4e Looking for a Fun 1-Shot Char

[HMS Invincible]

My DM is making a one or two session game where we get to choose whatever we want to fight in a war. I've already had immense fun as a wizard and a rogue, but now I'm not sure what to do now.
Since it doesn't matter if I mess up, I'm willing to try something new with subscription and all the books I have. What's a good class to pick for low Paragon?
I know my group pretty well, so it's gonna be pretty much all strikers since all of them like 1upping each other in terms of damage.

Name a good leader/defender/controller class that's not a wizard or rogue and tell me why it's so awesome. Bonus points if cheese/min-maxing is involved. (My DM's been nerfing wizards every time I play cuz apparently I'm too much of a min-maxer)

[cupkeyk]

The leader/defender/controller class is the bard. What level?

[CubeB]

Artificer is a good leader too, so I've heard.

[mobdrazhar]

cleric, bard or warlord as they are all good leaders and all have buffing abilities.

[Fuzzie Fuzz]

Firstly, a min-maxer? In 4e? Not possible. Every class is created equal in this edition. Wizards are no better at what they do than any other class is at what they do.

That said, feylocks (warlocks with the Fey pact) are super fun. Especially if you're an eladrin. Teleportations galore! Not a ton of damage potential, for a striker, but lots of fun status-affecting powers, an at-will that makes you invisible to the target, etc. Pretty controller-y for a striker.

Also, books available and level of game would be useful info.

[HMS Invincible]

Sorry, I'm in the low end of paragon, and I got a ddi subscription with all the books. Also, I have 3rd party mongoose books as well.

[Swordgleam]

I had a lot of fun with a tiefling hellock with the Ritual Caster feat for a paragon one-shot. Lots of utilities and rituals designed to get me far away from dangers / the PCs I planned on double-crossing fast. (We were all playing as pretty pretty princesses and supposed to compete for the prince we rescued - instead I convinced the very racist cleric to help me sacrifice the prince as part of my coming-of-age ritual in exchange for setting her up with one of my brothers, and bribed the paladin into helping.)

[Hadrian_Emrys]

How the heck is he nerfing the 4e wizard?

Anywho, try a Taclord build. If your group is pimping out DPR, you may as well wield them all as your weapon(s) of choice :

Race: Shardmind
Attributes: 10 Str, 12 Con, 10 Dex, 18 Int, 10 Wis, 18 Cha
Skills: Athletics, Diplomacy, Endurance, Heal
Feat: Melee Training (Charisma)
Powers: Commander's Strike, Direct the Strike, Overwhelming Force Trap, Fearless Rescue
Gear: Longsword, Light Shield, Hide Armor, Everburning Torch.

If you are going paragon, I suggest taking the multi-class feats for bard and really bump the heals and party buffing/utilization. For your path... *shrug* there are quite a few good options available.

[Kurald Galain]

Firstly, a min-maxer? In 4e? Not possible. Every class is created equal in this edition.

Charop says "hi". Would you like to do 1000+ damage per round consistently, run around the world in a single round, or teleport your enemies into orbit?

No, not every class is equal, certain classes are markedly more effective than others. The wizard happens to be one of the stronger classes, too.

Anyway, to the OP - if you're going to play in a war, the obvious choice is Warlord. Tactical warlord, preferably. You can hand out huge buffs to anyone around you, every encounter.

[HMS Invincible]

The majority of the responses have been towards leaders/warlords. How does a tac warlord work without str? Does the melee training replace the powers with charisma based attacks?

[Kurald Galain]

The majority of the responses have been towards leaders/warlords. How does a tac warlord work without str? Does the melee training replace the powers with charisma based attacks?

Intelligence based attacks for a tactical warlord, but that only works for basic attacks, not for your powers.

It is... possible... to play a warlord without strength if you avoid every power that requires you to make an attack roll, and instead take all sorts of powers that let your allies make attacks. The result can be more than a little silly, and is certainly a fun oneshot char.

[NeoVid]

Melee Training affects basic attacks only. Strength is the primary stat for all Warlord types, with Int/Cha/Wis as secondary, depending on the build.

If you want him to stop nerfing your Wizards, bring in an arcane slasher for the one-shot.

[Evard]

Fighter is a great class... Yes the Sword and Board fighter... I love its defending/controlling class abilities :D

But the best/coolest would have to be the SWARM DRUID! I'm not sure what they put in teh errata or anything but when they came out i looooved them :D

[HMS Invincible]

Intelligence based attacks for a tactical warlord, but that only works for basic attacks, not for your powers.

It is... possible... to play a warlord without strength if you avoid every power that requires you to make an attack roll, and instead take all sorts of powers that let your allies make attacks. The result can be more than a little silly, and is certainly a fun oneshot char.

