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There are two components to Defender functionality, neither of which require a true mark. These components are Staying power, and ability to punish those who would harm your allies. You've got this stuff covered.

Staying Power:

If you're smart, you're going to take Unarmored Agility early in Heroic, and Improved Armor of Faith at some point during Paragon. You have +1 to all NADs as a class perk, and your 'soft' NAD is Fortitude, which is the NAD you care least about, anyway.

In addition to your defenses, you have solid HP per level, and you have access to a lot of powers which can help keep you very safe-- many of these have both offensive and defensive applications, as well. More on that later.

Note that Endurance is a class skill option, and that the Endurance Skill Power at L10 ('Reactive Surge') is awesome for you.

Notes on AC, post- 7/6/2010 errata: These notes assume that you pump Wis & Dex at every possible opportunity, and use level-appropriate armor. They represent 'final'/L30 AC numbers, assuming listed additions to the above considerations.

16 starting Dex, no Improved Armor of Faith, no Dex-boost from Epic Destiny: 45.
16 starting Dex, +Improved Armor of Faith, no Dex-boost from Epic Destiny: 46.
16 starting Dex, +Imroved Armor of Faith, +Dex boost from Epic Destiny*: 47.

18 starting Dex, no Improved Armor of Faith, no Dex-boost from Epic Destiny: 46
18 starting Dex, +Improved Armor of Faith, no Dex-boost from Epic Destiny: 47
18 starting Dex, +Improved Armor of Faith, +Dex-boost from Epic Destiny: 48

*My personal preference. Allows for Githzerai, Elf, Shifter (either type), or Wilden with 14 Str, 16 Dex, 18 Wis @ L1, or a Human with 13 Str, 16 Dex, 18 Wis @ L1. 47 AC at 30th is a strong number, and these particular arrays allow for a good balance of NADs. The 14/16/18 spread auto-qualifies for Power Attack by 11th, as well (to be picked up during late Paragon, unless you're going Storvakal-- in which case you get it at 11). I also like to add Boots of the Fencing Master, which give you a little AC & Ref bump when you shift-- which you do a lot, thanks to Overwhelming Strike.

Ability to PUNISH:

Censure of Pursuit is a very well-designed punishment mechanic, the purpose of which is to allow you to control where your OoE target goes via threat of punishment for misbehaving.

For an Avenger, MBAs (melee basic attacks) are yet another awesome threat/punishment mechanism. While this is true for all classes, to some extent, it's especially true for Avengers. Your accuracy and crit rate are high enough that the prospect of eating an MBA (by provoking an OA) from you is not an attractive proposition for Team Monster.  Any time your OoE target provokes from you, it has to be aware of 2 things: You are going to hit, and you have a good chance of catching a crit. Note: Even if you are a strictly offensive Avenger, MBAs should be a VERY high priority for you. More on this later.

...and bringing it all together, we have positioning powers-- primarily Overwhelming Strike. In simple terms, powers that let you move your target around are what enable you to threaten them with Censure of Pursuit and OAs.


In summary:

By using positioning attacks, and putting yourself between Mr OoE and your allies, you are able to put Mr OoE in a lose-lose situation. He's either stuck next to you, throwing attacks into your bloated defenses, or he's going to try to fight someone else, which means moving away from you (triggering Censure of Pursuit), provoking an OA, or both.

When you have the tools, all that's left is the mentality.

Where many Strikers choose targets based on their estimation of how fast they can dispatch a target before the target bangs them up in return, Pursuit Avengers contribute more to their party's cause by selecting targets based on how quickly they can kill the target, and how dangerous the target is to the Avenger's allies.

You already know that an Avenger's defenses are on par with those of a Defender. Now, consider how resilient the Avenger is compared to a Leader, a Controller, or many other Strikers.

When the Encounter kicks off, your first job is to identify threats to your Leader, figure out which imminent threats your Defender will be able to address, and annihilate the biggest threat to the Leader that the Defender is not able to attend to.

