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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MwaO" data-source="post: 9373525" data-attributes="member: 12749">IV. Defender "Roles" and WinningDefenders have in a sense, "roles" in how they typically defend. Let's go through them.LockdownThe Fighter is the classic lockdown Defender — you swing at them, they're marked, if they want to get away from you, they're going to take potentially multiple attacks to do so. Pro: Once you do this, they're likely stuck. Con: if they're really determined to get away from you, you can only stop so many of them from trying to shift away from you. Warden also does this, but as Warden doesn't inherently stop shifts, they have to take usually daily powers to prevent it.MassPaladin getting off Divine Sanction against multiple targets via a utility such as Call of Challenge or other methods is the Mass Defender. While they might not be able to prevent any of their targets by default from moving after the party, they will both apply a penalty to hit and will do some damage that very quickly adds up.SkirmishingBattlemind, Swordmage and to a lesser extent Warden and Paladin are the skirmishers — they use movement within combat to draw opponents from one side of the battlefield to another. Blurred Step, Speed of Thought, Aegis of Assault are all examples of powers where as a feature, the Defender moves around the combat. They often have their mark function to some degree at a distance. It is often important to consider how one moving away from one's marks or targets of one's powers potentially weakens them.ZoneThis Defender nominally controls a zone of territory around them, usually similar to their speed. Battlemind with powers such as Lightning Rush or Warden with Guardian's Pounce and Warden's Grasp. Monsters violate the condition which triggers the Defender's powers, they don't need to be adjacent to it to do something about it.How to WinKill themA dead enemy can't attack the party. As defender, it's your job to go for the toughest enemy first, especially if that's the one with the highest damage potential. Leave the easy kills for strikers and controllers. Still, if you're able to take down a tough enemy all on your own, you help the party a lot, so keep your damage output up.Many defender classes like Fighters, Wardens and Assault Swordmages rely on weapon attacks to deliver their punishment (B above). For them, keeping their damage output up is a key priority.Status effectsA weakened enemy deals less damage. A dazed enemy can't attack and move (caution: it can still charge). An immobile or restrained enemy can't go after your squishies. These and other status effects help a lot in your job. Make sure to have an effective selection of powers that debuff enemies.Hinder their movementA lot of enemies, especially skirmishers, rely on their mobility to get to squishies in your party. Use your mark effects and status effect powers to hinder their mobility. This is a specialty of polearm wielders (often fighters, sometimes swordmages)Pushes, shoves and slidesPowers which push, shove and slide monsters or allies don't look like much when you see them on paper. With your first character, you'll probably skip them and go for something with direct effect that's more easy to measure, like higher damage, extra attacks or healing. Powers with forced movement are situational in comparison, but if you can use them at the right moment, they can turn a losing situation into a tactical advantage.For a defender, pulls are very effective. You can drag the monster away from the ally it is pounding on and force it within your area of control. An example for this kind of power is the Swordmage at-will Lightning Lure and the 7th-level Fighter encounter power Come and Get It.Push powers are very handy if there are terrain hazards like a lava pit or a Wizard's Wall of Fire. If you're fighting next to a cliff, a simple at-will like Tide of Iron is deadly. A second use for push powers is to move the foes' defense line to get closer to the weaker targets.Soak damage from alliesThis is a Paladin specialty. Take half or all damage that was meant for an ally. Most 4th edition characters are tough enough in their own right, so this will be an emergency measure, even though an effective one. If, for example, a dragon has a powerful breath weapon that can freeze the whole party, it's effective if the character best equipped to deal with that (you) takes the hit for the team so everyone else remains in the game.Boost ally defensesIf you're a secondary leader, this is an effective tactic to add to punishment. Your mark just in itself is only a -2 penalty to enemy attacks, and often not enough to make enemy attacks fail on an ally. Especially if you wear a shield, your AC will often be 4 to 5 points higher. If you can boost ally defenses, the gap closes, and foes are more likely to concentrate their attacks on you.V. Battlefield PositioningA defender shapes the battlefield not with fancy powers but by sheer presence. Their ability to withstand attacks and hamper enemy movement means that the front line is defined by where the defender is. At the start of combat, it is the defender who decides where the heat of the battle will be by deciding their position.Front lineThe defenders, together with other tough melee characters like barbarians or warlords, form a front line that does not let enemies through, while ranged characters like a bow ranger or warlock shoot from behind. This works best in terrain like narrow dungeon corridors. As long as the front line does not get overwhelmed, this is a solid setup.SurroundedThis risky tactic means that the defender charges straight ahead into the enemies, and tries to get as many around himself as possible. This assumes fairly open territory, and a large number of weaker enemies. With good defenses and close burst powers, a defender can hold himself quite well in this situation. The main advantage is that they can bind a large number of enemies and deal a big amount of distributed damage. Blaster wizards will love the well-packed enemy square.The danger of such a setup is that if the defender goes down, nobody will be able to come to their rescue, so be sure of how much you can soak.Back with the squishiesThis is a typical position of the second defender, if the group has one. While the first one runs off to a surrounded position, or flanking with the rogue, you make sure that no monster can break through and munch on the wizard. While this is an important position, chasing the lurker is less glorious than moving down the minions at the front or taking the brute head-on. Taking on the BBEG artillery can often really influence a battle.Everybody flankingHere we have the sort of unorganized mess that fights get into when a small group fights a small group and everyone tries to gang up on everyone. Defenders should make sure they put their high defenses against the enemy that can deal the most damage. If you can mark multiple enemies, use this power to concentrate as many enemies on yourself as possible so other party members can act freely. In addition, try to block enemy skirmishers to reap opportunity attacks, and provide flanking to your strikers.All against the big bossThe situation with one large enemy in the middle and the group around them is typical for solo fights. As for positioning, this is pretty straight-forward: Make sure you are always right next to the critter, and keep your allies at distance to avoid breath weapons and other close blast attacks.</blockquote>

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