Dragon 381 - Warlord Essentials

[MrMyth]

Wow, pretty huge changes across the board in the new version of the articles. A bunch of the feats are significantly changed, and several ones gone... many of the weaker feats now seem worth taking, from a quick glance (or have vanished entirely), while the more powerful ones have been balanced, removed, or bumped up to Paragon level. Same sort of thing for the powers. Every typo or issue I called out earlier has been fixed one way or another.

It is a sparser article, but a much tighter one. I'm not sure if the previous version was just an early, unfinished version of the article that got queued up accidentally, or if they directly fixed things in response to the comments today, but I am very impressed by their quick action and the finished product.

 

[vagabundo]

It is a sparser article, but a much tighter one. I'm not sure if the previous version was just an early, unfinished version of the article that got queued up accidentally, or if they directly fixed things in response to the comments today, but I am very impressed by their quick action and the finished product.

A wotc company droid* said as much on an internet communication...

*It may have been human, I only remember the quote...

 

[Klaus]

I must say, the art by David Rapoza is one of the best I've seen for 4e! Love it!

 

[evilref]

Pretty good for Tactical and Resourceful with some great feat and power choices there. Much less so for Inspiring (who, aside from being better at healing, are significantly behind the others in their 'boost allies to kill the bad guys role' as it is).

Pretty decent but I think the Warden article was comparatively better. If they manage one of these articles for every class it will make a nice collection.

 

[CapnZapp]

I don't think they mentioned anywhere in the article, that if you create a Warlord make sure the rest of the party all has an at-will power that can be used as a basic attack.

It's a point that I feel is quite essential for a Warlord.

I know Wizards and Warlocks have this, but for other classes, won't you be needing splatbooks to get such choices?

In other words, are you saying the Warlord sucks as a class in a PHB-only campaign? (Which I suspect is the most common kind, especially for groups without an on-line presence)

 

[jbear]

I know Wizards and Warlocks have this, but for other classes, won't you be needing splatbooks to get such choices?

In other words, are you saying the Warlord sucks as a class in a PHB-only campaign? (Which I suspect is the most common kind, especially for groups without an on-line presence)

All PC's have Basic Attacks.

Some, that you have mentioned, like the Wizard, have Powers that count as basic attacks. Magic Missile for example. It makes sense that they should have this option to synergise with a Warlord leader as a Wizard is bound to have a very low chance of hitting someone over the head with his staff (and probably very unhappy at being within range of an enemy to have that option) and is very unlikely to throw his wand at someone (which would be very likely to miss anyway).

The Barbarian or the Fighter or even a Ranger at distance just take a normal Melee/Ranged Basic Attack with the weapon they have in hand. They have no special added effects but still pack a solid punch. Which imo means the Warlord is a very useful class as it stands in the PHB without the need for any 'splatbooks' to give these classes special Basic Attack At-Will Powers.

 

[CCamfield]

The Barbarian or the Fighter or even a Ranger at distance just take a normal Melee/Ranged Basic Attack with the weapon they have in hand. They have no special added effects but still pack a solid punch. Which imo means the Warlord is a very useful class as it stands in the PHB without the need for any 'splatbooks' to give these classes special Basic Attack At-Will Powers.

I think you make the situation seem better than it actually is. More warlord powers grant melee basic attacks, than any-type-of basic attacks. The only way to synergize with a wizard on this, so far as I know, is with Reaper's Touch - of course that's been changed to be for shadar-kai only.

For instance, the new level 3 power... Devastating Onslaught? only grants a melee basic attack. The level 5 power Staggering Spin grants melee basic attacks. On the other hand, (level 7) Surprise attack grants a basic attack.

 

[Atreides]

Overall the article looks pretty good - I like that they added powers that have triggered bonuses for two different Warlord builds.

By far my favorite addition is Provacative Order.

If Martial Power 2 will include more powers that work akin to Commander's Strike and Provactive Order, a Strength 10 Warlord would be entirely viable.
(especially nice for Resourceful builds, and some Tactical builds as well).

More paragon feats would be nice, but obviously more people play Heroic then Paragon so it is what it is.

 

[occam]

I must say, the art by David Rapoza is one of the best I've seen for 4e! Love it!

I like it too, except I keep thinking that dwarf is wielding a broom.

"Have at thee, foul dust elemental!"