PDA

View Full Version : [4e] Single Class Builds?



CubeB
2010-07-27, 11:08 AM
So, my local gaming group may be starting a 4e Campaign soon. This is my first time playing 4e (I'm more used to 3.5, personally) and I'm quite excited.

But there's a bit of a snag. See, we're using a modified where all of the PCs are straight up superhuman, and one's class is determined by their powers. (A Wizard is naturally good with magic. A fighter is naturally strong and tough. Etcetera etcetera).

Basically, it's D&D... WITH METAHUMANS!

The kicker is that as a result of this approach to classes and powers, we can't multiclass. If you have a genetic predisposition to a class, then that's what your class is.

So here's where I'm stuck. I'm looking forward to playing this game (I'm personally thinking of going Dragonborn), but I have no idea which class to choose. This isn't so much an optimization question as request for a recommendation.

We're allowed any class but Assassin (as the DM doesn't have access to Dragon Magazine). For a straight up, no multiclassing character, what sort of class would you recommend? I usually play strong and tough characters (I've got a Barbarian and a Warblade I like to play), but I'm open to trying something new. I'm also actively avoiding Warlock, because I never want to put any of my characters into a pact ever again...

9mm
2010-07-27, 11:12 AM
So, my local gaming group may be starting a 4e Campaign soon. This is my first time playing 4e (I'm more used to 3.5, personally) and I'm quite excited.

But there's a bit of a snag. See, we're using a modified where all of the PCs are straight up superhuman, and one's class is determined by their powers. (A Wizard is naturally good with magic. A fighter is naturally strong and tough. Etcetera etcetera).

Basically, it's D&D... WITH METAHUMANS!

The kicker is that as a result of this approach to classes and powers, we can't multiclass. If you have a genetic predisposition to a class, then that's what your class is.

So here's where I'm stuck. I'm looking forward to playing this game (I'm personally thinking of going Dragonborn), but I have no idea which class to choose. This isn't so much an optimization question as request for a recommendation.

We're allowed any class but Assassin (as the DM doesn't have access to Dragon Magazine). For a straight up, no multiclassing character, what sort of class would you recommend? I usually play strong and tough characters (I've got a Barbarian and a Warblade I like to play), but I'm open to trying something new. I'm also actively avoiding Warlock, because I never want to put any of my characters into a pact ever again...

well in 4e there is no multiclassing... but if you like strong and tough, any defender would be right for you, though a striker would work too.

Caphi
2010-07-27, 11:13 AM
Have you played D&D4? "Multiclassing" is just trading a feat slot for a little bit of mimicking another class. Playing without it is trivial.

Kylarra
2010-07-27, 11:17 AM
Be a warforged fighter, call yourself any of a billion different robot names.

9mm
2010-07-27, 11:22 AM
Be a warforged fighter, call yourself any of a billion different robot names.

so which multiclass feat should he take to get a shining finger?

NecroRebel
2010-07-27, 11:26 AM
Depending on what sources you have available and what role you want to play, you'll probably want to be a Fighter, Warlord, or Barbarian.

Fighters are beatstick-types, but their primary goal is to hold enemies still and preventing them from attacking the Fighter's allies; they get a class feature that can prevent enemies from moving away, and another that lets them get a free attack on someone who attacks someone else or tries to sneak away. Fighters are also generally one of the higher-damage Defender-role characters.

Warlords, again, are beatstick-types, but they also have a focus on buffing their allies. They can also act as party healers. As buffers, they're one of the best Leaders, but as healers they're about average as far as Leaders go.

Barbarians are the traditional beatstick-types. They hit things, hard. They've also got somewhat more survivability than other Strikers, and are generally believed to be second only to the Ranger in damage-dealing capacity.



However, multiclassing basically just means you take a feat that grants you a limited version of one of another class's features. Losing out on the ability to take them is annoying, since they tend to be good-to-excellent as far as feats go, but you can build without them easily. There's no such thing as "taking a level" in another class, so that's not something you'll have to worry about losing.

BobTheDog
2010-07-27, 11:38 AM
"Strong and tough" makes me think you'll like playing a defender (if you're unfamiliar with the class roles in 4e, just say so and hundreds of people will gladly fill you in :smallbiggrin:). Defenders are the fighter, paladin, swordmage, warden and battlemind. For a 100% single class character (i.e. no multiclass feats), I think I would choose the swordmage, but this is really just my personal taste.

