Here's my current Avenger character. I'm playing him in LFR and I am enjoying it. Note: he just got to level 6 and I retrained Bond of Retribution for Bond of Censure. I haven't had a chance to play him since I made this change, but I got tired of not having a decent ranged attack...
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Codrus, level 6 Minotaur, Avenger Build: Isolating Avenger Avenger's Censure: Censure of Retribution Background: Nelanther Isles
FINAL ABILITY SCORES Str 13, Con 13, Dex 10, Int 14, Wis 19, Cha 8.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES Str 10, Con 11, Dex 10, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 8.
FEATS Level 1: Staff Fighting (retrained to Weapon Proficiency (Fullblade) at Level 2) Level 2: Melee Training (Wisdom) Level 4: Power of Skill Level 6: Initiate of the Faith
POWERS Avenger at-will 1: Overwhelming Strike Avenger at-will 1: Bond of Retribution (retrained to Bond of Censure at Level 6) Avenger encounter 1: Avenging Echo Avenger daily 1: Oath of the Final Duel Avenger utility 2: Refocus Enmity Avenger encounter 3: Halo of Fire Avenger daily 5: Living Death Strike Avenger utility 6: Aspect of Majesty
ITEMS Adventurer's Kit, Climber's Kit, Tent, Symbol of Life +2, Boots of Adept Charging (heroic tier), Floating Lantern (heroic tier), Power Jewel (heroic tier), Sunblade Fullblade +1, Ornament of Alertness +1, Bloodthread Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing) +2 ====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======
And here he is at his humble level 1 beginnings Codrus, level 1Show
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Codrus, level 1 Minotaur, Avenger Build: Isolating Avenger Avenger's Censure: Censure of Retribution Background: Nelanther Isles (Nelanther Isles Benefit)
FINAL ABILITY SCORES Str 12, Con 13, Dex 10, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 8.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES Str 10, Con 11, Dex 10, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 8.
POWERS Avenger at-will 1: Overwhelming Strike Avenger at-will 1: Bond of Retribution Avenger encounter 1: Avenging Echo Avenger daily 1: Oath of the Final Duel
ITEMS Quarterstaff, Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing), Adventurer's Kit, Crudely Built Holy Symbol, Climber's Kit, Tent ====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======
My friend, you have a spare feat to play with. Power of Skill allows you to use Overwhelming Strike for all of your basic attacks (including OAs and charges), which makes Melee Training (Wisdom) completely unnecessary.
I know. As soon as I hit level 7, I'm going to retrain it. I was going to at level 6, but I decided on retraining Bond of Retribution instead.
Good stuff, man. Figured there was a good chance you already knew. Sounds like you're having a ball with that character. It's interesting to me seeing how differently some people approach the class than I do. I'm obviously a Pursuit enthusiast, and not really attracted to the Retribution builds. Having said that, I'm always curious to see those types of builds, and to hear the way people approach playing them.
Even very similar builds sometimes wind up being used wildly different ways from one player to the next. Case in point: Retribution players who intentionally charge up their Censure by drawing OAs, contrasted by Retribution players who champion very high defense and get their damage in other ways.
You'll maybe notice that I am playing a Minotaur, which gets a racial +2 vs. OAs when charging. It's a side benefit but I manage. Goring Shove is nice as an opening charge attack, especially if I can get my Oath onto a target before doing the charge, so I can roll twice for the attack.
I am also running a Fighter who has multiclassed Avenger using Hero of Faith. She's got a Vicious Spike Chain +2 and a Sunblade Fullblade +1 currently which she swaps between, depending on her target.
I noticed a level 9 Avenger daily called Glyph of Ruins or Runes or something. Anyway, it's a Close Burst 2 which targets all enemies in the burst. So, my Fighter will get to mark all of those, pull them 1 square so they are adjacent. They'll take 10 radiant at the start of their turn and, since they are all marked, will have to either attack me or be attacked if they try to move away, etc. Not a bad way to keep the party defended, really.
Not too shabby, Undrhill. I'll have to look at that Daily again in the context of defenders multiclassing Avenger.
One of the things I'm looking at right now is working out an Avenger who gets good At-Will damage and then uses Encounters and Dailies for bursts and blasts. Not sure if it'll work out or not as yet, but going over a bunch of PPs right now looking for something appropriate. May turn out to be a Retribution Avenger/Blood Mage or something along those lines. Still very much a work in progress.
Absolutely! All I ask is that you include points of interest, and post it as a 1-30 build so people can get an idea of how it is to play and see how it develops.
Absolutely! All I ask is that you include points of interest, and post it as a 1-30 build so people can get an idea of how it is to play and see how it develops.
Minor caveat before anything else, this build isn't super optimized towards combat as some builds are. I've posted this before, but got no feedback. There are probably 2-3 feats by the end of it all that don't impact combat at all, but they go towards my overall character concept. Also, I mined both Forgotten Realms and Eberron for inspiration, so this won't be viable if some books aren't allowed. And yeah, I've never tried this out before, but this is something I messed around with in the Character builder.
Anyway, here's my stab at a Ninja-venger. Whole concept revolves around Sneak Attack, Wraithblades, and a whole lot of stealth.
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Avenger Twinblade, level 1 Half-Elf, Avenger Build: Pursuing Avenger Avenger's Censure: Censure of Pursuit Background: Luskan
FINAL ABILITY SCORES Str 15, Con 12, Dex 15, Int 11, Wis 15, Cha 10.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES Str 15, Con 10, Dex 15, Int 11, Wis 15, Cha 8.
