D&D 4E Explain the Warlord

[Retreater]

Dusting off my old 4E books and waxing nostalgic about the previous edition, I settled on reading the entry of the Warlord in the PHB. The class is often mentioned as a high point of 4E design, and many say they wish the class would've been ported over to 5E.
In actual play, I never saw a player take a Warlord. There were more psionic Ardents (I think that's the psychic leader). And why? It was in the first PHB, so it was around from the very beginning.
I'm looking over it now, and the powers seem incredibly situational and underwhelming. If you happen to be standing adjacent to a monster and an ally is also standing adjacent to the same monster, if you hit on an attack your ally can also make a basic attack (assuming they have a basic attack that's decent). Not to mention the dependence of needing multiple great ability scores (Strength to hit, Intelligence to give a bonus, Charisma to do something else, etc).
And this is the At-Will rock on which the church of Warlord is built? A class that only works in special circumstances with a very specific party (one based on basic attacks).
It seems one of the worst designed classes in that edition. Maybe it's fondly remembered because of bragging rights, overcoming the bad design to make a character who could contribute at just a few steps below every other Leader in the game?

 

[Odysseus]

I had one player that loved the Warlord class. And would play nothing else. With 5E he plays Clerics.
And we had no problems with the class. Generally he needed a striker , to grant attacks to. But most players liked Strikers, so that wasn't a problem.We played a couple of 1 to 30 level campaigns, and the Warlord was a great character to have in the party.

 

[James Gasik]

So being in the first PHB, like the Cleric and Bard, meant the Warlord got a lot of support, with several different builds emerging over the course of the edition. While not the healing powerhouse of the Cleric, the Warlord had access to a Feat that let them use their minor action encounter healing power an additional time, which was very welcome.

The Warlord had, from 1st level, abilities that let them give up their mediocre Leader attack to grant a Striker a bonus attack, which was not only an upgrade in of itself, but also allowed for the "Lazy Warlord" build, that never actually attacked themselves, but lent attacks to their Striker allies.

The Warlord also had powerful abilities that could turn the tide in battle, such as a Daily area heal in Stand the Fallen, or utility powers like Reorient the Axis, which allowed all your allies to move freely to better flank foes (or just get out of danger).

One thing you can't underestimate is the Warlord's Action Point ability; any time an ally spend an Action Point, they got a non-trivial buff. Probably the best of these was the Tactical Warlord's ability to grant a bonus to all attack rolls equal to their Int bonus. In a game where attack bonuses can be rather stingy, adding a +4 or higher to all your attack rolls during a nova round, when you're firing off Daily attack powers, is a godsend for just about any character. The Eladrin, in particular, had a Paragon Path that increased accuracy to near game-breaking levels; don't forget that many powers that have saving throws now instead targeted a non-AC defense. This means that landing powerful "until end of next turn" powers on Elites and Solos is incredibly satisfying, and increasing the odds of success by a large margin is incredibly good.

Higher-level abilities allowed the Warlord to give their entire party free attacks, like charging and allowing all your Strikers to also charge off turn. There was even a decent ranged Warlord, with powers like Race the Arrow, which allowed you to shoot an enemy, and then let one of your allies charge that target for free with bonuses.

The biggest draw, however, of the Warlord, I think, was that they provided these benefits through tactical acumen and leadership, not divine inspiration or magic. For players who are averse to "finger wiggling", this was the perfect complement to a martial playstyle.

I'm actually surprised you saw so many Ardents, to be honest. Maybe it was their choice of build and powers, but the one guy I played with who had an Ardent always seemed to come up short compared to other Leaders; even my Bard regularly showed him up.

As a side benefit of the "Lazy-lord" build, the Warlord was incredibly useful for Hybrid builds, granting strong armor to classes that lacked it, and always-useful support abilities. Probably my toughest character in 4e was "The Professor", a Hybrid Wizard/Warlock who could wear medium armor and a shield, and who generally had an answer to any situation his group got themselves into, even if that was "throw the Ranger at it".

 

[GreyLord]

It's been a long time, but I had a player using a Warlord.

If I recall they also have a few powers that help heal, but even bigger, ones that increase criticals and other things.

They may seem small on the surface but digging deeper with the strategy actually let it shine.

The Warlord has to be a selfless player though as the class is made to accentuate others rather than to be the mainstar themselves.

If I remember it correctly.

 

[darkbard]

The Feature choice that gives the whole party a bonus to initiative is great in a game where who strikes first and hardest (including a nova attack to take out key foes) is mighty.

Similarly, the Immediate Action Attacks (2 great ones at first level!) allow for "double taps"+ and movement.

But, you're correct that the Warlord really shines in a party with great BAs. Turns the Fighter (ostensibly a Defender) into an offensive menace. Same with Barbarian, many Rogues, STRaladins and STR Clerics, melee Rangers, and so on.

 

[darkbard]

Check out the optimization guide Here for more details.

 

[James Gasik]

One of the neat powers I remember using on a Warlord was an odd one. As a Daily, you could grant someone else what amounts to a Daily attack using either Strength or Dexterity.

Destructive Surprise

Daily ✦ Martial, Weapon
Standard Action
Close Burst 10

Target: one ally within the burst

Effect: The target can make the following attack.

(Free Action) Range: melee or ranged weapon
Effect: The ally shifts 2 squares.
Target: One creature
Attack: Strength or Dexterity modifier vs. Reflex
Hit: 3[W] + Strength or Dexterity modifier.
Miss: Half damage.

 

[Blue]

@James Gasik said it in much more detail then I would be able to dredge up. We saw Warlords fairly often for the Leader role, second only to Clerics. (As opposed to only one Ardent I ever remember, even less of them than Bards or Shamans.) Filled a archetype for the tactician that did it all by skill that is sorely missing - this is a genre staple that 5e is missing which is why it's sorely needed in my opinion, not because of any specific mechanics.

It granted bonuses to allow others to use their dailies even more effectively. Encounter long buffs. Tactical positioning. Really made melee allies shine. It exchanged leader at-will actions for striker damage. So it was a leader who was good at multiplying the group's output and could prefend to be a striker-by-proxy the rest of the time.

And I played a drill sgt. who freakin' cursed people back into the fight. "Did I say it was time for your nappy-poo?! No! Get up and keep fighting soldier. You don't get to lay down and play dead until I say you do."

On their own, the Warlord was unimpressive - like most of the leaders. But with buddies they had a good time. Really team players, kinda lost without them.

In 5e I play a Glamour Bard in one game, and their bardic inspiration sorta reminds me of a warlord - gives the party OA free movement and tHP. In a different game I play an Order Cleric and I'm always throwing buffs or heals on my party to trigger extra attacks. Both have Big Warlord Energy.

 

[Voadam]

I played one. It was a great leader support class. I played one in a game with my young son and niece and using my powers to put the spotlight on them worked great for them enjoying the game.

In general giving your high damage striker types a higher percentage of the party's attacks seems a great action economy deal.

 

[payn]

The internets shamed people out of playing Bards, so they made the Warlord.