Strange Question RE: 4e.

[Minifig]

As many of you know .. I love my Wilden Warden to bits, but I'm starting to wonder if this is actually the class for me.

I want to stay a Wilden (as I've got a story all lined up), however, I'm starting to wonder if I'm playing my character wrong (from things that went on tonight in the group.. and how I misunderstand how Marking works).


I'm looking for a class that can have a ridiculously high survivability, and yet, deal out a fair chunk of damage as well.

I like being in the thick of combat and saying "HIT ME!", and letting things.. attempt to hit me..

At the moment, at level 2 (almost 3).. on my Warden I'm looking at an AC of 19 (with my heavy shield and hide armor), and a MAX hp of 37.

I'm doing 1d10 damage +5 with my Frost Warhammer +1 and the Crippling Crush Feat..


However, as I said, .. I'm starting to wonder if there's something more I could do .. or be.. to deal more damage (as a Wilden).. and still have that .. "I'm a Sequoia tree, go ahead and try and knock me down!" durability, as we already have a Dragonborn Paladin who .. well.. understands his role, and understands how his mark.. works a bit better than I do..


Any ideas gang?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: For those that are interested in helping me.. Wilden's Ability Scores are +2 Wisdom & +2 Con or +2 Dex..

 

[fuzzlewump]

As a DM I say stay with what you have because I don't like player's changing characters. Just just changing your class and leaving everything else the same is much better, but if the DM was lining up something to do with your Warden class he'll have to change that.

That said, I think Fighter is the gold standard of "a class that can have a ridiculously high survivability, and yet, deal out a fair chunk of damage as well." Dwarven Fighters have survived on +Wis/Con up until the essentials change so the Wilden should do just fine. CharOp forums should serve you right there.

 

[Minifig]

As a DM I say stay with what you have because I don't like player's changing characters. Just just changing your class and leaving everything else the same is much better, but if the DM was lining up something to do with your Warden class he'll have to change that.

Oh I agree. I don't know if I'm going to change my character without permission from the DM, but, I'm looking at what I.. probably should have been, and may roll a character based on that if my Wilden Warden dies (or my DM says I can do something different.. but I won't bother him about it profusely.).

I'm just confused what I should be or should have been, and I'm asking for advice.


I'm also, believe it or not, working WITH my DM to evolve my Wilden's storyline so I'm pretty excited about that,.. but.. tonight's confusion really has me having second thoughts about Warden and wondering if I picked the wrong class..

 

[OnlineDM]

I'll start by saying that I'm not one for character optimization, but when someone asks how they can make a character into their vision of what it should be I like to try to help.

I think a Warden is great for standing like a tall tree and soaking up attacks. I'd suggest going for a high Con score and Strength secondary if resilience is really what you want. If you had 18 Con you would get 1 more to your armor class (assuming you are an Earthstrength or Stormheart Warden). So, that would be AC 20 at level 2 with hide armor and a heavy shield. It would also mean more hit points - 42 at second level. Also, if you have Strength of Stone as one of your at-will powers, you can get 4 temporary hit points every time you hit something (very nice for survivability).

I don't know what your powers are, but I can say that Form of Mountain's Thunder is a great daily for being able to stand tall in the thick of battle (damage resistance and a bonus to armor class).

Of course, getting magic hide armor when you get the chance will help to pump up your AC, too.

 

[ourchair]

I'm just confused what I should be or should have been, and I'm asking for advice.

Whoa. This is heavy.

Existential jokes aside, I think a Warforged Warden can deal quite a load of damage when built right, and the race-class combo alone has a strong reputation for survivability.

Fighters are great too, and its amazing how effective they are on both damage and durability even when they haven't been optimized to death, so long as you're smart about your use of powers, even if the powers themselves aren't CharOp worthy.

 

[Minifig]

Whoa. This is heavy.

Existential jokes aside, I think a Warforged Warden can deal quite a load of damage when built right, and the race-class combo alone has a strong reputation for survivability.

Fighters are great too, and its amazing how effective they are on both damage and durability even when they haven't been optimized to death, so long as you're smart about your use of powers, even if the powers themselves aren't CharOp worthy.

DM won't allow Warforged, and I'm trying to stick with the Wilden.

I also love the fact that he's primal based.. so I'm probably going to be stuck with the Warden, aren't I? I suppose I need to learn how Marking works.

 

[zoroaster100]

What happened in your game with marking that left you doubting your choice of class?

 

[Minifig]

I kept misunderstanding how marks work.

Like.. if something shifted, I'd ask if the mark would affect it, and damage it.. if something stood up after being knocked prone.. I thought a mark would take effect.. etc.

I think I annoyed my group tonight with it.. and I borrowed my DM's PH and PP books so I can read up on them a bit more.

 

[Ahrimon]

I don't know much about wardens, so I can't help too much there. But there are always feats to help anyone be tougher.

• Toughness - +5 hp
• Durability - +2 Healing surges
• Quick Recovery(E:HotFL) - +3 to healing surge value
• Strength of Stone(E:HotFL) - Gain 5 THP every time you spend a surge (Probably misremembering the name on this one)
• Enduring Mountain - +2 to healing surge value

And Wilden Warden seems to have a good number of bonus damage feats:

• Courage of the Lone Stag - +2 damage when you mark 3+ creatures
• Crippling Crush - When you immobilize or slow with a hammer or mace deal +con mod damage
• Crushing Guardian - +2 damage w/ hammer or mace in guardian form
• Sudden Roots - Enemy hit by opportunity attack is slowed (kicking off crippling crush)(Don't know how often wardens get OA's)

Other thoughts

• Beshaba's Boon - +5 THP whenever an enemy fails a save from a condition you apply. (I don't know if wardens apply many conditions)
• Weapon Focus
• WP - Craghammer (+2/1d10,brutal2)
• Melee training - Con (IMO even after the change it's a decent feat)

The biggest advice I can give is to accept that you make yourself as tough and hard hitting as you can and then you work toward being even better. I know when I get a concept in my head that takes more feats than I can do at the given level it get's frustrating and you feel like you should be able to do more. Don't get trapped by that. Take a step back and let things grow and evolve with the game.

 

[Minifig]

• Crippling Crush - When you immobilize or slow with a hammer or mace deal +con mod damage
• Crushing Guardian - +2 damage w/ hammer or mace in guardian form
• Sudden Roots - Enemy hit by opportunity attack is slowed (kicking off crippling crush)(Don't know how often wardens get OA's)

I was looking at this.

I already have Crippling Crush, and I use a Warhammer... how often does the +Con damage thing proc? Is it every single turn?