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(or, Who Says Staff Wizards Are Useless?)

The Iron Mage
Race: Human
Class: Wizard/Wizard of the Spiral Tower/Demigod
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares

Strength: 13, 15 at 11th level, 16 at 21st level
Constitution: 13, 15 at 11th level, 18 at 21st level
Dexterity: 8
Intelligence: 18+2 = 20 base, 23 at 11th level, 28 at 21st level, 30 at 28th level
Wisdom: 10, 11 at 11th level, 12 at 21st level, 14 at 28th level
Charisma: 10, 11 at 11th level, 14 at 21st level

Hit Points: 23 base, 75 at 11th level, 123 at 21st level, 159 at 30th level
Healing surges: 7 base, 8 at 11th level, 10 at 21st level.
Healing surge value: 5 base, 18 at 11th level, 30 at 21st level, 39 at 30th level

AC 19 (hide armor, Int bonus, staff of defense) base, 30 at 11th level (add +3 hide armor, longsword implement for staff, heavy shield, armor specialization, level modifier), 40 at 21st level (add +5 darkhide armor), 50 at 30th level (add +6 barkskin elderhide armor, also gain +4 degradable AC as daily). Add +1 to AC for levels 21 and 30 when next to a wall (for AC 41 at 21st, and AC 51 at 30th).

Fortitude: 12 base, 21 at 11th level (add +3 amulet), 31 at 21st level (add +5 amulet), 38 at 30th level (add +6 amulet)
Reflex: 16 base, 27 at 11th level (add +3 amulet, heavy shield), 38 at 21st level (add +5 amulet), 46 at 30th level (add +6 amulet)
Will: 13 base, 21 at 11th level (add +3 amulet), 29 at 21st level (add +5 amulet), 37 at 30th level (add +6 amulet).

Weapon (from 11th onward): Longsword (functions as staff implement, 1d8 damage, +3 proficiency)
Ranged Weapon: Magic Missile

Attack Bonus (Int-based powers): +5 base, +14 at 11th level (with +3 longsword), +24 at 21st level (with +5 longsword), +31 at 30th level (with +6 longsword). Add +3 for The One Sword, +7 for Corellon's Blade.

Trained Skills: Arcana, Diplomacy, Dungeoneering, History, Religion

Feats:
Armor Proficiency (Leather) (1st)
Armor Proficiency (Hide) (human bonus)
Toughness (2nd)
Human Perseverance (4th)
Skill Focus: Arcana (6th)
Improved Initiative (8th)
Weapon Proficiency: Longsword (10th)
Shield Proficiency: Light (11th)
Shield Proficiency: Heavy (retrain Improved Initiative, 11th)
Armor Specialization: Hide (12th)
Psychic Lock (retrain Skill Focus: Arcana, 12th)
Solid Sound (14th)
Back to the Wall (16th)
Action Recovery (18th)
Great Fortitude (20th)
Spell Focus (21st)
Lightning Reflexes (21th)
Arcane Mastery (24st)
Epic Resurgence (26nd)
Spell Accuracy (28th)
Iron Will (30th)


At-Will Powers:
Scorching Burst (for AoE at-will damage)
Magic Missile (for Solid Sound)
Illusory Ambush (for the -2 to hit on a foe, from Dragon #364)

Encounter Powers:
Icy Terrain (1st)
Fire Shroud (3rd)
Enemies Abound (7th, from Dragon #364)
The One Sword (11th, Wizard of the Spiral Tower power)
Prismatic Burst (13th, replaces Icy Terrain)
Ice Tomb (17th, replaces Fire Shroud)
Acid Storm (23rd, replaces Enemies Abound)
Forcecage (27th, replaces Ice Tomb)

Daily Powers:
Flaming Sphere or Phantom Chasm (1st)
Web or Stinking Cloud (5th)
Mordenkainen's Sword or Wall of Fire (9th)
Bigby's Grasping Hands or Wall of Ice (15th, replaces Flaming Sphere)
Acid Wave or Evard's Black Tentacles (19th, replaces Web)
Corellon's Blade (20th, Wizard of the Spiral Tower power)
Elemental Maw or Prismatic Spray (25th, replaces Mordenkainen's Sword)
Legion's Hold or Greater Ice Swarm (29th, replaces Acid Wave)

Utility Powers:
Shield or Expeditious Retreat (2nd)
Dispel Magic or Dimension Door (6th)
Blur or Arcane Gate (10th)
Shape the Dream (12th, Wizard of the Spiral Tower power)
Displacement or Stoneskin (16th)
Mass Fly or Mordenkainen's Mansion (22nd)
Divine Regeneration (26th, Demigod power)

Notes:
The Iron Mage is primarily designed for a high armor class. At level 1, he has an AC just as good as a front-line sword-and-board fighter. At level 30, he has a 50 AC, and can increase that AC multiple times per day (to 52 with Blur, or 54 with Barkskin Armor). Back to the Wall will give a further +1 to AC. In addition, the Iron Mage has two separate interrupt actions to improve AC that are each usable once per encounter. The first is Staff Implement Mastery (+4 to all defenses, untyped), and the second is Shield (+4 to AC and Reflex defense, doesn't stack with Blur or Barkskin Armor). In the event an attack hits, Displacement can be used once per encounter to force the attacker to reroll (great when Barkskin Armor is running). Finally, the Illusory Ambush power in combination with Psychic Lock can give a foe a -4 on its next attack roll.