1) High damage output, with 3 sub-categories.
  1a) Nova. Generally, single-turn burst. Occasionally, 2-turn burst. This is the Achilles heel of almost all Avengers.
 
1b) non-Nova, front-loaded damage. Similar to nova ability, except that this involves being able to provide consistently high damage multiple early turns in an encounter-- ideally, the first 3-5 turns. While you can't provide much in the way of Novas, you can do this very well. To clarify, this is what happens between turn 1 and the time that you settle completely into At-Will spamming.
 
1c) At-Will. This is where Avengers earn their paycheck.

2) Mobility-- high damage output isn't a big deal when you can't get to the target you need/want to drop.

3) Staying power*
Average encounter length for a challenging encounter is 7-10 turns. While it's awesome for a glass cannon type to be able to run out on turn 1 and drop something, it's not so awesome when said glass cannon gets dropped on turn 2 or 3, or when they force the party to take an extended rest at an inopportune time due to running out of surges, OR when the party's Leader is looking accross the table at them and saying, "dude... I don't have any heals left." Your job is to conserve party resources, not drain them.

Here's another gratuitous sports metaphor, relating to Staying Power:

Andersen Silva > Chuck Liddell because one of these guys doesn't neglect their defenses.

*You should be noting right now that survivability has been mentioned as an important aspect of both of your jobs.

This part is all about your relationship with the various monster types. Some of these things are well known. Other concepts/thoughts here are definitely going to be new to some readers.

Artillery.

Many folks considered 'in the know' are aware that Pursuit Avengers are particularly good at annihilating Artillery. The dynamic here is very simple-- they're most effective when using Ranged attacks, and do not want you in their faces. Their options are:

1) Eat an OA by staying next to you and making a ranged attack. Few will do this.

2) Resign themselves to a toe-to-toe melee slugfest with you. This keeps them alive longer than their other options, but means they're using weak melee ability against your very high defenses.

3) Eat an OA by moving away from you. Most DMs won't provoke in this way *if you have a good MBA*. Do NOT neglect your MBAs, sirs.

4) The DM favorite: shift 1 + ranged attack. This triggers your Censure of Pursuit bonus, assuming the bad guy is even able to shift. At Paragon, you can remove this option entirely by taking Censure's Grip.

Note also that most Artillery attack AC or Reflex, and that your AC and Ref are very high.

What to look for to spot Artillery:
Artillery are generally armed with ranged weapons, or implements of various sorts. They won't press forward during an encounter, instead either remaining stationary, or moving from one vantage point to the next. These guys are some of the easiest to spot during Turn 1, because you'll often be able to identify them immediately when the DM describes the scene.

Brutes.

Due to some recent changes, the Brute vs Avenger interaction has changed somewhat. Here's the new juice on Brutes...

1) Their AC, Reflex, and Will usually suck, which means you're going to have an even easier time hitting them than you would against anyone else. The flip side is that they have much higher HP, on average. You should expect them to require 1 more hit to kill than other monster types.

2) Brute offense: It used to be that Brutes hit pretty hard, but had a hard time landing those shots. That's not something you can bank on, anymore. They now hit harder, and more often. These guys are now what they should have been all along, which is... scary frontline damage dealers.

In the 'old days', you would go after these guys because you were their kryptonite. Now, you go after them simply because you're the best guy for the job. Yes... THE best guy for the job.

Consider:

-- Your Defender will take longer to kill one than you will, which means about 1-3 extra turns of eating attacks from a high damage opponent. While the Defender is resilient, putting the Defender on a Brute still means that it is up and dealing damage for a greater period of time.

-- These guys will tear up just about anyone else they get on.

Since MM3 & Bilsmode tweaks have come out, you should expect Brutes to be every bit as threatening as Artillery.

What to look for to spot Brutes: Brutes can be tricky to identify during Turn 1, but you'll usually know who they are by Turn 2 or Turn 3. They're often big (Large+), and they hit hard. To be more specific, they hit harder than Soldiers, who are the other prominent melee type. In a nutshell-- if it rushes into melee and hits hard, it's usually a Brute.

