Warlord. A bad or a good Cleric?

[SadisticFishing]

We've all already seen that +2 to attack versus another attack, the extra attack is worth FAR more (unless you only hit on a 20 exactly)... all the Careful Strike math.

Though the Warlord doesn't attack himself, adding your int to damage is worth a fair bit, especially if you get that helmet... erm.. Helm of Heroes.

On top of that, very few classes can do much without encounters, clerics fall under that too - sure, they can give slightly more attack with an at-will, but the warlord can make it hard for enemies to move away (Viper's Strike + Combat Superiority means the baddie has very little chance to get away). Wolf Pack Tactics can set up flanking for the whole group.

Both Cleric and Warlord have good encounter powers, but the Tactical Warlord is far better at giving attack bonuses. Once you reach Paragon and take Battle Captain's level 16 ability, the difference becomes ridiculous. +7 to +10 (depending on race and how well you rolled) to hit and speed - every time you heal? Win.

 

[Glimmin]

Last night we had a pretty badass session where the warlord (and Commander's Strike) really shone. A bugbear warrior (with savage berserker template) challenged the party's fighter to one on one combat. His minions cheered him from the sidelines while the party cheered the fighter from the opposite side. All throughout the fight, the warlord's cheer was him yelling commands to the fighter for where to strike (Commander's Strike) and inspirational words of encouragement (Inspiring Word). The level 3 fighter as nearly able to down the level 5 elite bugbear solo before both of them were reduced to about 20% health and the combat broke out into an all out melee between the groups. It was pretty awesome and the whole party was enthralled during the battle. Our fighter would not have been able to do something like that w/o the warlord's ability.

 

[cmbarona]

Technically, Commander's Strike doesn't work unless the warlord is within melee range of the target, but even if you knew this, I applaud you for making the decision to allow it to work for the sake of a badass encounter.

 

[vhailor]

At first I was thinking building an Inspiring Warlord, taking Heavy Blade Opportunity and Polearm Gamble. That way every OA would be Righeous Brand and there would be lots of them

...but after reading many opinions, I decided to go for a tactical, since he can boost all allies (with some high level powers).

The question: Should I go for the Heavy Blade Opportunity + Polearm Gamble, while having Tactical Warlord, or take some other feats?

 

[Staffan]

We've all already seen that +2 to attack versus another attack, the extra attack is worth FAR more (unless you only hit on a 20 exactly)... all the Careful Strike math.

But it's not an extra attack. It's a transferred attack. If the warlord also got to make an attack as part of Commander's Strike, or the beneficiary could use a power on his attack, that would be a good power. As it is, I'm fairly sceptical.