Warlord Help!

[ArtofSymmetry]

My DM wants me to make a Warlord, and that was all peachy and stuff until I tried to flesh out his ability scores! I am playing as a human, I've considered Dragonborn but I don't like the flavor and I like the versatile human feats as opposed to Dragonborn. I tried going for 16, 16, 12, 11, 11, 8. With 8 for dex. But then I have a low initiative. I do not want to lower strength or charisma because they are too important. But as it is I have around 23 hp and -1 initiative. I need a better array if someone cares to help poor me....

EDIT: Hmm, Also it should be a build for a tactical warlord, which I just realized should have a decent intelligence. Also, does anybody know if this thread should be moved to 4e discussion? I saw a rogue help thread in there, just wondering. Maybe I'll ask for help on that thread, while they're on the topic... Talking to myself...

 

[yesnomu]

Stick the 8 in Wis instead, and take Improved Initiative if you want. Initiative isn't super-important for a Warlord, so a low one won't kill you. But everyone likes going first!

A good array is 16 10 12 16 8 12, swapping the 10 and a 12 based on your priorities. The +2 racial should probably go into Strength, but Int wouldn't be a terrible choice if you plan on Commander's Striking a lot.

 

[blargney the second]

An 18 Int tactical warlord is a fantastic addition to any party with at least one other Str-based character. Commander's Strike and Opening Shove are great at-wills, and there are some encounter powers with great Effect abilities, so hitting doesn't matter as much.
-blarg

 

[Grabuto138]

While Initiative is important to everyone, in many circumstances is less important to the Warlord. Often you will need to have your allies get adjacent to you are the enemy to use a power, or want to wait and see how the positioning plays out. Since a tactical warlord already has reflex and AC covered with Int I would take the 8 in Dex.

 

[Dan'L]

I think I'd go with stats 16, 11, 8, 16, 10, 13 before racial bonus. (Although if you hope to access better armor feats, you might switch the 11 and 13.)

You should have a +1 initiative at first level with an 8 Dex. Don't forget that your Combat Leader class feature adds to you as well as your allies.

Because of important skills like Perception and Insight, neither of which are class skills for a Warlord, I would probably stick with at least a 10 in Wisdom. (I just don't quite get why Perception isn't a class skill for a warlord; you'd think they'd be skilled at noticing what was going on, despite the confusion of battle.)

Obviously it's your choice whether you'd prefer the race bonus to go to your Str or Int. On the first hand, you'll have that extra +1 to hit and damage yourself. But, since warlords are more about helping the other characters to really shine, bumping up to an 18 Int would mean bumping up all the Int based benefits, even the ones that are only half your Int modifier, like your Tactical Presence to-hit bonus.

In fact, if you're planning on going with 18 Int and are still concerned about 8 Dex, consider going with Eladrin instead of Human. You'll get a bump up to 10 Dex, an extra skill, and the Fey Step which can help you get your ideal positioning in combat.

If the 23 hp really concerns, consider taking the toughness feat.

Hope this helps!

-Dan'L

 

[Obryn]

In fact, if you're planning on going with 18 Int and are still concerned about 8 Dex, consider going with Eladrin instead of Human. You'll get a bump up to 10 Dex, an extra skill, and the Fey Step which can help you get your ideal positioning in combat.

Also, eladrin rock with Greatspears, picking up proficiency in them (and tratnyrs) and +2 damage for the cost of a single feat. Reach weapons in general (and greatspears in particular) are phenomenal for a Warlord. Anything that increases your reach for Commander's Strike and keeps you out of harm's way a little longer is ... well, it's beautiful.

-O

 

[BobTheNob]

Yea. In our second group (I DM the main) I play a Eladin Reach warlord. Has its short comings, but what it does it does really well. Love it.

To the original post. Dont sweat if a few things arent great. Yes, your init wont be terrific and your HP wont be top notch, but as a warlord you are neither striker nor tank, and I generally put those numbers as priorities for those builds. As a warlord you are leader, you stand in the middle and help the others do what they do well. Helping the others is what you do well.

 

[Mr. Teapot]

Your two most important stats as a Tactical Warlord as Strength and Intelligence. These should be minimum 16 for Strength and 14 for Int (before race) and should be boosted every time you reach a stat-boosting level.

Charisma is decent if you want to pick up some of the Inspiring Warlord things, but you generally want to go with the generic Warlord stuff or the specifically Tactical Warlord stuff. But if all your options are Charisma based, granting a save at +1 is still better than not granting a save at all. So put point in here if you can afford it, but not so many as to lower Str or Int: 12-14, maybe. your Tactical Presence feature keys off of half your Int modifier, so you might want this as an 18 as soon as possible. 18 at character creation probably isn't feasible if you aren't a race with an Int bonus, but you can aim to have 18 Int at 4th or 8th level, maybe.

Constitution is sort of similar: you want a decent score, but if you're hurt then A) your party Defender should be more careful and B) you can use Inspiring Word or other healing on yourself you get your HPs back up. Once again, 12-14 range is about where you want it.

Dex and Wisdom aren't really needed. One should be 8, the other 10. Which is which depends on personal preference. Wisdom being 10 is good if you have a lot of ambushes happen (Perception to notice it and such) or if you need Insight when another PC can't tip you off. For Dex, it helps Initiative, but you really don't need Initiative as much as Rogues or Wizards do. Plus, just by being a Warlord you get +2 to Initiative, so you're already as well off as a PC who put a 14 into it, without spending a single character point.

So a good array might be: Str 16 (+ 2 from Human for 18), Con 12, Dex 10, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 12.

Action Surge is good for landing Daily powers that have an encounter long effect on a hit. Very good to have.

 

[RickVigorous]

I played an eladrin taclord w/ Str 16/Int 18 from 1st to 8th level. It was certainly playable, but I found that those two points of Str really help. If you fall behind on magic weapons, it starts getting hard to hit, and most of the big bonuses that taclords can give out require hitting. If you're playing a human, I'd go Str 18/Int 16 after racial modifiers. You can take the Improved Tactics feat and wear tactician's armor to make up the Int deficit. Bonus: with Int 16, you can chain armor without losing AC compared to hide. This gives you access to more options, like the aforementioned tactician's armor.

 

[ArtofSymmetry]

Wow you guys rock, going to make an Eladrin Taclord now, put the 8 in dex and then it'll go to ten and I'll effectively get no negs. Thanks for the help.