Note: The new July 9 Update introduced a very big change for the battlerager mechanic, so the build was made untouchable by high defenses. Of course, escape is still impossible :D The old builds are in the second post.
The Inescapeable Fisherman
If someone is adjacent to us, this someone will stay adjacent, unable to do anything. If he tries to move away, he won't (he does reliably take damage and gets knocked down in the process). If he tries to hit us, good luck (55/43/48/48). This can be done for up to 8 enemies at once, reliably, all the time (or more precisely, 7 encounters/day). He can deal at-will burst damage vs. all adjacent enemies (and 1 square away), and if someone hits him, master riposte triggers another burst for damage to all adjacent targets.
If you want to use this build without Windrise Ports, pick halfelf(con/int) warden/swordmage with versatile master: eldrich strike. Shouldn't change much (except for the loss of warlock encounter and daily powers)
Build 1: The unhitable inescapeable Fisherman (lvl 30)
Race: Changeling Class: Warlock|Swordmage (hybrid) Aegis: Warding Background: Windports Multi: Fighter, Warden PP: Academy Master ED: Sage of Ages
Powers: at-will: Eldrich Strike, Sword Burst encounter: 3 open, PP daily: Form of Winters Herald (ward1), 2 open, PP utility: 5 open, trick of knowledge(ED), PP
Items: Hand1: +6 Staggering Glaive Hand2: Chest: +6 Runic Chain Neck: +6 Cloak of Displacement Waist: Belt of Vim Feet: Rushing Cleats Head: Helm of Opportunity Hands: Greatreach Gauntlets Arms: Iron Armbands of Power +6 Ring1: Shadow Band Ring2: Opal Ring of Rememberance misc: rod of feywild+2 (10), rod of the infernal+2 (8), quickcurse rod+1 (8), salves of power (6) [/sblock]
Opportunity attack with Eldrich Strike to hit: 15(lvl)+7(con)+6(enh)+3(expertise)+2(weapon)+3(helm)+2(ED)+2(opportunist) = +40* vs AC 44 effect: damage target + slide 8 + knockdown
Swordburst to hit: 15(lvl)+7(int)+6(enh)+3(experise)+2(ring)+2(ED) = +35* vs Ref 42 effect: all enemies in close burst 2: damge + slide 2 + knockdown
*:actual value is higher due to arcane underpinning
How it works
The Fisherman: Our fishing pole has reach 3, and with Eldrich Strike and a Staggering Weapon, we will slide our target adjacent to us, knocking it down. Alternatively, we can slide it 8 squares away and knock it down. We could also do dynamite fishing - i.e. use sword burst to hit everyone in a 5x5 area, sliding them adjacent to us and knocking them down.
The Pond: The Pond is a 5x5 area of difficult terrain (Form of Winters Herald, 7 encounters/day, or 9 encounter/day with student of athaneum), centered on us. It only affects enemies, so no need to worry about your party. So, the fish is adjacent to us, but the big wide ocean calls... Ok, ill stop that. The enemy really really wants to get to the squishy mage, or anywhere but close to us (see the Bastion). So, it would like to shift and charge the squishy. But it can't, since the terrain is difficult. So, it moves, triggering an opportunity attack. Opportunity attacks are Eldrich Strikes with a high hit probability that slide 8 and knockdown (usually ending adjacent to us, or off the cliff if available).
The Bastion: Some might say: Who cares ? I shall simply attack the fisherman. Fortunately, this is exactly what we want. Due to our very high defenses, its quite unlikely that someone will actually hit. But if a hit occurs, white lotus riposte and white lotus master riposte will trigger, dealing damage+knockdown to all enemies in a burst and even more to the offender...
Visualization
(doesn't work that well without codeblocks, any idea how to do it with this new "forum" ?)
In Short
If an enemy is adjacent, he cannot shift due to difficult terrain
If he moves or charges, i get an opportunity attack.
