[4e] Character Building

[Arbitrarity]

I'm throwing together a Goliath Warden, an Assassin, and a Seeker for friends, all level 6.
Warden is interested in dealing more damage than he did previously (1d8+6/hit), Assassin is interested in OD'ing or being more useful than the Rageblood Barbarian (unlikely, but we can try :D), and Seeker is a combination of damage and getting useful powers.

Yeah, a lot of damage there. All books, owing to DDI subscription. Treating magic items sorta weirdly, if you want to change them, just recommend. I'm expecting pretty potent characters.
Anyways, my initial builds for each are here:
Warden

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Warden, level 6
Goliath, Warden
Guardian Might: Earthstrength

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 20, Con 18, Dex 10, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 17, Con 15, Dex 10, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 10.


AC: 22 Fort: 20 Reflex: 14 Will: 17
HP: 70 Surges: 13 Surge Value: 17

TRAINED SKILLS
Nature +11, Perception +9, Endurance +11, Athletics +14, Acrobatics +7

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +2, Bluff +3, Diplomacy +3, Dungeoneering +4, Heal +4, History +2, Insight +4, Intimidate +3, Religion +2, Stealth +2, Streetwise +3, Thievery +2

FEATS
Level 1: Sudden Roots
Level 2: Berserker's Fury
Level 4: Weapon Proficiency (Mordenkrad)
Level 6: Goliath Greatweapon Prowess

POWERS
Warden at-will 1: Thorn Strike
Warden at-will 1: Weight of Earth
Warden encounter 1: Thunder Ram Assault
Warden daily 1: Form of Winter's Herald
Warden utility 2: Nature's Abundance
Warden encounter 3: Earthgrasp Strike
Warden daily 5: Winter's Grip
Warden utility 6: Bear's Endurance

ITEMS
Bloodclaw Mordenkrad +2, Magic Hide Armor +2, Cloak of the Walking Wounded +1, Iron Armbands of Power (heroic tier)

Assassin

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Revenant, Assassin
Guild Training: Night Stalker
Choose your Race in Life: Half-Elf

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 10, Con 15, Dex 20, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 16.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 10, Con 13, Dex 17, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 15.


AC: 21 Fort: 17 Reflex: 19 Will: 18
HP: 45 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 11

TRAINED SKILLS
Stealth +13, Thievery +13, Bluff +11, Acrobatics +13, Perception +8

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +2, Diplomacy +6, Dungeoneering +3, Endurance +7, Heal +3, History +2, Insight +3, Intimidate +8, Nature +3, Religion +2, Streetwise +6, Athletics +3

FEATS
Level 1: Grave Dust Assassin
Level 2: Weapon Proficiency (Fullblade)
Level 4: Venom Hand Killer
Level 6: Venom Hand Master

POWERS
Assassin at-will 1: Inescapable Blade
Assassin at-will 1: Shadow Storm
Assassin encounter 1: Nightmare Shades
Assassin daily 1: Targeted for Death
Assassin utility 2: Cloak of Shades
Assassin encounter 3: Army of the Night
Assassin daily 5: Twlight Assassin
Assassin utility 6: Darting Shadow

ITEMS
Shadowdance Leather Armor +1, Spiderkissed Fullblade +2, Gloaming Shroud +1, Iron Armbands of Power (heroic tier)

Seeker

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seeker, level 6
Elf, Seeker
Seeker's Bond: Bloodbond

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 13, Dex 18, Int 10, Wis 20, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 13, Dex 15, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 10.


AC: 21 Fort: 15 Reflex: 19 Will: 20
HP: 50 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 12

TRAINED SKILLS
Nature +15, Stealth +12, Acrobatics +12, Perception +15, Endurance +9

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Arcana +3, Bluff +3, Diplomacy +3, Dungeoneering +8, Heal +8, History +3, Insight +8, Intimidate +3, Religion +3, Streetwise +3, Thievery +7, Athletics +2

FEATS
Level 1: Warrior of the Wild
Level 2: Weapon Proficiency (Greatbow)
Level 4: Focused Expertise (Greatbow)
Level 6: Weapon Focus (Bow)

POWERS
Seeker at-will 1: Stinging Swarm
Seeker at-will 1: Elemental Spirits
Seeker encounter 1: Flickering Arrow
Seeker daily 1: Fungal Blooms
Seeker utility 2: Hunter's Instinct
Seeker encounter 3: Winter Spirit
Seeker daily 5: Ensnaring Shot
Seeker utility 6: Blurring Stride

ITEMS
Magic Leather Armor +2, Rebounding Greatbow +2, Bracers of Archery (heroic tier), Amulet of Resolution +1

I was thinking of swapping something on the Warden for the new Primal Power feat Targetted Assault (+2 to hit on marked targets, prerequisite Barbarian. It's gonna get erratad so hard), I'm not sure how to build the Assassin quite, and yes, stats are weird, owing to the level and some odd leniency in stats/builds/retraining at each level. Seeker feats are a bit bland, any good options? Maybe a Novice Power swap?

They'll be accompanied by a woefully unoptimized Warlock, a Paladin who doesn't quite get the game yet (don't worry, the Warlock doesn't care, and gets a few ingame perks to sorta compensate, and the Paladin is fine with how he plays), a cleric, and a barbarian, who are detailed below:

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Cleric

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Topaz, level 6
Dwarf, Cleric

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 15, Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 20, Cha 16.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 8, Con 13, Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 15.


