Half-Orc Spiked Chain Fighter - anything I'm missing?

[Obryn]

First - WOOHOO! I get to play some 4e instead of DMing it! This takes the sting off the no-Gen-Con thing

Second, I'm making my character. We're starting at 5th level, and the party badly needs a Fighter of some sort for battlefield control. As it stands, they have (IIRC)...

* Dragonborn Paladin
* ?? Tactical Warlord
* Elf Cleric (ranged mostly)
* Tiefling Warlock
* Dragonborn Ranger
* Some kind of Wizard

Now, not everyone is there every session, so it's usually 5 players.... now plus me. I'm angling for more of a control-the-field-and-mark-everything fighter than for a kill-things-fast fighter, and just to make it interesting I thought I'd give a half-orc spiked chain tempest fighter a shot.

As of level 5...

Str 19 (from 18)
Con 13
Dex 17 (from 16)
Int 8
Wis 14
Cha 10

I thought about having 18's in Str/Dex, but the actual benefits I get from Dex seem fairly small. Also, if we hit 8th level, a boost would be nice.

Feats:
* Spiked Chain Training (the Multiclass feat; planning on picking up the Utility which will give me threatening reach down the road.)
* Weapon Expertise: Flail
* Thirst for Battle (+3 Init, +1 surge)

Expertise is boring, but I really, really want to hit with my exploits - particularly Footwork Lure.

Powers:
* Dual Strike, naturally
* Footwork Lure for the incredible control it offers with a reach weapon
* Funneling Fury for the double attack and movement
* Sweeping Blow for a close burst 1, with flail synergy
* Harrier's Ploy, to stick with the idea of a mobile skirmisher
* Rain of Steel, which has an awesome synergy with Footwork Lure and the eventual spiked chain/threatening reach utility power. Also, I love the blender-of-death effect.

Item-wise, I went with a simple Dynamic Spiked Chain +2 (for a quick javelin when I need it), Serpentskin Hide +1, and a Cloak of Distortion +1. They just seemed like the best fits.

Any suggestions for anything I'm missing? I mostly want to do the battlefield control shtick - I want to have access to a large area, stay mobile, and move my enemies around the battlefield while keeping them marked.

Thanks!

-O

 

[Mr. Teapot]

Combat Challenge only affects adjacent enemies, so reach is not quite as useful for fighters as it could be.

I'd think that you'd want that extra +1 to AC from a better Dex, if you're not playing a fighter with a shield.

 

[Obryn]

Yeah, I'm sadly aware of the limitations on Combat Challenge, but I'm hoping to pick up some of the slack for that with Footwork Lure and Funneling Flurry - bring them close to me, if I can't get close to them. Also, a mark is a mark, when it comes down to it, and the way I see it, I don't have less control capability than your average Tempest Fighter.

I look at it as having a normal zone of major control - about what I'd have if I were any other kind of Fighter - with a secondary zone outside that for some minor control.

I think I agree about going for 18 Str/Dex to start with. I've been going over that in my head, and +1 AC/Reflex is almost definitely worth being short a bit of Strength from 8th-10th level.

-O

 

[abyssaldeath]

If you go with the 18STR/DEX there is a new Fighter feat in the latest Dragon that lests you use Dex instead of WIS for CS. There is also a feat that will let you shift 1 after you hit with CC.

 

[Obryn]

If you go with the 18STR/DEX there is a new Fighter feat in the latest Dragon that lests you use Dex instead of WIS for CS. There is also a feat that will let you shift 1 after you hit with CC.

Oh, good call!!

Hmmm, I don't know if I can fit those feats in yet, but dropping my Wisdom down to 13 would free up enough points to push my Dex to 18 while keeping my high Strength...

-O

 

[Alabast]

Just make sure your DM permits double weapons, because the double-weapon/tempest fighter combo is generally considered to be grossly overpowered. I personally don't allow them in my campaign.

There's a dragon magazine feat called "Dragging Flail" that lets you slide an enemy one square when you knock him prone with a flail. Not great by itself due to the rarity of prone-knocking powers, but really nice when combined with a Staggering weapon, which knocks enemies prone on critical hits.

 

[Obryn]

I already checked, and this DM is allowing all sources. So I'm good there.

(As a DM who was skeptical about double weapons, the July changes to Dual Strike addressed all of my concerns about Tempest Fighters for my own campaign. I'm still shaky on the Defensive quality, and a bit unsure about how awesome they are for rogues, but by and large I'm good with them now. I won't make a character for anyone's campaign which I wouldn't allow in my own, and I'd allow this guy.)

I almost picked up Dragging Flail, but reconsidered when I didn't take any powers to knock people prone. As it stands, I think I have enough sliding powers that I'll be okay for now. It may be a good feat to take in the future, though.

-O

 

[Alabast]

It's not really the defensive property that puts double weapons over the edge, I think, it's the fact that they are off hand weapons, and thus give tempests their damage bonuses with large damage dice. Whatever, that debate has been done to death already.

I made a very similar character once, only I couldn't stomach the tempest/double weapon cheese (plus this was before the spiked chain MC feat came out), so I instead made him a great weapon fighter and used the spiked chain strictly as described in the PHB. It worked very nicely, and since he started with only a 15 STR, the extra +1 to hit was very welcome.

 

[Squizzle]

If you're going after maximum reach, both goliaths and minotaurs have racial paragon paths that eventually and permanently increase their reach by 1 square. The goliath path also has an encounter power that grants threatening reach until end of next turn. For maximum control, if your heart isn't set on a spiked chain, I'd recommend a glaive. You can end up with Polearm Momentum and Heavy Blade Opportunity, both of which offer some handy control options (the latter in conjunction with your selection of at-wills, obviously).

 

[Obryn]

You know, I really thought about Polearm Momentum and HBO. But I do kind of have my heart set on a Tempest Fighter with a Spiked Chain. The idea of a dextrous 4e skirmisher/fighter really appeals to me, and I haven't seen one in action yet in my own game.

-O