Since its an opportunity attack, i get +5 to hit (item, wisdom), so it hits
Since Eldrich Strike is a melee basic attack, i use this power, slide them 2 (or up to 7), and knock them prone with Polearm Momentum.
Since they are prone, they need a move action to stand up. But they already used their move action. So, they can use their standard action to stand up. Now, they only have a minor action left, stand adjacent to us, surrounded by difficult terrain.
(If they spend an Action Point, they still cannot shift)
Since its an Opportunity Attack, not a immediate reaction, i can do this once per enemy turn (as opposed to once per round). Or, in other words, i can do this once for every enemy trying to move
Conclusion
The Fisherman can effectively stunlock the whole encounter (ok, enemies can still attack the Fisherman, but they probably won't hit), thus fulfilling the defender role perfectly .
I like the build idea that you have going on here, was looking at some of these elements but didn't think to put it together with the BRV Fighter. I think that is a pretty nice setup.
I have one question ATM about it. You mention that they cannot Shift and Charge due to the difficult terrain, but what keeps them from a simple Move+Charge or Charge. After you have expended the OA on the first guy that makes a break for it you are just making it more difficult to get to the party, but not impossible, correct? Not complaining about the build, just trying to make sure I have it all in my brain correctly (have read 4E a bit, but played very little so far so the rules aren't all set in my brain).
If a monster gets hit from a Fighter's OA, his move action fails. He can't charge because he doesn't have enough movement to get to one of the fighter's allies, so he'll have to move again if he wants to flee. The fighter will then use Footwork Lure and drag him back in. It's pretty much a deathtrap for any unsuspecting victim.
If someone tries to get adjacent to us, or is adjacent to us, this someone will stay adjacent, unable to do anything. If he tries to move away, he won't (he does reliably take damage, gets slowed and knocked down in the process). If he tries to hit us, good luck overcoming our temp hp (we have DR 5, and all the goodness of a Con 30 Dwarven Battleranger, for the equivalent of DR 36). This can be done for up to 8 enemies at once, reliably, all the time (or more precisely, 7 encounters/day).
The halfelf build at the end of the post has no temporary hitpoints, and uses a combination of curses and swordmage defenses to be very hard to hit (55/43/48/48). He can deal at-will burst damage vs. all adjacent enemies , and if someone hits him, master riposte triggers another sword burst for damage to all adjacent. Otherwise, he's using the normal fisherman tactic (form of winters herald+OA+slide+knockdown) to prevent any enemy from leaving their square adjacent to the fisherman.
The Inescapeable Fisherman (dwarf), lvl 1-30 progressionShow
15(lvl)+10(con)+6(enh)+3(exp)+2(weapon) = 36 (41 on OAs)
Eldrich Strike +36 | +38 with CA Eldrich Strike with OA; +41 | +43 with CA
Items: Hand1: +6 Staggering Glaive Hand2: Chest: +6 Agile Tarrasque Plate Neck: Cloak of the Walking Wounded Waist: Belt of Mountain Endurance Feet: Airstriders Head: Helm of Opportunity Hands: Greatreach Gauntlets Arms: Iron Armbands of Power +6 Ring1: Shadow Band Ring2: Nullifying Ring misc: rod of feywild+2 (10), rod of the infernal+2 (8), quickcurse rod+1 (8), salves of power (6)
The Fisherman: Our fishing pole has reach 3, and with Eldrich Strike and a Staggering Weapon, we will slide our target adjacent to us, knocking it down (and slowing it if the attack was an OA). Alternatively, we can slide it 7 squares away and knock it down (slowing it if the attack was an OA).
