How useful is Hero Lab 4E?

[Tashtego]

If I've got access to D&D Insider, how useful is Hero Lab 4E? It simply seems to download the XML off DDI to begin with. Can it read in a standard DDI character file and open it in Hero Lab, or will a DDI character have to be inputted directly into Hero Lab manually? What does everyone here use HL4E for?

[SAbel]

I love HL first off, it is my primary Character builder tracker. As a GM I love the tactical menu which helps with combats and tracking info on characters. HL does need to convert the DDI info and no characters are transfered, you must maintain them yourself. The veristility of HL (with all the systems under one userfriendly interface) it is the premier character system. I have been with Lone Wold since the onset (army builder days) and can highly recomend the product. You can use it on two computers and it is easy to transfer files, (I also transfer the DDI files to my laptop after HL converts them to save time) I take my Laptop with me to cons and can run it at the table for my characters or print them off in the room and have a trusted copy for any of the game systems.
My 2 cents.
Sean

[Colen]

Thanks for the props, SAbel

Hero Lab cannot directly read DDI characters - all we do is support the 4e game mechanics, and allow you to download content from the D&D Compendium. If something is available on the Compendium web site, you can download and use it within Hero Lab.

If you already have a D&D insider account, you can try things out yourself - download the 4e game system for Hero Lab, then run the downloader in the HeroLab\data\4e folder, as directed. After that you'll be able to use Hero Lab to build a character with the full compendium data, and see how you like it.

Hope this helps!