Best multi-attack granting?

[Epinephrine]

I'm curious as to what class/build can grant the most attacks for all allies. It's a hard thing to search for, since the wording will vary, powers like Climactic Chord that grant an attack (or melee attack) to all allies in a burst is what I am looking for, or even those that allow everyone a charge. I know the ardent has some for Opportunity attacks, but I'm trying to find ways to grant attacks to things like summoned creatures that don't necessarily have OAs, or to creatures whose OAs would eat my action (e.g., animal companion).

Thanks for any help with finding these!

[The_Pyre]

Do you mean which class has the most powers that grant attacks? Or the class with the power that grants the most attacks?

For the former, I think warlord wins hands down. You can go lazylord and never have to roll an attack for yourself.

For the latter, I'm not sure.

[Kurald Galain]

That would be the Warlord.

An alternative is to (ab)use Agile Opportunist with anything that moves enemies around (e.g. the bard).

[Epinephrine]

Do you mean which class has the most powers that grant attacks? Or the class with the power that grants the most attacks?

For the former, I think warlord wins hands down. You can go lazylord and never have to roll an attack for yourself.

For the latter, I'm not sure.

In the vein of the latter - the class that can most often grant "all allies" an attack. Picture a team of hybrid sentinel fey animal trainers, so you have ~14 "allies." Climactic Chord (bard level 22 utility) will grant all of them an attack (a minor action to grant 14 attacks). What other powers can do this, and what classes can grab the largest number of such powers, if one wanted to make a massive nova of attacking creatures?

[ghost_warlock]

As already stated, warlord has the most of these sorts of powers. A high-level (i.e., 17th+) level warlock picks up a few of them, too, but you need their pact reward feature to really get the most out of them.

Edit: taking a slightly different path, wizards have a number of attacks that force enemies to attack each other. There's a few warlock powers like that as well.

[tcrudisi]

I played a hybrid Bard|Warlord that MC'ed Artificer (and had Magic Weapon at-will) that kept allies with something like +10 to hit and +16 to damage (and spiked up to +18 to hit and +24 to damage) and handed out several free action attacks a turn.

So the answer to your question is: Warlords do it the best, but other Leaders do it well, too. Bard's (ab)use Agile Opportunist the best.

[Epinephrine]

Thanks, yes, I know that a warlord can consistently hand out attacks, and that a bard can slide allies who have Agile Opportunist, and that an ardent can grant many OAs. A stalker Shaman can put out insanely huge bonuses, and artificers are no slouch either.

I guess I was hoping people might know of powers that grant to "all allies," rather than granting an attack to one or a pair of allies. Powers (preferably encounter powers) that grant an attack to every animal companion, summon, and party member on the board. I know Climactic Chord does this (with a bonus), I believe the Epic Destiny Warmaster has a daily that does it. I can't recall what warlord powers do a similar thing (grant every ally an attack, or every ally adjacent to the target an attack). I'll hunt through the compendium when I have some time, it's just that they may phrase it differently (some may say "all allies," some may say "every ally," and others might say "every target" with a target line mentioning who the targets are; given the compendium's difficulty with some searches I figured I'd ask, in case someone knew of such a list).

[Rakaydos]

Is there a Basic Attack that grants an ally an attack on the same target?

[Damon_Tor]

Is there a Basic Attack that grants an ally an attack on the same target?

IIRC, there's an ardent power with "when charging you can use this power as a melee basic attack" and then it has an augmentation with "effect: one ally charges the target as a free action" which would mean a team of ardents could chain-charge the target. That was a long time ago, and it may have been fixed by now. (And I may be misremembering)

[NecroRebel]

IIRC, there's an ardent power with "when charging you can use this power as a melee basic attack" and then it has an augmentation with "effect: one ally charges the target as a free action" which would mean a team of ardents could chain-charge the target. That was a long time ago, and it may have been fixed by now. (And I may be misremembering)

There is such a power (Forward-Thinking Cut, Ardent 7, PHB3 p. 28), but you may only use the unaugmented form on a charge.

