The Best Class/Build for My Party's Leader?

After getting wiped out with a TPK last session, my group is reconfiguring itself with players taking on different roles. Everyone found his or her niche, and I was left with the role of Leader (one that I was excited to play anyway).

The other players have chosen their class: Paladin/Cavalier (Essentials), Sorcerer, and Wizard (mostly PHB1 with some Essentials powers peppered in).

I'm leaning toward a Valorous Bard, wearing chainmail and wielding a longsword and shield. My thought is that we will need a Leader with some melee combat ability to stand in and protect the squishy Sorcerer and Wizard.

The Bard doesn't seem to suffer from the MAD of the PHB1 Cleric or Warlord and might have slightly better healing capacity than the Essentials Warpriest. (Assuming a 20 Cha, he can restore +5 extra HP with his healing instead of +1d6 - so it averages out more; plus his Song of Rest or whatever it's called adds +5 to all healing surges during a short rest - so it can help save surges.)

Are there others that might be a better fit for the party's configuration? (Assuming an adventure that's a mix of wilderness and dungeon exploration? - actually a conversion of the 3.5e Shattered Gates of Slaughtergard.)

Thanks,
Retreater

If you're not in a rush remember you can use a Healing Spell, wait five minutes, use a... etc., Song of Rest barely helps if you do this (and this is completely intended, in fact there is even a feat that maximizes all healing done this way). So that feature is rarely worthwhile.

Secondly a Bard will never outheal any reasonable Cleric build, and Warpriests are basically just as strong. Bards score something like fifth overall for healing when it comes to being a Leader, Clerics are first (Inspiring Warlords are second).

You do unfortunately sort of need another melee character (unless that is a melee/close Dragon Magic Sorc) or I'd reccomend Killswitch.

Whoops! Browser Settings Incompatible

Hell, I'll recommend Killswitch anyway. You have two Arcane party members.

If not that, your groups perception probably stinks. Shaman or Cleric. Shaman is kind of nice in that it provides both a melee blocker with the spirit and you can stay at range, but tactically they are one of the most difficult leaders to play and build well.

Something melee based would be good.

You have a Wizard and a Sorcerer which are really squishy, and with 4E's abundance of critters on the field I always recommend 2 meat shields - a primary defender and then something else meaty.

Yeah, the bard can handle doing some melee. A STR cleric (or Warpriest if you prefer) will give you the best healing of any melee character though, and they are QUITE tough. In that case go with STR/WIS and leave CHA as your 3rd stat, you can use powers like Healing Strike on top of the basic Healing Word, plus even CLW if you need more healing beyond that.

A good melee Warlord is the third option. They can put out a pretty reasonable amount of healing and still crank out good damage, plus you can do things like Commander's Strike and have the Pally lay into someone (assuming a STR paladin) or go with other powers if good MBAs aren't there. Nobody in our group has run a Warlord yet, so I haven't really memorized the best options in detail.

The Shaman is definitely another interesting option. A bear shaman can end up dropping a pretty nice amount of surgeless healing and the bear is an excellent blocker that can do some modestly good defending. The ability to drop the bear at the most opportune spot on the map whenever you want is pretty nice.

To join in the chorus: You need to be on the battle line. That's more important than exactly how much you heal. (Warpriests are not as good healers as wisdom clerics). But my instincts are heading in another direction entirely: Essentials Druid (or spring, I think). Respectable healing, covering a wide area including your pet (and giving CA to the ranged guys if you go for spring), decent synergy.

Alternatively for the fun option run a Battlefront Leader Bravura Warlord and use Brash Assault. Scale + Large Shield for defence. Brash Assault people in the defender's aura and give the free basic attack to the sorceror... This really is a risky option tho.

I don't honestly think the shaman is going to cut it - post MM3 it's too easy to destroy the spirit companion then run through the hole.

Our team is 2 strikers (thief and slayer), 1 defender (fighter with 27ac) and me as leader.

Here's my Leader that i'm playing right now,
and i can say at level 6 :

-> he kicks ass (one game i had the same DPS has the 2 strikers) with a +13/+14 attack for 2d4+9 high-crit falchion

-> has good defenses (imho) AC: 22 Fort: 20 Reflex: 16 Will: 20 and nice HP at 55

-> heals just fine and has a lot of TEMP hp to give
At-will for 7 temp
2 empowered at-wills for more heals (or 1 if under level 6)
an encounter for another 7 temp (when bloodied) for all allies
the normal 2 encounter heals from the ardent
and i even give more damage or temps with the Warlord multi-class when my allies Action Point

-> as options to help out your teammates (push, temp and debuff atwills, then later on making foes attack each other is so fun)
My dm hates me when i impose a -5 to all defenses to foes in a close burst 1 !