Controllers.

What Controllers do in the broad sense is painfully obvious. To get more specific, they generally have respectable damage output, typically do something that screams, "HI! I'M A CONTROLLER!" on Turn 1, are often obviously special due to placement and bodyguards (Soldiers or Brutes protecting them).

With these guys, the main thing to understand isn't so much what you bring to the table that makes you especially good at taking them out-- the more important thing to keep in mind is simply that THEY GOTTA DIE.

If there is a Controller on the grid, it should be your first or second target.

What to look for to spot a Controller: Spotting Controllers generally happens one of two ways:

1) The DM makes it obvious that they are special during his description/set up of the encounter. He'll either give it extra attention during the description, or he'll do something with mini positioning that makes it obvious that this guy is special.

If the DM is especially devious, you'll have to use the second method:

2) Select another obvious target-- (hopefully a Skirmisher, Artillery, or Brute)-- and observe what monsters do on their turns. It'll only take 1-2 turns, tops, for you to figure out who the Controller is (if there is one).

Note: It isn't absolutely vital that you target a Controller first, but they are usually the most optimal first target, simply because of what they do. If you're not able to spot this guy before your first turn, kill something else first, THEN move on to this guy.


Lurkers

Lurkers are one of the less appealing targets for you, for 2 main reasons:

1) By themselves, Lurkers aren't a huge threat. Their damage is bursty, rather than consistent, and the bursts aren't big enough to drop a target without the help of allies who put out more consistent damage.

2) Lurkers usually have defensive powers which will make them a bit obnoxious to kill quickly. IE, you might wind up wasting turns trying to take them out, while it would be a lot easier to remove another target from play.

[color=blue]What you need to know about spotting Lurkers[/color]: They'll look like something else until they use one of their stealth/escape powers. As always, your best bet is to make your first target an obvious Brute, Artillery, Controller, or Skirmisher, and let observation dictate your second target. If you spot one of these guys while you're working on your first target, *avoid* making the Lurker your second target.

Skirmishers

Ahhhh, Skirmishers... these guys are very, very fun targets for a Pursuit Avenger.

These guys want to fly around the grid, usually have mobile attacks that let them do so without provoking OAs, and their powers are occasionally written in such a way that they are effectively multi-attacks that include the Defender as one of their targets. Man... Defenders hate that. These guys also tend to be very strong offensively, and often attack multiple creatures each turn with drive-by style attacks.

Luckily for you, they have average defenses, and they trigger your Censure of Pursuit as a matter of habit. In my experience, putting my Oath on a Skirmisher usually means I'm +1 to hit, and +(Censure bonus) damage until it dies. The alternative is for the Skirmisher to stand still and fight you toe-to-toe, which is obviously not something they really want to do.

Note that, if you take Censure's Grip and an enabling buddy-feat, you can actually negate their ability to use certain attacks (any power that involves a shift away from you goes out the window). More on this in the build sections later.

What do you need to know to spot Skirmishers? You'll know after their first turn, because they're going to do something flashy that involves moving.

Soldiers

Soldiers mark, are generally very accurate, don't hit hard, and have high defenses (but average HP). These guys are pretty easy to spot.

They'll want to go after Strikers or Controllers, so that they can keep you marked, and protect their more offensively-minded friends on Team Monster.

Only target one of these guys first if it becomes evident that you've stepped in one, and can't get it off your shoe without killing it. If that happens, don't worry. It's just a speed bump.

What do you need to know to spot Soldiers?: Watch for heavy armor, marks, and guys who are running *toward* you.

and secondary roles...

Leaders. Leaders are high priority targets. Sometimes, it'll be obvious who they are. Other times, their effects will be passive (auras, etc), and you may not even know when one is on the grid. What you need to know about them is simple: when you spot one, that's your next target. Some clues: granting allies MBAs or other attacks, using healing powers, buffing allies, etc.

