Help me build a warpriest.

Skipping a lot of story from the 5e forums, I'm about to join another 4e group. Since the last healer in our group was awful, I'm going to be playing a cleric this round. I want to be a halfling warpriest, but I'd like a little help on building him to be optimal. I'm going to have to look over the rules again to see how my at-will powers and whatnot work, but here are my tentative stats thus far (22 PB, post racial modifiers):

STR: 9
CON: 15
DEX: 16
INT: 10
WIS: 18
CHA: 10

My only fear is that halflings are going to be bad in this role because they're small-sized and 4e is not kind to small critters. That at-will I'm going to grab is a normal Wis vs. AC attack, but it grants me or an ally within 5 squares my Con bonus as resistance against everything. (The PB calculator I'm using says I can't have more than one ability score below 10, which is a bummer or else I'd bump that Con up one more point.)

I'm not sure what feat I should take, however. It looks like a mace is my best option for attack and damage, but I have no powers that will let me push an opponent. I'm considering Melee Training to use Wisdom instead of Strength for my basic attacks (might as well hit with an attack of opportunity once in awhile), but there's that Weapon Master feat or whatever that gives a +1 bonus on all weapon attack rolls that looks useful. Likewise, Improved Defense gives a +1 to my NADs, which would also be nice.

What are your suggestions?

B.T. said:

Skipping a lot of story from the 5e forums, I'm about to join another 4e group. Since the last healer in our group was awful, I'm going to be playing a cleric this round. I want to be a halfling warpriest, but I'd like a little help on building him to be optimal. I'm going to have to look over the rules again to see how my at-will powers and whatnot work, but here are my tentative stats thus far (22 PB, post racial modifiers):

STR: 9
CON: 15
DEX: 16
INT: 10
WIS: 18
CHA: 10

My only fear is that halflings are going to be bad in this role because they're small-sized and 4e is not kind to small critters. That at-will I'm going to grab is a normal Wis vs. AC attack, but it grants me or an ally within 5 squares my Con bonus as resistance against everything. (The PB calculator I'm using says I can't have more than one ability score below 10, which is a bummer or else I'd bump that Con up one more point.)

I'm not sure what feat I should take, however. It looks like a mace is my best option for attack and damage, but I have no powers that will let me push an opponent. I'm considering Melee Training to use Wisdom instead of Strength for my basic attacks (might as well hit with an attack of opportunity once in awhile), but there's that Weapon Master feat or whatever that gives a +1 bonus on all weapon attack rolls that looks useful. Likewise, Improved Defense gives a +1 to my NADs, which would also be nice.

What are your suggestions?

Click to expand...

There are two questions I'd ask, why a halfling, and is this a long term game or a one off?

You are paying premium prices for that 18 in Wisdom with a halfling because he does not get a racial bonus to WIS. If this is a long term campaign I might suggest lowering that to 17 which you can use to get a bigger bonus to CON if you want it.

I would not recommend the mace as a weapon. Since a halfling is a small creature you will have to use it two-handed making it impossible for you to use a shield. Go for the Light Mace, or a Club. The loss of, on average, one point of damage is easily compensated by the bonus to AC and Reflex from a shield.

You can drop STR to an 8 instead of a 9 (both are a -1 anyway) to get you one more point, since you are going to play a cleric you will want to have armor and shield so I would recommend lowering DEX also.

If I was looking for a long term campaign my stats would probably look like this:

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

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

At 4th level increase WIS and CON and you would have a +4 to both. But a lot of this planning depends on what the purpose of the maximizing is designed to do. If I'm maximizing for the long run I usually spread my bonuses around more so I'm more versatile. If it's for a one-shot then maximize the crap out of what you want to do, even if it costs more to get that 18.

But if your purpose is to maximize with a warpriest I wouldn't use a halfling to begin with. A dwarf, and elf, a goliath or a human would probably be better suited to what you'd want if the purpose was simple maximization.

Based on the "lowered" WIS score you might want to pick one of the many varied "expertise" feats such as Master-At-Arms. However, as a halfling maybe a racial feat, like a penalty to attacks when you use your second chance racial power would be more "interesting" (Halfling Agility). Or one that gives you a +2 bonus to AC when next to 2+ larger enemies (Lost in the Crowd). When attacking make sure that you flank to get that +2 bonus to compensate. Unfortunately a lot your powers are against AC. If you can hit NADs instead, then you have an advantage.

