A while ago I noticed an interesting trick that lets an artificer mimic a striker's damage feature. I've done some tinkering and it looks like you can make a decent striker from an artificer|controller combo. I'd be suprised if this reaches DPR king levels, but I'd be interested in seeing how far we can take it. Here are the tricks I have so far.
Controlled Bursts
The Clever Control feats gives you an extra dice of damage per tier if you target at least two creatures but only hit one. The artificer at will "Thundering Armor" has both a primary and secondary target, but only requires an attack roll against the secondary target. This means Clever Control should hit each time the character hits with Thundering Armor.
Note that to use this trick, you must be a controller with the Thundering Armor power. I'm using an artificer|controller hybrid as the artificer bring a few extra tricks to the build.
Off Action Damage Powers that do damage without using a standard action are notoriously good for strikers. I did a little searching and found the following interesting powers.
Artificer Powers Level 3 Encounter: Phantasmal Henchman (Interupt, Ranged, creates a flanking conjuration with a minor action attack) Shocking Feedback (Interupt, Ranged Weapon, grants ally damage resistance) Level 7 Encounter: Debiliating Intercession (Reaction, Ranged Weapon, inflicts attack penalty) Level 9 Daily: Healer's Momentum (Reaction, Ranged Weapon, grants healing surge and temp hp) Level 17 Encounter: Arsenal Transferance (Reaction, Ranged, use artificer at will with Wis mod extra damage) Level 23 Encounter: Rejuvenating Intercession (Reaction, Ranged Weapon, grants boosted healing surge) Level 27 Encounter: Retribution Magnet (Reaction, Ranged Weapon, grants ally attack bonus)
Invoker Powers Level 5 Daily: Deluge of Blood (Reaction, Close Burst, dazes and deals ongoing damage) Level 9 Daily: Malediction of Rigidity (Minor, Close Blast, immobilizes and deals ongoing damage) Level 13 Encounter: Thunderous Rebuke (Reaction, Close Blast, pushes and deafens) Level 23 Encounter: Fateful Foresight (Interupt, Ranged, blocks use of target power for 1 round)
Wizard Powers Level 5 Daily: Thunderstaff (Interupt, Melee Implement, stops and knocks back enemy who gets close to you) Level 6 Utility: Fire Shield (Daily, Minor , protects you with melee relation damage for an encounter) Level 13 Encounter: Arcane Chastisement (Reaction, Ranged, blocks follow up attacks on you or an ally for 1 round) Level 16 Utility: Flame's Protection (Encounter, Minor, protects you and allies with fixed melee retaliation damage for 1 round) Level 23 Encounter: Flaming Rebuke (Reaction, Ranged, can stun if used to counter a fire attack)
This gives the artificer enough encounter powers to get in off action damage every turn for up to 3 turns. That's without counting extra off action damage from summons, zones, and sustainable effects.
Sigils The artificer also has a number of daily spells that boost the damage output of a weapon or implement for an entire encounter. These "sigil" spells can provide a sizable sustained DPR boost. When combined with the archmage epic destiny, you could even pull out at least one of these every encounter.
At-Will Powers: L1: Thundering Armor - Close burst 10, sends a pulse out from a party member to damage and push and enemy. This will be our main source of standard action damage. L1: Freezing Burst - Area burst 1 within 10. This is what we'll use on enemies who try staying out of melee. It's got a chance of triggering Clever Control and the slide can be used to put enemies where we want them.
Encounter Powers: L1: Conduit of Ice - Ranged 10. This gives us solid damage against an isolated ranged target. It's also creates a temporary enemies only damage zone for little extra hurt.
Daily Powers: LV1: Icebound Sigil - Minor Action. This lets use add 3 extra points of cold damage to every attack for an encounter.
DPR Estimates Sustainable Round 1: Use "Promise of Storm" as a minor action and "Thundering Armor" as a standard. 63.8% chance to hit for 17.5 damage (1d8 + 1d6 Clever Control + 1d8 Promise of Storm + 5 Int mod) = 11.4 damage. Round 2: Same as round 1. Round 3: Promise of Storm wears off, dropping damage to 8.6 (13 on hit).
Feat: Blade Initiate - This will give you access to dagger implements which work well with your upcoming off action attacks. Utility Power: Swift Mender - Being able to pass out an extra save as a minor action every encounter is very nice. Shield is also good, but we've got other uses for our immediate actions.
Encounter Power: Shocking Feedback - This gives us our first immediate action attack. It's also lighting damage, so it gets boosted by Promise of Storm.