Minions. Fodder for your Controller to chew up and spit out. These guys are the reason you *never* use a Daily or Encounter power against a target without seeing them take a hit first.

Elites. These guys are the equivalent of two Standard monsters of the same level. You should *love* seeing them, because each Elite on the board could just as easily have been 2 Standards, and life is easier for you when the field is less cluttered.

If you spot one of these guys, get your Defender on it ASAP, and make your first targets non-Elites. The reason for this is simple: If you focus on killing Standard monsters first, you reduce the damage potential of Team Monster faster.

Solos These guys are the equivalent of 5 Standard monsters of their level.

If you see one of these guys and it *isn't* alone, get your Defender on the Solo, and go after the Standard monsters. DMs often build Encounters with monster synergy in mind, so there is usually a good reason for those Standard monsters to be there. Taking them off the grid ASAP is priority number 1 for you.

OK... the DM has called for initiative, and you've rolled. You get a good number, and go very early in the initiative order. Since you're Dex-secondary, this will happen a lot.

You know what each type of monster usually does, and you realize that differentiating between monster types usually means observing them for at least 1 turn.

So... how do you pick your FIRST target? Here's what you do...

Prioritize imminent threats.

-- is a melee monster near your Leader?
-- if you're fighting in a confined/crowded area, is there an enemy holding a staff, rod, etc?

The subject of a 'yes' to one of those questions is a GREAT bad guy to drop your first Oath on. While you're killing that one, you'll be able to identify your second target.
[/b]

Turn 1:

Turn 1 is all about gathering information. You do NOT want to blow your wad here, unless you're going late in the initative order, and have already seen evidence that a target is not a minion.

Your first attack against a fresh target should always be a 'minion check'-- generally, an At-Will or a charge.

Other options, which can help you gain information a lot faster: multi-target attacks. Area bursts, close bursts, or close blasts. If you hit something, and it stays alive, it is not a minion. If you hit a minion... who cares? Less clutter is good.

Note: If you spot a high priority target during the initiative & set-up period (before turn 1), and the target is far away, you're going to want to have an 'approach power' in the bag-- some tool that helps you close the distance safely, and quickly. Keep this in mind as we go forward.

Turn 2:

If your target didn't die from your first hit, this is where you use your Daily power for the Encounter, and an Action Point, if you're going to use one. You really want to kill the first target as quickly as possible, then move on to any priority target you've recognized during the first 2 turns.

Do not hold anything back here, unless it's obvious overkill-- usually not a problem for an Avenger, considering our limited Nova ability.

Turn 3 and beyond:

Once turn 3 rolls around, you should have a working idea of what everything on the grid does, and you should still have a couple tricks up your sleeve.

Until you run out of 'extras' (non-Standard attacks, item powers, etc), continue throwing them down until you're reduced to spamming At-Wills.

Again... do not hold anything back.

All Avengers can be very strong spamming At-Wills. Pursuit Avengers are especially potent, because they begin to cripple many monsters just by going after them. Once you get that bad guy into position (it only takes one Overwhelming Strike), the target is forced to either deal with you, or die even faster by trying to run.

1) This build uses Power of Skill to charge with Overwhelming Strike on turn 1. This gives it a stiff hit for its minion check, and allows it to reposition its target instantly-- setting up Deadly Draw + Censure's Grip on its subsequent turn.

2) 16 starting Dex, +Improved Armor of Faith, +Dex-boost from Demigod/Divine Spark. 47 AC.

3) Built around At-Will DPR. Factoring in Slashing Storm, the build puts out over 100 DPR with Overwhelming Strike from a cold start. This doesn't factor in Deadly Draw, assumes the target saves against Font of Radiance on the first attempt, assumes stand-still (not charging), etc. While you can definitely bump the number up (this frame can be pushed over 110 DPR, easily), this particular build is put together to model the marriage of Striker + Defender roles.

4) Immediate action attacks (Strikebacks, Battle Awareness, Relentless Stride, Vengeful Parry, Backlash Tattoo, etc) help drive this build's actual DPR even higher.

