Tempest Technique Tank tips and tricks?

[Aduro]

Well it's my last day to tweak and mess with my level one Fighter before the DM locks us into our builds tomorrow. I do know I want to do Tempest Technique and go all dual blade though. What are some good tips and tricks and power and feats and ability scores to look at to be the best Defender I can be and keep the rest of the group alive? Dealing the most damage isn't particularly important to me, as that's not my role.

 

[Turtlejay]

Tempest Fighters rock, they can mark two guys at once, at will (with Dual Strike). I took that idea and ran with it, making a fighter that took as many multi-attack powers as he could, marking as many guys as he could, and punishing the crap out of them for violating it.

So the Tempest technique has two things going for it. One, since you must remain in light or chain armor, it encourages high Dex, which does well with the light blade choice you've already made. This keeps your speed at 6 (or 7) and opens you up for some good movement powers. Two, you can mark twice as many guys as a regular fighter. You should look for feats or powers that make your mark count for more. Without more specifics. . .

Two Weapon fighting is good.
Two Weapon threat is good.
Dual Strike, plus an at-will of your choice (Footwork Lure?)
Funneling Fury and Tempest Dance will both mark multiple targets.
For utilities, I like Pass Forward at 2nd.

Take Weapon Expertise and don't skimp on the Wisdom, so you can make your mark count. Alternatively, I think there is a feat that allows you to use your Dex for CC attacks. . .I think. If you are playing in Eberron, take the feat that makes your marks -3. Nimble Blade is a good feat if Expertise is banned.

Ooh, and with high dex and a light blade, you could MC Rogue for some other feat or power options.

Jay

 

[Aduro]

Since I am working for the durability rather than the damage, is the +2 damage from the Tempest perk worth it rather than taking Proficiency in Plate Armor?

 

[UngeheuerLich]

depends how high your dexterity is...

with 16 dexterity it is reasonable to use plate... but then i would suggest to take one handed talent, since it will give +1 attack to all attacks with 1-handed weapons, not only offhand weapons. You can still wield light blades and take dual strike as an at will. And you can take 2 weapon defense later as a feat.

 

[Starfox]

Tempest fighters are on the strikery end of the fighter spectrum. But sure you can go plate, ditch the damage bonus and use your off-hand attacks mainly for marking.

The fighter class is awesomely powerful and flexible. You almost cannot go wrong with it.

 

[Destil]

Double sword plus two-weapon defense give you AC like you're using a large shield without the check penalty. Your damage isn't fantastic, but you'll be pretty mobile and able to shake off attacks.

A fighter can get away with 16 strength better than most classes. Especially one who wants dual strike as their primary at-will. I'd go with something like this, the AC is a few points shy of plate, but your non-AC defenses aren't particularly bad; you're going to loose some reflex and will defense getting the 15 Con for heroic tier plate.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
level 1
Elf, Fighter
Fighter Talents: Tempest Technique

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 16, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 8.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 8.


AC: 18 Fort: 15 Reflex: 14 Will: 13
HP: 28 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 7

TRAINED SKILLS
Endurance +5, Heal +8, Athletics +7

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +2, Arcana, Bluff -1, Diplomacy -1, Dungeoneering +3, History, Insight +3, Intimidate -1, Nature +5, Perception +5, Religion, Stealth +2, Streetwise -1, Thievery +2

FEATS
Level 1: Weapon Proficiency (Double sword)

POWERS
Fighter at-will 1: Dual Strike
Fighter at-will 1: Footwork Lure
Fighter encounter 1: Distracting Spate
Fighter daily 1: Tempest Dance

ITEMS
Double sword, Handaxe (5), Hide Armor
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======

An 18 Str 18 Dex half-orc build may be good, too (extra point of AC and reflex, but one less on will and better to-hit).

 

[Zaran]

So the Tempest technique has two things going for it. One, since you must remain in light or chain armor, it encourages high Dex, which does well with the light blade choice you've already made. This keeps your speed at 6 (or 7) and opens you up for some good movement powers. Two, you can mark twice as many guys as a regular fighter. You should look for feats or powers that make your mark count for more. Without more specifics. . .

Two Weapon fighting is good.
Two Weapon threat is good.
Dual Strike, plus an at-will of your choice (Footwork Lure?)
Funneling Fury and Tempest Dance will both mark multiple targets.
For utilities, I like Pass Forward at 2nd.