I can't imagine even WotC being dumb enough to make a power that can be used as a basic attack that grants a basic attack without some other heavy limitations. They've come down pretty hard on effects that allow theoretically-limitless attacks per round - remember Blade Cascade?

[tcrudisi]

I'm about to lose power to my computer, so rather than typing out the various powers, look at this character. I focused on attack buffs and handing out attacks like candy. If you go through the higher powers, you'll notice that they all grant lots of attacks (or a big bonus) in some way or another. (I had several people in the group who could do very strong basic attacks: Invoker (top basic attack champ), Warlock, Predator Druid, and Rogue. (Plus two more, but those were my top targets.)

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
level 30
Half-Elf, Bard|Warlord, War Chanter, Warmaster
Hybrid Bard: Hybrid Bard Will
Warlord Leadership: Combat Leader (Hybrid)
Hybrid Warlord: Hybrid Warlord Fortitude
Hybrid Talent: Bardic Virtue
Bardic Virtue: Virtue of Valor
White Lotus Dueling Expertise: Choose Implement Proficiency: White Lotus Dueling Expertise (Orb)
Half-Elf Power Selection: Dilettante
Quickened Spellcasting: Magic Weapon


FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 12, Con 26, Dex 12, Int 15, Wis 11, Cha 26.


STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 10, Con 16, Dex 10, Int 13, Wis 9, Cha 16.



AC: 44 Fort: 48 Reflex: 39 Will: 53
HP: 183 Surges: 15 Surge Value: 45


TRAINED SKILLS
Insight +24, Streetwise +32, Bluff +32, Diplomacy +34, Arcana +25


UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +18, Dungeoneering +18, Endurance +25, Heal +18, History +20, Intimidate +28, Nature +18, Perception +18, Religion +20, Stealth +18, Thievery +18, Athletics +18


FEATS
Level 1: Hybrid Talent
Level 2: White Lotus Dueling Expertise
Level 4: Resilient Focus
Level 6: Vistani Heritage
Level 8: Superior Will
Level 10: Superior Fortitude
Level 11: Versatile Master
Level 12: Danger Sense
Level 14: Combat Commander
Level 16: Action Surge (retrained to Multiclass Mastery at Level 21)
Level 18: Skill Power
Level 20: Effortless Dilettante (retrained to Superior Reflexes at Level 22)
Multiclass Mastery: Adept Dilettante
Multiclass Mastery: Student of Artifice
Level 21: Superior Initiative
Level 22: Quickened Spellcasting
Level 24: Vistani Foresight
Level 26: Martial Mastery
Level 28: Epic Fortitude
Level 30: Epic Will


POWERS
Dilettante: Magic Weapon
Hybrid at-will 1: Direct the Strike
Hybrid at-will 1: Guiding Strike
Skill Power: Insightful Riposte
Hybrid encounter 1: Focused Sound
Hybrid daily 1: Lead the Attack
Hybrid utility 2: Sidhe Bargain
Hybrid encounter 3: Inspiring War Cry
Hybrid daily 5: Song of Discord
Hybrid utility 6: Conceal Psyche
Hybrid encounter 7: Prescient Warning
Hybrid daily 9: Warlord's Recovery
Hybrid utility 10: Mantle of Unity
Hybrid encounter 13: Death from Two Sides (replaces Focused Sound)
Hybrid daily 15: Satire of Evasion (replaces Lead the Attack)
Hybrid utility 16: Instant Planning
Hybrid encounter 17: Hail of Steel (replaces Death from Two Sides)
Hybrid daily 19: Increasing the Tempo (replaces Song of Discord)
Hybrid utility 22: Climactic Chord
Hybrid encounter 23: True Prescient Warning (replaces Inspiring War Cry)
Hybrid daily 25: War Master's Assault (replaces Hole in the Mind)
Hybrid encounter 27: Insightful Assault (replaces Hail of Steel)
Hybrid daily 29: Relentless Assault (replaces Warlord's Recovery)


