I've been avoiding MCing in any of the builds I put up for fear of overcomplicating. Not sure how everyone else feels on this.
From our anecdotal table evidence, combats go a lot faster without taking OAs on Fey Beast Tamer critters. I'll edit this section of the build to reflect that.
I know it was a joke, but I didn't want you to feel like I was slighting you after not including 1 1/2 of your builds. Good builds, just not applicable here.
As far as MCs go I think they are generally ok as long as the build doesn't rely heavily on the MC to function. Things like MCing cleric for BCL is a no go.
Currently working on making a Dex based defender. Check it out here Spoiler:Show
Need a few pre-generated characters for a one-shot you are running? Want to get a baseline for what an effective build for a class you aren't familiar with? Check out the Pregen thread here If ever you are interested what it sounds like to be at my table check out my blog and podcast here Also, I've recently done an episode on "Refluffing". You can check that out here
I know it was a joke, but I didn't want you to feel like I was slighting you after not including 1 1/2 of your builds. Good builds, just not applicable here.
As far as MCs go I think they are generally ok as long as the build doesn't rely heavily on the MC to function. Things like MCing cleric for BCL is a no go.
Oh no worries man. Everything I build is purposefully unusual, so I am not surprised if they don't find homes right away. I just enjoy challenging the basic conceptions and seeing what I come up with.
The Pursuit Avenger is all about swinging in and hitting hard with a big weapon. They hunt down enemies of their chosen way of thinking and make them not think anything for the rest of eternity. If you try to get away from a Pursuit Avenger it just won't happen. Not only will it not happen, when they catch you it is really going to sting.
Also as an Avenger you specialize in not missing. You have the strongest accuracy feature in the game and it also lets you double the chances that you will crit on any given encounter (if used wisely). This means that the high crit property of your Fullblade is going to be coming up more often on this character than on any other.
The complexity in the Avenger is broken down into a few parts: 1) Oath of Enmity Spoiler:Show
Avengers have a slightly complicated mechanic to get used to in Oath of Enmity. It seems simple, put your oath on a target and then you get two attack rolls for every melee attack made against it until it dies. Then you get the power back and you are good to go. The added complexity comes in the part that most players gloss over the first time they read the effect. "When you make a melee attack against the target and the target is the only enemy adjacent to you, you make two attack rolls and use either result." So you have to get used to making sure you have only your oath target next to you and nobody else.
Since you are a divine class you get at least 2 channel divinities to start with. Typically speaking you will want to use Divine Guidance every time (even fights with undead). While Abjure Undead is very damaging, Divine Guidance can help one of your allies land that all-important daily or hard hitting encounter power on the target instead. Abjure is also got a melee attack so you won't get your reroll and uses the implement keyword so it will be much less accurate.
Each type of Avenger has a censure option. A Censure is a condition where you fight better, most of them are fairly situational. Your condition as a Pursuit Avenger is if your enemy tries to get away from you. If your target moves away from you willingly (so no forced movement will work) you get a +6 to damage rolls at levels 1-7 and a +7 to damage rolls at level 8 until the end of your next turn. Remember that is for all damage rolls so every attack you make on that turn will hit much much harder.
This Avenger wants to charge and use its Melee Basic Attack (MBA) to maximum effect. How it accomplishes this is by worshipping a diety of the skill domain (Path of Light) and then taking the feat Power of Skill very early. This allows you to use Overwhelming Strike in place of a MBA. It is only one part of the build and there are other builds that focus on it more heavily. Since Overwhelming strike slides the target it is useful for setting up a combo by using a flail and the feat "Dragging Flail". Feel free to look it up and try out that variant if you like moving your target around and constantly proning them.
Also, since you are a good charger, feel free to pick up as much of the charge packet as you can.
A last note before we get into the full brunt of the build is to see what you can do with your MBA when it isn't on your turn. If someone provokes a MBA from you that you can use to interrupt them you can often drag them out of range. Consider the following scenario: XXX DEA XXX
X- Blank Squares D - Defender A - You E - Enemy (Marked by the defender or in the defender's aura.
Now, the enemy wants to obey mark, because if he doesn't the Defender is going to have words with him (the kind of words that involve big muscles and lots of bruises). But, if he obeys mark, you can use Battle Awareness to stop all his shenanigans by hitting him and moving him away from the defender. Now he isn't next to the defender and unless that melee attack has reach, his attack does nothing. Here is what it would look like after BA has been used:
XXX DXE XAX
I am only including magical equipment for the Level 8 version of this character. Using the equipment listed you can see what types of things you want to get from gear.
