Polearm Warden Builds

[Flipguarder]

My dm was the one who suggested it. He thinks its a fun idea. I'll attempt to make it brokenly powerful but until then, thats what happens with my party.

 

[Eldorian]

Thats simply not true.

My Ac on my 14th level Earthstrength Warden

+3 hide = 6
Ability (con) = 5
shield bonus = 2
Shield expertise = 1
1/2 level = 7

10+6+5+2+1+7= 31

Ac on a plate wearing guy of the using the same feats
+3 plate


+3 Plate = 11
Ability (dex) = 0
Shield bonus = 2
Shield expertise = 1
1/2 level = 7

10+11+2+1+7 = 31

A shield also gives a bonus to reflex (my bonus to ref is 3 due to shield expertise) and the class gives a bonus to fort and will.

Reach weapons also don't give you threatening reach. Honestly they do very little to help with the ability to defend from what I see. One of the abilites you have as a class feature already has reach, and every single power I took restricts their movement in one way or another, which is the real benefit to using a warden imo.

And for race I chose a Warforged. But for a wildblood warden I would put much less attention to constitution than I do as Earthstrength.

Honestly it might be slightly uncouth due to the lack of bonus in your main stat, but a dwarf has both a bonus to con, and wisdom. In addition they have the forced movement resistance and a bonus to saving throws against poison. That seems pretty synergistic with the Warden class.

I think +3 plate is +13 AC for masterwork. Gith Plate is the +3 plate type. At 14 your AC should be 1 below the Plate wielder, because at 14 your Con mod should get 6 if you started at 18 at first level, which the game kinda supposes. Warden AC is about the same as fighter AC, which is 1 lower than paladin AC, not assuming that they grab feats to change armor types.

 

[Flipguarder]

I think +3 plate is +13 AC for masterwork. Gith Plate is the +3 plate type. At 14 your AC should be 1 below the Plate wielder, because at 14 your Con mod should get 6 if you started at 18 at first level, which the game kinda supposes. Warden AC is about the same as fighter AC, which is 1 lower than paladin AC, not assuming that they grab feats to change armor types.

The original point I was refuting was that warden ac is MUCH lower than other defenders at level 14, which is still pretty much disproved by my post, but thanks for the correction.

 

[Starfox]

My dm was the one who suggested it. He thinks its a fun idea. I'll attempt to make it brokenly powerful but until then, thats what happens with my party.

Actually, I (as DM) was the one to suggest it here too, only to be shot down by one of my players. The world works in mysterious ways!

I still think it is valid tough - sure, specific rule busts general rule, but there really is no specific rule here. However, the rule is so obscure and hard-to-find that a clarification in the feat would be very nice.

 

[Flipguarder]

The important part I think is that I understand that it may end up being overpowered. In which case I'd be glad to rework the character. We are all fairly chill in the group so I don't think anyone would mind some big changes a few sessions in.

 

[Mistwell]

I don't suppose anyone has taken a stab at rebuilding a polearm Warden using Primal Power? I think the new Storm Warden build might have more synergy with the tactics of a polearm Warden. You can Second Wind with that type of Warden to slide each enemy marked by you and within 2 squares of you 1 square, and also slowing each enemy marked by you.

Seems like it would work well with one of the Warden powers that creates difficult terrain around you. Second Wind to slide them next to you, and now they cannot shift away and will have to use a move action to escape. And if they do that, they trigger an opportunity attack that

 

[Aulirophile]

I'm confused by the whole reach weapon thing. Opportunity attacks are always reach 1, regardless of weapon, according to the Char Builder, The Compendium, and the books I have, so I don't see the huge advantage. Immediate Reactions (Like Warden's Grasp) come before the triggered event. I.e, marked target melee attacks an ally. You pull it 1 square. Attack misses by default, because it strikes the wrong square after the pull.

Unless Warden's Fury works with reach weapons, I just don't see the appeal. Even that is pretty marginal.

 

[tiornys]

I'm confused by the whole reach weapon thing. Opportunity attacks are always reach 1, regardless of weapon, according to the Char Builder, The Compendium, and the books I have, so I don't see the huge advantage. Immediate Reactions (Like Warden's Grasp) come before the triggered event. I.e, marked target melee attacks an ally. You pull it 1 square. Attack misses by default, because it strikes the wrong square after the pull.

Unless Warden's Fury works with reach weapons, I just don't see the appeal. Even that is pretty marginal.

I think you're confusing Immediate Interrupts and Immediate Reactions. Interrupts do happen before the triggering event, but Reactions happen after the triggering event, and Warden's Grasp is a Reaction. So if the Warden can't use Warden's Fury, he has no chance of canceling the attack, and only gets some minor repositioning on the enemy after that attack.

t~

 

[Aulirophile]

I think you're confusing Immediate Interrupts and Immediate Reactions. Interrupts do happen before the triggering event, but Reactions happen after the triggering event, and Warden's Grasp is a Reaction. So if the Warden can't use Warden's Fury, he has no chance of canceling the attack, and only gets some minor repositioning on the enemy after that attack.

t~

You are correct, I was misreading it. But I still don't get the reach weapon advantage in that case, because

Properties:
Reach (With a reach weapon, you can attack enemies that are 2 squares away from you as well as adjacent enemies, with no attack penalty. You can still make opportunity attacks only against adjacent enemies. Likewise, you can flank only an adjacent enemy.).

A reach weapon doesn't really "fix" that issue, stuff can still shift away with impunity...

 

[tiornys]

You are correct, I was misreading it. But I still don't get the reach weapon advantage in that case, because

Properties:
Reach (With a reach weapon, you can attack enemies that are 2 squares away from you as well as adjacent enemies, with no attack penalty. You can still make opportunity attacks only against adjacent enemies. Likewise, you can flank only an adjacent enemy.).

A reach weapon doesn't really "fix" that issue, stuff can still shift away with impunity...

When a monster tries to ignore a Warden's mark, it generally has 4 options barring some kind of special ability. It can stand there and attack someone else, shift a square away and attack someone else, move away and attack someone else (these three covered earlier in the thread by Cadfan), or it can shift a square away and charge someone else. A reach weapon always helps in the second case, allowing the Warden to use Warden's Fury against an enemy that tries to shift a square away and attack an ally, and it helps the fourth case (which is a general weakness of Wardens) by making it easier to restrict all of an enemy's legal charges to end in squares covered by the Warden (allowing the Warden to use Warden's Fury).

It's assumed here that Warden's Fury is significantly better than Warden's Grasp, which I agree with but some might not.

t~