The Pond: The Pond is a 5x5 area of difficult terrain (Form of Winters Herald, 7 encounters/day, or 9 encounter/day with student of athaneum), centered on us. It only affects enemies, so no need to worry about your party. So, the fish is adjacent to us, but the big wide ocean calls... Ok, ill stop that. The enemy really really wants to get to the squishy mage, or anywhere but close to us (see the Bastion). So, it would like to shift and charge the squishy. But it can't, since the terrain is difficult. So, it moves, triggering an opportunity attack. Opportunity attacks are +7 Eldrich Strikes that slide 7, slow and knockdown (Sudden Roots, +4 Wis, +3 Helm of Opportunity) - they WILL connect (on a roll of 2+, vs. lvl+14 AC).
The Bastion: Some might say: Who cares ? I shall simply attack the fisherman. Fortunately, this is exactly what we want. We have very good defenses (51/48/44/45), but the real deal is our 18 temp hp from Battlerager, DR 5 from tarrasque plate, and start every battle with 32 temp hp (rod of the inferal+2) . This is effectively DR 23. If the enemy somehow manages to get past that, we can heal more than 50% of our health with a minor action. Additionally, we regain 10 hitpoints for every enemy we kill.
F = Fisherman 1-8 = Fish * = Ice (difficult terrain)
***** *123* *3F5* *678* *****
Its fish 5's turn, it wants to move right (cannot shift). We get an Opportunity Attack +5, we use Eldrich Strike, which slides 1 square. But we have a Staggering Glaive, so we slide it 7 squares, ending adjacent to us.
First slide 3 to the right ***** *123* *3F** 5 *678* *****
Then slide 3 back
***** *123* *3F5* *678* *****
6 squares slide -> polearm momentum triggers->knockdown. Since it was an Opportunity Attack, the target is additionally slowed.
This already works with a cheap staggering weapon +1, since our slide distance needs to be only 2 for polearm momentum to trigger. So the trick already works at level 12.
[LIST=1]
If an enemy is adjacent, he cannot shift due to difficult terrain
If he moves or charges, i get an opportunity attack.
Since its an opportunity attack, i get +5 to hit (item, wisdom), so it hits
Since i have Sudden Roots, they get slowed
Since Eldrich Strike is a melee basic attack, i use this power, slide them 2 (or up to 7), and knock them prone with Polearm Momentum.
Since they are prone, they need a move action to stand up. But they already used their move action. So, they can use their standard action to stand up. Now, they only have a minor action left, stand adjacent to us, surrounded by difficult terrain, and are slowed.
(If they spend an Action Point, they still cannot shift)
Since its an Opportunity Attack, not a immediate reaction, i can do this once per enemy turn (as opposed to once per round). Or, in other words, i can do this once for every enemy trying to move
Conclusion
The Fisherman can effectively stunlock the whole encounter, (ok, enemies can still attack the Fisherman, but he's a Con 30 dwarven battlerager). And since we get everyone adjacent to us, we have some very nice burst powers to immobilize the whole bunch, give them vulnerability 5 vs all damage or attack everyone twice. :D
We could use our dailies for stances, but i prefer to add even more control so i picked Hurl Trough Hell (remove enemy for 4 rounds) and Tendrils of Turban (immobilize+damage the whole encounter, this time at range).
He is also able to do the important parts of this as early as level 11.
In short, he is this really mean cursing Dwarf that enters Mordor alone, tells them to bring it on... and wins.
The goal i have in mind with this build is to deal very good (sword) burst damage every round to all adjacent targets (which cannot get away, due to the normal fisherman mechanic), and to further punish them with white lotus riposte and white lotus master riposte: every adjacent target will get 1d10+int damage on attacking us(riposte+iron of spite), and one target will trigger white lotus master riposte for another sword burst, damaging everyone. In this build, we are not invincible via crazy temporary hp like in the dwarf version, but by getting our defenses as high as possible...