Accuracy will be more important than damage potential. If you can't hit, you'll do no damage. So maximize for accuracy when possible.

As a warpriest you have access to either the cleric daily powers list or the warpriest list. Gauge carefully which one you decide on. Beacon of Hope is fantastic but you have to be healing, which you might not do regularly. There are many factors to consider when deciding. My recommendation would be for Nimbus of Holy Shielding, or Levy of Judgement and play to the strengths of the warpriest. Levy does more damage but it also allows someone else to reroll a failed attack, which might be helpful to a striker with bonus damage. Nimbus protects all your allies. Read each power and determine how often you think you'll find you party in an advantageous situation to use it.

Here's a quick copy of a halfling warpriest that I would use:
level 1
Halfling, Warpriest

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

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

AC: 18 Fort: 14 Reflex: 14 Will: 14
HP: 29 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 7

TRAINED SKILLS
Religion +5, Diplomacy +5, Heal +8, Insight +8

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +1, Arcana, Bluff, Dungeoneering +3, Endurance, History, Intimidate, Nature +3, Perception +3, Stealth -1, Streetwise, Thievery +1, Athletics -4

FEATS
Level 1: Halfling Agility

POWERS
Warpriest daily 1: Nimbus of Holy Shielding

ITEMS
Chainmail, Adventurer's Kit, Heavy Shield, Hand Crossbow, Light Mace


Hope that helps.

Halfling Warpriest? Hmmmmm......

How melee-centric do you want to be? Do you want to stick to the defender for cover or help form the line? I'd take Battle Cleric's Lore as your class feature over Healer's Lore to get in to Scale w/ the +2 shield bonus at least. With your power selection you'll have plenty of ways to heal allies.

Weapon choice is a bit tougher. I'm not a big fan of buying a pre-racial 18 because the opportunity cost is so high, but in order to avoid that cost with a Halfling non-fighter I'd generally like a +3 proficiency weapon. Expertise becomes an early necessity of you go with a sub-18 and +2 weapon. If I have time I'll draw something up tonight.

Thanks for the advice. I mistakenly believed that halflings got +2 Dex and +2 Wis /+2 Cha, not +2 Cha / +2 Con. Very disappointing. I might have to reconsider.

Sun Warpriests are bad*sses. Heck; pretty much most Warpriests are. I think you'll have a blast with one.

Have you considered dwarves? Dwarves are the best warpriests, just as they are the best everything else. Or humans. I mean, humans are basically the best at everything dwarves aren't the best at.

-O

Hmm... If you're keen on being a small character, the obvious priest is a snarfbelin - or however you spell "deep gnome" properly. As far as I know they are the only small race with a wis bonus. (Not that you actually need a wis bonus but it helps). Whatever you pick, you can wear chain armour and a large shield for a default AC of 18 (and a nasty armour check penalty for athletics). So you're in the battle line.

Nine domains published so far - of which four belong to Realms gods (and are in Neverwinter) and two are evil. Sun's the healiest of the domains, and a good one.

Weapons - honestly for a little guy you can't do much better than a dagger if you're on simple weapons. You've picked probably the best weapon for a medium warpriest - but there isn't much in it.

Feats: The two feats I'd prioritise are Expertise - in your case Devout Protector Expertise (+1 to all attacks and you shield everyone else) and a multiclass feat for an extra trained skill and a useful bonus that's itself worth a feat. Improved Defences is low priority until late heroic - you get hit far more against AC. Other priorities depend on your class - if you're a dwarf you can't beat Dwarven Weapon Training for +2 damage and a very big one handed axe or hammer. And Shielding Word (+2 to all defences for your Holy Word target) is just useful. Melee training is very DM-centric - IME most DMs don't provoke much.

The Sun Domain priest is not only a first rate healer, it's probably the best save granter in the game - which is an effect your group might not notice but an experienced DM will. Saving throws can prevent an awful lot of badness taking effect but you might not notice how pivotal this is against the right monsters, and it may be irrelevant.

As for your powers, Sun Domain is a choice with a standard and a situational at will. If you ever don't know what to do, call for a Blessing of Battle except against undead as it's your only non-radiant attack. Brand of the Sun if someone needs it - you'll know when. Brand of the Sun is also good against undead - it's radiant, and most are vulnerable. So it comes on the list to hit undead with after your smite.

