D&D 4E Conan vs the Swarms of Soldiers.

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Would Conan as a slayer make more sense? Slayers are tough (lots of hit points, lots of healing surges) but use a more mobile combat style and don't wear as much armor. Conan has fought in chainmail, but also in no armor at all. I don't get the impression he marks foes, at least not on a regular basis. The Slayer can take Cleaving Assault as a stance to effectively get what the PH1 fighter gets (so potentially slaying two minions per round if he's not using Action Points).

The Slayer has several powers that can let Conan move as a free action, slide opponents, or even make an opponent "scratch" another opponent (minions are pretty good at killing minions).

I also wonder if Conan, a superlative warrior, would be better described as an elite monster, rather than a PC. He could still be given PC-like powers as abilities, so he could still take Cleaving Assault, and with some sort of double attack (or double actions) could potentially slay three or four minions per round without using Action Points.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Would Conan as a slayer make more sense? Slayers are tough (lots of hit points, lots of healing surges) but use a more mobile combat style and don't wear as much armor. Conan has fought in chainmail, but also in no armor at all. I don't get the impression he marks foes, at least not on a regular basis. The Slayer can take Cleaving Assault as a stance to effectively get what the PH1 fighter gets (so potentially slaying two minions per round if he's not using Action Points).

The Slayer has several powers that can let Conan move as a free action, slide opponents, or even make an opponent "scratch" another opponent (minions are pretty good at killing minions).

I also wonder if Conan, a superlative warrior, would be better described as an elite monster, rather than a PC. He could still be given PC-like powers as abilities, so he could still take Cleaving Assault, and with some sort of double attack (or double actions) could potentially slay three or four minions per round without using Action Points.

I would say ANY NPC is best described as a monster stat block. Once you do that you have complete freedom to invent arbitrary mechanics, and I'd not advise using PC stats for anything except PCs in 4e anyway. The idea of NPC allies that are built like a PC is just not something that is worthwhile as a concept in 4e.

However, if you were building a PC with their concept being basically "pretty much Conan" then the Slayer isn't a terrible way to go. I don't really see any special reason why a Slayer would be better than other fighters as a light armor type though. Dex is a good stat for them, but there are other equally good DEX builds, and a Barbarian would fit this idea as well.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Would Conan as a slayer make more sense? The Slayer can take Cleaving Assault as a stance to effectively get what the PH1 fighter gets (so potentially slaying two minions per round if he's not using Action Points).

At first level there's not much to choose, as far as taking on multiple minions by yourself is concerned. The Fighter version is wasting his mark feature, the Slayer is wasting his damage bonus feature.
But, once the Fighter starts getting Close attack powers (3rd level, IIRC), it gains a clear advantage vs minions.

 

[Garthanos]

Targeting REF seems overpowered to me; in a way, that's combining a Paragon tier feat with a multitarget version of Twin Strike. How about keeping it to AC and have the damage be (rogue's) DEX modifier to secondary target?

This as a fighters ability feels very close ... the damage even feels ballpark.