Warlord: Heavy Blade vs. Spear

[Dannyalcatraz]

Sorry to threadjack, but just as point of info: in which books are some of these located? I don't recognize some of them.

I ask because one guy in our group is planning to try running a 4Ed game sometime later this year. Between him and myself, we're the only ones with any 4Ed books, so I'm trying to anticipate player PC designs and desires (I've gamed with these guys for more than a decade, so I know 'em). I know someone will be interested in the Warlord.

(And in all honesty, I'm a big fan of polearms in general.)

At this point, the player resources I own are PHBs 1-3, FR & Eberron Players Guides- I'm not sure what the prospective DM owns.

 

[Black Knight Irios]

Sorry to threadjack, but just as point of info: in which books are some of these located? I don't recognize some of them.

I ask because one guy in our group is planning to try running a 4Ed game sometime later this year. Between him and myself, we're the only ones with any 4Ed books, so I'm trying to anticipate player PC designs and desires (I've gamed with these guys for more than a decade, so I know 'em). I know someone will be interested in the Warlord.

(And in all honesty, I'm a big fan of polearms in general.)

At this point, the player resources I own are PHBs 1-3, FR & Eberron Players Guides- I'm not sure what the prospective DM owns.

Check out the WotC DDI Compendium Demo you can't read the power/feat/etc. but you get the source.

If I stumble upon something unknown I do that - awesome use of that demo.

Or check out the CharOp boards /w the guides to all classes. The really good ones include sources for everything they contain.

 

[Obryn]

Sorry to threadjack, but just as point of info: in which books are some of these located? I don't recognize some of them.

The Polearm feats I mentioned up above are from PHB3. Greatspear is from Adventurer's Vault, and so are Dynamic Weapons. The Warlord build mentioned by DracoSuave is in Martial Power 2.

And yeah, if you can put past momentary revulsion, the Character Optimization wiki (which has their guides) actually is a pretty good resource. The CharOp forum is, generally, a hive of wretchedness that makes me kind of ill, but the guides are usually written pretty well and rather reasonably, I've found.

I'll just give the same advice I normally do - a 1-month DDI subscription is worth its weight in gold. Snag it, grab all this stuff, and laugh all the way to the bank.

-O

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Thanks, guys- that's really helpful!

I may pick up or suggest that the DM-in-waiting pick up the Adventurer's Vaults, but for a variety of reasons, DDI won't be on the menu for us.

(And personally, you won't catch ME checking out anyone's CharOps boards...)

 

[Obryn]

I may pick up or suggest that the DM-in-waiting pick up the Adventurer's Vaults

I think AV1 is on the must-have list, with the various mounts, vehicles, superior weapons, and overall abundance of magic items. AV2 is a lot more optional - it has some good items, too, but it's a lot less essential, unless you have a lot of Primal characters in the game.

but for a variety of reasons, DDI won't be on the menu for us.

Okey dokey!

(And personally, you won't catch ME checking out anyone's CharOps boards...)

I feel physically ill when I read them. I've managed to separate the guides from the board in my head, rightly or wrongly.

-O

 

[Black Knight Irios]

(And personally, you won't catch ME checking out anyone's CharOps boards...)

I feel physically ill when I read them. I've managed to separate the guides from the board in my head, rightly or wrongly.

-O

Guys you should start to seperate CharOp threads in two kinds of types. Unlimited and gamebreaking exercises VS strong/useful/good/effective/unusual characters. And the guides don't tell you that you should make build x or y, they just rate all kind of options a class/whatever gets. The point is, if I want to make, let's say a Paladin (STR/WIS), I don't want to start looking through PHB1-3, DP, Dragon 36x-38x, AV1-2 and what source you can come up with, b/c of multi-classing you can check any/all books and other sources. These guides are the info you need in an easy accessible format. Sometimes I enjoy reading one of the gamebreaking builds just b/c I'm curious how they did it.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I understand I'm doing a bit of Baby & Bathwater D20, but unless I'm in a jam, I tend not to look for generalized advice on PC design.

If I'm asking for myself, I'm usually trying to tweak some aspect of a PC concept, usually with an eye towards RP, appropriateness, or the occasional quick question of actual rules clarification.

In addition, I'm so NOT an optimizer its not funny. I CAN optimize, but my PC design credo is to make design decisions based on what the PC themselves would gravitate towards.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I understand I'm doing a bit of Baby & Bathwater D20, but unless I'm in a jam, I tend not to look for generalized advice on PC design.

If I'm asking for myself, I'm usually trying to tweak some aspect of a PC concept, usually with an eye towards RP, appropriateness, or the occasional quick question of actual rules clarification.

In addition, I'm so NOT an optimizer its not funny. I CAN optimize, but my PC design credo is to make design decisions based on what the PC themselves would gravitate towards.

Yeah, I think in 4e you'll find its handy to go through some of that stuff simply because there are a lot of ways to combine certain feats/powers/etc to get a nice character build that implements a concept and also happens to be reasonably useful at poking monsters with sharp sticks. In any case DDI is so worth it just for the Character Builder and Compendium access its not funny. I just consider that a time savings thing, you can rummage around for an hour looking for the right feat, or bring up CB and have it show you what your choices are in 5 minutes.

AV1 is pretty much a must have book IMHO. The magic item selection in PHB1 is VERY basic. There are a lot of individual items, but 4e items tend to be rather niche. Having a wider selection really helps. Some classes, like warlock in particular, are tough to play effectively without one or another of the right items.

 

[Legildur]

And the guides don't tell you that you should make build x or y, they just rate all kind of options a class/whatever gets.

Agreed. I don't visit the WotC D&D boards except to view the Guides. I initially expected to see heaps of power builds that gel well with me personally - things that abuse queer combinations. However, I find the Guides well written and balanced.

That's not to say I agree with all their recommendations, and I have regularly ignored obvious selections as it didn't suit the style of build I was after, but it gives me something informative to start with - particularly with character classes I lack experience with.