D&D 4E 4e Epic MinMax Arena PC help

[fireinthedust]

So I'm going to be in an Arena battle in an RL game: group vs. monsters, then PVP!
before this, I've never done it. I was thinking of doing a Leader, to help the party out. Thing is, I've never done a leader or Epic at all.

So:
1) what are some tips/tricks I need to know?

2) what's a good character to be? Leaders in general, but also other non-striker characters.

3) What are some epic combat concerns?

 

[kerbarian]

What level within epic? 21 can be pretty different from 30. What sources are allowed, and is gear standard for creating a character at that level?

My first thought is to go for a wizard with AoE stuns like Destructive Salutation and Legion's Hold, but the details would vary a lot based on the level and sources allowed.

 

[fireinthedust]

25th level so far, with "60 levels" of magic items; that's not that much, really, not for 25th level PCs.

And he may give "bonus powers" but this was vague.

The DM is a 3e fan, so there's a chance he'll use that style of thinking during the game rather than 4e. This can be a fault but also a weakness to take advantage of for me. He may throw rules out, but I'm going to go RAW and quote them as best I can.

Arena locations will also be a challenge. I don't know what class is really good for that.

 

[DracoSuave]

Archery Ranger with dodge-this utility powers.

That is your answer. Completely negate their initial salvos, while going for the kill.

 

[Turtlejay]

Draco has the right idea. PC's have less hitpoints than NPC's, so a single target striker has the potential to kill a PC outright in the first round. May I suggest Initiative boosting feats as well, so you can get the drop on the toughest target, and AP and do the same to the next-toughest?

In a different vein, you may want to try one of the undying variants on the wizards CO boards. The basic premise is a Revenant that has boosted his death save to such a high point that it is impossible (or nearly so) for him to die. You can also act while at negative HP, and since healing always starts from 0, as long as you have something to heal yourself with, you will be back in the positives, and your enemy will have to deal your Bloodied value in damage to kill you. Not impossible, but difficult.

Jay

 

[Regicide]

In a different vein, you may want to try one of the undying variants on the wizards CO boards. The basic premise is a Revenant that has boosted his death save to such a high point that it is impossible (or nearly so) for him to die. You can also act while at negative HP, and since healing always starts from 0, as long as you have something to heal yourself with, you will be back in the positives, and your enemy will have to deal your Bloodied value in damage to kill you. Not impossible, but difficult.

There is an epic destiny that when you die you come back with the HPs of whatever took you down, hello 3000 HPs, and 750 pt healing surges thank you very much. For acting while negative, warforged can take 10 on death saves so if you combine that with the class that can act fully while negative you're a pretty tough customer.

 

[fireinthedust]

Regicide: what's the Epic Destiny?

DracoSuave: Excellent idea.



What about this: Ultimate Dragonborn. Hybrid Paladin/Sorcerer, Scion of Arkhosia PP, and then some sort of Epic Destiny.

My reasoning is that I want to fly around and avoid foes, and have a really high AC and healing surges. That and a reasonable variety of powers and resistances. I'm not sure, tho, that I'll have all the class powers. In fact, I may only get one or two class powers from either class, as I only get one hybrid talent feat (or something).
So good defences and flight, and healing.

Maybe skip sorcerer? Or paladin?

 

[kerbarian]

Will there be an extended rest between fights (vs. monsters, then PVP)? Or just a short rest? That makes a significant difference in how to plan out dailies. Also, is material from Dragon allowed, or just published rulebooks?

 

[Turtlejay]

It could work. . .but you'd have some weaknesses. Hybrid talent can net you the Pally's Plate armor or the Lay hands, so depending on your Wis modifier you could go either way. I think a lot of the Paladin's usefulness would be wasted in an arena battle, since the mark means nothing if they already *want* to attack you. A lot of the Paladin's secondary is in assisting allies somewhat, something that may not be appealing in that situation.

What about hybrid Sorc/Barb? You can take the barbarian armor as your hybrid feat and have a pretty nice AC, will, and fort. with a dragonborn you can start with 18's in both Str and Cha. You can use a Quarterstaff/Staff as your two handed weapon for Barbarian powers, and as your implement for Sorcerer powers (granted, hybrids don't *need* to do this, but beneficial enchantments exist for the taking in this scenario). Barbarian is nice, since the Rage you use will essentially last this character's entire life.

Scion of Arkhosia is a good flavorful PP, but maybe not the minmax PP you are looking for. In particular, the Overland flight ability will not allow you to hover/attack, and the other ability requires you to land. Sure, you do gain some mobility, which is nice for a character like this, but I'm sure there is something else you could find.

Jay

 

[Nightson]

60 levels of magic items is less then the DMG default which is already weaker then actually playing a character up :/