Feat: White Lotus Dueling Expertise - This will give you a scaling accuracy bonus, acting as a slight upgrade to Versatile Expertise. Utility Power: Summon Iron Cohort - This one's situational, but it does give you another body to bounce your thunder pulses off of. Glowering Wrath is a strong alternative if you want to boost your pushes instead.
Feat: Echoes of Thunder - This gives an untyped scaling damage bonus as long as you keep hitting with thunder powers. Utility Power: Slick Conconction - This let you slide allies. This is get both for getting them into position for a thunder pulse and for setting off Agile Opportunist in Paragon.
DPR Estimates Items: Resonating Dagger +3, Dragonshard of the Mage (heroic) Sustainable Round 1: Use "Promise of Storm" as a minor action and "Thundering Armor" as a standard for 18.6 damage w/ 73.8% chance of adding Echoes of Thunder effect [73.8% chance to hit (+16 (6 int + 5 level + 3 enhance + 1 expertise + 1 coordinated explosion) vs Fort) for 24.5 damage (1d8 + 1d6 Clever Control + 1d8 Promise of Storm + 6 Int mod + 3 enhance + 2 resonating dagger + 1 dragon shard)]. If an ally takes damage, Shocking Feedback triggers for 14.8 damage [75% chance to hit (+18 (6 int + 5 level + 3 enhance + 1 expertise +3 prof) vs AC) for 19.2 damage (2d4 + 1d8 Promise of Storm + 6 Int mod + 3 enhance + 0.74 Echoes of Thunder)]. Total estimated damage 33.3. Round 2: Thundering Armor is up to 19.1 DPR due to Echoes of Thunder roll over (25.2 damge per hit). Debiliating Intercession replaces Shocking Feedback for 11.2 damage (down to 14.7 on hit from loss of Promise of Storm). Total estimated damage 30.3. Round 3: Switch to Conduit of Ice for 18.3 damage [72.4% chance to hit (+15 (6 int + 5 level + 3 enhance + 1 expertise) vs Reflex) for 24.74 damage (2d8 + 6 Int mod + 3 enhance + 1 dragon shard + 0.74 Echoes of Thunder + 5 EoT damage)]. Round 4: Without Promise of Storm or Echoes of Thunder, Thundering Armor is down to 11.6 (15.5 on hit). Round 5: Echoes of Thunder chain starts again, raising us to 12.1 damage with Thundering Armor (16.2 on hit).
---
Here's a sample build I whipped up in the offline character creator.
ITEMS Adventurer's Kit, Vengeful Resonating dagger +6, Accurate staff of Ruin +6, Siberys Shard of the Mage (epic tier), Shimmering Mindpatterned Armor +6, Healer's Brooch +6, Executioner's Bracers (epic tier), Zephyr Boots (epic tier), Gauntlets of Blood (epic tier), Iron of Spite (epic tier), Opal Ring of Remembrance (epic tier), Ring of Giants (paragon tier), Baldric of Valor (epic tier), Tattoo of Vengeance (epic tier) ====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======
+1d6/2d6/3d6 isnt enough damage to reach a striker baseline. The at-will isnt that great by itself, even with the increased damage, since there is leaders with at-wills that are far more powerful then this one.
In fact a Direct the Strike will still cause more damage then you using this, if you have atlast 1 striker with descent MBA.
And since this only targets 1 enemy, its not that amazing on a controller role. And giving +1 AC for 1 ally is far from a descent use of a leader standard action.
Please explain to me how this build is better or atlast as powerfull as a standard leader. Im failing to see how this is better then a standard eneabling warlord or ardent for example.
As opposed to copying and pasting a DPR king build? Maybe not. For me the value come from taking an idea that hasn't been fully fleshed out yet and seeing how far it can go.
+1d6/2d6/3d6 isnt enough damage to reach a striker baseline.
It's the exact same progression as Hunter's Quarry and Warlock's Curse. It also doesn't need to carry the entire striker baseline by itself any more than quarry and curse make up the entire baseline by themselves.
In fact a Direct the Strike will still cause more damage then you using this, if you have atlast 1 striker with descent MBA.
Not neccesarily. Not all striker damage features are MBA friendly. This combo also has the advantage that you make the attack from any ally, not just those with strong MBAs. That gives you considerable targetting flexibility.
And since this only targets 1 enemy, its not that amazing on a controller role. And giving +1 AC for 1 ally is far from a descent use of a leader standard action.
I'm not using it to fill the leader or controller role, I'm using to fill a striker role. Were I playing up the controller side, I'd be focusing more on a "Thunderglaive" style build and exploiting the push it provides.
Please explain to me how this build is better or atlast as powerfull as a standard leader. Im failing to see how this is better then a standard eneabling warlord or ardent for example.