I was asking about the build Hadrian_Emrys posted, cuz it didn't make much sense past lvl 1 or 2.

But that does sound tempting...

[Hzurr]

Hmm... A couple of suggestions:

For a super-fun defender/controller, go eladrin swordmage or eladrin fighter, and take the feycharger route. Teleporting everywhere, and smacking people is always fun. Always.

If you feel like trying out a striker anyway, go Minotaur assassin. Not the most optimal choice, but they've got a few fun tricks. Take all of the poison feats, so that your attacks do tons-o-poison damage that can't be resisted, even from creatures immune to poison; as well as the minotaur specific feat that allows you to gain phasing when you use your goring charge.

Stop and think about that for a second. You can charge someone on the other side of a stone wall, You can poison undead, you can weild a giant axe, and jump through people's shadows to kill them.

Fun times.

[Keld Denar]

I've heard good things about a Footwork Lure based polearm wielding fighter. That way you get to pull off lots of shananananananananiganery with moving people around, swapping positions, and all that jazz.

Also, get a Grasping javelin at some point. Its a polearm, but it can be thrown. When you hit with it, you get to move someone to a nearby square. Well, if you throw it, they still move to a nearby square...meaning you can yell "GET OVER HERE" in a Scorpionesque manner and pull pesky ranged attackers into beatdown range for your party to gang-beat into submission.

[Kurald Galain]

I was asking about the build Hadrian_Emrys posted, cuz it didn't make much sense past lvl 1 or 2.

Oh, it does. There are just enough non-attacking powers printed that you can take at each level, assuming your DM allows MP1, MP2 and dragon mag.

But Commander's Strike boosts of intelligence, not charisma.

Also, get a Grasping javelin at some point. Its a polearm, but it can be thrown. When you hit with it, you get to move someone to a nearby square. Well, if you throw it, they still move to a nearby square...

I used to love that trick. Unfortunately, as of the latest errata, it's no longer allowed.

[HMS Invincible]

Spoiler

Show

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Balashi, level 11
Shardmind, Warlord, Wizard of the Spiral Tower
Warlord: Battlefront Leader
Commanding Presence: Tactical Presence
Versatile Expertise: Versatile Expertise (Heavy Blade)
Versatile Expertise: Versatile Expertise (Staff)
Corellon's Implement: Staff
Shardmind: Perception Bonus

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 11, Con 13, Dex 11, Int 21, Wis 11, Cha 21.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 10, Con 12, Dex 10, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 16.


AC: 27 Fort: 19 Reflex: 24 Will: 23
HP: 75 Surges: 8 Surge Value: 18

TRAINED SKILLS
Intimidate +15, Heal +10, Athletics +7, Diplomacy +15, Arcana +17

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +2, Bluff +10, Dungeoneering +5, Endurance +5, History +10, Insight +5, Nature +5, Perception +9, Religion +10, Stealth +2, Streetwise +10, Thievery +2

FEATS
Level 1: Melee Training (Intelligence)
Level 2: Versatile Expertise
Level 4: Lend Might
Level 6: Arcane Initiate
Level 8: Lend Strength
Level 10: Thug Novice
Level 11: Deva Heritage

POWERS
Arcane Initiate: Chilling Cloud
Warlord at-will 1: Commander's Strike
Warlord at-will 1: Direct the Strike
Warlord encounter 1: Overwhelming Force Trap
Warlord daily 1: Destructive Surprise
Warlord utility 2: Aid the Injured
Warlord encounter 3: Battering Command (retrained to Pommel Strike at Thug Novice)
Warlord daily 5: A Rock and a Hard Place
Warlord utility 6: Tactical Supervision
Warlord encounter 7: Friendly Fire
Warlord daily 9: Warlord's Recovery
Warlord utility 10: Rallying Deflection

ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Heavy Shield, Everburning Torch, Melegaunt's Darkblade Longsword +3, Cloak of Distortion +2, Healer's Hide Armor +2, Boots of the Fencing Master (heroic tier), Iron Armbands of Power (heroic tier), Gauntlets of Blood (heroic tier), Viper Belt (heroic tier), Bahamut's Protective Ward (level 3), Cannith Goggles (heroic tier)
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======

Here's what I came up with. It's alright, a little boring though. Whenever you use at-wills or encounters, you don't get to roll, your allies do. Thematically, it's awesome, but in practice, you get bored a lot. However, you still have to pay attention since many of the powers are reactive and work best only in certain situations. I'm not sure if my paragon path was the best choice or not or my feat choices. I didn't need to cast any dailies yet, but it works, and it keeps on ticking for several encounters.