Powers: at-will: Eldrich Strike, Sword Burst, 1 open encounter: 4 open daily: Form of Winters Herald (ward1, versatile master), quicksilver stance(f15), 2 open utility: 6 open, trick of knowledge(ED)
Items: Hand1: +6 Staggering Glaive Hand2: Chest: +6 Agile Chain Neck: +6 Cloak of Displacement Waist: Belt of Vim Feet: Airstriders Head: Iron of Spite Hands: Greatreach Gauntlets Arms: Iron Armbands of Power +6 Ring1: Shadow Band Ring2: Opal Ring of Rememberance misc: rod of feywild+2 (10), rod of the infernal+2 (8), quickcurse rod+1 (8), salves of power (6)
The goal i have in mind with this build is to deal very good (sword) burst damage every round to all adjacent targets (which cannot get away, due to the normal fisherman mechanic), and to further punish them with white lotus riposte and white lotus master riposte: every adjacent target will get 1d10+int damage on attacking us(riposte+iron of spite), and one target will trigger white lotus master riposte for another sword burst, damaging everyone. In this build, we are not invincible via crazy temporary hp like in the dwarf version, but by getting our defenses as high as possible.
Instead of starting with warlock|swordmage, in this time we start with fighter|swordmage, which allows us to get form of winters herald without paragon multiclassing, thus freeing up feats and a paragon path (but loosing all the fun of warlock powers and curses).
Race: Halfelf Class: Fighter|Swordmage (hybrid) Aegis: Ensnarement Background: Arcana Multi: Warden PP: Academy Master ED: Sage of Ages
Powers: at-will: Eldrich Strike, Sword Burst, 1 Fighter Power encounter: 4 open daily: Form of Winters Herald, quicksilver stance(f15), 2 open utility: 6 open, trick of knowledge(ED)
Items: Hand1: +6 Staggering Glaive Hand2: Chest: +6 Agile Chain Neck: +6 Cloak of Displacement Waist: Belt of Vim Feet: Airstriders Head: Iron of Spite Hands: Greatreach Gauntlets Arms: Iron Armbands of Power +6 Ring1: Shadow Band Ring2: Nullifying Ring misc: salves of power (6)
Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer
Know this situation ? Enemy 1 tries to shift away and gets knocked prone. You lost your immediate interrupt. Now, Enemy 2 to X shift away and charge, and you cannot do a thing about it, your party dies, and you feel horribly guilty - sure, you still win the fight, but damage is slow, and res costs are high.
Fear not! Phb2 is out, with it the Warden, and no enemy adjacent to yourself shall ever get away again (well, there is still a small chance, but its really quite small now.)
(If we get a reckless instead of a staggering weapon, dpr increases by +15.29 to 67.65 DPR)
Gear: Hand1: +6 Staggering Glaive Hand2: +6 Bloodclaw Longspear Chest: +6 Agile Tarrasque Plate Neck: +6 Cloak of Distortion or Cloak of the Walking Wounded Waist: Belt of Mountain Endurance Feet: Airstriders Head: Helm of Opportunity Hands: Greatreach Gauntlets Arms: Iron Armbands of Power +6 Ring1: Shadow Band Ring2: Nullifying Ring Equipment: Handy Haversack, 6 salves of power, Violet Solitaire, adventurer's kit
Tactics:
And just when they thought they were out, they were pulled back in.
The Fisherman: Our fishing pole has reach 4 (or reach 3 below level 24), and with Footwork Lure, Catspaw Style and a Staggering Weapon, we will slide our target adjacent to us, knocking it down (and slowing it if the attack was an OA).
The Pond: The Pond is a 5x5 area of difficult terrain (Form of Winters Herald, 7 encounters/day), centered on us. It only affects enemies, so no need to worry about your party. So, the fish is adjacent to us, but the big wide ocean calls... Ok, ill stop that. The enemy really really wants to get to the squishy mage, or anywhere but close to us (see the Bastion&The Hurt). So, it would like to shift and charge the squishy. But it can't, since the terrain is difficult. So, it moves, triggering an opportunity attack. Opportunity attacks are +8 Footwork Lures that slide adjacent and knockdown (HBO, Sudden Roots, +3 Wis, +3 Helm of Opportunity, +2 Blade Opportunist) - they WILL connect (on a roll of 2+, vs. lvl+14 AC). Level 24+, the opportunity attack could also be a dual strike +8. That way, the move is still stopped and the target is slowed. So it is still adjacent to us, and surrounded by difficult terrain. All it can do is move 1 square away, where we will easiy catch it with footwork lure next round. I still prefer to also knock them down, safe is safe, and they cannot surprise you with an Action Point that way.