5) Big crit rate + Symbol of Victory = you're virtually guaranteed to have an Action Point for each of the first 3 Encs in any 'workday'.

====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ======
Challenger, level 30
Githzerai, Avenger, Ardent Champion, Demigod
Avenger's Censure: Censure of Pursuit
Versatile Expertise: Versatile Expertise (Heavy Blade)
Versatile Expertise: Versatile Expertise (Holy Symbol)
Divine Spark: Divine Spark Dexterity
Divine Spark: Divine Spark Wisdom
Background: Occupation - Criminal (Thievery class skill)

FINAL ABILITY SCORES
Str 16, Con 15, Dex 26, Int 12, Wis 28, Cha 10.

STARTING ABILITY SCORES
Str 14, Con 13, Dex 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 8.


AC: 49 Fort: 43 Reflex: 42 Will: 43
HP: 203 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 50

TRAINED SKILLS
Religion +22, Perception +30, Stealth +29, Thievery +29, Athletics +28

UNTRAINED SKILLS
Acrobatics +25, Arcana +16, Bluff +15, Diplomacy +15, Dungeoneering +24, Endurance +17, Heal +24, History +16, Insight +24, Intimidate +15, Nature +24, Streetwise +15

FEATS
Level 1: Githzerai Blade Master
Level 2: Power of Skill
Level 4: Unarmored Agility
Level 6: Versatile Expertise
Level 8: Battle Awareness
Level 10: Deadly Draw
Level 11: Painful Oath
Level 12: Censure's Grip
Level 14: Paragon Defenses (retrained to Robust Defenses at Level 21)
Level 16: Power Attack
Level 18: Improved Armor of Faith
Level 20: Pervasive Light
Level 21: Hand of Divine Guidance
Level 22: Slashing Storm
Level 24: Punishing Radiance
Level 26: Font of Radiance
Level 28: Divine Mastery
Level 30: Epic Fortitude

POWERS
Avenger at-will 1: Focused Fury
Avenger at-will 1: Overwhelming Strike
Avenger encounter 1: Angelic Alacrity
Avenger daily 1: Aspect of Might
Avenger utility 2: Distracting Flare
Avenger encounter 3: Fury's Advance
Avenger daily 5: Bond of Foresight
Avenger utility 6: Aspect of Agility
Avenger encounter 7: Relentless Stride
Avenger daily 9: Temple of Shadow
Avenger utility 10: Wings of Vengeance
Avenger encounter 13: Avenger's Demand (replaces Angelic Alacrity)
Avenger daily 15: Aspect of Fury (replaces Aspect of Might)
Avenger utility 16: Astral Cloak
Avenger encounter 17: Vengeful Parry (replaces Avenger's Demand)
Avenger daily 19: Oath of the Inevitable Blade (replaces Temple of Shadow)
Avenger utility 22: Twin Step
Avenger daily 25: Aspect of Death (replaces Bond of Foresight)
Avenger daily 29: Final Oath (replaces Aspect of Fury)


ITEMS
Adventurer's Kit, Vicious Fullblade +6, Dawn Warrior Starweave Armor +6, Timeless Locket +6, Iron Armbands of Power (epic tier), Siberys Shard of Radiance (epic tier), Assault Boots (paragon tier), Strikebacks (heroic tier), Horned Helm (paragon tier), War Ring (paragon tier), Ring of Giants (paragon tier), Diamond Cincture (paragon tier), Symbol of Victory +2, Backlash Tattoo (heroic tier)
====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======

Overwhelming Strike. This attack allows you to put yourself between your target and your allies (creating threat of OAs), pull melee baddies away from your allies (creating threat of Pursuit bonus), and can now be optimized with minimal effort to give you At-Will Combat Advantage, as well as further threat of OAs. This is unquestionably the definitive At-Will for Pursuit Avengers, as this power is what makes the world go 'round for your build, whether you're emphasizing your secondary Defender aspects, or building a charger.