ITEMS
Farbond Spellblade Longsword +6, Timeless Locket +6, Dawn Warrior Pitmail Armor +6, Rhythm Blade Spiked shield +1, Bracers of Mental Might (heroic tier), Ioun's Revelation (level 3), Dice of Auspicious Fortune (paragon tier), Stone of Earth (paragon tier), Battlemaster's Longsword +3, Ring of Sympathy (paragon tier), Ring of Free Time (epic tier), Baldric of Valor, Greaves of Maldeen (paragon tier), Ioun Stone of Allure, Mummified Hand (epic tier), Ring of Wizardry (epic tier), Diplomat's Scabbard (paragon tier) (2), Eberron Shard of Animosity (paragon tier), Salve of Power (heroic tier), Hero's Gauntlets (epic tier), Greatwing Tattoo (epic tier), Circlet of Indomitability (epic tier)
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======

[Epinephrine]

So far I've found these:
Dailies:
Inspire Fervor (Cleric 5) Std; each ally who ends shft adjacent, MBA
Scent of Victory (Warlord 5) Std; each ally adjacent to a bloodied enemy, MBA as free action
Passage of Swords (Ardent 9) Std; each ally adjacent during a slide 5, MBA
Band of Fellows (Warlord 15) Std, each ally can make a melee basic attack against the target as a free action.
Unleash Hell (Warlord 19) Std, Each ally within 5 squares of you can make a ranged basic attack with bonus to attack and damage
Windmill of Doom (Warlord 19) Std, on a hit, each ally adjacent to the target makes a melee basic.
Decisive Stratagem (Battle Champion Attack 20) Std, each ally within 5, make a basic attack
Climactic Chord (Bard 22) Minor; all allies in CB10, make basic or at will with bonus to attack and damage
Rune of the Conquering Sign (Runepriest 25) Std; all allies within 5 of target, make basic attack at start of target's turn (save ends)
Deific Rallying (Warlord 29) Std; allies in CB20; basic attack, bonuses for Inspiring presence.
Fury of Athas (Shaman 29) Std; allies in CB2 of spirit, basic attack, stuns foes.

Encounters
Boar's Toss (Shaman 17) Std, each ally within 10 squares of the target can make a ranged basic attack, bonus for watcher spirit
Exhilarating Strike (Ardent 27) Std; Augment 6 - all allies in CB5, charge or basic with bonus damage
Surge of Valor (Bard 27) Std; allies within 10 shift two and MBA, bonus for Virtue of Valour
Valorous Charge (Cleric 27) Std; you and all allies in CB5, charge or basic attack as a free action. Bonus to defenses.

So, looking at that list, an Ardent with a power point from a theme and 2 from a PP would be able to use Exhilarating Strike 3 times per fight, a clear winner.
A Bard or Cleric gets an encounter power and could pick up a daily, and a warlord gets access to a few dailies.

Thanks, I think (unless I missed a pile of encounter powers) that I have my answer :)

[tcrudisi]

So far I've found these:
Dailies:
Inspire Fervor (Cleric 5) Std; each ally who ends shft adjacent, MBA
Scent of Victory (Warlord 5) Std; each ally adjacent to a bloodied enemy, MBA as free action
Passage of Swords (Ardent 9) Std; each ally adjacent during a slide 5, MBA
Band of Fellows (Warlord 15) Std, each ally can make a melee basic attack against the target as a free action.
Unleash Hell (Warlord 19) Std, Each ally within 5 squares of you can make a ranged basic attack with bonus to attack and damage
Windmill of Doom (Warlord 19) Std, on a hit, each ally adjacent to the target makes a melee basic.
Decisive Stratagem (Battle Champion Attack 20) Std, each ally within 5, make a basic attack
Climactic Chord (Bard 22) Minor; all allies in CB10, make basic or at will with bonus to attack and damage
Rune of the Conquering Sign (Runepriest 25) Std; all allies within 5 of target, make basic attack at start of target's turn (save ends)
Deific Rallying (Warlord 29) Std; allies in CB20; basic attack, bonuses for Inspiring presence.
Fury of Athas (Shaman 29) Std; allies in CB2 of spirit, basic attack, stuns foes.

