The Gaming Den

The best defender in 4E hits the invincibility button for everyone on the team and then survives until the battle is over. Obviously this task falls upon the cleric, since they have various stupid powers that greatly extend the lifespan of the power. Their one weakness, however, is mediocre defenses--if the cleric goes down, the party loses their shroud of invincibility. Obviously this means that a cleric should be backed up by a good defender, preferrably another cleric , but since you can't build your character in advance depending on what your party is going to do, here's a character that tries to become as sturdy as possible using their own abilities.

Unlike my other power builds, there honestly isn't much to say. It's just boring vertical advancement, no tactics involved. You spam Recovery Strike or Righteous Brand as necessary. Morninglord is picked for a highly-needed damage boost but also for its level 12 utility, which serves as a more versatile Consecrated Ground. If Morninglord gets errata'd, which it probably will sooner or later, I'll post a Son of Mercy/Pit Fighter revision which attempts to keep up with the damage by abusing various stupid vulnerability powers (including channel divinity).

Mark of Warding is chosen for it's cynical +1 AC bonus. This renders some of your powers show stoppers when used in combination with each other (such as Astral Shield + Divine Power). Giving all of your friends a +6 bonus to AC moves a fight from difficult to easy.


Summary

Longtooth Shifter Cleric / Morninglord / Demigod
Deity: Amaneuter
Channel Divinity: Healer's Mercy
Starting Stats: 18 STR, 13 CON, 14 DEX, 8 INT, 14 WIS, 10 CHA
Current Stats: 26 STR, 15 CON, 16 DEX, 10 INT, 24 WIS, 12 CHA
HP: 127
AC: 10 (base) + 10 (base level bonus) + 17 (Agile Warplate) + 1 (Shield Specialization) + 2 (+1 Rhythm Blade Spiked Shield) = 40 AC
Fort: 10 (base) + 10 (base level bonus) + 4 (Healer's Brooch) + 8 (strength) + 1 (General's Belt) +1 (Paragon Defenses) = 34 Fortitude
Reflex: 10 (base) + 10 (BLB) + 4 (HB) + 3 (dex) + 1 (shield specialization) + 2 (+1 rhythm blade spiked shield) + 1 (PD) = 31 Reflex
Will: 10 (base) + 10 (BLB) + 4 (HB) + 7 (wis) + 2 (Regalia of the Golden General Item Bonus) + 1 (PD) = 34 Will
Attack Bonus: 10 (BLB) + 8 (STR) + 2 (WE) + 2 (WP) + 4 (Enh) + 2 (CA) = +28 attack bonus
MLB Damage: 2d10 (weapon) + 8 (strength) + 4 (enh) + 4 (item) + 3 (siberys shard) + 3 (feat) + 10 (Burning Radiance) + 7 (Pelor's Sun Blessing) + 5 (Symbol of Divine Light) = 48 average damage.
Healing Bonus: 7 (Healer's Lore) + 3 (Mace of Healing) + 8 (Healer's Implement, Warhammer & Symbol of Divine Light) + 1d6 (gloves of healing) + 4 (brooch of healing) = 1d6+22 = 25.5

Magical Items

8: +2 Warhammer of Disruption
9: +2 Healer's Brooch
10: +2 Agile Drakescale (Scalemail)
11: +2 Mace of Healing, Salve of Power, Pelor's Sun Blessing (level 3), +1 Spiked Shield Rhythm Blade
12: Gloves of the Healer (Paragon)
13: +3 Warhammer of Disruption
14: +3 Healer's Brooch
15: +3 Agile Wyvernscale (Scalemail)
16: +3 Crusader's Warhammer, Salve of Power, Iron Ring of the Dwarf Lords
17: +4 Symbol of Divine Light
18: Iron Armband of Power, +3 Mace of Healing, Salve of Power, Siberys Shard of Radiance
19: +4 Healer's Brooch
20: +4 Agile Wyrmscale (Scalemail)
21: Transfer enchantment from +4 Agile Wyrmscale to Warplate to make +4 Agile Warplate, Iron Ring of the Dwarf Lord, 2x Salve of Power, +4 Crusader's Warhammer, Boots of Eagerness, Backlash Tattoo, General's Belt, Golden Crown of Battle Command (gotta love the quadratic item costs in 4E)

Feats

1: Battle Cleric Armaments
2: Armor Proficiency (Scale)
4: Focused Expertise (Warhammer)
6: Weapon Focus (Hammer)
8: Healer's Implement
10: Mark of Warding
11: Toughness --> Shield Specialization at level 12
12: Weapon Proficiency (Spiked Shield)
14: Battle Awareness
16: Reserve Maneuver
18: Paragon Defenses
20: Toughness --> Platemail Proficiency at level 21
21: Radiant Advantage

Powers

At-Wills: Righteous Brand, Recovery Strike
Encou 1: Healing Strike
Daily 1: Moment of Glory
Utili 2: Shield of Faith
Encou 3: Sacred Shielding
Daily 5: Consecrated Ground
Utili 6: Stream of Life
Encou 7: Strike of Judgment
Daily 9: Divine Power
Utili 10: Spirit of Healing
Encou 13: Inspiring Strike, replaces Sacred Shielding
Daily 15: -- NOTHING --
Res. Man 16: Strengthen the Faithful
Encou 17: Sential Strike
Daily 19: -- NOTHING -- I love 4E so much right now.

Lago, you may wish to check the formatting on your post.