In the beginning the character is very straightforward, you are a weapon and you are very hard to get away from. Typically you are going to want to use your first turn to Oath of Enmity a target and then go get him. Many of your powers at this level involve movement as part of the standard action, but that does not prevent you from moving as a move action during the same turn.
How to Single Out: Be friends with your Defender and Controller. You want your target next to you and nobody else. Overwhelming strike lets you get the enemy out of the thick of things but you still want to be close to the front line. The only time this changes is if you choose to go after an Oath target that wants to be away from the melee. You want to be alone, he wants to be alone, its a match made in heaven with the connection being your sword in your hand and in his stomach. You have the mobility to get to wherever you want on the battlefield, so use it.
Race: Githzerai. The racial encounter power that gives you +2 to defenses for a turn can be really handy if things get ugly. Remember that it is an immediate so only one of those per round. +2 initiative and +2 saving throws against things that make you not effective is all the better and it lets you apply for the truly stellar feat "Githzerai Blade Master". The one power that often gets forgotten after a bit of play is Shifting Fortunes. If you use cards, or if you just keep track of second wind on the front of your sheet, make sure to pencil in the shift 3 squares portion of your second wind. Chances are if you are second winding, it is because all that lovely mobility of yours got you somewhere you don't want to be and shifting 3 squares can go a long way to getting you out of dodge. Elf is also a very common and useful choice.
Background: This is fairly standard and allows you to have high hit points without putting points into constitution.
Theme: Ironwrought is an option for this character, but I was avoiding issues with multiple instances of rerolls on this guy. Another popular option is Guardian so you can pull some fun tricks with Relentless Stride and your defender buddy, but Sohei does everything you want it to do and it is simple.
Starting Stats: High Dex for AC, Initiative and riders (as well as being able to qualify for surprising charge later) and high wisdom for all of your attacks. Tossing the 13 in str qualifies you for Battle Awareness. Some people like to take the approach of starting with an 18 in Wisdom before racials for the +1 hit and +1 damage (since you are primarily a single stat build). As an avenger you won't have to worry about hitting as much (roll twice and take the higher is very strong) and having a high dex means you will get to go sooner and stay alive longer. At-wills: Focused Fury - Mostly a throwaway power, but it doesn't hurt to have another way to seclude your Oath target. You can actually go your entire career as an avenger without touching this At-will. Overwhelming Strike - This is your Bread and Butter. Sets up a ton of great positioning tricks, will be turned into a Melee Basic Attack at level 2 (So it can be used for Opportunity Attacks and Charges) and in general is awesome. Encounter Powers: Oath of Enmity - Use it as soon as you can and always keep it up on a target. Remember that while it is an encounter power you always get it back when your target dies (Even if you don't kill them). Angelic Alacrity - This is what is referred to as your "approach power". This gets you right where you need to be in order to get your job done. Sohei Flurry - An extra attack, an extra chance to get the hurt on. Abjure Undead / Divine Guidance - See the Channel Divinity Section up top. Daily Power: Wings of Light - Flying, doesn't provoke, a lot of movement and a hard hit all wrapped into one power. 9 times out of 10 you could have just shifted over there... but you can fly so why not bring holy wrath from the air instead? Feat: Githzerai Blade Master - +2 damage all day every day and profeciency with a Fullblade for one feat? Count me in.
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Adeya, level 1 Githzerai, Avenger Avenger's Censure Option: Censure of Pursuit Born Under a Bad Sign (Born Under a Bad Sign Benefit) Theme: Sohei
FINAL ABILITY SCORES STR 13, CON 11, DEX 18, INT 10, WIS 18, CHA 8
STARTING ABILITY SCORES STR 13, CON 11, DEX 16, INT 10, WIS 16, CHA 8
Now everything is coming together. You have lots of ways to get at people and powerful means of using your new shiny Overwhelming Strike. You are picking up a lot of extra tools to use now, so don't be afraid to use them.
