Class choice?

[ImaginaryDragon]

About to start a game with a bunch of newbies. There's a rogue, a barbarian, and a cleric that I know of.

What should I make to help keep them alive? Controller or Defender most likely. I've already played a fighter, but other than that I'm open to ideas. I'm not really looking to hybrid right now.

Starting level is 5, we get bonus weapon training or equivalent for non-Str defenders, we get a free expertise and defensive feat, everything else is normal.

[MunkeeGamer]

Definitely Controller or Defender. Either will satisfy the same role of mitigating and interfering with enemy damage. Really depends on what you have a preference for, really.

If you enjoyed the defender notion but want a different flavor, I enjoy shileding swordmage. If you want a controller, you can't go wrong with wizard or invoker.

If you're looking to optimize the party, it will depend on what kind of challenges your DM throws at you. Tons of minions, controller for sure. If he uses big bruisers and soldiers, probably go defender to keep your barb and rogue safe.

[kailkay]

Do you have any specific thought as to what it is you want to play? Have a story in mind you want to tell?

For roles, if you want to the best thing for your party, as it stands, playing a controller who isn't too squishy will probably work, but you are likely better off as a defender type. Your group will have to spend a few more rounds running around tickling minions to death, but you have the staying power to last that extra bit of time.

[GPuzzle]

Druid shines when it comes down to this. Being able to screw with your enemies' plans via single-target controlling and multi-target controlling gives you an ace up your sleeve, and a rather powerful one, actually. Considering the Barbarian will be an off-tank, you can pickit with no problems.
Although Shielding Swordmage can fill the Controller/Defender role by using Sword Burst...

[neonchameleon]

About to start a game with a bunch of newbies. There's a rogue, a barbarian, and a cleric that I know of.

What should I make to help keep them alive? Controller or Defender most likely. I've already played a fighter, but other than that I'm open to ideas. I'm not really looking to hybrid right now.

Starting level is 5, we get bonus weapon training or equivalent for non-Str defenders, we get a free expertise and defensive feat, everything else is normal.

Defender. You've two strikers and a healer - which is good. Probably not a swordmage but any of the others will work.

[sniffies]

Swordmage|Wizard gets my vote.

[Kurald Galain]

What should I make to help keep them alive? Controller or Defender most likely. I've already played a fighter, but other than that I'm open to ideas. I'm not really looking to hybrid right now.

Well, if you've already played a defender, then you should really give the controller a spin. May I recommend the spellcasting awesomeness that is Wizard, or its divine cousin the Invoker? In terms of messing with your DM's tactics, nothing compares to these two.

[Kimera757]

About to start a game with a bunch of newbies. There's a rogue, a barbarian, and a cleric that I know of.

What should I make to help keep them alive? Controller or Defender most likely. I've already played a fighter, but other than that I'm open to ideas. I'm not really looking to hybrid right now.

Starting level is 5, we get bonus weapon training or equivalent for non-Str defenders, we get a free expertise and defensive feat, everything else is normal.

Not wanting to play a fighter is too bad. They can punish movement, shifts and attacking allies, and can often multi-mark. This is in contrast to, say, the warden. Knights can also hard control the battlefield, but that might be too similar to the weaponmaster for your tastes.

The ability to punish a move specially is the weakest of those three categories, because enemies rarely provoke OAs anyway. A cavalier (Essentials paladin) can punish shifts and attacks against allies, plus has some daily powers that let it take hits for allies and expand its Defender Aura. The punishing damage is pretty low, though.

You already have a leader. IME, a controller could only "guard" positions if they create lots of zones. My own wizard PC is infamous for abusing the heck out of Phantom Chasm, including standing in the zone it makes to force enemies that attack him in melee to fall prone, and similar (but less powerful) use of Icy Terrain. Literally every daily power my wizard will take up to 9th-level will create a nasty zone :) But that's a very specific "build" (if you can call it that, I just wanted to build an ice-using wizard).

[Epinephrine]

Battlemind can be a fun defender, able to keep up with an enemy that shifts away, punishing successful attacks, and via their powers able to respond to attacks even from enemies not adjacent (Lightning Rush, I'm looking at you). Level 5 is 2 levels away from Lightning Rush, but that's not too far, and you can still have fun smacking stuff around. A big weakness is the lack of a built-in OA or MBA, but it sounds like the DM has granted you a free training feat, so you're not too badly off.

[Rhaegar14]

Defender. You've two strikers and a healer - which is good. Probably not a swordmage but any of the others will work.

Why would you say NOT a Swordmage? A Swordmage brings a combination of both defending and, with proper power selection, minion-popping that his group looks like it needs.

[Elkreeal]

With the Rogue in play and one healer for a party of 4 (granted it's standard) Swordmage is a good idea, and I second it. But only if it's a Shielding Swordmage, as the others will do no good, I referred Rogue because of this, a Sheilding Swordmage could be great help to atone the Rogue's frailty taking some damage out of the top.

Battlemind is also a good suggestion for a defender that is out of the beaten path.

On the controller side, this on a party of 4 would wreak havoc and annoy DM's:
Druid + Alfsair spear + Fighter MC (to get polearm momentum) + magic stones + boon (Hamanu's Terrible Roar)= 3 enemies pushed and prone per turn, the Rogue needs not worry with CA as he has CA with melee attacks against prone enemies and he doesn't have to follow one of you around for flanking as this might prove dangerous. Also Staggering Smash would be a great feat, as you daze often, if you daze you push, if you push you push one more, if you push 2 you knock prone, use Predator's Flurry and there you go, a couple of targets dazed pushed and prone as an encounter. Fierce Thrasher feat at Paragon makes Savage Rend a MBA attack that slides 2 and knocks prone. The utility of all this also applies to the dailies Savage Frenzy lvl1 and Roar of Terror lvl5, for massive dazing, sliding and prone-ing.

There are builds like this out there for sure, I worked around this and made a Drow Druid that turned into a medium sized spider I used in a one-shot campaign.