Heroic Tier 5th man builds?

[twsstastic]

I finally get to be the 5th man! Been playing this game forever and was hoping the CharOp greats could make some recommendations (not asking BUILD MY CHARACTER) on characters that do something a little less obvious...like the dizzying mace invokers, the old Netizards, the Switches.. Probably won't hit paragon so if the build is about blowing its load in heroic that's super good lol. Thanks, just wanted to pick your brains since you guys rock

 

[Zathris]

Can we get some info on the rest of the party? Just as often as 5th man can be "whatever because everything else is covered" it can be a "there's a glaring hole that really needs covered". Don't want to suggest something like a rebreather if there's already Str and Cha covered and the party is fairly unoptimized...

 

[wasteomana]

More info please.

For me I had a lot of fun playing a skill monkey rogue (MC Bard, Bard of All Trades, PP Jack of All Trades, Sensate Theme etc etc). That would make a decent 5th man. I also had a blast playing a defender enabler as a Ranger|Cleric/Fighter with a defender who had a very strong mark punishment and we could double up on punishments and/or set up strong catch-22 situations.

 

[Herobizkit]

Aside: 5 is the 'standard' party size in 4e; 4e parties are measured by roles rather than classes, ergo there is no '5th man' as described in other editions.

Maximizing Insight is fun for DM's who like to run that kind of stuff - Languages (race, feat, background - however you get 'em, the more the merrier) + Traveler's Insight Feat means your Passive Insight gets pretty high at low level.

Don't underestimate Ritual Casting - if your DM does, you might be out of luck with this route, but can make an instant "gotta catch 'em all" quest like in the olden Wizard days.

 

[twsstastic]

Ah yes. Party comp. To my knowledge, we have a human Ranged Ranger (with that whole sacrifice quarry to trip or something feat setup), a Chaladin, a Shaman but I don't know the build, and a Tome of Readiness Arcanist. Starting at level 2. Getting Expertise for free.

Oh yeah, and we run at least basically optimized characters. Generally at least "dark blue" options on people.

 

[twsstastic]

Aside: 5 is the 'standard' party size in 4e; 4e parties are measured by roles rather than classes, ergo there is no '5th man' as described in other editions.

Maximizing Insight is fun for DM's who like to run that kind of stuff - Languages (race, feat, background - however you get 'em, the more the merrier) + Traveler's Insight Feat means your Passive Insight gets pretty high at low level.

Don't underestimate Ritual Casting - if your DM does, you might be out of luck with this route, but can make an instant "gotta catch 'em all" quest like in the olden Wizard days.

my last character ended whole plot threads with rituals, i was the MASTER . I was gonna live vicariously through the Arcanist for that part this time. Being the "5th man" in 4e just lets you play around a bit more, like fun hybrids that can augment existing roles or how the Sentinel can WORK, it's just a shame about that encounter power.

 

[Herobizkit]

Based on that set-up, a second Striker seems to be the most called for - a get up in your face kind. Hopefully your team is keen on keeping the squishy Striker out of trouble while the Defender ... erm, defends.

Before I continue, I'm extremely partial to E-Classes. If your DM does not allow them, most of this advice will be wasted. :3

That said, if you don't want to be squishy, it's hard to argue with a hybrid Revenant Vampire/x.

* Revenant lets you stay conscious when you hit 0 and you can never really die except throug Massive Damage.
* Hybrid Vampire gives you practically all the benefits of the Vampire 'class' without most of its weaknesses. You may lose most of your Healing Surges, but you could build around that.

The Executioner e-Assassin hits harder; the standard Assassin is more about evasion and snazzy effects over raw damage. If you slap on a Divine class to that [x], you can feat out of being weak to sunlight via Divine Vampire. Avenger is also a lack-lustre Striker that favors accuracy over damage, but you could make a plausible Critfisher out of him.

I generally build to flavor over efficiency, so I can't really speak to 'neat tricks' as much as a CharOp might.

 

[MwaO]

Heroic Tier generally doesn't start to do lots of strange things until about 7th or so - that's when that 2nd powerful encounter power kicks in and you can do something weird.

I'd look to Hybrid Warlord|Striker or Controller - your party could use a little extra initiative. Multiple controllers tend to work very well together especially if you can push targets into nice-sized bursts for the tome mage. Or a second striker to take targets down quickly.

 

[twsstastic]

Heroic Tier generally doesn't start to do lots of strange things until about 7th or so - that's when that 2nd powerful encounter power kicks in and you can do something weird.

I'd look to Hybrid Warlord|Striker or Controller - your party could use a little extra initiative. Multiple controllers tend to work very well together especially if you can push targets into nice-sized bursts for the tome mage. Or a second striker to take targets down quickly.

Yeah I've played Killswitch and loved it. Was hoping someone might know some heroic shenanigans but dang, doesn't seem that likely.

 

[Zathris]

Ah yes. Party comp. To my knowledge, we have a human Ranged Ranger (with that whole sacrifice quarry to trip or something feat setup), a Chaladin, a Shaman but I don't know the build, and a Tome of Readiness Arcanist. Starting at level 2. Getting Expertise for free.

Oh yeah, and we run at least basically optimized characters. Generally at least "dark blue" options on people.

Dex/Wis, Cha/Wis, Wis/Int (probably), Int. Pretty distinct lack of Str, pretty distinct lack of MBA in a party with an enabler. Pretty distinct lack of Melee and strong IA punishment.

This looks like a job for Ranger|Cleric with a Spiked Chain!

Could also go with a Vigilante Style Rogue using Riposte Strike.

Also lacking Con, but there's really only 1 Con class worth playing in Heroic and "Spam Hellish Rebuke" isn't fun. Str/Con builds tend to be rather specific (Dwarf/Mul Fighter or Warden) because of that killing your Init, Ref, and Will.