Help me find one of each Role

[Randomthoughts]

For a defender, I love the warden <snip>
For a leader, I love the warlord <snip>
For a striker, I love the avenger <snip>
For a controller... <snip> maybe an invoker. Invokers look cool.

I've seen the warden in play and yes they are very effective, one of top defender classes IMO. But in relation to the fighter? I'm still leaning toward the fighter. Hmmmm....

Ok, I was hoping someone would bring up the Avenger (my reference to it was subliminal messaging, intended to spark a debate on whether they're super cool or only so so). One of the first 4e classes I played was a Deva Retribution Avenger. The damage was so so (by design) and yeah, I often didn't miss, but I never rolled a crit which colors my view somewhat. But the concept was just so awesome and its powers like teleport and such just dripped with flavor. The GM though used a lot of meta knowledge to avoid attacking me (the more I was hit, the more I do damage). Play was ... awkward. But I eventually multiclassed into cleric, which helped a bit. Can someone convince me for or against the Avenger?

I also played both Rogues, the Thief and the Scoundrel. The Scoundrel was in fact the first 4e class I played and... it sucked. Well, it was a new group (which meant everyone for himself) and it was difficult to get CA without getting into serious trouble. OTOH, I played the Thief in a con to avoid this, and it went really well. It's so ridiculously easy to get CA with the Thief, it's criminal. Anyway, I like the Rogue, especially its wide variety of skills, but tbh I prefer the Avenger (ahh if only someone could convince me....).

That brings me to the Changeling....

With regard to changelings though: They can be a lot of fun, and very annoying for other players, depending on how you run them. Remember that your clothing does not change when you change form, so either wear something very generic, or keep spare outfits around. If you're a sneaky, backstabber sort of guy, then changelings are fun because you can do all sorts of misdeeds on the side that your party(in-character) may never know about. If you're the more party-oriented type, then it's useful to be able to immitate nobles or get information on secret racist clubs or something.

It's very easy to end up doing so many things with a changeling that other players may feel you're sucking up all the game-time, so keep a limit on how much you've got running on the side, and please don't expect the DM to track everything for you.

This is good advice. As a GM, I've wished someone would pick the Changeling, just cuz I think they open up a lot of RPing potential. But this group I'm joining is new; I don't know the other players or the GM, so something as challenging as the Changeling may not be the best thing right now.

Tally
For Controller, I'll be looking at the Invoker but I'm leaning toward Wizard. Wanted to say though that I have seen a Druid in play (the PHB2 version) and both see and have played a Psion. Druids (at least at low heroic level) actually seem like great controllers (and if Wizards are even better, wow). I had a blast playing a Psion at a con; the point system was very flexible.

For Defender, I'm still leaning toward the Fighter. I've seen it in action and am excited to play the 4e version. But I am considering the paladin mainly for the flavor (I like that you don't have to be LG) and its secondary healing abilities.

For Leader, I think I'll drop the "safe" bet of Cleric and try the Warlord. But again, another player has dibs on it. We shall see...

Finally, for Striker, I'm torn. Rogue vs Avenger? I'm also looking at @shidau's recommendation of Warlock (a class I've never played or see anyone play). Anyone?

 

[Rune]

For Leader, I think I'll drop the "safe" bet of Cleric and try the Warlord. But again, another player has dibs on it. We shall see...

Actually, having multiple Warlords in a party is awesome. Because, you see, the bonuses that they grant when action points are used stack!

 

[Storminator]

I haven't played him yet, but I built a rogue/ranger hybrid that's a pretty nasty striker on paper. You can find an encounter power at every level that's a minor action, so those rounds you can get both Sneak Attack and Quarry.

 

[sabrinathecat]

Controller: Pixie Illusionist. Works best with a Rogue or Blackgard in the party--someone to benefit from all the combat-advantage conditions this one heaps out there.
Defender: Dwarf shield fighter with Crag-hammer. Lots of fun. Especially at higher levels. With an action point, I once pushed 2 monsters over a ledge to fall 200 feet. Heh. At 5th level, I survived an encounter/trap meant for a full party for 3 rounds and destroyed 1/2 the monsters before they could get the doors open to help me.
Striker: They're all pretty good.
Leader: Human Pacifist priest. You don't get to attack much, but the healing powers are fun. And making monsters vulnerable to damage... Heehee

One thing worth pointing out: it is very difficult to make an unworkable character. You have to want to.
As for roles... I've been running a game of all-strikers for 3 years. Most of the fights are short and brutal. Frequently the monsters are killed before they get a chance to use 1/2 their powers.
This has lead me to believe that roles are irrelevant. Just find something you think would be fun to play and go for it.

 

[Herobizkit]

Controller: Pixie Witch. Fey are already notorious for charms and illusions, plus PIXIES! or...

Controller: Goliath Druid (Protector). I love the animal companion and with a bear and that wacky Staff feat that gives you reach 2, you'll be having a time. Plus Goliaths are nifty.

Leader: Warforged Artificer. Do-do-do-doooo Super Fighting Robot, do-do-do-doooooo MEGA MAN.

Defender: Battlemind. They're deceptively great and only get better.

Striker: Might as well embrace the trope and make a Revenant Assassin. Bonus if you also make it a Ninja - the Kusari-Gama and Shuriken powers are pretty snazzy.

 

[sabrinathecat]

I didn't care for the Battlemind. The whole psionics mechanics were overly convoluted. I certainly would not recommend them for a new player or for someone who has not started the character from 1st level.

 

[Trit One-Ear]

I mostly run games, so my play experience has been scattered and limited. I have a small list of fun characters I've played, and a larger list I've wanted to.

Always loved rogues, and managed to make a good halfling scoundrel who was pretty hard to hit and could (occasionally) go toe-to-toe with a monster.

