Optimize this 3-PC Party

[Klaus]

So one of my players had to bail out, meaning the party has lost a two-weapon ranger. The players want to keep their PCs, but are okay with them being a little rearranged so they can be optimized. All were 3rd level, but I'm now bumping them to 4th to make up for a lost PC.

Here are the PCs:

- Bracknar Silverstorm, male dragonborn Bravura warlord (lightning breath)
- Aria Moonfire, female tiefling fey warlock
- Angelina No-Fancy-Surname, female human (sword-n-board) fighter

I tried my hand at some optimization, which saw the dragonborn trade axe + light shield for a halberd; the tiefling traded some PHB powers for Arcane Power ones and traded some feats for the tiefling warlock feats in AP; and the human would trade the single-handed mastery for Tempest Technique and dual-wield a spiked shield and a broadsword (which becomes off-hand with the Two-Blade Warrior feat). I'm not 100% sure of these changes, and I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Nifft]

Aria: needs a melee attack. I recommend she take Reaper's Touch (from Dragon 372). Its only effect relevant to her is to allow her to use Eldritch Blast as a melee basic attack (with range = melee touch). Now the Warlord gets two buddies to whom he can grant extra attacks, and the Warlock isn't utterly hosed if she's trapped in melee range.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Klaus]

Aria: needs a melee attack. I recommend she take Reaper's Touch (from Dragon 372). Its only effect relevant to her is to allow her to use Eldritch Blast as a melee basic attack (with range = melee touch). Now the Warlord gets two buddies to whom he can grant extra attacks, and the Warlock isn't utterly hosed if she's trapped in melee range.

Cheers, -- N

I actually picked that up, plus that feat that lets a tiefling warlock curse an opponent that hits her as a free action.

Question: what is better - to have the warlord take Bravura Spirit, Restful Healing, etc, or take Sorcerer multiclass to add some close blasts to his arsenal (making him more striker-ish)?

Here are the summaries of how the PCs look so far:

[sblock]
Aria Moonfire, level 4
Tiefling, Warlock
Eldritch Blast: Eldritch Blast Charisma
Eldritch Pact: Fey Pact

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 10, Con 14, Dex 10, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 20.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 10, Con 14, Dex 10, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 17.


AC: 18 Fort: 14 Reflex: 16 Will: 18
HP: 41 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 10

TRAINED SKILLS
Intimidate +12, Thievery +7, Arcana +10, Insight +7

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +2, Bluff +9, Diplomacy +7, Dungeoneering +2, Endurance +4, Heal +2, History +5, Nature +2, Perception +2, Religion +5, Stealth +5, Streetwise +7, Athletics +3

FEATS
Level 1: Wrathful Magic
Level 2: Vengeful Curse
Level 4: Reaper's Touch

POWERS
Warlock encounter 1: Witchfire
Warlock daily 1: Crown of Stars
Warlock utility 2: Caiphon's Leap
Warlock encounter 3: Eldritch Rain

ITEMS
Pact Blade Dagger +1, Sylvan Leather Armor +1, Hedge Wizard's Gloves (heroic tier)



Angelina, level 4
Human, Fighter
Fighter Talents: Tempest Technique

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 18, Con 15, Dex 13, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 14, Dex 13, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 10.


AC: 20 Fort: 19 Reflex: 15 Will: 15
HP: 48 Surges: 11 Surge Value: 12

TRAINED SKILLS
Intimidate +7, Endurance +8, Athletics +10, Heal +9, Perception +9

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +2, Arcana +2, Bluff +2, Diplomacy +4, Dungeoneering +4, History +2, Insight +4, Nature +4, Religion +2, Stealth +2, Streetwise +2, Thievery +2

FEATS
Human: Weapon Proficiency (Spiked shield)
Level 1: Two-Blade Warrior
Level 2: Two-Weapon Fighting
Level 4: Novice Power

POWERS
Fighter at-will 1: Dual Strike
Fighter at-will 1: Cleave
Human: Tide of Iron
Fighter encounter 1: Funneling Flurry (retrained to Dire Wolverine Strike at Novice Power)
Fighter daily 1: Lasting Threat
Fighter utility 2: Boundless Endurance
Fighter encounter 3: Sweeping Blow

ITEMS
Chainmail of Durability +1, Vengeful Broadsword +1, Opportunistic Spiked shield +1


Bracknar Silverstorm, level 4 (multiclass as sorcerer option)
Dragonborn, Warlord
Commanding Presence: Bravura Presence

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 19, Con 16, Dex 8, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 16.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 15, Dex 8, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 14.


