4E Power Build: Wizard Super-Blaster

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Thu Dec 17, 2009 4:20 pm

A Man in Black wrote: Maybe I'm not seeing it, but what's so special about Son of Mercy as compared to any +wis-to-damage PP like Pit Fighter or something? Is it just that it doesn't require multiclassing?

Son of Mercy also slows an enemy with Lawbreaker's Doom on a hit. A Warden with Antipathy Gloves and spamming Form of Winter's Wrath can not only keep powerful enemies from hitting the party but also from hitting themselves, too. Their +WIS feature comes at level 11 instead of level 16, too.

For pure strikers who expect to go well past level 16 Pit Fighter is still better, but Son of Mercy is great for control-oriented warriors and people who want their damage boost right away instead of waiting for five more levels.

shau · Post by **shau** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:17 am

I agree with most of what Lago said about trap options with a couple exceptions. Warlocks are supposed to be able to function as a striker now if you take con as your power stat and enough strength to wear heavy armor and just charge into everything like a barbarian knock off. Of course, after reading the class no one is going to think they are supposed to be some sort of weirdass melee fighter so it pretty much always functions as a trap. Beastmaster rangers can be okay, but only if you play them as archers. If you just take archer powers and use your as a sort of tackle dummy you got in exchange for the defensive mobility feat and take pitfighter or something for your PP they actually do rather well. Of course, once again it still works out as a trap in actual gameplay because people who play beastmasters tend to want to use there beasts for stealth.

Defenders are really fucking weird all around because it all really comes down to what the DM is doing. If the DM just has everyone try to gangstomp the defender, you can easily be the team MVP by just taking a fighter or paladin and keeping your AC high. If he tries to play monsters intelligently, you can still sometimes get by. The key is to not overly rely on your marks. I mean, the fighter and the swordmage both have marks severe enough that they will probably be attacked by whoever they mark, but that only says that one of the five guys your up against attacks you. That's not being a tank at all. 4e defenders really want to control their opponents with opportunity attacks, which kinda randomly work or don't. In most of the games I have played, it has been easy as hell to avoid those, but I did battles on blank graph paper. Most battlemats I have seen for 4e are a series of interconnected closets. After you jam 10 combatants in one of those, being able to dick over people in the nine spaces around you is actually somewhat useful.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 5:59 pm

If you take out the factor of DM-pity, successful defenders don't rely on their marks to get the job done. Here's what good defenders look like.

- Winter Warden: This tactic depends on getting Antipathy Gloves, Salves of Power, and spamming the hell out of Form of Winter's Wrath and Weight of Earth. You have a very powerful zone of control where enemies can't shift away or towards you.

- Polearm Fighter: Combat Superiority + Polearm Gamble for the fucking win. Polearm Gamble got stealth-errata'd not to work for shifts. You can be either a Warpriest or a Polearm Master. This is where you bust out the Antipathy gloves or the Form of Winter's Wrath. Where this build really starts to earn its money, however, is at level 16. Your zone of control widens by a square and you can actually stop enemies from reaching you, especially if you're a Warpriest, because Combat Superiority fucking rules if used right.

- Shielding Swordmage Spinner: The swordmage mark is already good, allowing you to fire it at an enemy and then just forget what they're doing. But you need more mojo than that. So here's what you do: get a glaive. Get Arcane Admixture: Thunder for your At-Will Sword Burst. Multiclass wizard and get Enlarge Spell. Get Mark of Storm. Get Rushing Cleats. Get Polearm Momentum. Get White Lotus Riposte and White Lotus Master Riposte.

You're a clear-out defender. You spam a 7 x 7 square At-Will that slides enemies two squares and prones them. White Lotus Master Riposte allows you as an immediate reaction to make your At-Will attack against someone who attacks you after you use your At-Will against them. Which means that you constantly get opportunities to clear out enemies clustered around you.