Tiefling warlock was my first character, but I mixed things up with the Fey pact. Teleporting around the battlefield was a lot of fun, and helped save some allies from sticky situations a couple times.

Seeker was fun to mess around with, and had nice flexibility, but lacked some support when I tried it. Magic arrows are awesome though.

Currently running (off and on) a dragonborn warden, focused on cold and lightning powers. The flavor is a ton of fun, and with some breath-improving feats, he can be scary effective and hard to kill (especially against groups).

Want to play: tiefling or satyr bard (skald). The mix of combat and magic appeals to me, and the flexibility of their auras seems very cool.

Been itching to try avenger or invoked, since my group tends to stay away from divine based characters (after the obnoxious paladin brothers in 3.5).

My girlfriend plays a pixie artificer which has been a ton of fun. Her name is Sparkplug.

Seen a few psionic characters played, and the mechanic never seemed to work for me. The at-wills were balanced enough, but the augmented versions seemed too niche. My exposure was limited to a few sessions however.

Just my two cents.

Trit

 

[Neonchameleon]

I'm going iconic here rather than twisted (the gnome charismadin might amuse me, but I'm assuming you haven't played too much straight).

Striker: It's between two.
Changeling Thief: Does everything you'd expect a thief to be able to do, does it simply, and does it well. An elegant little gem of a textbook class.
Halfling Monk: The Monk might be one of the lower-damage strikers out there, but the wire-fu master can get anywhere. It's all about the speed and catching the enemy that should be caught; a wire-fu "flight" encounter utility power at level 2 is where things start.

Defender: It's between three.
Dragonborn Cavalier: Big, imposing, fluffy, and utterly intimidating. The battle pivots around them and the fluff, whether you take the Virtue of Valour or the Virtue of Sacrifice is excellent. Low complexity in play is an added benefit.
Dwarven Knight: Simple, archetypal, and very effective. Not too much to think about - but you own the enemy around you and hit them hard. For the people who don't want to worry about the mechanics, and just want to Hit Stuff and feel mighty.

Leader: There can be only one choice here:
Goliath Bravura Warlord: Crashing into the middle of the enemy, offering the enemy a chance at you so they take their eyes off the striker is fast and extremely brutal. Or just turn your attack over to the striker.

Controller: Again there's one contender
Human Mage: That third at will is useful in the class most suited to tangling the monsters up with each other. No other class comes close to making such a mess of the DM's plans.

 

[Ajar]

My active characters are both multiclassed hybrids with a specific schtick that lines up with their flavour/history. One is a human ensnaring Swordmage|Warden hybrid who is about to multiclass into Wizard at his next level (21). He's the stickiest defender I've seen in terms of keeping a single target in front of him. With an Amulet of Life (spend 2 healing surges at a time, 1/encounter), he was impossible to drop. The second is a tiefling Rogue|Warlock hybrid multiclassed into Assassin who combines Cunning Sneak with Shadow Walk for at-will Stealth. Walking across a street and picking a lock in broad daylight without being detected is pretty cool (especially in heroic tier). It's handy in combat, too, particularly when combined with the Cunning Sneak powers that let you hide after attacking. This character put out 48 damage in one round at level 2 with an action point, a crit, and Infernal Wrath, which I think is pretty decent.

What can I say, I like building unique characters.

However, I've seen and played a number of others. I only played him for three levels, but I had a warforged battlerager Fighter with 18 Str/18 Con who was incredibly durable and damaging in combat. Wielded a greataxe, and had feats that led him add his Con mod to damage rolls on both Combat Challenge attacks and opportunity attacks. We had a gnome Paladin of Sehanine in that party as well, so I didn't always mark my targets, but they had to respect me for my sheer damage output.

My girlfriend plays a deva Avenger of Erathis and loves it. She's definitely a very thematic and effective character. Others have already talked about Avengers, though.

The best leader I've seen is a goblin pacifist Cleric, but the race choice didn't add anything to the character's effectiveness. Pacifist/healbot Clerics are just way better at keeping their allies standing than all of the other leaders I've seen in play. In small parties, though, a Shaman can be a godsend, because it puts another "body" on the field. I've seen three Shaman characters in play now, and the class is quite interesting to play tactically, and very flavourful as well.

My favourite controller is the Invoker. Binding Invocation of Chains is amazing, as is Silent Malediction (close blast save ends stun at level 1? Yikes!). I played a human malediction Invoker of Kord who I designed as a debuffer/debilitator, and it did work very well: I would use Maledictor's Doom + Crushing Doom (-1 attacks/-4 damage) with Whispers of Defeat (-2 attacks, and targets take 9 damage when they attack and miss). Pretty sweet combo at level 2. Shout out to the Psion, though: the changeling Psion player in my girlfriend's game has Dishearten, Mind Thrust, Betrayal, and Living Missile. With 4 power points/encounter at level 4, he can double augment Dishearten every encounter (2 points, burst 1 within 10, damge and a -4 penalty to attacks) and still have 2 points left over for other stuff. With his huge Bluff skill, he can often trick enemies into thinking the charmed enemy he's used Betrayal on has actually turned against them. He's probably a better debilitator than my Invoker.

 

[The Human Target]

Human or Half-Orc Monk- So easy to make so tough and so damaging. Also, just flat out cool.

Dwarf Invoker- Seriously, a very neat controlling class. Plus dwarf casters are generally in short supply.

Halfling or Pixie Chaos Sorcerer- My favorite ranged blaster. Potency plus fun little bits and a lot of class support.

Kenku or Changeling Bard- Be the king of skills and versatility.

Warforged or Minotaur Fighter- the best all around defender plus 2 flavorful and tough races