D&D 4th Edition RulesAsk questions about 4th-Edition rules and the like in here. General discussion about 4E or any other game belongs in General RPG Discussion, above.
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ITEMS
Spellbook, Adventurer's Kit, Quarterstaff, Simbul's Conversion, Comprehend Languages, Tenser's Floating Disk, Leather Armor
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast DDI Character Builder ======
This character can take it, but can't dish it in a fight. At Level 2 take Melee Training to even that up. If you're playing Forgotten Realms, come from Thay for another 4hp too.
This is one of my favourite wizard builds. It could probably be min-maxed further if you wanted too, but I think this build is playable without guilt.
Yeah, what Statues-Making-Out said! How would you build a front-rank Staff Wizard?
First off, be Human. The +1 to FRW and extra Feat are both vital, and you'll like having Thunderwave plus two other options. You'll want to qualify for Hide armor around 4th level.
Specifically in my case, through Heroic:
Str: 13
Con: 13 (+1 at 4th level)
Dex: 13
Int: 18 (16 +2 racial) (+1 at 4th level, +1 at 8th level)
Wis: 13 (+1 at 8th level)
Cha: 9
By 6th level, you've got THREE ways per encounter to say "no" to an attack: Defensive Staff (at +2 Con, it's useful to me almost every combat), Shield (+4, but only Reflex and AC -- but you're on the front lines, so lots of stuff will be attacking AC), and finally Wizard's Escape, which is the first Wizard spell to allow you to cancel an attacker's crit.
With your Int bonus, Hide armor, and the +1 from your staff, you may have the highest AC in the party. You will certainly be hard for enemies to hit, particularly if there's a Defender around to discourage them from focusing fire on you.
The Barbarian multi-classing is partly for teh funny, but mostly because +2 damage for the whole encounter is great when you are making lots of attacks.
The Defensive Staff (AdV) is very worthwhile for this character.
- - -
I'd recommend a mix of up-close and ranged attacks, so you can punish foes for clumping up around you, or for hanging back and staying spread out.
When he hits Paragon, he's going to retrain Magic Missile -> Scorching Burst, and take Arcane Admixture (Thunder) so his Scorching Burst is a Fire and Thunder attack. Then he's going to take Rolling Thunder and Enlarge Spell. Burst 3 at-will? Yes please.
- - -
What's up with his lame "13 everywhere" stat distribution? Well, originally he'd utterly neglected Dexterity and only mildly neglected Charisma, but then Arcane Power came out and apparently you need a 13 Dex for Improved Staff of Defense (which he wants), AND you need 15 Dex for Wizard Implement Mastery (which he really wants). So yeah. I went back and re-munched him specifically for his Epic tier feat selection.
On the upside, it means he might take Shield Specialization instead of Hide Specialization, which buys him another +1 Reflex instead of a +1 bonus to a bunch of skills he holds in low regard. Also, he'll qualify for Arcane Reach at Epic, which his allies may appreciate... he's not been shy about including them in his area effects, because hey, Fighters are tough.
My dude frequently makes it through a combat without ever seeing Bloodied, and he's been the last man standing in a very tough fight or two.
Cheers, -- N
__________________
Brevity is the soul of wit, so trim your sig or look dumb.
Yeah, what Statues-Making-Out said! How would you build a front-rank Staff Wizard?
My own Character, also a 'Front-line Wizard'.
I might have made a mistake retraining Thoughness into Implement Expertise: Staff. I'm definitely retraining Wall of Fog into Wizard's Escape ASAP
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&DI Character Builder ======
Bellario Falcrist, level 9
Doppelganger, Wizard
Build: War Wizard
Arcane Implement Mastery: Staff of Defense
Background: Occupation - Scholar
FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 16, Dex 13, Int 20, Wis 14, Cha 12.
Starting Ability Scores
Str 8, Con 15, Dex 13, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 10.