Every good defender uses a Lightning Polearm unless they're doing something funky (like they're an unerrata'd Tempest Fighter). The combination of Polearm Gamble + Polearm Momentum + Mark of Storm is beastly. Expect something in the combo to get errata'd soon because we can't actually have defenders acting like defenders, can we?

shau · Post by **shau** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:11 pm

That's what you do if your in paragon anyway. I always seem to be stuck in the low levels, both in 4e in and 3e.

This is also a pretty good post for the suckiness of 4e multiclassing. Only the warden is pure, but hes relies on a rather overpowered stance and some specific items. The last one needs to be in three different classes and the second recommends being in three classes.

What's the deal with the antipathy gloves? They make it hard to get to you, meaning that the enemy is given an incentive to attack quite literally anyone else.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:30 pm

shau wrote: What's the deal with the antipathy gloves? They make it hard to get to you, meaning that the enemy is given an incentive to attack quite literally anyone else.

They suck if you're playing defenders the way the game wants you to, but if you're already doing a Zone of Control thing like the above three builds I posted they not only defend your other party members but also yourself.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:52 pm

shau wrote:That's what you do if your in paragon anyway. I always seem to be stuck in the low levels, both in 4e in and 3e.

If you're stuck at low levels, you can just grab Mark of Storm, a Lightning weapon, Rushing Cleats, and either multiclass wizard (for Enlarge Spell) or fighter (for polearm momentum) and just spam the hell out of Sword Burst. So for the latter, your character would look something like:

Genasi/Eladrin/Shadar-Kai Assault Swordmage
Starting Stats:
13 STR, 18 INT, 10 CON, 15 DEX, 14 WIS, 8 CHA

Put your level 4 stat gain into wisdom and intelligence. Put the rest into intelligence and strength. That way at level 24 (or 21 if going Demigod) you can get Heavy Blade Mastery.

1: Intelligent Blademaster
2: Battle Awareness
4: Polearm Momentum
6: Mark of Storm
8: Focused Expertise: Glaive

Powers:

At-Wills: Lightning Lure, Sword Burst
Encounters: Flame Cyclone, Dimensional Vortex, Flamewall Strike.
Dailies: Energy Theft, Sweeping Frostblade
Utilities: Host of Shields, Swordmage's Decree

I picked nothing but implement powers, that way you can hold your glaive in one hand and still claim that vital +3 bonus to AC. I know that Energy Theft is a weapon power but that resist 5 to a damage type for you and your buddies and the burst immobilization (save ends) + slide are life-saving powers at low levels. So pick it up and eat the AC penalty for one round, you pansy.

Magical Items: +2 vanilla leather armor, +2 vanilla neck slot item, +1 lightning glaive, rushing cleats, Iron Armbands of Power, Siberys Shard of the Mage (Heroic).

You spam the hell out of Sword Burst. At level 6 you slide and prone every enemy around you, which is enough to justify your existence. You can pull off the combo by level 4 if you don't pick up Intelligent Blademaster and have a DM that's generous with magical items--I can't say for sure whether or not you'll be able to get Rushing Cleats and a Lightning Glaive since the magical item system in 4E sucks all that is ass and that it's technically possible to pull this off (by getting a level + 3/4 item at level 4/3 which will be the RC or a level + 1/2/3/4 item depending on whether you get a reward at level 4/3/2/1 which will be the lightning glaive). But if you can finangle that go Ensnaring Swordmage instead.

Aegis of Shielding WOULD be awesome but you don't have the stat points to spare. So no, it would be nice to have (and it will be in epic) but the really shitty thing about 4E (and 3E for that matter but this is when things get intolerable) is that you need to adjust your stats depending on when you start and where you expect to end the game. So you can get screwed over depending on decisions you made 15 levels ago. So no. Aegis of Ensnaring if you're going to level 4, Aegis of Assault of you're going to level 6, and if you were starting at paragon you'd get Aegis of Shielding.