The Bastion: Some might say: Who cares ? I shall simply attack the fisherman. Fortunately, this is exactly what we want. We have good defenses, 12 temp hp from Battlerager, DR 5, sometimes DR 10 (after AP & critical hit). Below level 24, we also sometimes have 9 invigoration temp hps. We can shrug off most conditions (Dreadnought), and heal almost 1.5 times our maximum own hitpoints per encounter, just by spending minor action second winds.
The Hurt: Well, our damage is not that great, but we can dual strike, possibly triggering reckless attacker for additional attacks. Our offhand weapon would be a bloodclaw one (reckless don't work at range), so damage is ok (see DPR calculations below). Also, an enemy will most likely start its turn adjacent to us, for 1[w]+mod damage from our stances.
Encounter/Daily Powers: Our Daily Powers (except Winters Herald) are stances (Force The Battle, Unyielding Avalanche), so nothing special, just safe damage for being adjacent to us for our catch
Massive Burst Damage: Scattering Swing -> attack + slide 7(!!!) + knockdown each target in a close burst 2 Cruel Reaper -> Double Attack on each target in a close burst 2. We can shift 2 between the atacks. Winters Harald Attack 1/enc: attack + immobilize(save ends) each target in a close burst 2
F = Fisherman 1-8 = Fish * = Ice (difficult terrain)
***** *123* *3F5* *678* *****
Its fish 5's turn, it wants to move right (cannot shift). We get an Opportunity Attack +8, turn it into Footwork Lure via Heavy Blade Opportunity. Footwork Lure is augmented by Catspaw Style -> we don't shift, but simply silde the enemy 1 adjacent to us. But we use a Staggering Glaive, so we slide it 7 squares, ending adjacent to us.
First slide 3 to the right ***** *123* *3F** 5 *678* *****
Then slide 3 back
***** *123* *3F5* *678* *****
6 squares slide -> polearm momentum triggers->knockdown. Since it was an Opportunity Attack, the target is additionally slowed.
This already works with a cheap staggering weapon +1, since our slide distance needs to be only 2 for polearm momentum to trigger. So the trick already works at level 12.
[LIST=1]
If an enemy is adjacent, he cannot shift due to difficult terrain
If he moves or charges, i get an opportunity attack.
Since its an opportunity attack, i get +8 to hit (feat, item, wisdom), so it hits
Since i have Sudden Roots, they get slowed
Since i have HBO, i use footwork lure, slide them 2 (or up to 7), and knock them prone with Polearm Momentum.
Since they are prone, they need a move action to stand up. But they already used their move action. So, they can use their standard action to stand up. Now, they only have a minor action left, stand adjacent to us, surrounded by difficult terrain, and are slowed.
(If they spend an Action Point, they still cannot shift)
Since its an Opportunity Attack, not a immediate reaction, i can do this once per enemy turn (as opposed to once per round). Or, in other words, i can do this once for every enemy trying to moving
Conclusion
The Fisherman might not be in the top trier of damage dealers, but he can effectively stunlock the whole encounter, (ok, enemies can still attack the Fisherman, but he's a dwarven battlerager). And since we get everyone adjacent to us, we have some very nice burst 2 powers to immobilize the whole bunch, attack everyone twice or let everyone dance 7 squares around the battlefield, only to be back adjacent to us after the move, and be knocked down. :D
He is also able to do the important parts of this as early as level 11.
