Characters in action

Iron Sky · Jan 30, 2011

So, I thought it might be interesting to hear people's opinions on various character builds that they've seen in adventures they've been in or, even better, builds you've played. The Peanut Gallery is for interesting in-game stuff, this thread is more for interesting mechanical stuff.

It might provide some helpful experiential advice for anyone who happens to be making a similar build.

So far, of all the builds I've seen, the one that's impressed me the most is Xeterog's battlemind Fredrock. While battleminds have one of the weakest marks(I think Mind Spike has only triggered once in two adventures), the constant DR4 he has is incredible, especially in minion-heavy games. The twice-per-encounter blast 3s don't hurt either.

I only got to see a monk in action briefly in The Rerisen Tower, but his AoE capability, maneuverability, and high defenses impressed me enough to start experimenting with building some of my own(my 3rd character was a toss-up between a monk and a wizard).

The damage renau1g's wizard Ashir can dish out is pretty impressive too, seeing him in action was part of what made me decide to make a wizard for said 3rd character.

As far as my own builds, Dante(link keeps breaking each time I try to link to him) is a spiked-chain beastmaster ranger that was designed around a mix of ranged and melee attacks and punishment for attacking his beast. Aside from being fragile as hell hp and surge-wise(he's run completely out of surges 3 times), it makes for pretty solid, if somewhat boring, damage; like most rangers - mechanically op, in-game repetitive.

Sir Exsixten seemed more effective in my mind than he has been in play, partially due to an 18 primary stat with a +2 proficiency weapon. +6 to hit at level one means alot of misses. As a battlerage vigor fighter, he does generate THP even on a miss, but hitting is important and +6 just hasn't been enough. I'd say +7-8 vs AC or +5-6 vs NAD as a target for 1st level characters.

Last is Phoenix, my pyromancer mage. I don't have much to say about her yet since she's only in her 2nd combat, but she has potential with a +11 damage bonus at level 4. Main downside is that pretty much all my powers deal 1d6(encounters just do it over a larger area) which makes them seem less exciting - even online it's fun to roll a big pile of dice.

Dekana · Jan 30, 2011

I'm very happy with how Jax, my kobold rogue, has been doing in combat. I decided to focus entirely on accuracy over damage, and I think it really paid off. He always has combat advantage (with repeated uses of Shifty or with Clever Strike) and he attacks Reflex (with Piercing Strike). The result is that he generally hits on a 2, which happened twice in the last fight.
His second aspect is the ability for burst damage, which synergizes nicely with the accuracy. His "nova" round right now is:

OOC:

Move: walk into flanking position
Standard: Mocking Strike, w/ sneak attack and the target takes -3 to Jax's attacks for the encounter
AP-Standard: Sly Lunge with +1d6 for not using sneak attack
Minor: Low Slash, w/ sneak attack again (from Slaying Action feat)
Free: Press the Advantage if the target was bloodied

One such combo round from 2 levels ago did 67 damage. I remember another nova round in A Simple Errand against a swordmage that almost dropped him in one round.

On the other hand, Jax has major weaknesses. He needs a melee partner or he is completely crippled (slightly alleviated from Perfect Feint now). He is totally focused on single target damage, so he has no multi-target attacks whatsoever. He has some ranged capability from throwing daggers, but in practice it is mostly limited to the first round when he has combat advantage from First Strike. He also doesn't have much in the way of defenses, which is bad when your dm decides to focus attacks on you (renau1g!!!).

I agree about Fredrock being well built. I wasn't kidding a few posts ago in Beyond the Rerisen Tower when I said he was invincible!
Sir Exsixten is pretty good I think. There's just not much you can do if you consistently roll poorly. I got so frustrated with Jezebel's misses, even though she had a +3 weapon. I think the real problem was that she depended too heavily on the on-hit effect.

renau1g · Jan 30, 2011

Dekana said:
I remember another nova round in A Simple Errand against a swordmage that almost dropped him in one round.
.

I remember this round as well :rant:

I've been very happy with Kane. I've heard a lot about Whirling Barbarians being behind their more charge-happy, giant weapon barbarian counterparts in damage, but I'm not seeing it. At level 2 he put out 141 damage in a single round... barbarians are a lot of fun IMO as their damage is all over the place (http://www.enworld.org/forum/5045747-post297.html). You have massive spikes when you crit as the damage dice are usually large + big dice weapons + Rampage...

He also has some nice durability with Dex secondary, his AC and Fort/Ref is pretty high.

In the brief bits I've seen of him, stonegod's thief in my Night at the Four Season's game (which I am working on the update... just needed a break from it) has been pretty effective at range.

From my DM'ing experience I've seen a lot of Wardens and while they are fairly easy to get away from (at lower heroic anyway) they are next to impossible to kill...

As for my original PC, Murphy Tang aka Siblyx, well...assassin's have been left out to dry when it comes to support. I was planning to retire him at the end of his current adventure, but we'll see what happens with Heroes of Shadow.

Oh, and Ashir's been tons of fun. Wizards/Mages are really great, lots of powers to choose from (except their level 1 encounter...I really don't care for any of them *shrug*) and their dailies last the whole fight, I enjoy them immensely (Flaming Sphere is really great).

dimsdale · Jan 30, 2011

Anyone who want to witness one character create a path of destruction and carnage? I suggest follow Renau1g's bugbear barbarian Kane into battle, especially when he is surrounded by foes. And Kane no longer uses the oversized weapons anymore.

whoops...didn't read all of the post before this one.

Tenchuu · Jan 30, 2011

I will third Renau1g's Kane as being an insane damage dealer, especially in groups of enemies.

I also really like Bard Wil Rando, who plays in the same game as Kane. He has a bunch of great support powers, many interrupt, for the the group, and he hardly ever takes damage because he's in the back line.

renau1g · Jan 30, 2011

Wil's likely the only reason Kane's not 6 feet under by now... thanks [MENTION=73730]johnmeier1[/MENTION]

stonegod · Jan 30, 2011

renau1g said:
In the brief bits I've seen of him, stonegod's thief in my Night at the Four Season's game (which I am working on the update... just needed a break from it) has been pretty effective at range. .

I'm rather impressed with how the Thief is working as well. All of his power work melee as well, but he's designed to be a ~~gun~~crossbow-slinger. He's been pretty fun to sling around.

Still love my warforged warlock Incarnation for the flavor, even if fire damage for non-pryos sucks. He's still pretty decent in a fight, so I'm not complaining.

Xeterog · Jan 30, 2011

I've been surprised by Fredrock's resilience really, and have been enjoying playing him so far. I imagine the DR4 will be less effective as he rises in level--but perhaps other battlemind powers will help out. Knew going in that the battlemind wouldn't have a great mark, and even blurred step hasn't triggered much yet.

I think +6 vs AC is ok for a defender, as hitting isn't the #1 goal (still a goal tho). I have a dwarven fighter in LFR that started with a +5, as my str was only 16 to start and I use an axe...and I've had fun with him and have not felt ineffective at all. It helps a little that I multi-classed into cleric and can act as an emergency leader.