavy armor, and your altitude limit for Instinctive Flight increases to 2.
Given this race/class combination, is there a way for me to get proficiency with heavy armors outside of the STR13/CON13 Armor Proficiency feats?
I realize that making my character some sort of Hybrid (Warlock or Paladin, for example) and taking the Hybrid armor proficiency would give me some heavy armor proficiency relatively quickly, but this would prevent me from pursuing the other character options I want. (Such as the Storm Magic class features or the Lightning Fury paragon path.)
Best Answer
Draconian Wings feat doesn't actually make you move any faster in heavy armor while flying. All of this is taken from the rules compendium of the WotC DnD subscription, which is up to date.
Speed = Distance you can move with the walk command
Instinctive Flight = Gain "FLY SPEED" 6
Heavy Armor = -1 Penalty to "SPEED"
Flying = Use the walk action, but replace your "SPEED" with your "FLY SPEED"
Heavy armor doesn't effect Fly Speed. Likewise, items and feats that give you a bonus to "Speed" don't effect "Fly Speed."
You have to take feats and items that effect "Fly Speed" or all movement types specifically.
Dragonmark of the Storm (feat), and Butterfly Sandals (item) are two things that specifically effect Fly Speed.
Also read the rules for Altitude Limit. Altitude limit does not effect how high you can fly. It only tells you how high you can be at the end of your turn without falling to the ground, and since Instinctive Flight requires you to land at the end of your turn, Altitude Limit is nearly pointless except for using the crash rules.