Warden AC Gimped Defender ?

[Istar]

Is the Warden defender a bit gimped as a Defender.

In our other group we have a L8 Fighter (no shield) with 27 AC, and a heavy shield Paladin with 27 AC.

I play a Warden defender (only defender) in the other campaign we have, and he has 22 AC (no shield admitedly).
And not much different AC to rest of party, in fact Monk has a much better AC.

Is the Warden gimped with Hide and not having superior armor, as a defender.
Or he supposed to be more off a spunge, and take it, using more surges and resistances to suck it up ??

 

[Nichwee]

Wardens are designed to be more spoungey imo. They get utilities to get more Second Winds and do significant self-healing, they get perks for using Second Wind, and their forms often give defense bonuses too.

They are built to have a lower basic AC but more ways to recover or boost themselves.

 

[ColoradoGuy]

You're also a little low. At level 8 your AC should be: 10 + 4 (1/2 level) + 5 (CON/WIS mod) + 3 (hide) + 2 (enhancement bonus). That's 24 or 23 if you have only +1 armor.

 

[Nichwee]

You're also a little low. At level 8 your AC should be: 10 + 4 (1/2 level) + 5 (CON/WIS mod) + 3 (hide) + 2 (enhancement bonus). That's 24 or 23 if you have only +1 armor.

I wouldn't expect a +5 in con/wis to be so certain tbh.
Strength is the primary for a Warden, so by Lvl 8 that will be +5 or +6 (probably) but the secondary will be more like +4 unless you went for a 16/16 stat-array AND got a boost to Str and Con/Wis from race.

 

[the Jester]

Wardens tend to be easy to hit but hard to kill IME.

We have one guy whose characters tend to die a lot in my group. Like, there are stretches of four games where he loses 3 pcs, that kind of thing. (It isn't just my game, either; he dies a lot no matter who is running, because he tends to make incredibly bad decisions an awful lot.)

He played a warden forever. Like, from about 6th to about 15th level before he finally died.

 

[Ferghis]

Is the Warden gimped with Hide and not having superior armor, as a defender.
Or he supposed to be more off a spunge, and take it, using more surges and resistances to suck it up ??

The warden doesn't have the highest AC (but has a lot of HP and surges), but your AC is a bit low, as was pointed out above. Consider picking up a heavy shield and, if your secondary ability score is less than 18 at level 8, consider asking the DM if you can reapportion some of your ability scores to shore up your AC. You don't have to take it all the way to 20, but you should have an 18 in it, since it defines both your AC and one of your other defenses. That should get you up to AC 24.

Unrelated: Superior Will is your friend. My paragon level Warden was going towards all three of the superior defense feats.

 

[gideonpepys]

I would say a shield is a must: you're not a damage-dealer, but you are an incredibly effective tank.

The warden in our old campaign was nicknamed 'Captain Planet' by the rest of the party, because of the amount of damage he could take, and just keep going.

 

[renau1g]

Unrelated: Superior Will is your friend. My paragon level Warden was going towards all three of the superior defense feats.

This. Wardens should take this as Will tends to be the lowest defense and Daze/Stun is very bad for enforcing your mark.

 

[Istar]

Very good stuff guys.
And something to go back to the group with.
But yes he does seemt to obsorb a lot, especially as Goliath, and seems to last half way through the encounter before needing help from the cleric.

Whereas the other group with fighter and paladin are often crying like babies for healing very early.

My Warden is guilty of strikerish tendencies though, with Polearm and better wisdom to take Polearm Gamble at L11.

Hence no shield, and a slightly gimped con.

 

[Ferghis]

My Warden is guilty of strikerish tendencies though, with Polearm and better wisdom to take Polearm Gamble at L11.

Polerarm gamble is excellent close-quarter control (which is what defenders do), but won't you be keeping the targets out of your mark range, if you do that?