POWERS
1, At-Will: Illusory Ambush
1, At-Will: Thunderwave
1, Encounter: Grasping Shadows
1, Daily: Sleep
Spellbook: Flaming Sphere
2, Utility: Shield
Spellbook: Expeditious Retreat
3, Encounter: Color Spray
5, Daily: Stinking Cloud
Spellbook: Bigby's Icy Grasp
6, Utility: Dimension Door
Spellbook: Wall of Fog
7, Encounter: Lightning Bolt
9, Daily: Wall of Fire
Spellbook: Summon Arrowhawk
ITEMS
Spellbook, Magic Leather Armor +2, Staff of the War Mage +2, Cloak of Survival +2, Helm of Battle (heroic tier)
RITUALS
Tenser's Floating Disk, Comprehend Language, Secret Page, Linked Portal, Phantom Steed, Leomund's Secret Chest, Magic Circle, Knock, Arcane Lock
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&DI Character Builder ======
__________________ "You know that a conjurer gets no credit once he has explained his trick; and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all" - Sherlock Holmes to Watson
My game currently has basically an all arcane party - Swordmage, Bard, Wizard, Sorcerer and a decidedly not arcane Barbarian.
Its worked out very well so far, and it's a little weird having every single one of them having such a good Arcana check.
The barbarian could be thaneborn and multi into sorcerer. That's funny by the way, just take implement proficiency and use your fullblade to cast spells.
I haven't read arcane powers yet, but a lot of what I'm seeing seems unbalanced. Giving anyone a burst 3 at will with both fire and thunder keywords seems too nice. I like that they are fleshing things out but I hope they dont go too far.
__________________ Whatever you read in my post, I actually do like 4e
All my questions are for 4e unless otherwise stated.
"A true slacker needs no excuse to slack" - Evan G.
Do Melee Training and Longsword Proficiency do anything really worthwhile or is it more of a concept thing? You did mention charges, but in most other cases, it seems Thunderwave would work at least as well.
Where is Rolling Thunder from, and what does it do?
Do Melee Training and Longsword Proficiency do anything really worthwhile or is it more of a concept thing? You did mention charges, but in most other cases, it seems Thunderwave would work at least as well.
Melee Training: my OAs actually matter! This is nice when I'm flanking. And Charge is really useful when something is next to an ally and I can Charge + flank (and when it has a high Will defense, so +3 vs AC is actually better than any of my other attacks would have been).
Longsword Prof. is bloody useless, but I need it for Spiral Tower. (Not the strongest PrC PP out there, but it suits my dude's playstyle quite well, and I want to see what using a shield buys me.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by jasin
Where is Rolling Thunder from, and what does it do?
Sorry, I meant Resounding Thunder, from the PHB. It just allows you to make any Thunder keyword blast or burst bigger by one.
Cheers, -- N
__________________
Brevity is the soul of wit, so trim your sig or look dumb.
The Captain - Human Bard (Valorous); chainmail, longsword, longbow. Takes a mix of melee and ranged powers. Less of a tra-la-la bard and more of an arcane diplomat.
But doesn't Con and Wis help with Staff of Defense and rider effects? And Con related directly to Summoning, no?
You don't get rider effects when you miss (except maybe counting Cloud of Daggers).
It's nice to have a high secondary ability score (like a Deva). But unless you can hit when you need it (like an Elf can do once per encounter), it's not worth the lower attack bonus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Klaus
Plus Blade Initiate + Dwarven Weapon Training = Kopesh implement with +2 bonus.
Eladrin get the same thing, but have a better benefit, and with a better weapon, and without the -1 to all attack rolls forever.
If you want to do damage, be a Genasi with a high Strength, and take the Arcane Power feat that lets you add your Strength to all Arcane spell attacks.
Cheers, -- N
__________________
Brevity is the soul of wit, so trim your sig or look dumb.
One of my current groups is also an almost all arcane group.
We have:
Human Vestige-Pact Warlock
Human Illusionist Wizard
Human Guardian Druid
Half-elf Valorous Druid
Deva Defender Swordmage
We are basing it out of the White Lotus Academy and have played through one session so far. The control on this group is pretty incredible, since the Swordmage is essentially a secondary controller (lots of area effects and lock down effects.) Despite how many hit points the group has, they seem strangely fragile. We have only been through two combats so far, but it will be interesting to see how they handle encounters.
__________________ Jesse Dean
-----------------------------------------------
Human Male Smart Hero 3
Str: 10 Dex: 9 Con: 12 Int: 14 Wis: 13 Cha: 11
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