The Grey Guard has just achieved Paragon Tier! In celebration, here’s party stat analysis #3:
The party now consists of:
Bramble, Wilden Protector Shaman (leader)
Caldwell, Human Two-blade Ranger (striker)
Logan, Human Pursuing Avenger (striker)
Cobalt, Human Brawny Rogue (striker)
Gilran, Drow Chaos Sorcerer (striker)
Strontium, Warforged War Wizard (controller)
The only difference here (from 8th level) is that Logan switched (with fictional backing) from Rogue to Avenger.
Of course, now we all have Paragon Paths. Yippee! They are:
Bramble: Scarred Healer
Caldwell: Traveler’s Harlequin
Logan: Zealous Assassin
Cobalt: Daggermaster
Gilran: Arcane Wellspring
Strontium: Master of Flame
Some random notes about our new improved characters:
Bramble’s use of Healing Spirit (her standard leader 2/encounter healing power) will be pretty stellar when used properly. A combo of feats and Paragon abilities combines so that, by my reckoning, if the main target is adjacent to her spirit companion, said target will be able to spend a Surge, get an additional 15 HP, plus 5 temporary HP, AND one other person adjacent to Thicket gets 3d6+5 (surgeless) health, AND everyone else adjacent to Thicket gets 5 temp HP as well. Her Nimble Spirit feat assures that, for a minor action only, her Spirit Companion can be placed anywhere on the map.
Of course, with no defender in the party, we’re going to need all of that healing, and then some!
Caldwell is a crazy skill-check machine. His skills are so good across the board that he cannot fail to assist another, in ANY skill!. That’s largely due to his Disciple of Law feat, which gives him +5 to skill checks when aiding another, and doing so provides a +3 bonus instead of +2. So, in some sense, he gives a +3 bonus to every skill check anyone in the party ever wants to make. (Yes, he might be prohibited for some untrained skills now and then.)
Logan now has a multitude of little conditional damage bonuses:
- +8 damage to an Oath target who has moved away
- +1d6 to a bloodied enemy granting combat advantage
- +1d6 to an enemy he’s hidden from
- +2 when he hits his Oath target with a charge attack
- +5 necrotic/radiant damage the first time he hits his Oath target each turn.
- +3d6 1/encounter with combat advantage (sneak attack)
So, if his Oath target tries to flee, and Logan starts his next turn by charging at it, he’ll do an additional 15 damage to it off the top. His melee basic attack is 1d8+4, so that would actually be 1d8+19 damage. Or he can use Whirlwind Charge 1/encounter, which can be used during a charge, to do at least 2d8+24 damage. Keen.
Cobalt still loves his Knockout/Bloodbath combo. In an ideal turn (and assuming CA) he’ll start with Knockout, then use an Action Point to get Bloodbath (+3 to hit and repeated sneak attack damage due to feats) against the helpless opponent. That’s now: 2d4+9+3d8+6 (knockout) +26+30+2d6 (bloodbath critical) + ongoing 30. On average, that’s 96 points + 30 ongoing, or a minimum of 126 damage. Granted, that’s using two dailies and an Action Point, so it ought to be good! Heck, I could even toss in my Critical Opportunity attack for good measure, doing an additional 3d4+9 damage. Fun!
Gilran, despite being a Sorcerer, has the most HP of anyone in the party, and decent defenses as well. With the Wellspring Paragon Path, he also will have resistance to 2 different damage types every encounter. And he has powers that will sometimes damage anyone who attacks him. He’s a fascinating offense/defense combo, with interesting attack powers.
Strontium is going all in with the fiery boom – because what this party needs is more damage dealing potential! I love it! With his new Enlarge Spell feat, he’ll be an even more devastating Minion Roaster; Scorching Burst becomes an at-will 5x5 square of ouch.
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So, as before, we're offense-heavy and defense-light. No one wears armor heavier than leather.
Our average ability scores are:
STR: 13.50
CON: 14.50
DEX: 17.83
INT: 14.00
WIS: 15.00
CHA: 13.33
DEX is still our best stat, but WIS has gone from one of our worst to our second highest, thanks to Logan’s class switch. The lowest DEX in the party is 13 (Bramble).
