[4ed] Analyze my PCs weknesses!

[ShaggyMarco]

"Happy are they that can hear their detractors, and can put them to mending."

My party just hit Paragon tier. I have planned out where I want to go with my character over the course of the rest of the campaign, but I've never played at Paragon or Epic, and I'd like some extra eyes to see my plans and point out things I could do better.

My priorities:
1. To not suck (this means that, in a small fraction of encounters I am not too effective, in most encounters I have something useful to do, and occasionally, I am a complete bad-ass)
2. To be true to the character (Champion of my People, Noble Barbarian Warrior)

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Limitations/Guidelines: I can't rebuild. I am stuck with my class, race, and ability scores. I can retrain the usual 1 feat/skill/power per level as normal. I have until 7pm eastern on Tuesday (May 4) to change my mind on my Paragon Path or anything else I got at level 11. I can use any WotC 4ed books, but nothing from the magazines.

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Who I am: Aniz el-Turath is a Tiefling Champion of the Turathi Tribe of the Bedine in the Forgotten Realms. In our version of the Realms, a diaspora has happened, leaving most of the Bedine having abandoned the old ways. Aniz's ultimate goal is to become a savior of his people, restoring the old way. In my backstory, Bael Turath was the leader of a Bedine tribe who made a pact with a Fire-Demon to empower his line and give his great tribe dominance for a time, thus he, and his children, became Tieflings. I am his descendant. (like what we did with the vanilla Tiefling back-story?).

This is important, because I have selected powers that thematically build on my bloodline's power. Also, tieflings do well with Fear and Fire powers, so mechanically, I get bonuses from drawing on this idea. My current Paragon Path choice is Turathi Highborn, where I truly come into the power of my blood.

I travel with a Bravura Warlord, Cunning Bard, Earthstrength Warden, Executioner's Axe Fighter, and Wrathful Invoker. Occasionally we have a Cosmic Sorcerer who tags along, but it's been a while since he was around.

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Current Stats:
Barbarian-Paladin Hybrid/Turathi Highborn 11
*Str: 21
Con: 13
Dex: 14
*Int: 9
Wis: 14
Cha: 19

*(I have a DM-designed artifact that boosts my Str by 2, but lowers my Int by 2. He still doesn't completely "get" 4ed item guidelines)

AC: 25, Fort 23, Ref 20, Will 21
Resist Fire, Necrotic 10 (the artifact belt also gives me Necro resist equal to my fire resist)

HP 88, Surges 10

Trained Skills: Athletics, Diplomacy, Intimidate

Feats:
Hybrid Talent (Paladin Armor)
Mighty Challenge
Hellfire Blood
Weapon Expertise (Axe)
Rites of Spirit's Blood
Ferocious Rebuke
Spear Push

Powers
At-Will
Ardent Strike (Pal)
Pressing Strike (Bbn)

Encounter
Fearsome Smite (Pal 1)
Blood Strike (Bbn 3)
Harbinger of Doom (Bbn 7)
Bolts of Bedevilment (TH 11)

Utility
Combat Sprint (Bbn 2)
Mighty Sprint (Skill 6)
Cleansing Spirit (Pal 10)

Daily
Blazing Brand (Pal 1)
Silver Phoenix Rage (Bbn 5)
Rage of the Primal Banshee (Bbn 9)

Gear
Dynamic Halberd +3
Versatile Layered Plate +3
Iron Armbands of Power (heroic)
Boots of Eagerness
Gauntlets of the Ram
Crown of Infernal Legacy (heroic)
Amulet of Pysical Resolves +2
Grace Ward Ring
Wrath of the Turathi (my belt)
Fleet Hero Tattoo (heroic)
Power Jewel

Tactics
I mostly operate as a striker, using my reach, mobility, and push effects to keep my marked foe where I can attack him, but he can't reasonably attack me.