Take Weapon Expertise and don't skimp on the Wisdom, so you can make your mark count. Alternatively, I think there is a feat that allows you to use your Dex for CC attacks. . .I think. If you are playing in Eberron, take the feat that makes your marks -3. Nimble Blade is a good feat if Expertise is banned.

Ooh, and with high dex and a light blade, you could MC Rogue for some other feat or power options.

Jay

If you wear chain you still have a movement reduction so you still have the same speed as other fighters. I do not recommend using light armor unless you can can your Dex + Hides up to the same AC as chainmail.

I have a tempest fighter and I hardly ever get do an actual Oppurtunity Attack, so I see no reason to have any Wisdom. The interrupt attack you get with your marking power does not get any Wisdom bonus. The martial power 2 has a replacement class feature that uses Dexterity but I feel that it isn't as good.

I use a bastard sword and shortsword. While the bastard sword doesn't get all the bonuses that the shortsword gets I feel the extra damage is worth it. I suppose getting a Rapier would work even better but it wasn't in the character concept (he's a western noble who learned from samurai types).

I find that I do alot of damage for a fighter but I do find myself lacking in AC. Footwork lure is great for a tempest fighter. I use it position my mark between me and my rogue buddy.

The build does try to force you to use light blades though. All the weapon styles that use the tempest exploits are for light blades but I did find alot of exploits to use with heavy blades. I have only once found myself lacking in choices and MP2 solved that.

 

[Aduro]

Got my current stats as a just leveling up to second down below. Wish the Fighter special thing counted as an Opp Attack, I thought it did at first, but no so it doesn't get all the cool bonuses I can get for Opp Attacks. With my Dex as high as it is though I think I'll stick to the Agile Superiority Feat (which is from a magazine, not one of the books) still because it's really nice when it does come up.

For the same reason of Dex, the Hide Armor is nice because I get just as much AC as Scale with it.

Anyway, the level 1 stuff is locked in, but I can still change the new level 2 stuff.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Contego Fides, level 2
Human, Fighter
Build: Tempest Fighter
Fighter Talents: Tempest Technique
Background: Occupation - Military, Geography - Urban, Geography - Forest (+2 to Athletics)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 18, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 13, Dex 16, Int 8, Wis 11, Cha 10.


AC: 19 Fort: 17 Reflex: 17 Will: 12
HP: 34 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 8

TRAINED SKILLS
Heal +6, Athletics +10, Endurance +6, Streetwise +6

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +4, Arcana, Bluff +1, Diplomacy +1, Dungeoneering +1, History, Insight +1, Intimidate +1, Nature +1, Perception +1, Religion, Stealth +4, Thievery +4

FEATS
Human: Two-Weapon Fighting
Level 1: Agile Superiority
Level 2: Weapon Expertise (Light Blade)

POWERS
Bonus At-Will Power: Sure Strike
Fighter at-will 1: Footwork Lure
Fighter at-will 1: Dual Strike
Fighter encounter 1: Funneling Flurry
Fighter daily 1: Tempest Dance
Fighter utility 2: Pass Forward

ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Short sword (2), Hide Armor, Potion of Healing (heroic tier)
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======

 

[Angellis_ater]

An idea, if going for durability, is to take a longsword and Weapon Proficiency: Spiked Shield. That gives you +1 to AC/Reflex, a 2nd weapon that fits in the light blade area and you still enhance your defensive abilities AND get the benefit of two-weapon defense.

If I was building it, and wanting to go "tank" more than "damage" I'd go with the off-hand flail (can't remember its name) as the primary weapon (+2 to hit, 1d8 damage) which gives you 1d8+2+Str as the base damage (pretty nice) and the Spiked Shield (+2 to hit, 1d6+2+Str damage).

 

[Turtlejay]

I like the build. As Destil said, you aren't going to win a damage done competition, but you will be a superb Defender nonetheless. Going with Double Sword will net you the +1 Defensive bonus and allow you to focus on only one enchantment, but double weapons are wonky when it comes to powers/effects applying. IIRC they only proc off the main end, but the second end still benefits from other aspects of the enchantment. Most of the time this will not matter at all. Two short swords is perfectly fine, as is a Paired short sword.

You might want to look at some of the fighting styles. I'm sure there are one or two out there that work well with the at-wills you have. They are a great way to improve your fighter and make him even more unique.

As for Fighters not getting OA's, that is a DM/Campaign specific issue. My Tempest fighter got plenty of OA's, and loved every one of them. The bonus to hit on top of expertise made it very, very unlikely the attack would miss.

Jay