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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Vayden" data-source="post: 4374008" data-attributes="member: 57791">So, leaving aside rules questions or edition wars for the moment, what do people think is the best leader so far? I define the options as: Tactical Warlord, Inspiring Warlord, Battle Cleric, Lazor Cleric, and Play-test Artificer. So far in play (1-3rd levels) I've seen both Warlord types and the Lazor Cleric in action in different groups, and I've been reading up on the others a bit, though that's not the same as seeing them in action. From what I've seen so far, the clerics obviously provide the most healing out of them all, but I think the Warlords (particularly the Tactical, but either one) are actually better leaders. The reason for this is that one of the fundamental lessons of D&D still holds true - you win by killing them faster than they kill you, healing doesn't keep up. Of course, when healing is a minor action, it's good and useful to do (and every leader I've seen uses both their words each encounter so far), but being better at damaging monsters wins more than being better at healing. As leaders, the class is never going to be doing as much sheer damage as the strikers or the striker -lites (Fighters). The Warlords, far more so than their other counterparts, are fantastic at A) increasing the to-hit chance of the dmg-dealers and B) giving the dmg-dealers extra attacks (Commander's Strike at-will FTW). In addition, the movement abilities really fit the feel of 4e and are great at getting the damage boys into a spot where they have combat advantage. The Clerics and the Artificer do all this jazz too, but the Warlords are the kings of the tactical movement/increase dmg output area of the "Leader" tool-set, and that, in my experience, is the best way to win. In conclusion, everything that makes the Warlords better also slightly applies to the Tactical Warlord over the Inspiring one, making the smart Warlord the true Lord of War! Everyone else, what are your thoughts? I'm particularly interested in anyone with play experience at Paragon or Epic tiers, and anyone who's actually played the playtest Artificer.</blockquote>

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