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?
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.