AC: 20 Fort: 15 Reflex: 13 Will: 20
HP: 52 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 13

TRAINED SKILLS
Religion +8, Insight +13, Heal +13, Diplomacy +11

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +2, Arcana +3, Bluff +6, Dungeoneering +10, Endurance +6, History +3, Intimidate +6, Nature +8, Perception +8, Stealth +2, Streetwise +6, Thievery +2, Athletics +1

FEATS
Cleric: Ritual Caster
Level 1: Healer's Implement
Level 2: Implement Expertise (holy symbol)
Level 4: Pacifist Healer
Level 6: Restful Healing

POWERS
Channel Divinity: Healer's Mercy
Cleric at-will 1: Astral Seal
Cleric at-will 1: Sacred Flame
Cleric encounter 1: Bane
Cleric daily 1: Beacon of Hope
Cleric utility 2: Life Transference
Cleric encounter 3: Hymn of Resurgence
Cleric daily 5: Consecrated Ground
Cleric utility 6: Stream of Life

ITEMS
Ritual Book, Magic Holy Symbol +2, Quarterstaff, Exalted Chainmail +1, Healer's Brooch +1
RITUALS
Gentle Repose

Barbarian

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level 6
Dragonborn, Barbarian
Feral Might: Rageblood Vigor
Dragon Breath Key Ability: Dragon Breath Strength
Dragon Breath Damage Type: Dragon Breath Cold

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 20, Con 16, Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 13.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 17, Con 15, Dex 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 11.


AC: 18 Fort: 21 Reflex: 15 Will: 15
HP: 61 Surges: 11 Surge Value: 18

TRAINED SKILLS
Intimidate +11, Endurance +10, Athletics +12

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +2, Arcana +3, Bluff +4, Diplomacy +4, Dungeoneering +3, Heal +3, History +5, Insight +3, Nature +3, Perception +3, Religion +3, Stealth +2, Streetwise +4, Thievery +2

FEATS
Level 1: Hurl Breath
Level 2: Weapon Proficiency (Mordenkrad)
Level 4: Weapon Expertise (Hammer)
Level 6: Improved Rageblood Vigor

POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Pressing Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Avalanche Strike
Barbarian daily 1: Swift Panther Rage
Barbarian utility 2: Combat Sprint
Barbarian encounter 3: Blade Sweep
Barbarian daily 5: Thunder Hawk Rage
Barbarian utility 6: Laugh it Off

ITEMS
Iron Armbands of Power (heroic tier), Horned Helm (heroic tier), Vanguard Mordenkrad +1, Bestial Hide Armor +1, Boots of Adept Charging (heroic tier), Badge of the Berserker +1

Note the barbarian actually has Improved Rageblood vigor as a placeholder for Hide Expertise, putting his AC at 21. Also, the barbarian has too many items, which will be addressed over the next few levels.

[Bagelz]

i haven't even seen the seeker class yet, but the warden is looking pretty decent. Most of the optimization boards have wildbloods using twohanders (spears) and earthbloods using sheild and a onehander, but I don't think that matters until much later

i would looking into using a second lvl 1 daily for the warden instead of the lvl 5 daily (either the ram or panther). the form of effects that last all encounter are better than a single daily attack.

one of your assassin lvl 1 powers should be executioners noose, because its vs fortitude instead of ac. good call on nightmare shades because its vs will.

on all of them you might want to think about expertise feats (+1 to attacks).

[Arbitrarity]

Yeah, about what I expected. The Warden's going 2h for the damage, but he was originally S&B, though he gets some nice damage perks.
Excellent idea on the lvl 1 dailies though, thanks.

Executioner's Noose was my other choice rather than inescapable blade. Since I can use spiderkissed in either case, looks like a good option.

Assassin is using the Spiderkissed trick, which gives +2 damage and, more importantly, ignores all resistances and immunities to damage. I think that's more important now, but yeah, Expertise was my next choice.

I guess I'll trade in the Goliath Greatweapon prof for Targetted Assault (Which >>> expertise for wardens), then swap back to S&B for maximum AC.

[AgentPaper]

Hmm, does the +2 bonus damage only come in if you actually roll dice for damage? I'm just imagining Heart of Dust doing 7 periodic damage to itself and everyone within 2 squares, which just makes it an awesome ability. It's already pretty good, and better than the other options which are frankly lackluster as far as dailies go. (Though Treacherous Shades is nice if you wanna sub as a controller)

Edit: And just in case you weren't planning this already, make sure you pick up Half-Elf Soul and Velvet Blade trick as your level 8 and 10 feats, and then Versatile Master at 11th. Lets you apply 2 shrouds a round with your at-will, which is really, really good. Doesn't really matter what power you choose, though twin strike makes for a nice ranged option, which you otherwise lack. (though you'd have a hard time hitting with it in melee, since it's based off of strength and you'd need to have two secondary weapons to DW)

The only other powers that would really work for melee with dex seem to be Probing Strike from the rogue (though the DM might rule that it needs a light blade like the other rogue powers) or the Five Storms power from the monk, which also nicely lets you shift 2 squares as a move action.