ITEMS Magic Flail +1, Adventurer's Kit, Crowbar, Grappling Hook, Identification Papers, with Portrait, Journeybreads (10), Hunter's Kit, Holy Symbol, Boots of Stealth (heroic tier), Magic Short sword +1, Magic Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing) +1, Cannith Goggles (heroic tier), Amulet of Protection +1, Burglar's Gloves (heroic tier), Belt of Resilience (heroic tier), Eternal Chalk (heroic tier), Restful Bedroll (heroic tier), Magic Holy Symbol +1 ====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======
Now at this point, you're pretty much gonna rely on whatever weapon you have on hand to hit things. You're stealth is pretty decent I guess for a new adventurer, so try getting some CA so you can use your sneak attack payload for your encounters.
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Avenger Twinblade, level 5 Half-Elf, Avenger Build: Pursuing Avenger Avenger's Censure: Censure of Pursuit Background: Luskan
FINAL ABILITY SCORES Str 15, Con 12, Dex 15, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 10.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES Str 15, Con 10, Dex 15, Int 11, Wis 15, Cha 8.
FEATS Level 1: Sneak of Shadows Level 2: Righteous Rage of Tempus Level 4: Weapon Proficiency (Double sword)
POWERS Avenger at-will 1: Radiant Vengeance Avenger at-will 1: Overwhelming Strike Dilettante: Twin Strike Avenger encounter 1: Shared Madness Avenger daily 1: Temple of Light Avenger utility 2: Distracting Flare Avenger encounter 3: Halo of Fire Avenger daily 5: Living Death Strike
ITEMS Adventurer's Kit, Crowbar, Grappling Hook, Identification Papers, with Portrait, Journeybreads (10), Hunter's Kit, Boots of Stealth (heroic tier), Cannith Goggles (heroic tier), Burglar's Gloves (heroic tier), Eternal Chalk (heroic tier), Restful Bedroll (heroic tier), Sylvan Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing) +1, Flensing Double sword +1, Bracers of Mighty Striking (heroic tier), Gloaming Shroud +1, Gloves of Agility (heroic tier), Girdle of the Oxen (heroic tier), Symbol of Battle +1 ====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======
At this point you got 2 more feats to choose. I choose RRoT at 2nd level since it helps out when I it's time to unleash that damaging daily power and you really want its effects maximized. Just don't miss. For the next choice, I train in using a double sword. It's got decent (not uber) damage at d8, and it works with twin strike. It also ups your AC by 1, so that's cool.
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Avenger Twinblade, level 10 Half-Elf, Avenger Build: Pursuing Avenger Avenger's Censure: Censure of Pursuit Background: Luskan
FINAL ABILITY SCORES Str 15, Con 12, Dex 16, Int 12, Wis 17, Cha 10.
STARTING ABILITY SCORES Str 15, Con 10, Dex 15, Int 11, Wis 15, Cha 8.
FEATS Level 1: Sneak of Shadows Level 2: Righteous Rage of Tempus Level 4: Weapon Proficiency (Double sword) Level 6: Two-Weapon Fighting Level 8: Mark of Shadow Level 10: Quick Draw
POWERS Avenger at-will 1: Overwhelming Strike Avenger at-will 1: Radiant Vengeance Dilettante: Twin Strike Avenger encounter 1: Shared Madness Avenger daily 1: Temple of Light Avenger utility 2: Distracting Flare Avenger encounter 3: Halo of Fire Avenger daily 5: Living Death Strike Avenger utility 6: Soul Seeker Avenger encounter 7: Inexorable Pursuit Avenger daily 9: Temple of Shadow Avenger utility 10: Eye of Justice
ITEMS Adventurer's Kit, Crowbar, Grappling Hook, Identification Papers, with Portrait, Journeybreads (10), Hunter's Kit, Burglar's Gloves (heroic tier), Eternal Chalk (heroic tier), Restful Bedroll (heroic tier), Gloves of Agility (heroic tier), Girdle of the Oxen (heroic tier), Wraithblade Double sword +2, Sylvan Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing) +2, Eye of Deception (heroic tier), Gloaming Shroud +2, Iron Armbands of Power (heroic tier), Sandals of Precise Stepping (heroic tier), Symbol of Battle +2 ====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======
At this point, you start to get to feel of what you're supposed to do. Get a double sword Wraithblade ASAP. Get arm bands of power for more damage. Learn TWF so you add a little oomph to your attacks. Get stealthier. The choice of quick draw is more fluff then optimization, since battle harness exists. At this time, you should be getting crits every now and then, and generously applying Sneak Attack damage with each crit.
With your Avenger powers, you've got +13 to hit, and your 2 dailies now help you achieve more stealth (via Temple of Shadow) and massive damage (via Living Death Strike + RRoT). The utility at 6 lets you summon a Soul Seeker to help you flank your Oath target and get CA.
I'll stop here for the moment. Next time I'll post the character at level 15 and level 20, and it will make more sense then why Mark of Shadow was chosen.
That's an interesting build, GodLikeDevil. My initial reaction was terror, because the DM I'm playing with right now is a big fan of very challenging encounters with higher level (read as: hard to hit) bad guys. As a result, the idea of a character without very, very high accuracy makes me want to hyperventilate and hide under my desk.
Stepping back and taking a look, it doesn't seem so bad if you play with a DM who uses a lot of same-level (or close) enemies, or are able to get CA a lot--and it sounds like that may not be an issue.
I'm very curious to see what it looks like at 30, as well as 11 and 16 along the way.