In short, he really deserves the epic destiny Eternal Defender, since that is what he is
I love reach-controller builds and this is no exception, but I think you'll get more utility out of a shield (not to mention a cloak of displacement!).
OK, got it. Just went to look up the rules on it and found out that Opportunity Actions and Immediate Actions are two different things, right? So while you only have one Immediate Action in the space between one of your turns and the next, you have (theoretically) infinite Opportunity Actions limited to one per opponents turn.
Like I said, I have read the books but haven't played that much, so I was under the thought that Opportunity Action = Immediate Action. I believe that I was very wrong in that regard, and think I need to revise a few thoughts that I had on a reach build of my own.
I love reach-controller builds and this is no exception, but I think you'll get more utility out of a shield (not to mention a cloak of displacement!).
Thank you
But, how would a shield help I don't need Tide of Iron, since pushing is bad for this build - the enemy is supposed to stay right where he is, so slide+knockdown is the name of the game. I also don't use my combat challenge attacks, i use OAs, so distracting shield would be useless, too. Finally, shields don't only use the second hand slot, thus reducing damage significantly (even with one attack powers, since we would lack bloodclaw), they also use the arm slot, as in, the iron armband of power slot...
The cloak of displacement i like a lot, but not for dwarves. Twice the healing from the minor action second wind is more important to me than range ac, especially after we start to use our second wind twice per encounter in epic.
I love reach-controller builds and this is no exception, but I think you'll get more utility out of a shield (not to mention a cloak of displacement!).
Hm, how would a shield help I don't need Tide of Iron, since pushing is bad for this build - the enemy is supposed to stay right where he is, so slide+knockdown is the name of the game. I also don't use my combat challenge attacks, i use OAs, so distracting shield would be useless, too. Finally, shields don't only use the second hand slot, thus reducing damage significantly (even with one attack powers, since we would lack bloodclaw), they also use the arm slot, as in, the iron armband of power slot...
The cloak of displacement i like a lot, but not for dwarves. Twice the healing from the minor action second wind is more important to me than range ac, especially after we start to use our second wind twice per encounter in epic.
Llarish wrote:
OK, got it. Just went to look up the rules on it and found out that Opportunity Actions and Immediate Actions are two different things, right? So while you only have one Immediate Action in the space between one of your turns and the next, you have (theoretically) infinite Opportunity Actions limited to one per opponents turn.
YMMV, but the DMs that I play with are pretty solid at reacting to battleragers insofar as ranged enemies and multi-level terrain. Don't forget, cloak of the walking wounded lets you spend two healing surges per second wind, but you're also planning on sacking a lot healing surges to your salves of power.
I have a fun swordmage reachtroller build in the wings if you want to help flesh it out. I noticed you've been very active lately so perhaps you can take the time to do it justice b/c I think it should be a pretty solid.
YMMV, but the DMs that I play with are pretty solid at reacting to battleragers insofar as ranged enemies and multi-level terrain. Don't forget, cloak of the walking wounded lets you spend two healing surges per second wind, but you're also planning on sacking a lot healing surges to your salves of power.
You have a point there. Completely forgot the healing surge requirement for the salves, so its the cloak.
I have a fun swordmage reachtroller build in the wings if you want to help flesh it out. I noticed you've been very active lately so perhaps you can take the time to do it justice b/c I think it should be a pretty solid.
Yes, i'm in the hospital until tomorrow, so i'm pretty much surfing the net all the time the last few days... I don't know much about swordmages, but i would be glad try and help if i can.
. 
I don't need Tide of Iron, since pushing is bad for this build - the enemy is supposed to stay right where he is, so slide+knockdown is the name of the game. I also don't use my combat challenge attacks, i use OAs, so distracting shield would be useless, too. Finally, shields don't only use the second hand slot, thus reducing damage significantly (even with one attack powers, since we would lack bloodclaw), they also use the arm slot, as in, the iron armband of power slot... 