Encounters
Boar's Toss (Shaman 17) Std, each ally within 10 squares of the target can make a ranged basic attack, bonus for watcher spirit
Exhilarating Strike (Ardent 27) Std; Augment 6 - all allies in CB5, charge or basic with bonus damage
Surge of Valor (Bard 27) Std; allies within 10 shift two and MBA, bonus for Virtue of Valour
Valorous Charge (Cleric 27) Std; you and all allies in CB5, charge or basic attack as a free action. Bonus to defenses.

So, looking at that list, an Ardent with a power point from a theme and 2 from a PP would be able to use Exhilarating Strike 3 times per fight, a clear winner.
A Bard or Cleric gets an encounter power and could pick up a daily, and a warlord gets access to a few dailies.

Thanks, I think (unless I missed a pile of encounter powers) that I have my answer :)

That list is nowhere near exhaustive. Warlords have several encounter powers which let most/all allies attack an enemy. Bards have a few immediate interrupts which lets the ally make a basic attack back at the enemy, potentially invalidating the attack if they kill the monster (more likely since you get to add bonus damage to it). That's exactly what my build did - on my turn, grant between 3 to 12 allies an attack at a +10 hit / +16 damage bonus (or +18 / +24), then grant free action attacks when it wasn't my turn. (The main problem being the rule that says you are limited to one free action attack per turn.)

Just from the list of powers that I used alone:

Relentless Assault: When you or an ally scores a crit, you and all allies make a basic attack as an opportunity action.

Insightful Assault: You and 3 allies make a basic attack against a target.

War Master's Assault: You and each ally in a burst 3 make a charge or basic attack with a bonus.

Hail of Steel: Each ally within 5 makes a basic attack.

Death From Two Sides: Ally makes a basic attack. If you both hit, your attack is a crit. Notable because it's not a free action attack that you grant to your ally.

Prescient Warning line of spells for Bards.

Increasing the Tempo: One ally makes 4 basic attacks.

Haste: As a minor action, give you or an ally a standard action. (Does not count as a free action.)

Warlords also have Commander's Strike and Direct the Strike at-will and Bards have Staggering Note.

Note that the biggest problem you will run into is only giving each ally one free action attack a turn.

Bards get access to War Chanter paragon path. Victorious Smite to let each ally within 5 shift 3 and make a basic attack with insane bonuses. Also a mediocre (compared to the rest of the powers I took) that lets an ally auto-hit with an encounter power.

Warmaster epic destiny gives out Spring the Trap which allows everyone, including you to take a standard action (that doesn't count as a free action). (Note: That is Warmaster, not War Master.)

Ardent is good at granting charges and some basic attacks, sure, but frankly, if you aren't looking at Warlord for a build that you want to primarily "grant multiple allies attacks", then you're going sub-optimally. The rule that says only one free action attack per turn is why I threw in Bard (grant off-action free attacks), as well as the nice buffs. I threw in Artificer's Magic Weapon because it is the single-best at-will for buffing attack and damage in the game, especially when you are handing out so many free attacks.

[masteraleph]

The main problem being the rule that says you are limited to one free action attack per turn.

Just a note- that's not quite the actual rule. The actual rule is:


A creature can take a free action to use an attack power only once per turn.

There can be a subtle difference there, depending on the wording of the powers.

[tcrudisi]

Just a note- that's not quite the actual rule. The actual rule is:



There can be a subtle difference there, depending on the wording of the powers.

