Achilles
- a Battlemind build -
Born from a liason of a mortal and a god, you always stood above your peers.
But your mother knew of the prophecy, so she chose a life away from civilisation for you and her, among simple people. While you grew up you enjoyed that life, and you became fond and passionate about your friends - and while you were peaceful at heart, confrontations could not be avoided, and you fought with fervour and rage to protect your mates.
Still the prophecy wouldn't just let you walk away from it, and thus war came to you and even took your friends. You retaliated with a rage greater than ever, until everyone mortal stood aside to pause, wary to challenge you any further.
But you knew that the Gods wouldn't let your defiance pass that easily, so you went back to your home in time and conversed with the Spirits. They, too, saw the corruptions of the Gods, and thus you made an alliance that they would support you, while you would go out and set right some things - in Heaven and Underworld alike...
Build Explanation
Achilles is a Defender ("naturally") - Achilles is a Striker ("ohaa") - Achilles is both at the same time ! ("Whaat ?")
Yes
indeed, this build manages damage output around the benchmark of what
is considered a two-round-Striker. He is able to lockdown the mob he
goes after, and he has more than enough mobility to go for the key
targets. But he is also a Defender, as he can even check other mobs
while nuking his main target.
Striker
L1-6:
These levels are probably the hardest, as we have to build up the
damage potential Striker classes have naturally. We do that by relying
on our inherent resilience and using the biggest meanest weapon and
powers that hit precise or many mobs at once, or we simply charge with
an Avalanche Maul. Achieving the two-round target is a bit dependent on
the situation, but usually should only fail because the mobs all go
after us... which is a good consolation prize.
L7-12:
Forceful Reversal allows us to set-up a solid catch-22, and combined
with the big damage we already have, becomes very reliable to make the
first mob hit the dirt after two rounds.
L13-20: With the
arrival of Brutal Barrage our damage goes through the roof and is among
the best of these levels - and due many attacks and on-miss effects,
that damage output is very consistent as well. We also get strong mob
neutralisation, as the mob is reliably prone and slowed and thus poses
little danger to anybody, letting us concentrate on secondary targets to
keep in check.
L21-26: Our ED not only provides another damage boost, but we also get a strong nova ability to frontload damage big time.
L27-30:
The pinnacle of the adventurer carreer is for us hailed by getting
Brilliant Recovery, which lets us smoke even Elites with ease.
Mobility:
From class features to powers the Battlemind is already very mobile -
by selecting Persistent Harrier, aquiring a few key feats and focussing
our selection on those powers, we are all over the battlefield to both
defend our allies and chase down key targets.
Defender
Inherent:
Multi-marking and relying on Blurred Step / OA / Mind Spike is
something we get for free - and as long as we can reach a somewhat
decent position (which, as explained, is easy for us), we can use this
asset through our whole career.
L1-6: Defending by damage
threat is still quite viable at this level, and combined with debuffing
powers we follow that route. We also gain our first non-standard
lockdown with the Telepathic Challenge / Guard of Stone combo. Nightmare
Vortex as Daily helps significantly as well.
L7-12: We
aquire a few miscellaneous but important pieces like Sudden Roots, and
Shattered Time is another Daily that enhances our Defender abilities
until we can bring more to the front on per encounter basis.
L13-20:
Brutal Barrage provides strong lockdown to our main target, so we can
easier contrate on secondaries. Defense oriented feats and the arrival
of Savage Intent as second non-standard lockdown combo further improves
that. At last the regular use of Lightning Rush needs no explanation and
speaks for itself.
L21-26: After our initial nova investment we largely concentrate our shoring up our resilience at this time.
L27-30:
With Marked with Iron our third and last non-standard lockdown goes
online, allowing us do force the battle towards us for easily three
rounds per combat - aside from our regular Defender abilities and
Dailys.
Defenses: The build has solid but not exceptional
base defenses - better than very most Strikers, but lower than many
Defenders. It instead emphasises reliable resilience by big HP and
especially a huge amount of Surges, being almost impervious to
conditions (mobility debuffs can be ignored by powers, daze / stun /
dominate shaken off at the start of the turn) and some damage resist. On
top of that are a number of situational defense buffs that add up well.
At last don't discount mobility as defensive option, as it makes it
much harder for the mobs to swarm us, often forcing them to run through
all kinds of gauntlets.
Combat Strategy
Always
stay in front of your group out-of-combat. After rolling initiative,
see if either of the following two scenarios applies - if not delay /
close in with your group. (That is the reason why we didn't put any
optimisation into intiative, btw.)
Combat Opener #1: You are
hit by a ranged attack - trigger Persistent Harrier and teleport right
into the enemy backline. Consider using your free action mark to already
bind other targets. Then procede to nuke down the first key target
while checking the other mobs with your non-standard lockdown combos.
Combat Opener #2:
A group melee mobs is in walking distance. Close in, fire your
favourite AoE Defender power and let your allies move into formation
savely. Then decide if any of these mobs is worth nuking early - if yes,
proceed. If not, use your many mobility options to move further into
the back ranks (even between your turns) and proceed like described in
opener #1.
Further Strategy: After each target elimination
check if an ally needs urgent help or if you can get to a mob cluster to
fire one of your multi-mob Defender tricks - if yes, do so. If not, or
after that interlude round, select a close and hopefully already damaged
priority target and continue nuking it, again relying on your inherent
abilities and non-standard combos as described above.
Teamwork
Prepare
to recieve a lot of mob attention - you're a Defender and a high damage
Striker. And while you're not frail, even you will go down eventually.
As such work out with your Leader how much he can support you with
healing and occasional saving throws - you have the Surges for it, and
thus getting focus fired by the mobs isn't a problem, as your Leader can
spamheal you, while the rest of your party has relatively free reign
over the battlefield.
A Controller can be a big asset for you, if he
can cluster marked mobs back around you with forced movement. In case
you get swarmed he will also be happy to unleash AoE nukes on your
position - usually you can use your mobility to get out before that, but
don't fret taking an occasional hit from him - it's well worth it.
The
build does not expect to hunt mobs in a team - the other Strikers are
expected to either employ range or chase down any other stray target. If
you regularly hunt in a group, adjust your abilities to boost your
inherent Defender tricks like Mind Spike and Blurred Step more and
adjust the rest accordingly. Probably even trade some damage for more
resilience, as the targets will die very quickly - particularly if your
partner exploits your work, for example by aquiring Headman's Chop.
Motivation
You
likely already heared of the infamous Brutal Barrage combos a
Battlemind can pull off. Impressive DPR, no question, but by itself not
an impressive character.
Hence the challenge was to make a build that
fulfills all Striker requirments (target neutralisation, target
selection, DPR) while still having a fully capable Defender. The
explanation above should have illustrated the goals could be
sufficiently met and this character operates in the absolute top tiers
of both roles, although resources were indeed tight to make both parts
work.
At last you see again the trinity of every good BM build -
inherent toughness, mobility and maximisation of your favourite trick;
finalised by putting any non-essential resources into filling any holes
and weaknesses and preparing some backups for non-standard scenarios.
