Best of the Best - Leaders.

[Vael]

Honestly, it depends on the party. Taclords rule parties of hard-hitting meleers. Battlesmiths can make multi-attackers brutal (quite literally if they go Battle Engineer). Shielding Clerics can bring low defence parties back from the brink to full health. Bards offer a lot of flexibility.

One thing I just noticed ... no leader class uses DEX as a primary or secondary stat. We need stealth leaders!

 

[thecasualoblivion]

I've seen a lot of these in play. Tops among leaders in my opinion are the Tactical Warlord, Valorous Bard, and Devoted Cleric, with the Valorous Bard getting the nod for its all around solidity with few drawbacks. Temp HP for bloodying and zeroing enemies is killer, and with Con as a secondary stat you don't go down easy.

 

[Vael]

I dunno, I'm playing a valourous bard, and don't get me wrong, I love it. But until I started getting temp hitpoints (Valourous effect is only for allies, I didn't get the benefit until War Chanter), often the effect would be wasted, as the PC would still have temp hitpoints.

 

[Herschel]

Honestly, it depends on the party. Taclords rule parties of hard-hitting meleers. Battlesmiths can make multi-attackers brutal (quite literally if they go Battle Engineer). Shielding Clerics can bring low defence parties back from the brink to full health. Bards offer a lot of flexibility.

One thing I just noticed ... no leader class uses DEX as a primary or secondary stat. We need stealth leaders!

*SNEAK, SNEAK, SNEAK* "Hey guys, the Beholder and his gaggle of giants are right in front of me. Come up and get 'em!"

Otherwise, I agree. I like Clerics and Tactical Warlords but am having fun playing the Prescient Bard the couple of times I have.

 

[Thanee]

The most important aspect of leaders is the healing and clerics are clearly the best at that (at least as far as I have seen).

Devoted Cleric (because they have less issues with MADness).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Umbran]

This is pretty specifically a 4e question, hinging on rules. So moved to 4e rules.

 

[Obryn]

I love Tactical Warlords, so I picked them. On the other hand, I think Artificers bring a bag full of awesome to the Leader party. The Battlesmith in my game is very, very good at what he does - it's Bonus City with him, he does a lot of damage, and pseudo-surgeless-healing is pretty damn awesome.

-O

 

[Dice4Hire]

I chose cleric, as they are great healers, good with radiant, and have a couple strong builds. (Wisdom or Strength) that makes for good versatility. Plus I cannot think of a party composition or a monster opponent wher they would not be welcome. With their different builds they are fun to play also.

Taclords are limited to a melee-heavy, and preferably multiple opponents. Plus, I try hard to like them, but I jsut cannot.

Bards have great flavor, but a lot of their power are just not very impressive. They try to do too much and I think it hurts the bard's ability to do things in combat. They are fun to play also.

 

[Marshall]

TacLord - Hands down the best party buffer
Cunning Bard - Leads by giving loads of "Get out of Jail Free" cards
Artificer - THE best healer. Sorry Cleric lovers, "Take spare surges from non-melee classes and apply to melee" beats all the CLR bonuses combined. Good buffs, too.

 

[DracoSuave]

The role of a leader is to swing the battle and allow the party to overcome greater odds.

Every single leader in the game is an effective healer. Healing isn't necessarily like damage-dealing, moar is not always the best option.

So I went with Tactical Warlord.

His healing covers the defensive bonus, but then his offensive buffing compliments that by reducing the number of rounds the enemy is wailing on you.

The Taclord's bonuses are multiplicating, not additive, unlike the Cleric.


The Artificer is proving to be a worthy competitor for this spot tho. Magic Weapon is crazy for an at-will.