Again, I'm not trying to make it an exceptional leader. I'm looking to take classes intended for other roles (leader and controller) and seeing how they can be bent to a new role (striker). The fact the resulting character has some leader ability is more a perk than the primary goal.
It's the exact same progression as Hunter's Quarry and Warlock's Curse. It also doesn't need to carry the entire striker baseline by itself any more than quarry and curse make up the entire baseline by themselves.
Thing is, that's not all Rangers and Warlocks have. Rangers have a SLEW of multiattacking powers that can absolutely shred other enemies up, even disregarding Hunter's Quarry. Warlock's Curse can be buffed to silly amounts (Warlock|Paladin with Hands of Hadar and Vile Resonance goin' will deal up to 7d10+INT modifier extra damage with their Curse at Epic level), certainly more than a mere 3d6.
Even better, both of these features can trigger off of out-of-turn attacks.
It's not just "I can deal 3d6 extra damage" that determines how well of a Striker you are. Hell, that basically amounts to an average of 9-10 damage on every hit, which is quite a nice boost, but not on a level you'd think.
F-111 Interdictor Long (200+ squares) distance ally teleporter. With some warlord stuff. Broken in a plot way, not a power way. Thought Switch Higher level build that grants upto 14 attacks on turn 1. If your allies play along, it's broken. Elven Critters Crit op with crit generation. 5 of these will end anything. Broken. King Fisher Does an excellent job at keeping an enemy disabled in a few ways. Strong. Boominator Fun catch-22 booming blade build with either strong or completely broken damage depending on your reading. Very Distracting Warlock Lot's of dazing and major penalties to hit. Overpowered. Pocket Protector Pixie Stealth Knight. Maximizing the defender's aura by being in an ally's/enemy's square. Yakuza NinjIntimiAdin: Perma-stealth Striker that offers a little protection for ally's, and can intimidate bloodied enemies. Very Strong. Chargeburgler with cheese Ranged attacks at the end of a charge along with perma-stealth. Solid, could be overpowered if tweaked. Void Defender Defends giving a penalty to hit anyone but him, then removing himself from play. Can get somewhat broken in epic. Scry and Die Attacking from around corners, while staying hidden. Moderate to broken, depending on the situation. Skimisher Fly in, attack, and fly away. Also prevents enemies from coming close. Moderate to Broken depending on the enemy, but shouldn't make the game un-fun, as the rest of your team is at risk, and you have enough weaknesses. Indestructible Simply won't die, even if you sleep though combat. Sir Robin (Bravely Charge Away) He automatically slows and pushes an enemy (5 squares), while charging away. Hard to rate it's power level, since it's terrain dependent. Death's Gatekeeper A fun twist on a healic, making your party "unkillable". Overpowered to Broken, but shouldn't actually make the game un-fun, just TPK proof. Death's Gatekeeper mk2, (Stealth Edition) Make your party "unkillable", and you hidden, while doing solid damage. Stronger then the above, but also easier for a DM to shut down. Broken, until your DM get's enough of it. Domination and Death Dominate everything then kill them quickly. Only works @ 30, but is broken multiple ways. Battlemind Mc Prone-Daze Protecting your allies by keeping enemies away. Quite powerful. The Retaliator Getting hit deals more damage to the enemy then you receive yourself, and you can take plenty of hits. Heavy item dependency, Broken. Dead Kobold Transit Teleports 98 squares a turn, and can bring someone along for the ride. Not fully built, so i can't judge the power Psilent Guardian Protect your allies, while being invisible. Overpowered, possibly broken Unnamed Avenger|Runepriest/Hammer of Vengance Do lot's of damage while boosting your teams. Strong to slightly overpowered. Charedent BarrageA charging ardent. Fine in a normal team, overpowered if there are 2 together, and easily broken in teams of 5. Super Knight A tough, sticky, high damage knight. Strong. Super Duper Knight Basically the same as super knight, only far more broken. Mora, the unkillable avenger Solid damage, while being neigh indestuctable. Overpowered, but not broken. Swordburst Maximus At-Will Close Burst 3 that slide and prones. Protects allies with off actions. Strong, possibly over powered with the right party.
It's not just "I can deal 3d6 extra damage" that determines how well of a Striker you are. Hell, that basically amounts to an average of 9-10 damage on every hit, which is quite a nice boost, but not on a level you'd think.
I understand it's not the only factor, but it seemed like enough of a starting point to catch my interest.
Let me put it this way, given the clever control combo as a base, how would you optimize the character? "Optimize this build" or "optimize within constraints" is a common enough request on these boards.