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 10:43 pm

What does the Form of Winter's Wrath do (and what book is it in)?

I've a l33t min/maxer that I'm sure is working up some sort of cold bustedness.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 10:50 pm

Doom314 wrote:What does the Form of Winter's Wrath do (and what book is it in)?

Form of Winter's Wrath makes all squares within 2 squares of you difficult terrain until the end of the encounter, along with giving you a +1 bonus to AC and a close burst 1 attack that immobilizes enemies all around you (save ends/until the end of next turn).

It's in the PHB2, first level warden power. Obviously, it's downright beastly when combined with Polearm Momentum or something that slows. Wardens get an At-Will that slows.

It will probably get errata'd sooner or later since it actually allows defenders to have a zone of control to corral enemies rather than relying on DM pity. And we can't have any of THAT.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:33 pm

So here's how you become a good defender in 4E, with descending amounts of desirability.

- Push the invincibility button. Clerics attract hate like no one's business now because by level 9 they have a bag full of invincibility tricks that make it almost impossible to take people out without taking them down first. Clerics are fairly fragile to begin with but if you stack on various things like plate armor (or finagle a +WIS bonus to AC), heavy shields, Mark of Warding + some AC boosting tricks, etc.. you have a tank that all of the smart monsters will try their damnedest to take out because even though you have like 7 more points of AC than the wizard next to you said wizard isn't going down until you go down first. Which in practice works exactly like a good defender should. The problem is that pressing and holding down the invincibility button is really, really boring and makes a mockery of game design.

- Have a powerful Zone of Control. We already talked about this up earlier. Wardens aren't good defenders because of their class features (though it certainly does help out quite a bit having a mark that actually hurts for enemies to violate) but because they have several combos that establish a zone of control. If you're a good polearm fighter you should rarely have to actually use your Combat Challenge feature. The enemy just won't be able to get near you. A really good Zone of Control won't just protect you but also yourself.

This is precisely why the Thunderglaive Wizard works. Despite having a pathetic AC and hit points, they have a frightening At-Will that can win fights on its lonesome.

- Be the MVP in everything. Tempest Fighters were good defenders because they did more damage than everyone except for wizards and rangers so the enemy had a huge incentive to target them. They didn't even have to do any real defending, they just had to do striker-level damage and enemies would foam at the mouth and target them. Unfortunately, this means that they had the best of all worlds; great AC, great hp, and great damage, which was probably unfair to the other players if they were playing shit like a warlock or an avenger. Of course, now they're worthless, so c'est la vie.

The successor to the Tempest Fighter will be, when PHB3 comes out, the New Hammer Bros. build I posted earlier. Defender-level hit points, huge amounts of healing surges, and beastly damage.

- Be in a party where everyone has around the same level of durability. This is why the Grind Paladin party works. The enemy has no incentive to target anyone over the other beyond usual the usual Critical Existence Failure shenanigans. So enemies actually obey paladin marks. To the untrained eye it looks like you're controlling when really you've just eliminated any priority targets. There's really no tactics, just blandness.

- DM pity. Even though the enemies can obviously just swarm past you, have one person take the mark-violation penalty for the team, then gangbang the wizard or ranger it makes the DM look like a metagaming meanie pants to take advantage of bad game design. I have ran several games where I have had to resort to attacking the swordmage with several monsters even though the bard or ranger was right behind them because the battle would fall apart if I did otherwise.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:48 pm

Lago had the name off by a word, the Warden ability is "Form of Winter's Herald"

It combos both with Weight of Earth (the at will that slows) and Wardens Grasp - which slides and slows an enemy whenever they ignore your mark (no attack roll needed)

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 2:56 am

Oy, hopefully he's not multiclassing that direction (consdiering he's also doing alot of Dragonborn stuff like sprouting wings and all).

I think that's the thing that's really making me get frustrated with this game. As a DM, if someone mentioned a spell or ability, it was easy to find, subject to a book or two. I didn't have to know class and level.

