Epic Taclord help?

[fireinthedust]

So I've got a DM for an arena battle, and my party has been told to min/max some Epic characters. I'm the most experienced player of 4e, so I've opted to go support in the best way I can.

However, I've never played epic. Ever. Not even 2e, 3e, nothing. Books, yes, experience zip!

And the DM has a history of trying to game-break with 3e (that's his hobby, not D&D but game-breaking PCs in 3e games); 4e is new for him, but he'll be chuckling at night over various tactics until he kills us all.


1) Anyone have good builds for a warlord? I'm thinking human with a Heavy Blade and a Whip. Int-based necessarily. Hybrid Cunning-bard so I can shuffle people around the map would be good.
Granted, maybe a Bard MC warlord is also a good option. Granting others an attack while shifting people around the board are good things. ...?

2) Anyone have EPIC experience in 4e? Combat, specifically, as there likely will be zero social challenges.

3) Epic advice in general, like items and feats and such. Play style also: what are the differences? What monster attacks are killer?

 

[holywhitetrash]

i would suggest timely revival from mp
and the ancient red dragon is ridiculous he has a rechargeable attck that removes your fire resistance for the rest of the encounter and does amazing damage
if you really want to piss him off demigod cleric who takes seal of binding(lvl 25 daily) can kill anything

 

[brehobit]

As a quick note, I've found that epic bards are easier to break than epic warlords and fill basically the same role. With a multi-class to paladin an epic CON bard can end up granting +7 attack bonuses for a fair bit of the fight. That helps a lot!

Mark

 

[Mentat55]

Tactical warlords really depend on the right party composition. Since they are all about granting attack bonuses and free basic attacks in melee, you need a critical mass of melee party members to work with. Fighters, barbarians, TWF rangers, and wardens spring to mind -- rogues also work, if they have a good melee basic attack (via Melee Training or being brutal scoundrels).

At epic levels, status effects are king. Stun, daze, immobilize...and ways to cancel them out. The damage is not so much scarier (from the monsters), it is all the additional effects.

Also, your weak non-AC defenses become huge liabilities at epic levels. If you don't invest magic items and feats in protecting them, epic monsters are going to hit them, hit them hard, and hit them often. A tactical warlord should have a great AC, Fortitude, and Reflex, so you're not too badly off. But Will defense could be a huge weakness, and since Will attacks often stun, daze, and dominate, you'll want to shore that up. Doubly so if you are the primary or only leader, as your healing and status effect migitation abilities will be needed badly.