A basic attack counts as an attack power. Ditto for charges, at-will attack powers, encounter attack powers, and daily attack powers. So while there is a subtle difference, there's no practical difference.

Edit: There's no practical difference when it comes to handing out free action attacks, as they are almost always single attacks, anyway. The only exception I can think of is the Invoker, whose basic attack is a "twin strike" (divine bolts or dual bolts, whatever its called).

[Epinephrine]

Relentless Assault: When you or an ally scores a crit, you and all allies make a basic attack as an opportunity action.

Right, I ignored all powers that grant an attack as an Opportunity action, as that doesn't help a summon, animal companion, or fey creature, as they use the caster/owner's OAs.

I also ignored anything that was limited to a number of people (1, 2, 3 allies), but thanks for pointing out some that I missed. I think I forgot to search for the words "each ally," and had looked at "every ally" and "allies."

[tcrudisi]

Right, I ignored all powers that grant an attack as an Opportunity action, as that doesn't help a summon, animal companion, or fey creature, as they use the caster/owner's OAs.

I also ignored anything that was limited to a number of people (1, 2, 3 allies), but thanks for pointing out some that I missed.

Summons use their owners actions to attack. Let's use a Druid as an example. If you use a power that lets all allies make a free action attack, the Druid has a choice: either make the attack himself or let the summon make it. He can't do both because he can only make one free action attack per turn, and the summon takes the Druids actions to attack.

The same is true for animal companions, except in the rare case where the owner is unconscious. (At which point using up the opportunity action doesn't matter anyway because the owner isn't going to use it.)

Fey Beast Tamer theme actually is a bit different. It specifically says that Free Actions are used by the Fey Beast, rather than the owner.

[Epinephrine]

Summons use their owners actions to attack. Let's use a Druid as an example. If you use a power that lets all allies make a free action attack, the Druid has a choice: either make the attack himself or let the summon make it. He can't do both because he can only make one free action attack per turn, and the summon takes the Druids actions to attack.

The same is true for animal companions, except in the rare case where the owner is unconscious. (At which point using up the opportunity action doesn't matter anyway because the owner isn't going to use it.)

Fey Beast Tamer theme actually is a bit different. It specifically says that Free Actions are used by the Fey Beast, rather than the owner.

That's not how I was reading it; the owner of an animal companion (or caster of a summon) can use a standard action to command it to attack, but animal companions can act on their own (if more than 20 squares from their owner) and summons have instinctive actions, so they aren't limited to only attacking with a standard action. Summons are essentially the caster's attacks; they gain implement damage bonuses, use the caster's scores, etc., but the animal companion uses level+5 to attack, and while it normally relies on your command to attack, it doesn't say that it can't attack if granted one, and I do believe that the attack is written as a melee basic (since it can use it for OAs). We do allow feats like World Serpent's Grasp to affect an attack made with a summoned creature, since it's an attack power the caster is using essentially, but an animal companion isn't an attack power, it's a creature with an ability you can command it to use.

For example, I would allow an enemy to dominate an animal companion, and to use it to attack on its turn - it's not limited to only attacking when the owner tells it to, though without another way to tell it to attack, it's likely the only way it does attack. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see why an animal companion couldn't make a free action attack. "Your animal companion is considered an ally of you and your allies. It can be affected by powers in the same way as any other creature can be."

Further, while the rules specify how the creature can take a standard action, it isn't taking a standard action: "Standard Actions: To take a standard action, your animal companion needs you to take a standard action to command it to do so." Right, I am not having it take a standard action, though - it is taking a free action that can allow it a melee basic. As far as I can tell, any attack that grants free action attacks to allies will work on animal companions.