Sun Burst is an interesting encounter power - it doesn't do much damage but is best either used early to give everyone a handful of temps or late when status effects are flying if there are enemy spellcasters on the field.

Resurgent Sun is healing. And more damage. Should be obvious when to use it - sometime you get the effect of both.

Play's basically simple. You're reactive more than proactive (although should always train perception when you can - a way to decide your multiclass feat), and are the party's answer to things the monsters do. They hurt your allies, you heal. They trap them, you grant saving throws. Your ally goes down? He only fails death saves on a 7, and stands back up again on an 18. They try to ambush you? You have high wisdom, insight, and perception. You see them coming.

Serious badass but not my favourite style to play. I'm much more a fan of opening the game up with more active abilities, or even shutting it down with layered control than I am of simply neutralising things, Makes for more excitement.
[MENTION=78357]Herschel[/MENTION], this is warpriest not PHB cleric. You don't get healer's lore.

Update: Halfling warpriest is a go. Stats aren't what they could be--DM used a standard array or something instead of point buy--but I've got a 16 Wis / Con, and I can hit fairly often.

First of all, Blessing of Battle is amazing. DR 3/-- (or resistance 3 or whatever) is really useful, especially when the group bandits are intent on stabbing one person repeatedly. My healing abilities are also great, what with the healing surge + 1d6 + 2 damage healed. I'm also going to get an encounter power that does 2[W] + Wis and lets someone spend a healing surge (I think). I haven't had to use my saving throw ability yet.

Overall, my character is good at being defensive, and there's the rub. My character does really well with keeping people alive so far, but he's not so hot in the damage department. While I'm playing a leader class, I'd also like to hit a little harder if possible (even sacrificing my defense if necessary since I can heal errything).

Right now, I'm trying to figure out what feats to take. I'm considering take Weapon Proficiency (Rapier) because it will be a +3 / 1d8 vs. my current +2 / 1d6 damage. I could also go Weapon Proficiency (Scimitar) with +2 / 1d8 and high crit. I was even thinking of going craghammer (if that even works), which is +2 / 1d10, brutal 2.

One thing that is disappointing about the warpriest thus far is that most of the powers don't offer a bonus on attack / damage rolls, and I didn't see any that offer free attacks (something that would be great because we have a hexblade in the party who does good MBAs).

What are some suggested methods of optimization? Feats, powers (preferably Wisdom or Constitution based), etc.

B.T. said:

Overall, my character is good at being defensive, and there's the rub. My character does really well with keeping people alive so far, but he's not so hot in the damage department. While I'm playing a leader class, I'd also like to hit a little harder if possible (even sacrificing my defense if necessary since I can heal errything).
...
One thing that is disappointing about the warpriest thus far is that most of the powers don't offer a bonus on attack / damage rolls, and I didn't see any that offer free attacks (something that would be great because we have a hexblade in the party who does good MBAs).

Click to expand...

This, I'm afraid, is the Sun domain all over. It's the second strongest defensive/healing subclass in the game (behind only the PHB1 wisdom cleric taking pacifist options) and is almost pure defence. The two leaders that hand out basic attacks like candy are the warlord and the shaman (and the bard (including the skald) can get in on the action). If you look at HoFL and the Warpriest, there are two domains; Storm's the offensive one and Sun the defensive.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out what feats to take. I'm considering take Weapon Proficiency (Rapier) because it will be a +3 / 1d8 vs. my current +2 / 1d6 damage. I could also go Weapon Proficiency (Scimitar) with +2 / 1d8 and high crit. I was even thinking of going craghammer (if that even works), which is +2 / 1d10, brutal 2.

Click to expand...

You'd have to wield a craghammer as a two handed weapon - and if going down that path I'd suggest the Bastard Sword (+3/d10) as with a wis of 16 you're already going to struggle to hit sometimes.

What are some suggested methods of optimization? Feats, powers (preferably Wisdom or Constitution based), etc.

Click to expand...

I'd stick with the shortsword for now. For spike damage you want a multiclass feat - most of them give about 2d6 potential extra damage per fight that you can use early when it is most needed (if you're wielding a light blade you could do a lot worse than the thief multiclass feat for a 2d6 sneak attack and an extra skill).

Neonchameleon said:

You'd have to wield a craghammer as a two handed weapon - and if going down that path I'd suggest the Bastard Sword (+3/d10) as with a wis of 16 you're already going to struggle to hit sometimes.

Click to expand...

This is excellent advice.