Help! I can't reach anything! (The immobilized Warpriest's lament)

[Plane Sailing]

Then don't play a warpriest, maybe? Some of these laments remind me of students asking the professor what's going to be on the final. The whole concept behind party makeup is that not everyone can do everything.

I think I agree here.

If the 'melee training' feat allows RBA, then that is one obvious route to take, but otherwise the warpriest just recognises it is one of his areas of weakness.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

I think I agree here.

Really? Because I think nicholasgeorg completely misinterpreted the meaning of my post. I didn't say "WotC screwed up, the Warpriest sucks, I'm taking my miniatures and going home!" I asked for suggestions, and whether other classes faced the same constraints.

If the 'melee training' feat allows RBA, then that is one obvious route to take, but otherwise the warpriest just recognises it is one of his areas of weakness.

That's absolutely true, and I'm leaning toward just accepting it and playing a Warpriest anyway, rather than jumping through hoops and making a weird character.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

Can't you just swap a standard cleric at-will like lance of faith for one of the ones granted by your domain? They're all listed as "Cleric Attack 1" so I thought that was doable. I know the CB won't let you do that right now, but I'm not exactly going to trust it as a source at this point and I don't have HotFL with me right now.

I'm just going by the CB. If it is in fact legal, then I guess I should consider it.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

The main problem is that the minimum level for a farslayer weapon is 13, meaning you won't be able to use this combo until early/mid-Paragon.

As it happens, although my post is largely intended as theoretical, I'm currently building a level 13 character for a campaign, so Farslayer is a definite option and one that I will consider.

 

[Dausuul]

Then don't play a warpriest, maybe? Some of these laments remind me of students asking the professor what's going to be on the final. The whole concept behind party makeup is that not everyone can do everything.

But everyone should be able to do something in any given situation.

No one is proposing that the warpriest should be able to lay down the smack at range the way a hunter can, but I feel every class should have a ranged option that is at least somewhat effective. There are just too many flying foes in the game.

 

[Mengu]

Can't you just swap a standard cleric at-will like lance of faith for one of the ones granted by your domain? They're all listed as "Cleric Attack 1" so I thought that was doable. I know the CB won't let you do that right now, but I'm not exactly going to trust it as a source at this point and I don't have HotFL with me right now.

Afraid not. The domain dictates the at-wills. They are not swappable.

And it's not unreasonable to ask for a way to make a ranged attack. I'd at the very least consider an item that can be used, or a multiclass feat. While Invoker is great, unless your DM lets you pick any invoker skill, double religion is kind of a waste.

 

[Aegeri]

But everyone should be able to do something in any given situation.

No one is proposing that the warpriest should be able to lay down the smack at range the way a hunter can, but I feel every class should have a ranged option that is at least somewhat effective. There are just too many flying foes in the game.

Not really.

This is why there are four (potentially) other characters in the same party. If the party cannot handle flying enemies because literally everyone is completely asleep on prone and forced movement powers (particularly the controller), then the party deserves its brutal introduction to flying enemies 101. I remember how much one beholder ruined a party in one of my games. After that you can bet the parties power choices included some more pull, slide and prone effects. They never ran into the same sheer "Oh crap, we're screwed" moment after that.

Not everyone should be good at all things. Sometimes you just have to suck it up that there are situations you can't handle. That's why you have four other allies who compensate for what you're poor at. Sometimes a class has a huge weakness that another class is going to fit into perfectly. It's about the overall combination: Not the individual.

 

[Dausuul]

Not everyone should be good at all things. Sometimes you just have to suck it up that there are situations you can't handle. That's why you have four other allies who compensate for what you're poor at. Sometimes a class has a huge weakness that another class is going to fit into perfectly. It's about the overall combination: Not the individual.

There's a difference between "poor at" and "worthless at."

The original 4E fighter is poor at ranged attacks. You get to chuck a javelin and that's it. If you had a party of all fighters, confronting a level-appropriate encounter with flying artillery monsters, they would get thrashed badly.

But the original fighter isn't worthless at range. You still apply your best stat on the attack and damage roll. You can make a reasonable contribution with a ranged attack, even though it's not your forte.

 

[Nullzone]

Along the lines of teamwork, there's an argument to be made here for someone coming alongside and giving you a heal check to make a saving throw instead of everyone just running past you and leaving you to solve the problem yourself. They burn an action to do it, sure, but in some cases that may be more prudent than just taking your MBA/RBA and chipping away at your target.

There's also a case for bringing the monster to you by way of various effects closing the gap.

Edit: And where flying monsters are concerned, two words: readied actions.

 

[Prestidigitalis]

I've been playing around a bit with a Half-Elf Warpriest (good synergy now that Con+Wis is an option) and found these interesting powers to take for Dilettante. Only two of them solve the ranged attack problem, but I like them all.

Battlemind: Conductive Defense
Druid: Dynamic Assault
Seeker: Guardian Harrier
Shaman: Claws of the Eagle

The best of them is probably Dynamic Assault, as it lets the Warpriest pretend to be a Warlord when granting movement is more important than saving throws or resistance.

I'd appreciate comments on these options, including whether you think that I could even use Claws of the Eagle, given that I have no spirit companion (though I guess I could take the Spirit Talker MC feat).