Form of Winter's Herald vs. Wintersnap Armor? Which is better for a Warden?

[domino]

I've got a 1st level Goliath Warden with a longspear right now, that I'm hoping to play up through Heroic. So one of the items I was hoping to pick up is Wintersnap Armor. But upon further reading, Form of the Winter Herald gives all the stuff that Wintersnap Armor does, and more.

So, what's the thoughts? Form of the Winter Herald lasts for just one encounter. But Wintersnap is a nerfed version. Burst 1 instead of 2 for difficult terrain making. Same cold resistance. But lasts for as long as I have the armor.

Also, with the downgraded Wintersnap armor, I can use another Guardian form (Mountain Thunder). But with Winter's Herald, I can use another armor.

Opinions?

 

[Mengu]

The form powers I pick for a warden depend on the goals of the build. For the strong stickiness, Winter's Herald is great, for self resilience and damage, Mountain's Thunder is tough to beat. You can have both at level 5, or if you are more damage oriented, you can grab Boiling Cloud (depending on how much investment you have in gear and feats to boost your forms, I prefer to have 2 forms rather than Boiling Cloud).

For armor, I find it hard to resist Lifefont Armor and combine it with Resilient Focus, but there are other options.

I honestly don't like Wintersnap Armor. It screws the mobility of your allies. I don't pick up gear or powers that make life more difficult for my allies.

 

[domino]

Oh, good point, I didn't notice that the area of difficult terrain from Wintersnap is difficult for everyone, not just your enemies.