PDA

View Full Version : 4e Dwarf fighter



Darth Stabber
2009-03-23, 03:38 PM
I'm going to be playing in a 2nd lvl game and I need some help with some of the details
so Far

Dwarf Fighter (initiate of faith)
Sword and Board
Str18
Dex 12
Con16
Int 11
Wis 14
Cha 8

Feats:
Initiate of faith
??(i'm thinking the shield one that lets me move people with opportunity attacks)

Skills:
Religion
Endurance
Heal
Athletics


@will
Tide of Iron
???(either Cleave or Footwork Lure, Footwork Lure seems redundant, but it basically means I can put any one anywhere @will, Though cleave is the bane of minions every where and the only attack that I am likely to have that affects more than one foe, so It's a tossup that almost made me switch to human)

Encounter
???

Daily
Comeback Strike

Utility
???(create opening - free shifting to an ally, I like, eating the attack scares me a little, looking for a safer option.)

Items
lvl3:???
lvl2:+1 Dwarven Scale mail
lvl1:???

Need help filling in the Question marks. My basic goal is to maximize my defenderyness through forcing movement and keeping myself alive. I picked dwarf for 2 main reasons that help me meet design goal: faster second wind, and reducing forced movement. I have not dying covered pretty well, now what I need is ways to better hold things in place while the party beats them senseless.

Wizard_Tom
2009-03-23, 04:33 PM
I would definitely go with Dwarven Weapon Training as your secondary feat. The shield push one isn't great, because it puts your enemies further away.

Cleave is handy at minion control especially if your group has say, a predator druid as your only controller.

Passing attack is pretty much the win for encounter powers since it lets you mark 2 creatures most often.

Go with a +1 Craghammer of some sort and a +1 neck of some sort.

MammonAzrael
2009-03-23, 04:35 PM
Why are you taking Initiate of the Faith?
What Fighting Style are you taking? I suggest Battlerage Vigor, as it rocks with Dwarves. And it helps fill the rest of your options out.
Don't be scared of eating attacks. That should be what you want.
The stat array you have now implies a 26 point buy instead of the standard 22.


Dwarven Weapon training would let you use the Craghammer, and give you a significant damage increase. If you're really worried about taking damage, I again suggest the Battlerage Vigor, and Crushing Surge to pad your HP to an absurd degree. Improved Vigor is another great feat worth considering.

For an At-Will, I think that you'd be most happy with Crushing Surge, honestly. Brash Strike is great, but it sounds like you don't want to focus on the damage aspect.

For the Encounter, Shield Bash is prety much meant for your character. :smallbiggrin: It may scale poorly, but that doesn't matter since you're starting at lv 2.

Bounded Endurance, Pass Forward, and Shielded Sides could all make good Utilities for you, depending on what you want.

Darth Stabber
2009-03-24, 07:59 AM
Dwarf Fighter (initiate of faith)

LG 1 handed weapon focused
Str18
Dex 12
Con16
Int 11
Wis 14
Cha 8

Feats:
Initiate of faith
Dwarven Weapon Training

Skills:
Religion
Endurance
Heal
Athletics


@will
Tide of Iron
Cleave

Encounter
Passing Attack

Daily
Comeback Strike

Utility
create opening

Items
lvl3:Amulet of health
lvl2:+1 Dwarven Scale mail
lvl1:+1 Crag Hammer
2 healing potions, Stack of Hand Axes, Climbing Gear. 1 everburning Torch, Holy symbol (is Moradin in FG, or do the dwarves have a different deity), food and supplys.

This is my character so far, any thoughts?

Wizard_Tom
2009-03-24, 09:23 AM
Moradin is still the go to god for Dwarves.

Kurald Galain
2009-03-24, 11:34 AM
Some suggestions,

Dwarves don't need comeback strike, since they can already use a surge as a minor action. That means there are better dailies, if you want (e.g. villain's menace).

I wouldn't spend my item slots on a +1 armor and certainly not a +1 amulet; there are more interesting items, and you'll find plenty of magical defense stuff later on. For instance, you can get a level-3 weapon with a useful property, or perhaps a pair of boots. In general, good utility beats +1 to your defenses.