List of Immediates: Battle Awareness (Feat) Iron Mind (Racial)
List of Minor Action Attacks: Sohei Fury's Advance
Utility: Holy Blessing - Someone killed your Oath? I hope it was you. Even if it wasn't you need a new friend to play with. The guy stuck immobilized by the wizard looks like he could use a friend, but so does the one currently playing whack-a-defender. Keep this in mind for when you pick up Relentless Stride. Encounter: Fury's Advance - Minor Action for damage and a push? That sounds great. Don't worry about maximizing the extra 3 damage on that attack, instead know that it is awesome to push someone away from you so you can now be free to charge them and turn their head into pudding.
Whirlwind Charge - You can pick this up instead of Angelic Alacrity if you are finding yourself charging a lot. Especially if you already have more than one piece of the charge kit (Badge of the Berserker effectively turns this into your approach power). Dailies: Bond of Foresight - Remember how you just made your Melee Basic Attack good so you can do more evil things to people when they provoke. Now, until he saves, this target is going to provoke from you if he does any of the following: makes a ranged attack, misses you, hits you, shifts. Just remember you are only allowed to do that once per turn. Check out the section on Melee Basic Attacks to get more ideas of means to do. Remember if the enemy tries to hit you your OA goes first and you are not obligated to slide the target if you choose not to. So if your OA hits, you take a step back, don't slide him and wave as attack now does nothing. Now he can either run away from you (Remember, Censure of Pursuit), save (sad panda) or try that tactic again (plus or minus urinating on himself). Also, he better not end his turn away from you once you get level 7 or mean things will happen to him.
Feats: Power of Skill - Overwhelming as an MBA don't mind if I do. Wait I also get +2 to all my trained skills? That's shiny. I wonder if I can pick up an extra way to use this new MBA and give myself an extra skill... Battle Awareness - More ways to use your new MBA. Oh, and it comes with an extra skill? Perfect. Check out the section on MBA up above for more info.
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Adeya, level 5 Githzerai, Avenger Avenger's Censure Option: Censure of Pursuit Born Under a Bad Sign (Born Under a Bad Sign Benefit) Theme: Sohei
FINAL ABILITY SCORES STR 13, CON 11, DEX 19, INT 10, WIS 19, CHA 8
STARTING ABILITY SCORES STR 13, CON 11, DEX 16, INT 10, WIS 16, CHA 8
Now we are talking. These past two levels have turned the dail on that extra death-dealing and high mobility to 11. By this time you should have gotten access to Badge of the Berserker and at least some part of the charge kit. When you are in one place you can use your minors to abuse people, when you feel like running around, you can run around with wild abandon.
List of Immediates: Battle Awareness (Feat) Iron Mind (Racial) Relentless Stride
List of Minor Action Attacks: Sohei Fury's Advance
Now that you charge actually has several things going on with it, lets look at what your charge attack is going to look like: Spoiler:Show
Overwhelming Strike +16 vs AC Hit: 1d12+10 damage. You shift 1 square and slide the target into the square you left. Modifiers - The target was your Oath and moved away - +7 damage. You are using a Vanguard Weapon - +1d8 damage You are using Iron Armbands of Power - +2 damage You are using a Horned Helment - +1d6 damage You are using Badge of the Berserker - You don't provoke Opportunity Attacks while making this charge.
Ways to set up Charge:
1) Hitting someone off turn and keeping them away from you (You shift but don't slide), then shift away and charge. 2) Minor Action Fury's Advance, Move action Shift back and charge. 3) Aspect of Agility as a Move Action and charge. 4) Your Oath target dies. Holy Blessing someone on the other side of the battlefield (or next to the defender). 5) You charge another target and your Oath can't follow. You don't generally want to do this as you won't get a reroll, but it could set up a Relentless Stride if for some reason you are having problems with it.
Utility:
Aspect of Agility - Did you want extra defenses and want to charge your Oath target but were finding them to be a bit clingy? Good thing you can get halfway across the battlefield to wind up a crack to the noggin as a move action.
Encounters: Relentless Stride - In the character builder you need to go to "Select additional options" in order to get this one. Its a level 3 encounter power, but its ok we love it anyway. As a charger you are going to want to get a lot of mileage out of running around and stride makes it to where if your target isn't as mobile as you are (hint: almost nothing is as mobile as you are) you get to re-aquint yourselves at the end of his turn. Dailies: Unchanged. Feats: Dakshai's Body-Mind Union - The only thing that can stop you is negative status effects and this goes a long way towards getting rid of those before they can even attempt to effect you. Keep in mind when you look at this power that you may always choose to use your racial power this way or the other way but not both. Two-Handed Weapon Expertise - You are charging, shifting and flying around the battlefield so the extra bonus from Heavy Blade expertise will rarely if ever come up. What you do want is another bonus to charge damage and a feat bonus to hit. Found it.
