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Yes I'm not sure what to take for my dual waraxe wielding Mul Cleric|Ranger. There's no lack of healing in my party in general, but as the main striker I usually get the most heat from my DM. If I take Pathfinder, I would consider Reserve Maneuver-ing out of the Wrong Step encounter and into a ranger minor attack encounter power I didnt have room for (off-hand strike).

Here's my arguments as I see them:

Pathfinder:
11th level:
+2 healing surges (average but defintively useful)
Move action on AP (great, I have 7 minor actions: Hunter's Quarry, Off-hand strike, Ruffling Sting, Sohei Flurry, Root Gate, Resurgent Strength, Enter the Crucible)
Encounter power: Wrong Step is an MBA + immobilize on shift/move as an ImmInt (it's good, but I have Battle Awareness and I prefer more minor attacks for nova)

Level 12 Utility (daily): gain an AP when an ally uses an AP (great!)

16th level feature: the capstone of this PP (though it does take 5 levels): get quarry dice + WIS temp HP on quarry damage. Makes me very sticky.

19th level daily: spend a surge, hit and mark two enemies for average-ish power damage (meh for a PP daily).



Paragon of Victory:
11th level:
on an AP: +5 dmg until end of next turn or saving throw +5 for me or an ally (it's alright, but not great, nice flexibility though)
on a kill: +10 temp HP for me or an ally or push 3 within burst 2 (cool, but doesn't scale so well for the temp HP)

Encounter power: use cleric at-will as a minor (i have righteous brand) (great for NOVA!)

Level 12 Utility (daily): burst 2 within 10, healing surge +1 defense, +1 attack to allies in a burst (not me). (so-so as i'm not the main healer, but atleast it's a minor action)

16th level feature: MBA as an OppAttack if an ally gets bloodied or goes to zero HP (great! sure to be useful and doesnt spend my ImmInt action for the round)

19th level daily: Me and two allies get to use an at-will power as a minor action next round (great, more nova and focus fire, better than Pathfinder's daily to be sure).


So it's basically a more defender pp vs a leaderly pp, my party of 5 has 2 leaders and 2 defenders so either one wont be adding a whole lot to the party in terms of balance. I'd rather focus on damage. Keep in mind that my main attribute is Strength, with Wisdom as secondary (poor DEX).

To me it's obvious that Pathfinder scales better than Paragon of Victory (for the most part) while Paragon of Victory starts off stronger than Pathfinder at level 11 but peters out. We might never make it past level 20 to be honest so I'm not sure what to prefer.

If you want damage, hard to beat morninglord, and gives you the level 11 burst...

Between the two, Pathfinder seems to benefit your build more. The temporary hit points you gain from Pathfinder's level 16 power will be greater than the amount you get from Paragon of Victory and will be gained more frequently (on a hit rather than on a kill). The greater amount of temporary HP and the extra healing surges will make sure your character holds up under the high heat you face from monsters.

The move action on an Action Point and an additional Action Point with the utility are both golden powers, too. When I played a two-blade ranger, never having enough actions was my greatest problem. The extra move action will help you create your first nova in a fight more readily than than Paragon of Victory's abilities do.

Paragon of Victory's attack powers are better, but Reserve Maneuver eliminates Pathfinder's encounter power and level 20 is (presumably) quite some time away! Thus, I wouldn't have any trouble recommending Pathfinder over Paragon of Victory for your build.

Hmm, just to throw a monkey wrench into things - you're a Ranger|Cleric - that means you need to spend your hybrid talent feat to pick up the two-bladed option in order to qualify for Pathfinder. i.e. no Prime Shot and therefore no Called Shot or Prime Punisher.

A Gauntlet Axe isn't a bad off-hand weapon - d8 instead of d12, but you get +1 to AC.