[tcrudisi]

That's not how I was reading it; the owner of an animal companion (or caster of a summon) can use a standard action to command it to attack, but animal companions can act on their own (if more than 20 squares from their owner) and summons have instinctive actions, so they aren't limited to only attacking with a standard action. Summons are essentially the caster's attacks; they gain implement damage bonuses, use the caster's scores, etc., but the animal companion uses level+5 to attack, and while it normally relies on your command to attack, it doesn't say that it can't attack if granted one, and I do believe that the attack is written as a melee basic (since it can use it for OAs). We do allow feats like World Serpent's Grasp to affect an attack made with a summoned creature, since it's an attack power the caster is using essentially, but an animal companion isn't an attack power, it's a creature with an ability you can command it to use.

For example, I would allow an enemy to dominate an animal companion, and to use it to attack on its turn - it's not limited to only attacking when the owner tells it to, though without another way to tell it to attack, it's likely the only way it does attack. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see why an animal companion couldn't make a free action attack. "Your animal companion is considered an ally of you and your allies. It can be affected by powers in the same way as any other creature can be."

Further, while the rules specify how the creature can take a standard action, it isn't taking a standard action: "Standard Actions: To take a standard action, your animal companion needs you to take a standard action to command it to do so." Right, I am not having it take a standard action, though - it is taking a free action that can allow it a melee basic. As far as I can tell, any attack that grants free action attacks to allies will work on animal companions.

Let's tackle these individually.

Summons, Rules Compendium p. 121: Under the Attacks and Checks heading: If a summoning power allows the summoned creature to attack, the summoner makes an attack through the creature.

The player is the one making the attack, therefore they are subject to the limitations on free action attacks.

Ranger Beast Companions, Martial Power p. 42: Under the header "Other Actions", because Standard / Move / Minor / Opportunity Actions were already covered, it says: For any other action, you spend the required action and your beast companion completes it.

These are labeled as melee basic attacks. I expect some table variance with this, but since the beast companion is under your control, using a free action to allow it to use it's basic attack power is still falling under the rule of "only one free action attack power per turn", in my eyes. I can see an argument against it, however.

Sentinel Animal Companions, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, p. 90: This one is a bit trickier. Initially I had looked up the rules in Martial Power (where animal companions were introduced) because there were no rules in the Rules Compendium. However, I've since decided to go on a whim and look up the Sentinel's animal companion because WotC is crazy and likes to print different rules for the same thing. Here's what it says: Free Actions: Your animal companion can take free actions without you taking an action to command it. Clearly this means that a Sentinel's animal companion has its own "1/turn free action attack". Both animals (wolf and bear) have melee basic attacks.

So where does that leave this? A bit muddled, honestly. Summons and Ranger beast companions are a no-go, while Sentinel animal companions and Fey Beast Tamer is still allowed. At least as far as I can briefly tell. (For those wanting to argue that the Sentinel updated it for Rangers, I'd like to point out that it's labeled differently. Beast Companion vs. Animal Companion, so it wasn't an update ... at least there. Maybe it was updated elsewhere, though.) I am glad we've had this debate, though, because I'm always interested in learning where I've got a gap in my rules knowledge.

Also, because I've been trying to figure out exactly what your intentions are, I re-read your initial post. Ranger's beast companions actually don't eat up your opportunity actions when you make an OA with them. They eat up your immediate action. So in the corner case where a monster incurs an OA from you and your beast, you can use your immediate action for the round to make an OA with your beast, and your opportunity action for the turn to make an OA with your Ranger.

[Epinephrine]

Let's tackle these individually.
...snip...

Wow, thanks for the thorough reporting; I had missed the line about the animal companion having its own free actions, so I'm very glad you caught that. I was mostly checking because in our Lair Assault we've got a lot of extra critters up, and I was trying to figure out how big a party/group one could get going, granting big attacks to everyone (re: the how cheesy a party can you build post), it does have some relevance as we have an animal companion and summon up , so the distinction between them matters when granting attacks.

Very neat note regarding the ranger companion, I hadn't realised you could both get OAs that way.

[Arcas Corricol]

warlord is the unquestionable winner of this, nothing rivals the sheer amount of turns the warlord grants.
One does not simply defeat a warlord at his/her/its job