Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="MyISPHatesENWorld" data-source="post: 4681286" data-attributes="member: 65684">I don't think DM boredom is the issue as much as player boredom for the 16STR/22CON build. Those temp HP can be whittled away pretty quickly with ranged and/or area attacks. With the 22CON/16STR build, you'll get hit often enough by other stuff that it all balances out, unless you stack up armor and a heavy shield along with powers that heal/regenerate, at which point the DM isn't ignoring you because he is bored, but because his monsters can run past you with near impunity due to your poor attack and damage numbers. You have to hit to get the benefit of Invigorating attack powers, so missing a lot means losing out on those stacking Temp HP as well.It is also a short-lived trick. At eighth level, you're near or at the point that things often don't need to go through you (particularly in 4e-style encounters). And at 10th level, your cleric gets a utility power that makes four guys more durable than you anyway. Bearing the title of Fifth Knight of Unyielding Valor isn't exactly something to aspire to. I imagine any DM that has a problem with the max-tanking battlerager is going to openly weep when the cleric casts Knights of Unyielding Valor.I think Mengu gave some nice advice on vigor numbers and stats - great blend of offense and durability. 7 is a nice number. 4 is, in my opinion, maybe a little low. At 1st and 2nd level, monsters often don't have a lot of trouble getting past 3 or 4 even stacked with the 3 or 4 from invigorating powers. 5 (or 7 for a dwarf to make up for the slightly lower STR) is a solid number at 8th level. When things go south though, they go south in a hurry. If you suck up a few ranged attacks in a row because of your lower defenses, you can get to a bad place. In actual encounters, you face a variety of opponents, so you can get hit by something carrying an effect that makes you grant combat advantage, followed by a bunch of ranged attacks that gain a damage bonus from it. And, that nasty crit the brute deals you *before* you get your temp hit points can be the one that puts you down. I like a less reckless power selection, leaning toward Crushing Surge, Footwork Lure and using 2W encounters and 3W dailies for heavy hitting. Giving up another 2 points of AC by granting combat advantage, particularly with additional bonuses from combat advantage posessed by some monsters is a little too reckless for me. But, depending on preferences and party, I can see it working for someone else.I think the battlerager vigor ability is one of the best designs they've come up with. You can go with chainmail and mordenkrad for the damage or plate armor, shield and bastard sword for accuracy and defense (or somewhere in between) and it is still a great ability.</blockquote>

Verification