The other defenses aren't quite as strong, and the weakest defense of the Iron Mage is not Fortitude, but Will. However, the Iron Mage has multiple powers to raise defenses or force a reroll (Shield, Displacement, Blur, Staff Implement Mastery) and can use Illusory Ambush (with Psychic Lock) to lower a foe's attack roll until the end of his next turn. He can also use Magic Missile or other force powers to gain +2 to any one non-AC defense (from Solid Sound). Versus Will attacks, the Iron Mage can also use Shape the Dream once per day to completely negate one attack.

Finally, versus damage and conditions that end on a save, the Iron Mage has both Human Perseverance and Action Recovery to shake off the most detrimental effects.

As a variant, the Iron Mage can forgo the Demigod bonuses to take Archmage in the Epic tier. This will lower his AC by 1 (due to a lower Intelligence), but he can use the 21st level ability to cast Blur twice per day, or even use the 30th level ability to have Blur available for every encounter (giving a near-constant +2 to all defenses).

This is a first draft, so any comments you have will help refine the build. I've only allotted for basic item bonuses and the barkskin armor, but there's a lot more that can be done.

Murkglow wrote:

I'm not seeing the point to your increasing of Cha and Wis at all, especially how you're doing it. One of your +2 from your demigod bonus is going to Cha? Your last two level ups in Wis? You are not taking any feats that require them, the skill bonuses are weak at best, and you're doubling up on a defensive pair!

Well, I wrote this late at night. The plan was to eventually take Spell Focus, which is why the Charisma would eventually reach the 13+ level that the feat requires. As for Wisdom, the only reason I raised it was for Spell Accuracy. I figure I can place most AoE spells so they will only hit two party members, and a 14 Wis means that I can exclude two squares with the feat. Extra init would be nice, but one of the points of making a defensive build is being tough enough to survive not going first.

I'll probably go back and drop a feat to get Spell Focus in there, or just dump Charisma and put the points in Constitution.

I made a similar build (although I decided eventually to forego hide armour for character reasons, and cool powers like permanent flight and phasing).

My build started with 18 int, and took Archmage instead of Demigod, so I ended up with lower int. I also chose to dump Wis, and buff Dex. That got me Defensive Advantage, which combos well with Wintertouched/Lasting Frost, as well as Arcane Reach which was nice.

My level points (mostly) went into Con, and I dipped Fighter to get Boundless Endurance and Unyielding Avalanche, two very nice stances which work well with Con.

I also took Eladrin, which I think is the better choice. The free feat is a wash, since Eladrin get Longsword Proficiency free, and I think the free teleport and wider selection for your extra skill is of more use than the extra at-will (I don't have Dragon, so Illusory Ambush isn't available).

AndrewH wrote:

I also took Eladrin, which I think is the better choice. The free feat is a wash, since Eladrin get Longsword Proficiency free, and I think the free teleport and wider selection for your extra skill is of more use than the extra at-will (I don't have Dragon, so Illusory Ambush isn't available).

Actually, the primary reason I took Human was the Defense bonuses to Fortitude, Reflex, and Will. Note that the build eventually gets all three of the +2 defense feats.

Of course, the third at-will meant I had room in the build for both Magic Missile and Illusory Assault, which was nice. Being able to either boost any non-AC defense (MM + Solid Sound) or give a -4 penalty to hit (IA + Psychic Lock) really helps the build.

Interesting concept.

There have been some new releases that can boost the efficiency of this build even further;

-character backgrounds : can be used to gain longsword proficiency without needing to be an eladrin or spend a feat.
-the defensive staff property, from Adventurer's Vault. Gives +1 to fort ref and will, and +1 to AC if you have implement mastery : staff. Its a shame this property only comes with staffs, and not swords so it loses relevance to your build after 11th level.
-staff fighting feat (dragon 368) : lets you treat a quarter staff as a double weapon, and gives it the defensive property. This means it gives you +1 AC when wielding it, and it counts as two weapons for the purpose of applying :
-two weapon defence : combined with staff fighting above, stacks on another +1 AC and +1 ref defence. All up, this will require wis 13, dex 13, and 3 feats, and is not compatible with shields... on the other hand, at least it doesnt require you to invest in str 15 which you need for heavy shield proficiency, and frees you up to choose a different paragon path.

From an efficiency standpoint, leather armor proficiency is the cheapest way to increase your AC, requiring no stat prerequisites... you cant ask for much better than 2 points of AC for 1 feat, and no drawbacks.

Staff fighting is also fairly painless, since it requires only a wis of 13, which is a stat you will find more useful as a wizard than strength at any rate.

Although the OP's build ends up boosting AC through the roof, it is at the expense of your will and fort saves, something that could be addressed by not spending unnecessary points boosting str, in pursuit of hide armor and shield proficiency.