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General Tabletop Discussion
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
4e, Non-Martial Characters, and Limited Feat Choices
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<blockquote data-quote="Cadfan" data-source="post: 4268739" data-attributes="member: 40961"><p>Hmm. I agree that its a bit tough to fill your character's heroic tier feat slots with awesome choices. Eventually you run out of combat relevant feats, and start looking at Skill Focus and Improved Initiative.</p><p></p><p>That being said, I think you are overly dismissive of a few different feats. Plus, you seem to have created your character without keeping an eye on feat prerequisites. Feats are a part of your character, and if you want your character to accomplish something with feats, you need to make sure that you meet the prereqs.</p><p></p><p>So... if what you want your character to do is to go into melee reach of enemies, you could have a 13 strength. Then you can pick up light shields and scale armor. This gives you a net of +2 ac, +1 reflex, and improves your physical skills across the board by removing your skill penalty. Remember that your ranged at will powers have a range of 5. Chances are that you'll end up in melee whether you like it or not.</p><p></p><p>If you instead want your character to stand back and use ranged spells, you basically want a dex of at least 13, so that you can pick up Astral Fire. This also lets you go another route for when you can't stay out of melee- you can pick up two weapon fighting and two weapon defense. For another two feats, you can get +1 damage, +1 ac, and +1 reflex. This might be a better choice for your character.</p><p></p><p>Whether you take either of the above options, there are other feats you should consider, or reconsider.</p><p></p><p>Improved Initiative can be useful if you intend to spend your powers on buffs with a duration of "one encounter." Consider the level 2 utility that gives your allies +2 ac for the rest of the encounter. Its best to pop that right away. That's just one example, there are plenty more.</p><p></p><p>Toughness has a "hidden" benefit- increasing your hit points increases the hp you get back per surge. This makes your surges more efficient, allowing you to use fewer healing spells on yourself, and more on your allies. Its not a huge bonus at heroic tier, but its there and it grows.</p><p></p><p>Defensive Mobility helps if you get stuck in melee reach, and need to flee. It also helps if you're stuck casting spells in melee reach. Considering the short range of many of your at wills, this is not a poor choice.</p><p></p><p>Skill Training is surprisingly good now. I wouldn't discount Perception, since you can't always control when you're going to be ambushed. Likewise, if you're using Diplomacy, skills like Insight and Bluff make nice companion skills. On top of that, if you're intending to be a highly cerebral cleric, you'll probably be wanting to use rituals. Make sure you've got training in Arcana or Nature to widen your options. Some of these you can choose as class skill choices, but odds are you can't choose them all. Skill Training fills out the rest.</p><p></p><p>Skill Focus isn't bad, particularly for skills like Arcana that are relevant in a lot of rituals, but in which you haven't got a big bonus due to your Int score not being a priority.</p><p></p><p>There are a few other decent options. But it seems like you've kind of created the perfect storm for yourself. You don't want weapon relevant feats, even though you're a character class that traditionally fights in melee at least a little bit. You don't like your chosen deity's Channel Divinity feat. You are confident that team tactics will stop you from being ambushed. You are confident that team tactics and your healing powers mean that you don't need to boost your defenses or durability. You've defined your character as one that is primarily cerebral, but you find skills boring. And the only feat in the game that increases your damage output is one that has a prereq you've chosen not to meet. </p><p></p><p>I think it would be hard for me to come up with a character that gets less mileage out of feats than this one. I myself would like to play a cleric that focuses on ranged spells, but I haven't had this problem, because I've got a 13 dex and a willingness to pick whatever Channel Divinity feat I like the most.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cadfan, post: 4268739, member: 40961"] Hmm. I agree that its a bit tough to fill your character's heroic tier feat slots with awesome choices. Eventually you run out of combat relevant feats, and start looking at Skill Focus and Improved Initiative. That being said, I think you are overly dismissive of a few different feats. Plus, you seem to have created your character without keeping an eye on feat prerequisites. Feats are a part of your character, and if you want your character to accomplish something with feats, you need to make sure that you meet the prereqs. So... if what you want your character to do is to go into melee reach of enemies, you could have a 13 strength. Then you can pick up light shields and scale armor. This gives you a net of +2 ac, +1 reflex, and improves your physical skills across the board by removing your skill penalty. Remember that your ranged at will powers have a range of 5. Chances are that you'll end up in melee whether you like it or not. If you instead want your character to stand back and use ranged spells, you basically want a dex of at least 13, so that you can pick up Astral Fire. This also lets you go another route for when you can't stay out of melee- you can pick up two weapon fighting and two weapon defense. For another two feats, you can get +1 damage, +1 ac, and +1 reflex. This might be a better choice for your character. Whether you take either of the above options, there are other feats you should consider, or reconsider. Improved Initiative can be useful if you intend to spend your powers on buffs with a duration of "one encounter." Consider the level 2 utility that gives your allies +2 ac for the rest of the encounter. Its best to pop that right away. That's just one example, there are plenty more. Toughness has a "hidden" benefit- increasing your hit points increases the hp you get back per surge. This makes your surges more efficient, allowing you to use fewer healing spells on yourself, and more on your allies. Its not a huge bonus at heroic tier, but its there and it grows. Defensive Mobility helps if you get stuck in melee reach, and need to flee. It also helps if you're stuck casting spells in melee reach. Considering the short range of many of your at wills, this is not a poor choice. Skill Training is surprisingly good now. I wouldn't discount Perception, since you can't always control when you're going to be ambushed. Likewise, if you're using Diplomacy, skills like Insight and Bluff make nice companion skills. On top of that, if you're intending to be a highly cerebral cleric, you'll probably be wanting to use rituals. Make sure you've got training in Arcana or Nature to widen your options. Some of these you can choose as class skill choices, but odds are you can't choose them all. Skill Training fills out the rest. Skill Focus isn't bad, particularly for skills like Arcana that are relevant in a lot of rituals, but in which you haven't got a big bonus due to your Int score not being a priority. There are a few other decent options. But it seems like you've kind of created the perfect storm for yourself. You don't want weapon relevant feats, even though you're a character class that traditionally fights in melee at least a little bit. You don't like your chosen deity's Channel Divinity feat. You are confident that team tactics will stop you from being ambushed. You are confident that team tactics and your healing powers mean that you don't need to boost your defenses or durability. You've defined your character as one that is primarily cerebral, but you find skills boring. And the only feat in the game that increases your damage output is one that has a prereq you've chosen not to meet. I think it would be hard for me to come up with a character that gets less mileage out of feats than this one. I myself would like to play a cleric that focuses on ranged spells, but I haven't had this problem, because I've got a 13 dex and a willingness to pick whatever Channel Divinity feat I like the most. [/QUOTE]
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