Only one character (Caldwell) doesn’t have at least a 20 in one stat. We have three 21’s, and no 22’s, let alone a 23. No one started with a “20” at 1st Level.
Total Skill Points:
Caldwell: 197
Gilran: 190
Strontium: 176
Logan: 173
Bramble: 154
Cobalt: 153
Our best average skill is still Stealth (average +13.50, lowest is a +8)
Second best is still Acrobatics (average +12.50, lowest is a +6)
Our worst average skill is now Diplomacy (average +8.33, highest is a +17. Basically, we should let Gilran do all the talking when possible.
Second worst are Streetwise and Dungeoneering (average +8.50, lowest are +4 and +5, respectively).
Our best individual skills are:
Strontium’s ARCANA (+20)
Cobalt’s STEALTH (+18)
Gilran's BLUFF (+17)
Gilran's DIPLOMACY (+17)
Bramble's NATURE (+17)
Bramble's PERCEPTION (+17)
Logan’s PERCEPTION (+17)
While Caldwell has the most total Skill bonuses, his best skill is only +15. But his WORST skill is +9.
Broken down by skill, with our two best for each:
ACROBATICS: Gilran +16, Cobalt +15
ARCANA: Strontium +20, Bramble +12, Caldwell +12
ATHLETICS: Cobalt +16, Caldwell +14
BLUFF: Gilran +17, Cobalt +12
DIPLOMACY: Gilran +17, Caldwell +9
DUNGEONEERING: Caldwell +11, Logan +10, Bramble +10
ENDURANCE: Cobalt +11, Strontium +11, Gilran +11, Logan +11
HEAL: Bramble +15, Caldwell +13
HISTORY: Strontium +15, Caldwell +12
INSIGHT: Bramble +15, Caldwell +13
INTIMIDATE: Gilran +15, Cobalt +12
NATURE: Bramble +17, Caldwell +13
PERCEPTION: Bramble +17, Logan +17
RELIGION: Strontium +12, Logan +11
STEALTH: Cobalt +18, Logan +16
STREETWISE: Gilran +13, Cobalt +12
THIEVERY: Logan +16, Cobalt +15
Our defenses, presented in various ways:
Our party average defenses are:
AC: 24.00
FORT: 21.33
REF: 23.53
WILL: 23.00
Our AC's range from 22 (Bramble and Strontium) to 26 (Cobalt and Logan)
Our FORTs range from 19 (Strontium) to 23 (Caldwell, Cobalt and Bramble)
Our REFs range from 20 (Bramble) to 28 (Cobalt)
Our WILLs range from 21 (Cobalt and Caldwell) to 27 (Logan)
Total Defense Scores:
Logan: 99
Cobalt: 98
Gilran: 92
Caldwell: 89
Bramble: 88
Strontium: 85
Best Defenses:
Cobalt's REF (28)
Logan's WILL (27)
Cobalt's AC (26)
Logan’s AC (26)
Gilran’s AC (25)
Gilran's WILL (24)
Still no defender, but now both Logan and Cobalt can serve as ad hoc targets, with defenses well above the rest of the group.
Gilran: 25 AC, 20 FORT, 23 REF, 24 WILL
Caldwell: 23 AC, 23 FORT, 22 REF, 21 WILL
Logan: 26 AC, 20 FORT, 26 REF, 27 WILL
Cobalt: 26 AC, 23 FORT, 28 REF, 21 WILL
Strontium: 22 AC, 19 FORT, 22 REF, 22 WILL
Bramble: 22 AC, 23 FORT, 20 REF, 23 WILL
Other assorted stats:
Party Max HP:
Gilran: 88
Logan: 86
Caldwell: 84
Bramble: 82
Cobalt: 75
Strontium: 64
Healing Surges per Day:
Bramble: 12
Gilran: 9
Logan: 8
Strontium: 8
Cobalt: 7
Caldwell: 7
Initiative Modifiers:
Cobalt: +11
Caldwell: +11
Gilran: +10
Logan: +9
Strontium: +9
Bramble: +6