Darth Stabber
2009-03-24, 12:48 PM
Final Build (as far as decisions go, not working out the things that are merely derivative)

Garduk Loeder
LG Male Dwarf Fighter
1 Handed specialist

Stats:
Str18
Dex 10
Con16
Int 10
Wis 14
Cha 8

Skills:
Religion
Endurance
Heal
Athletics

Feats:
Initiate of faith (worshiper of Moradin)
Dwarven Weapon Training

@Will:
Cleave
Tide of Iron

Encounter:
Passing attack

Daily:
Comeback Strike

Utilities:
Create Opening

Items:
+1 Amulet of Health
+1 Dwarven Scale Mail (minor action, heals for healing surge value{with out costing one})
+1 Crag Hammer
2 Potions of healing
5 Hand Axes(for throwing)
1 Heavy Shield
Random adventuring gear


Design Goal:
Hold the line, and stay alive. Be sticky, be resilient. Goal met?

Puggins
2009-03-24, 02:05 PM
Just to be sure, you intended to spend more points than the standard array, right? You've spent 26 points on your attributes, when the "standard" point total, as delineated in the PHB, is 22 points.

Darth Stabber
2009-03-24, 02:26 PM
Now it is Fixed

Yakk
2009-03-24, 02:37 PM
Do you lack a leader? With all of those healing surge powers, that would be good for a party without a leader.

Your basic attack is +1(L)+4(attrib)+2(prof)+1 (ench) = +8, reaching +10 on OAs.

Craighammer -- that the 1d10 brutal 2 one? I forgot. But you get +7 to damage with it.

Your attributes are on the wrong order. (Group by defences, remember)

Your defenses are:
AC: 20
Reflex: 14
Fortitude: 18(+fighter bonus)
Will: 16

You can use second wind as a minor action. Your dwarven mail gives you 1 as a minor action "free" healing surge (which you can recharge between fights by burning a healing surge, IIRC, or in-fight with a standard action). And once per day you can get an extra healing surge burn.

The fear I'd have is that the DM might be tempted to ignore you (and just take your OAs).

Puggins
2009-03-24, 04:50 PM
Now it is Fixed

You're still off by one, unfortunately.

18 Str -> 16 points
10 Dex -> 0 points
16 Con -> 5 points (+2 bonus from dwarf takes it from 14 to 16)
10 Int -> 0 points
14 Wis -> 2 points (+2 bonus from dwarf takes it from 12 to 14)

16 + 5 + 2 = 23 points

If I may make a suggestion: cut Con by one and take wis to 13 (15 with bonus). You don't REALLY need 16 con straight off the bat (especially with the at-wills you're using), since taking one off of it won't take your hit points below a healing surge break point- 31 and 30 both result in a 7 point healing surge. Wis will be at 15 and one away from 16, which will really benefit your later fighter powers.

At 4th, add +1 Str, +1 Wis
At 8th, add +1 Str, +1 Con

Reverse Wis and Con if you're getting a power that benefits from Con, like many of the axe/hammer powers.

Asbestos
2009-03-24, 04:58 PM
My suggestion, since you have hp and readily available healing surges coming out your beard, would be to drop the shield and grab an executioner's axe or mordenkrad. You'd have to switch out Tide of Iron, but luckily Footwork Lure is an option. You're still durable, but with the lower AC and the greater damage... your DM will be less likely to ignore you. In short you will be a 'defender' rather than a big ol' obstacle.

herrhauptmann
2009-03-25, 12:09 AM
I'd say don't worry about the enemy creatures bypassing you to hit the squishier targets of your party, especially if you're fighting in published modules like LFR.
From experience, the way the monster tactics and powers are written, the fighter will often completely shut them down. One of the DM's regularly has heart attacks when I play my dwarf fighter, because my mere existence is enough to ruin his plans.
Meanwhile even tide of iron isn't too bad if you play LFR, several modules have obstacles in the combat map which are there to cause the party to blunder into them. Many of those obstacles can also hurt the monsters, and tide of iron is great for doing just that. (Like the pile of necrotic dust in 'Radiant Vessel of Thesk' did more damage to the monsters than the party)
On subject of Villain's menace: It's awesome, but for me it hits less than a third of the time, so next level up I'm changing mine to something else.

As far as a weapon, I'd recommend getting a lightning weapon for crowd clearing capabilities, primarily killing minions, but it's a great way to stop yourself from taking an extra 4 attacks a round without relying on the wizard to thunderwave everything.
And I second the craghammer for anybody that has access to 1 handed melee weapons. Dwarves especially.