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Where I am headed:
I want to stay mobile, and get better pushes, damage, and no-win situations against my foes. For accuracy and flavor's sake, I focused on Fear/Fire powers

Epic Destiny
Legendary Sovereign

Feats
12 Agile Opportunist
14 Lightning Reflexes
16 Fleet Footed
18 Fiery Rebuke
20 Hafted Defense (retrain) Expertise Ace to Expertise Polearm
21 Polearm Gamble (retrain Hafted Defense to Heavy Blade Opportunity)
22 Paladin's Truth (retrain Lightning Reflexes to Robust Defenses)
23 (retrain Fleet Footed to Primal Resurgence)
24 Long Step
25 (retrain Expertise Polearm to Versatile Ex (Polearm/Holy Symbol)
26 Slayer's Shift
28 Sweeping Blade
30 Weapon Focus (Polearm)

Powers
Encounter
Compel Obedience (Pal 13)
Terrifying Smite (Pal 17; Sword of Kings 30)
Berserker's Shout (Bbn 23)
Wrathful Flame (Pal 27)

Daily
Flames of Devotion (Pal 15)
Desert Wind Rage (Bbn 19)
Thrall of Turath (TH 20)
To the Nine Hells with You (Pal 25)
Crimson Phoenix Rage (Bbn 29)

Utility
Infernal Nova (TH 12)
Bounding Advance (Bbn 16)
Return to the Living (Pal 22)
Sword of the Sovereign (LS 26)

[Kurald Galain]

In Divine Power, paladins get a Channel Divinity feat that gives enemies vulnerability to radiant. This is very useful. I also find that getting a multiclass feat is very good for just about every characters; it would give you an extra power and a free skill.

I would suggest investing more in resistances. Overall, getting resist/5 to a bunch of things is cheap and easy at paragon tier, and gets you more payoff than boosting your defenses by one or two points. Several armors and cloaks resist something. There's also the Demonskin Tattoo, which strikes me as one of the very few tattoos in AV2 that actually does something useful.

[ShaggyMarco]

In Divine Power, paladins get a Channel Divinity feat that gives enemies vulnerability to radiant. This is very useful. I also find that getting a multiclass feat is very good for just about every characters; it would give you an extra power and a free skill.

I would suggest investing more in resistances. Overall, getting resist/5 to a bunch of things is cheap and easy at paragon tier, and gets you more payoff than boosting your defenses by one or two points. Several armors and cloaks resist something. There's also the Demonskin Tattoo, which strikes me as one of the very few tattoos in AV2 that actually does something useful.

More resistances sounds like a very fair plan. Is it worth it, do you think, to sacrifice AC for the masterwork plate armors that grant resist all? I also think a cloak that gives some resists would be useful. I think the Versatile Armor, at least for a while, is really nice because it lets me negate speed and armor check penalties for the sacrifice of 1 AC.

Two Questions:
1. Is that feat dependent on my ability to Channel Divinity? As a Hybrid Paladin, I can't.

2. Is vulnerability Radiant worth it if Divine Challenge is my only source of Radiant Damage?

[Mando Knight]

More resistances sounds like a very fair plan. Is it worth it, do you think, to sacrifice AC for the masterwork plate armors that grant resist all? I also think a cloak that gives some resists would be useful. I think the Versatile Armor, at least for a while, is really nice because it lets me negate speed and armor check penalties for the sacrifice of 1 AC.

It depends on your build. However, you're sacrificing AC for reach, which means that you should judge how often you get hit before switching to a weaker armor. You should use Gith Plate rather than Layered, though, if you've got +3 armor. This will bring your AC up to 28 (10+5+10+3). The next resist all armor is Specter Plate (+10/resist 2), for +4 armor, which is worth the upgrade even if you're using Warplate. Don't use Rimefire, as you've got better armors to look at now.

Tarrasque Plate might be worth it in Epic, but then you'd be down 4 AC from a Godplate-wearing Sword'n'Board Paladin.

Two Questions:
1. Is that feat dependent on my ability to Channel Divinity? As a Hybrid Paladin, I can't.

You can purchase Channel Divinity with a multiclass feat. Just need training in Religion and... 13 Wis, I believe.

[ShaggyMarco]

Hrm...I'm not proficient in Religion. Hybrid leaves you with too few skill trainings, but my old build of this character, I was a Thaneborn Barbarian multiclassed Paladin, and I died too much in my hide.

My armor's just +2. I mistyped.

[Excession]

PHB3 includes the heroic feat "Polearm Flanker" which lets you flank with reach. You pick any square adjacent to both you and the target, and count that as your position for flanking.

If you have anyone else in melee I'd probably take that rather than Hellfire Blood, which I don't like much. The flavour is nice, I just dislike being forced toward certain powers because of a flavour feat.

[ShaggyMarco]

I've really been looking into Polearm Flanker, since my mobility makes it easy for me to set up flanking opportunities.

That said, which feat should I retrain to get it? I know Excession suggested Hellfire Blood, but is losing +1 to attack and damage on most of my encounter and utility powers worth the extra flanky goodness? Is there another feat more worth trading out? Is there a spot in my expected character progression I should put it?