Depending on what exactly you want to do, there are a few striker or leader classes that fit the strong/tough definition: barbarian (striker), avenger (striker - not really tough, but a PC wearing robes and wielding a bigass sword/axe/hammer has its charm), warlord (leader), some cleric builds... The invoker has a "lightning rod of the gods" theme that always makes me think it's the "tough" controller class (plus they get chainmail).

If you give more details about what you expect to do or act like, I could refine my suggestions... :smallsmile:

Some interesting points to know:

Role - take a look at what a defender/striker/leader/controller does and see what interests you (i.e. does "strong and tough" mean you envision your character shrugging off attacks and protecting others, or charging with a big weapon to cut an ogre in half? - not necessarily exclusive)
Power source - do you prefer to avoid the more magicky classes? how do you feel about psionics? do you have a favorite? (divine classes rock! :smallbiggrin:)
Play style of the group (in combat) - do you guys coordinate well? are you (personally and as a group) tactically minded or would you rather just run in, kill stuff and run out?

CubeB
2010-07-27, 11:49 AM
I was strongly considering warlord and fighter.

And I am totally unfamiliar with multiclassing rules. But if it just means giving up the ability to trade a feat slot for class features, then that's not so bad.

So I suppose it's a choice between chopping ogres in half and buffing the party... Hmm...

I like the Defender archetype a bit more than the leader, personally.

In this setting, the power sources are all pretty much the same... I'm open to all of them, really.

I do really like the Warblade from ToB in 3.5, which I've heard the 4e Fighter is similar too.

As for playstyle? As I said, I like being durable while still dealing lots of damage. Chopping Ogres in half sounds like a fun party to me. XD

Dogmantra
2010-07-27, 11:57 AM
And I am totally unfamiliar with multiclassing rules. But if it just means giving up the ability to trade a feat slot for class features, then that's not so bad.
It's a single feat, which you get more of in 4e than 3.5. More feats if you want to use powers from other classes. It is, as people have said, completely not a big deal to play without.


As for playstyle? As I said, I like being durable while still dealing lots of damage. Chopping Ogres in half sounds like a fun party to me. XD
Sounds like a fighter. They're a defender, but they lean pretty far into striker territory.

CubeB
2010-07-27, 11:59 AM
It's a single feat, which you get more of in 4e than 3.5. More feats if you want to use powers from other classes. It is, as people have said, completely not a big deal to play without.


Sounds like a fighter. They're a defender, but they lean pretty far into striker territory.

Okay, Fighter it is then! Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Mando Knight
2010-07-27, 12:02 PM
I was strongly considering warlord and fighter.

Fighters and Barbarians hit enemies with massive hammers, swords, and axes. Warlords hit enemies with the Fighter or Barbarian. That's the difference in playstyle between the three.

Well, also, the Fighter is better at focusing the attention on himself, as enemies tend to get smacked around more if they don't.

CarpeGuitarrem
2010-07-27, 12:03 PM
Yeah, 4E multiclassing feats let you get a special ability from another class.

Hybrid classes are the true multiclassing of D&D 4th Edition, but they're by no means required.

Single-class builds are just fine, and are the norm.

Vitruviansquid
2010-07-27, 12:05 PM
I'd highly recommend that you find out what the rest of your party is playing before rolling your character. It will help you synergize with your party more effectively.

That said, Multiclassing/hybrid'ing isn't really that big of a deal in 4e. Most players I know don't use either at all and have a merry time. In fact, rolling a hybrid is generally considered an advanced option that can really mess up a character if you're not careful with it.

Now, as for your preference of playing the strong and tough characters, you might want to first look at all the defenders (might be missing one or two, but I think Battlemind, Swordmage, Warden, Fighter, and Paladin) and classes with defender sub-roles (Druid IIRC, Barbarian, Cleric).

BobTheDog
2010-07-27, 12:45 PM
So I suppose it's a choice between chopping ogres in half and buffing the party... Hmm...

I like the Defender archetype a bit more than the leader, personally.