AC: 19 Fort: 17 Reflex: 12 Will: 16
HP: 43 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 13

TRAINED SKILLS
Intimidate +12, History +9, Athletics +10, Endurance +9, Arcana +7

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics, Bluff +5, Diplomacy +5, Dungeoneering +2, Heal +2, Insight +4, Nature +2, Perception +2, Religion +2, Stealth, Streetwise +5, Thievery

FEATS
Level 1: Hunting Wolf Style
Level 2: Arcane Prodigy
Level 4: Novice Power

POWERS
Warlord at-will 1: Wolf Pack Tactics
Warlord at-will 1: Viper's Strike
Warlord encounter 1: Nimble Footwork
Warlord daily 1: Lead the Attack
Warlord utility 2: Aid the Injured
Warlord encounter 3: Dicey Predicament (retrained to Thundering Roar at Novice Power)

ITEMS
Meliorating Chainmail +1, Lightning Halberd +1 (works as a sorcerer implement)

[/sblock]

 

[FrozenChrono]

the human would trade the single-handed mastery for Tempest Technique and dual-wield a spiked shield and a broadsword (which becomes off-hand with the Two-Blade Warrior feat). I'm not 100% sure of these changes, and I'm open to suggestions.

I don't have my books with me but I'm pretty sure the Two-Bladed Warrior feat lets you wield a one handed weapon in your off hand, not change one handed weapons into off hand weapons for him. So it wouldn't qualify for the tempests bonus damage. Your fighter may want to simply pick up a double weapon from AV. They really are the most optimized choice for tempests.

A more detailed look at their powers may help us figure out changes that would be helpful.

 

[Nifft]

I don't have my books with me but I'm pretty sure the Two-Bladed Warrior feat lets you wield a one handed weapon in your off hand, not change one handed weapons into off hand weapons for him. So it wouldn't qualify for the tempests bonus damage.

Agree. However, I disagree about the double weapon, because IMHO the Fighter should have a Heavy Thrown weapon as his main weapon, because everyone should be able to contribute at melee and range (even if they all specialize heavily in one or the other).

Also, having a shield allows a Fighter in specific to access Tide of Iron, which is probably my favorite Fighter power for defending squishy team mates.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Klaus]

I don't have my books with me but I'm pretty sure the Two-Bladed Warrior feat lets you wield a one handed weapon in your off hand, not change one handed weapons into off hand weapons for him. So it wouldn't qualify for the tempests bonus damage. Your fighter may want to simply pick up a double weapon from AV. They really are the most optimized choice for tempests.

A more detailed look at their powers may help us figure out changes that would be helpful.

The Fighter will probably remain sword-n-board. The broadsword could be replaced with a scimitar or some other weapon, but the spiked shield really helps the AC, which is a necessity since she dropped from scale to chainmail (and the shield already dropped from heavy to light spiked).

Aside from these minor requirements (race/class), suggest away!

 

[Klaus]

Agree. However, I disagree about the double weapon, because IMHO the Fighter should have a Heavy Thrown weapon as his main weapon, because everyone should be able to contribute at melee and range (even if they all specialize heavily in one or the other).

Also, having a shield allows a Fighter in specific to access Tide of Iron, which is probably my favorite Fighter power for defending squishy team mates.

Cheers, -- N

Yeah, the Fighter's player really likes Tide of Iron. I'm trying to make the character different from the Paladin she's already playing in another game (hence broadsword instead of longsword).

By taking Sweeping Blow and Dire Wolverine Strike, the Fighter could conceivably move amidst enemies, lay down a close burst 1 and spend an action point to get another close burst 1 (and if she opts to use "Bravura!", she might even get yet another basic attack).

When suggesting powers for the PCs, I ended up making sure each had at least one area attack to make up for the lack of a controller. Between dragon breath, Sweeping Blow, Dire Wolverine Strike and Eldritch Rain, I think they can clear up a battlefield rather quickly, right?

 

[keterys]

Footwork Lure is not a bad substitute for Tide of Iron, if need be... less pushing off walls and into pits, but still very cool.

 

[Klaus]

The purely Martial version of the dragonborn warlord replaces Arcane Prodigy + Novice Power with Improved Inspiring Word + Long Jumper (to mimic wing-aided leaps, which the character could do before... I toyed with taking Scale Armor, though). So feel free to comment on either.

 

[keterys]

I actually liked Inspiring Warlord better than Bravura last I looked (Inspired Belligerence, Warlord Strike, etc)... also Lead the Attack with no Int isn't very impressive.