Now? When someone says they're comboing off Glowing Testicle Crunch...I have no idea where to start looking to guess the power. Even with a book in hand, I can't rule out if the book has it or not.

Doom · Post by **Doom** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:04 am

Sorry about the double post.

It was said up above a beastmaster/bow ranger would do well with Pit Fighter. My gf plays a beastmaster/bow/elf, the 100+ hp dog is quite the punching bag. Her multiclass is for cleric, though, but I could talk her into a change for some uberness.

Can someone walk me through what the plan is there? Those melee powers that pitfighter get seem to detract a bit, even if 'dirty fighting' adds alot of damage.

A Man In Black · Post by **A Man In Black** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:10 am

Lago PARANOIA wrote:Genasi/Eladrin/Shadar-Kai Assault Swordmage

I picked nothing but implement powers, that way you can hold your glaive in one hand and still claim that vital +3 bonus to AC. I know that Energy Theft is a weapon power but that resist 5 to a damage type for you and your buddies and the burst immobilization (save ends) + slide are life-saving powers at low levels. So pick it up and eat the AC penalty for one round, you pansy.

What's the point of being an assault swordmage if you're not wielding a weapon? Are you just punching enemies who trigger Aegis of Assault?

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:22 am

A Man In Black wrote:What's the point of being an assault swordmage if you're not wielding a weapon? Are you just punching enemies who trigger Aegis of Assault?

The main purpose is so that you can teleport next to enemies. Your attack from the Aegis triggering is shit but you can reposition yourself to use your Sword Burst as a clear-out move again (so you can sweep away other people who might be surrounding your friend).

But the big reason is when/if you REALLY need that teleporty attack you can grip your glaive with both hands (which is whyfor the Intelligent Blademaster) and sink your AC bonus for a round. The FAQ mentions that this process is a free action, but your DM might rule it differently. If your DM does let you do this freely then feel free to grip your glaive as an implement at the end of your turn while still grabbing weapon powers.

shau · Post by **shau** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:33 am

Pitfighter is for wisdom to damage and the other little benefits. The melee attacks are bad, but at least you can get rid of one of them with reserve maneuver. Being a fighter also lets you pick up their new stance, which is a level 2 encounter stance that trades 2 AC for 2 damage per tier.

Range archers kinda have sucky choices for prestige paths. It seems to be pretty much battlefield archer (which beast rangers can't take) or pitfighter. Maybe Sylvan Archer would be okay.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:59 am

Pitfighter is for nova damage. Extra damage action and their level 12 utility add up to serious pain on a nova turn. At level 16 a Ranger/Pit Fighter can do Citrine Solitaire + 2 minor action attacks + Attacks on the Run + Blade Cascade and do an extra 100 points of damage in addition to the extra damage you'd be getting from Dirty Fighting.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Sun Dec 20, 2009 6:49 am

Lago, I think you mean one of the other solitaires in that combo - citrine just lets you spend a healing surge when you crit.

Aquamarine and Violet are the ones that lead to multiattack novas.

But Pitfighter is also for games with limited book selection or where the DM is ban happy. being right in the first PHB, it's going to be allowed in just about all games, and it only takes one multiclass feat to qualify for.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Mon Dec 21, 2009 5:17 pm

You know, as much as Hybrid Multiclassing with Ranger is going to become the new thing of the future, the single-classed STR/DEX Ranger does come out quite favorably.

The Prime Punisher line of feats is beastly. Getting toughness for free and also being able to dual-wield one-handed weapons helps out a lot, too. But most important is the ability to pick up both Nimble Blade, Rending Tempest, and Light Blade Mastery.

What the build really needs to go over the top, though, is a PP that allow them to add their dexterity to damage rolls. The auto-dex damage was a beastly class feature back when you could only expect to get two attacks per round but it's definitely starting to fall behind as the game goes through damage inflation.