-snip-

As for playstyle? As I said, I like being durable while still dealing lots of damage. Chopping Ogres in half sounds like a fun party to me. XD

Actually, the choice is more "blurry" than that.

Defenders pull the ogre's attention (they all have some means of discouraging the monster from attacking their friends).
Strikers kill things dead.
Leaders buff and heal and generally help their friends.
Controllers disable (slow, bunches of penalties etc.) monsters and mess with the battlefield.

Most classes have a secondary (sometimes even tertiary) role besides the primary. So it's not like you have to resign to "one thing". If you like to be a "protector" and also heal a bit, you can go with paladin. If you want to heal and buff, but also fight on the front line, the warlord is the main option (among a bunch of others) etc.

That last bit makes me think you'd really like a barbarian. Lots of damage, lots of hit points (not much armor, tho). Depending on how you build, you can get some minor leaderiness or defenderiness.

Another option is a two-weapon fighter. Less damage, but you'll be tougher and able to protect the squishies (well, the barbarian protects squishies by killing stuff before they can get near enough :smalltongue:).

Thajocoth
2010-07-27, 03:41 PM
4e's multiclassing is just training in a skill and a small piece of a class feature that you can't use as often. You can't, like, take levels in a class or anything. It's done via feats. So you're really not missing all that much.

All the classes are good. What sort of character do you want to play? With a little bit of info, I can recommend something for you.

CubeB
2010-07-27, 04:06 PM
I'm thinking a heavy hitter type Dragonborn Fighter. Major beatstick. Good durability.

Not sure how to do that.

NecroRebel
2010-07-27, 04:25 PM
I'm thinking a heavy hitter type Dragonborn Fighter. Major beatstick. Good durability.

Not sure how to do that.

Max out your Strength, take the Two-Handed Weapon Fighter Talent for +1 attack, and wield a big, two-handed weapon. Your feat choices should prioritize your attack bonus, followed by your damage bonuses, with whatever utility boosts you think would be helpful. As far as at-will powers go, Reaping Strike is an obvious one, while the other is sort of up to you. I'd probably go for Threatening Rush, from Martial Power 2, if you've got it available. It deals less damage, but the multi-marking ability and the usability on a charge makes it useful.

As far as other powers go, take those that deal more damage. That's fairly obvious, actually.

If you believe that your campaign is likely to last until the Paragon tier, and if you're going to be wielding heavy blades (which I would recommend), make sure you've got at least 14 starting Dexterity so you can qualify for Heavy Blade Opportunity come level 11. If you can't manage to start with that much Dex, you will definately want to channel some of your level-up boosts into it, since Heavy Blade Opportunity is just that good.

It's very difficult to actually screw up a character irrevocably in 4E. At worst, you'll have to do some retraining if you accidentally pick a useless feat or power. Just pick what you think will be useful or cool, and go to it.

Tiki Snakes
2010-07-27, 04:29 PM
Just a note, if fighter is quite tempting, and you are interested in a little more 'bringing the pain' than merely running defence, then the Divine Power book's Ardent Paladin is really quite intimidatingly smashy.

Not sure of the specifics, or how that'd fit with the homebrew stuff in this campaign, but it's worth considering.

JBento
2010-07-27, 05:47 PM
I like the battlemind - the fact that you can make your marked foes hit themselves if they don't go for you is awesome :smallsmile:

Then, if you're playing a serious character, you can say "I don't like being ignored!" before using the power. If not... "STOP HITTING YOURSELF!!!!!" :smallbiggrin:

The fighter also has awesome powers - if you go that way, don't pass up "Exorcism of Steel" and... erm... the one that makes your opponent stunned till the end of your next turn.

Tengu_temp
2010-07-27, 05:50 PM
so which multiclass feat should he take to get a shining finger?

The Monk one, of course.

Evard
2010-07-27, 07:26 PM
Be a front line Sorcerer :D !!!! You could play it so that you are Storm or some other elemental based super hero... That can shoot elemental puke at enemies :P

CubeB
2010-07-27, 09:56 PM
Be a front line Sorcerer :D !!!! You could play it so that you are Storm or some other elemental based super hero... That can shoot elemental puke at enemies :P

I was considering that, yes. I would still be strong. Not /as/ tough, but it could work.