Deciding what to stick with for long term games

[renau1g]

This is part of the reason i'm most interested in discussing this from a 4e angle. The roles work against me.

I don't see wanting to be a jack of all trades and a thoroughly well rounded warrior as overpowered. I'm not asking to do everything for the party, just be less dependent on other party members.

An easy one is Archer Ranger, they really don't need anyone to do what they do best, lots of damage. That said I, personally, get damn tired of twin strike every time. You could MC cleric if you are an elf to get access to some healing on yourself.

Avoid Rogue and controllers as both really heavily focus on others. Battlerager fighter is awesome for their pseudo-healing (aka Temp hp's). Melee Cleric might be decent too, moderately decent powers, lots of healing as well.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

An easy one is Archer Ranger, they really don't need anyone to do what they do best, lots of damage.

The Archer Ranger does very well on damage and physical skills, and on nukage if built right, but only average on hit-rate unless using a superior crossbow, and poorly on healing and "not sitting in the back ranks". Survivability is good if the character sits in the back ranks but otherwise is pretty bad.

 

[Ahrimon]

Battlerager fighter weilding an executioner axe or mordenkrad would probably fit your idea. High damage and excellent survivability. For races I'd recomend goliath, warforged or dwarf off the top of my head.

 

[Riastlin]

I would have to tinker with it a bit to know for sure, but a Bard should be able to meet a lot of your needs. They have survivability thanks to their healing, attack both from range and melee (range in both weapon and spell formats), can get decent armor as well as a small shield, and can MC like crazy opening up all kinds of options for additional powers/feats/paths/etc.

That being said, I agree with the above sentiment of avoiding some gimmick or combo -- particularly if said combo takes until late levels to really go off. Rather, start with a base class and idea that you are comfortable with and let the character grow from there. This is one nice thing about the bard as the MCing opens up all kinds of options plus its pretty easy to take a mix of powers (a bard need not be all ranged or all melee, its pretty easy to switch in and out -- particularly with a songblade for instance). Plus, Bards can stick a knife in your back, twist it around a few times, and then make you think it was your idea.

 

[igniz13]

Bard and Battlerager are interesting choices, not a huge fan of the Battlerager but it's worth looking at.

As for the Bard, I do like them, can't stand their musical flavour so have to think of ways to reflavour them. Which i've done, but it's very annoying when people look at your bard and expect you to sing.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

The problem I have with Bard, viz the OP's list of requirements, is the difficulty in doing substantial damage and especially in doing "nukage" (by which I assume "nova round damage" is meant). The Warlord I suggested at least has a number of powers with high damage dice, but even then it's one of the weaker points of the build.

 

[igniz13]

By Nukeage I meant AOE damage. Not necessarily Control, just a way to level the playing field.

At the moment, i'm considering the rather odd combination of Swordmage|Shaman for the 4e living world as it'd give me a wide range of control, healing and defence, among other options.

I keep coming back to that Nukage option though, I want that button that says goodbye to a good chunk of the map as much as anything. That super desperation attack which might even the odds a bit.

The relative simplicty of a battle rager is interesting though and I think the Bard would have good potential if it had more AOE.

Maybe if I combined the two...