Items: In general you are going to want to take items that do one of three things: Make you go faster Make you charge better Make you hit harder.
Charge Package - Vanguard Weapon, Badge of the Berserker, Horned Helm, Boots of the Mighty Charge etc etc. Basically look for things with "charge" in them and go from there. Iron Armbands of Power - Damage is good Battle Harness - +13 initiative speaks for itself. Symbol of the Dragon - There is a whole guide about holding symbols you don't really want to use as implements. This one can be very handy for an ally if you are fighting a specific type of enemy and never needs to be upgraded to be useful. Also, see Symbol of Victory.
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Adeya, level 8 Githzerai, Avenger Avenger's Censure Option: Censure of Pursuit Born Under a Bad Sign (Born Under a Bad Sign Benefit) Theme: Sohei
FINAL ABILITY SCORES STR 13, CON 11, DEX 20, INT 10, WIS 20, CHA 8
STARTING ABILITY SCORES STR 13, CON 11, DEX 16, INT 10, WIS 16, CHA 8
FEATS Level 1: Githzerai Blade Master Level 2: Power of Skill Level 4: Battle Awareness Level 6: Dakshai's Body-Mind Union Level 8: Two-Handed Weapon Expertise
ITEMS Symbol of the Dragon +1 x1 Vanguard Fullblade +2 x1 Battle Harness Cloth Armor (Basic Clothing) +2 x1 Badge of the Berserker +2 x1 ====== End ======
Currently working on making a Dex based defender. Check it out here Spoiler:Show
Need a few pre-generated characters for a one-shot you are running? Want to get a baseline for what an effective build for a class you aren't familiar with? Check out the Pregen thread here If ever you are interested what it sounds like to be at my table check out my blog and podcast here Also, I've recently done an episode on "Refluffing". You can check that out here
I noticed you have surprising charge with Githzerai blademaster and a fullblade in there.
You sir are correct. The downside to adjusting a build that started as a gouge wielder. I will see what would be the best way to fix that at some point tonight assuming I don't forget.
Wondering if it would be better to change the weapon on the higher level character or the feat. Not 100% sure.
Currently working on making a Dex based defender. Check it out here Spoiler:Show
Need a few pre-generated characters for a one-shot you are running? Want to get a baseline for what an effective build for a class you aren't familiar with? Check out the Pregen thread here If ever you are interested what it sounds like to be at my table check out my blog and podcast here Also, I've recently done an episode on "Refluffing". You can check that out here
I was going to do basically the same thing you are doing here only without a ki focus and a shortbow instead. Worship Sehanine and take Moonbow Dedicate. Now you have a strong ranged implement to enjoy using as a weapon.
Dropped the shield and the ki focus, and took your suggestion instead. Much cleaner and easier to use.
Yo, nature boy! You want to make short work of those who defile the caverns and woods with their vile presence? Then look no further, this Dwarf is just what you're looking for. Wardens take care of enemies by drawing them close and keeping 'em there. Their marking mechanic leaves something to be desired (mostly because enemies can just shift away), but their powers more than make up for that by creating difficult terrain, slowing and knocking prone.
Something else a Warden does well is hit hard, thanks to Crippling Crush. A +CON bonus to basically all your damage rolls is nothing to sneeze at. And a dead enemy isn't attacking your allies, so it even works as a defender mechanic.
Lastly, Wardens have a reputation for being indestructible. Your second wind puts your defenses through the roof (you can even use it as a minor action!), you get saving throws at both the start and end of your turns, and as a dwarf you resist forced movement and get a saving throw against being knocked prone.
Not very difficult: just powers that slow or immobilize for extra damage, gather enemies around you and don't let them go. Your daily form is especially good for keeping enemies close to you by preventing them from shifting away due to difficult terrain.
Nice. You get an immediate interrupt attack power, as well as a damage boost and permanent combat advantage against slowed and immobilized foes. Your new daily stance keeps enemies close to you by preventing them from shifting away.