-> as roleplay goodies from the backgrounds
(hellfire heir, crimson curse and from thay (we play in FR) )

And if your team had a Knight, he would gain another +4 dmg to his aura attack since it's an opportunity attack ! (mantle of elation)


At level 6 :

Morthos Kevrani, level 6
Revenant, Ardent
Ardent Mantle: Mantle of Elation
Choose your Race in Life: Tiefling
Background: Crimson Curse, Hellfire Heir, Thay (Learn Supernal)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 10, Con 18, Dex 12, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 18.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 10, Con 15, Dex 10, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 17.


AC: 22 Fort: 20 Reflex: 16 Will: 20
HP: 55 Surges: 11 Surge Value: 13

TRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +7, Athletics +7, Bluff +12, Intimidate +14, Heal +9

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +3, Diplomacy +7, Dungeoneering +4, Endurance +8, History +2, Insight +4, Nature +4, Perception +4, Religion +2, Stealth +3, Streetwise +7, Thievery +3

FEATS
Level 1: Turathi Weapon Training
Level 2: Weapon Expertise (Heavy Blade)
Level 4: Resourceful Leader
Level 6: Hellfire Blood

POWERS
Ardent at-will 1: Demoralizing Strike
Ardent at-will 1: Energizing Strike
Ardent daily 1: Implanted Suggestion
Ardent utility 2: Healing Bond
Ardent at-will 3: Unnerving Shove
Ardent daily 5: Specter of Doubt
Ardent utility 6: Escalating Fury

ITEMS
Manifester Falchion +2, Summoned Finemail +2, Scar of the Dragon's Altar (heroic tier), Distance Sling +1, False Blood Amulet +2



At level 7 -> change unnerving shove for Unhinging Strike
At level 8 -> getting feat "Martyr's Surge" for an extra +d6 on that healing (when bloodied)
- might wanna take that feat before lvl 8 if healing is your primary concern.

Anyway, have fun ! i know i do when i play Morthos !

I don't know if the "Best/Optimized" but I have a Dragonborn Valorous bard and it is a ton of fun to play. One of my favorite tactics is to use cutting words to draw another creature into a close blast 3, then drop my dragon breath and use an action point to use shout of triumph and hit the same blast 3 again.

The bard's infinite multiclassing can let you pick up a few more defending powers (though also requires you to spread the stats around). I went with Combat Awareness plus Melee Training.

Aulirophile said:

Secondly a Bard will never outheal any reasonable Cleric build, and Warpriests are basically just as strong. Bards score something like fifth overall for healing when it comes to being a Leader, Clerics are first (Inspiring Warlords are second).

Click to expand...

Have to disagree with you. My Bard multi-classed Cleric/Ardent/Artificer/Runepriest/Warlord/Paladin definitely heals more and better (at range & as minor actions--multiples of which can be used in a single turn!) than the the party cleric. Hands down.

Rune said:

Have to disagree with you. My Bard multi-classed Cleric/Ardent/Artificer/Runepriest/Warlord/Paladin definitely heals more and better (at range & as minor actions--multiples of which can be used in a single turn!) than the the party cleric. Hands down.

Click to expand...

Uh-huh. I can build a Cleric which can allow a five person party to spend 10+ surges per combat. If you used every single MC heal as a Bard you'd barely be able to match that, for one encounter/day, while paying the steep price of taking some very lackluster feats (and the skill training therefrom is useless, since you can just pick up Bard of All Trades). It isn't some kind of idle speculation on my end, Bards can prevent roughly 228 damage on average either through healing or things like Chord of Resilence (and at that assumes the Summer Rhymer PP, which is hardly optimal in a general sense but does produce the most healing). Clerics double that, even if they aren't Pacifists. And who cares if they can't Healing Word twice in the same turn? They can allow all allies who need it to spend a surge in a close burst 5, more then once if they really think it'll be needed. Unless you have five minor actions, you're just not going to pull that off as a Bard, sorry.

I agree it is possible to build a Cleric that heals worse then a Bard, but that is a poorly built Cleric. Nothing to do with the Bard.

You're welcome to do the math yourself. The only Bard build even remotely comparable to a Cleric is a Tiefling with a Flaming Weapon/Weapon of Summer that abuses Stirring Song of Baator... and it still loses to a Healic.

I say this having played both a Valorous and a Cunning Bard to Epic, and a Pacifist Cleric to Epic. Bards do some things great, but no one competes with Clerics on encounter to encounter healing.

So am I reading correctly that the consensus is a cleric for healing and melee combat abilities?

If I'm going to go cleric, how do I best optimize that class? I know that the PHB1 cleric is woefully underpowered compared to other classes from later sources (primarily due to MAD issues).

Should I forget making a PHB1 cleric and go straight for one of the Essentials builds?

I'm kinda nervous about it. I'm new to 4E and I feel at least partially responsible for the demise of the first party (my defender didn't do his job and everyone died). I'm also new to the group and don't want them to think that I'm dead weight in the party.

Retreater