4e Fighter help, plz

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Tue Feb 16, 2010 1:21 am

So, against my better judgement, I'll be part of a 4e game. The group talked out basic character stuff, and I'm going to be a Goliath Fighter. The question is, what should I do with that?

I don't want to do a shield or tempest build, because I want the minimum number of magic items to have to keep current. So my choices are Great Weapon, Battlerager, or the new free hand grappler option I don't know the name of.

Battlerager is supposed to be pimp, but it seems like it's designed to draw out fights, and I'd rather end them more quickly.

Opinions?

A Man In Black · Post by **A Man In Black** » Tue Feb 16, 2010 1:40 am

Battlerager isn't as cool as it used to be, due to some changes to how temp HPs work.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Tue Feb 16, 2010 1:42 am

Yes, you can go Battlerager and just spam powers with the Invigorating keyword and you'll be pretty durable.

Shield fighter builds don't cost any more money or magical items than the other fighter builds. You don't even need a magical shield, you can (and should) grab Iron Armbands of Power and use a mundane one.

If you want a powerful mid-heroic tier build, grab Polearm Momentum, Shield Push/Weapon Expertise, and Mark of Storm and get yourself a Lightning Polearm. If you can grab them (they're a level 7) also get Rushing Cleats. So if you were starting out at level 6, your build would look something like this:

Level 6 STR + WIS or a STR + DEX race.
STR: 18 DEX: 15 WIS: 15 CON: 13
All stat boosts go into your secondary stat of choice, probably dexterity if you're in it for the long haul.
Magical Items: +1 Lightning Spear, +1 Agile Scalemail, Iron Armbands of Power (Heroic Tier), Rushing Cleats
Feats, in order: Weapon Expertise (spear), Shield Push, Mark of Storm, Polearm Momentum

Alternatively, you could also go Warden since they have an At-Will that slows and a daily that makes it really hard for people to approach them, which is beastly when combined with Polearm Momentum.

But if you have your heart that set on being a Goliath Fighter, yeah, just go on the beaten path and be a Battlerager fighter. Yawn.

RandomCasualty2 · Post by **RandomCasualty2** » Tue Feb 16, 2010 2:01 am

It really depends on what level your'e playing. If this is paragon or especially epic, then dealing lots of damage is your #1 goal, because if you don't do that, then the game will drag on and on as fights will take forever. You don't even have to worry about dying at epic level either since you pretty much won't.

At lower levels, tanking is a bit more of a concern, because the math hasn't gotten to the point where healing makes you completely untouchable.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Tue Feb 16, 2010 2:05 am

RandomCasualty2 wrote:It really depends on what level your'e playing. If this is paragon or especially epic, then dealing lots of damage is your #1 goal, because if you don't do that, then the game will drag on and on as fights will take forever. You don't even have to worry about dying at epic level either since you pretty much won't.

At lower levels, tanking is a bit more of a concern, because the math hasn't gotten to the point where healing makes you completely untouchable.

We're starting at 1st, and I don't know if it's going to last long enough to reach Paragon, and I doubt we'll get to Epic.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Tue Feb 16, 2010 5:05 am

Seriously, be a strength/constitution Goliath Warden if you're starting at low levels. The invigorating thing isn't as much of a boon as you think it would be at this point since there aren't enough powers and you can't store up temporary hit points as fast as you think you could.

Here's what I'm talking about as far as builds go:

Goliath Warden
Earthstrength Build
STR: 18 CON: 18 WIS: 13

Level 1 At-Wills: Strength of Stone (for the temporary hit points) and Weight of Earth (for the slowing, though it's not as beastly if you don't have polearm shenanigans). You can also pick up Thorn Strike if immobilization is a problem for you.

Your first daily should be Form of Mountain's Thunder (Primal Power). It gives resist 3, +1 to AC, and +STR damage once a round.

For your level encounter 1 power, pick Thunder Ram Assault. It hits enemies in a 3x3 square and can hit one foe twice if you elect not to push them too far.

The level 2 warden utility powers suck. I'd go with Warden's Tempest and try to fling someone off of a bridge or something.

For your level 3 encounter power, you can either pick up Wildblood Frenzy (for two attacks) or Earthgrasp Strike (for an attack + prone and then a delayed attack).

For your level 5 daily, ignore the non-polymorph warden powers, they all suck.

Your first feat should be in a weapon proficiency feat or Battle Awareness (MP). You're way off from being able to care about weapon types so you can either go with a Greatspear (reach, 2H, 1d10, +3 proficiency), Fullblade (2H, 1d12, High Crit, +3 proficiency), or Bastard Sword + Shield (1H, 1d10, +3 Proficiency). Next level should be Weapon Focus or Expertise (Weapon Focus does more damage at this stage, though you may really want a better chance of hitting). Level 4 should be the other feat.

Grab a Frost weapon. That way you can stick a Siberys Shard into it.

A Man In Black · Post by **A Man In Black** » Tue Feb 16, 2010 8:30 am

Lago PARANOIA wrote:Your first feat should be in a weapon proficiency feat or Battle Awareness (MP). You're way off from being able to care about weapon types so you can either go with a Greatspear (reach, 2H, 1d10, +3 proficiency), Fullblade (2H, 1d12, High Crit, +3 proficiency), or Bastard Sword + Shield (1H, 1d10, +3 Proficiency). Next level should be Weapon Focus or Expertise (Weapon Focus does more damage at this stage, though you may really want a better chance of hitting). Level 4 should be the other feat.

He's a goliath, he shouldn't be using a fullblade under any circumstances. Goliath Greatweapon Prowess and a greatsword is better than a fullblade.

If you're probably going to spend most of your life in heroic and you're a goliath warden, just go ahead and abuse Crippling Crush. Take Strength of Stone and Weight of Earth as your at-wills, get a maul, take Weapon Expertise - Crippling Crush - Battle Awareness - Weapon Focus as your feats. If your GM doesn't ever make enemies shift-charge away from you and instead just makes them move away from you and eat OAs, take Sudden Roots instead of Battle Awareness. Otherwise, spam Weight of Earth a lot because you're getting your con to damage on it.

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Tue Feb 16, 2010 12:46 pm

AMiB wrote: He's a goliath, he shouldn't be using a fullblade under any circumstances. Goliath Greatweapon Prowess and a greatsword is better than a fullblade.

If you can spare the additional feat for Weapon Focus (and I can understand if you can't) then a fullblade pulls slightly ahead of the greatsword in paragon and modestly ahead of the greatsword in epic. But then again you ended up switching to a maul anyway because of STR/CON, so nevermind.

Weapon Expertise - Crippling Crush - Battle Awareness - Weapon Focus as your feats.

I guess there's no reason why you couldn't get Goliath Greatweapon Prowess instead of Weapon Focus, since you're probably going to be using a maul.

As far as weapons go, you have a choice depending on the length of your workday. If you have a long workday, go Frost Weapon + siberys shard. If you have a short workday (1 or 2 encounters), get a Guardian's Maw weapon.