There is NEVER a good reason for a Pursuit Avenger to select any other At-Will instead of Overwhelming Strike at level 1. Thanks to Painful Oath giving us the Radiant & Necrotic keywords, this build is now the go-to for everyone, including Radiant Servants and Arbiters of Forgotten Justice.



Bond of Retribution. Bond of Retribution really doesn't have anything going for it, other than the Radiant keyword-- which Painful Oath gives you at 11th, anyway. This power is now basically a handy tool for fighting undead from levels 1-10, and then becomes obsolete at the same level where you start to find ways to have fun with the Radiant keyword.

Avenging Shackles. It slows, so it works GREAT with any build that includes Vicous Advantage. Add Distant Vengeance and Closing Pledge, and you'll get double rolls, have instant Combat Advantage, and move toward the target as a free action on hit. Having the Radiant keyword built-in doesn't hurt. Using Avenging Shackles + Distant Vengance + Favored Soul = laser beams from the sky.

Bond of Censure. This power sucks if you don't build it up. Start with an Int mod of +1 (Humans can start with 16 Dex, 18 Wis, 12 Con, and 12 Int at L1, for example), add Deadly Draw and Censure's Grip. Creates the same scenario for you as the built-up Avenging Shackles, except with reduced damage, and you won't need Distant Vengeance. Since you're very likely to have Deadly Draw + Censure's Grip, anyway, this makes a great third At-Will for Humans. Note that it also lets you pull your target away from enemies it might be bullying.

Focused Fury. This power is useful only as a second or third At-Will in a line-up that includes Overwhelming Strike. Where this power gets its value is in the fact that it can be used to make ranged attacks, which allows you to use your primary stat when you're stuck at long range. This power's mechanics suck for melee (OoE and the rider are mutually exclusive), but a Wis-based ranged attack is useful-- especially for those of you using a ranged weapon + bolts of transit and the like.


In the immortal words of Metallica, "Nothing Else Matters".

Let me kick off this section by stating plainly that I am a very big proponent of selecting Encounter, rather than Daily, Utility powers. In my opinion, pragmatic > dramatic.

This is your basic shopping list for Heroic Tier:

Unarmored Agility
Melee Training (Wisdom) or Power of Skill
Versatile Expertise (Holy Symbol, +weapon type of choice)*
Weapon Proficiency (superior weapon)
Weapon Focus

*as an alternative to Versatile Expertise, those of you who make zero use of Implement attacks now have the option of grabbing one of these feats to cover your scaling accuracy feats... Note that each of them include the normal +X feat bonus to hit, but also include a side perk. In this listing, I will only reference the side perk.

Axe Expertise. If you're using an Axe, it's an Execution Axe, and it's already Brutal 2. This one is a trap.
Bludgeon Mastery. Wow, huh? An extra +1 to push or slide distance for our Mordenkrad wielding homies.
Heavy Blade Expertise. The little bonus to avoiding OAs is cute, but... it encourages silly actions, and is actually redundant with many of the powers at your disposal.
Spear Expertise. If you're a spear-wielding charger, this is a dream come true. More statics? For free? Yes, please.

...and... Master at Arms. Think 'Weapon Expertise', with a built in, Minor action weapon swap feature. How often are you swapping weapons, though?

Those are the only 4 I'll list, because they cover all of the weapons that you'd really want to be using.

Once you've got those taken care of, these are great options to pick up:

Righteous Rage of Tempus
Deadly Draw
Power of Strength
Improved Armor of Faith
Improved Initiative

*note that Power Attack is available at Heroic tier, but requires stat allocations that you do not want/need at this point. It is best selected at Paragon or Epic tier, as you are able to start with 16 Dex and 18 Wis and 'grow into it' by 11th or 21st without bumping Str.

...and, naturally, any MC feat you may require. The better ones for Pursuit Avengers are:

Battle Awareness. An extra attack once per encounter, great choices for skill training. If you're hardcore, picking up this and using it to train Endurance will allow you to take the Reactive Surge Skill power at L10. This feat also opens up access to all of the Fighter feats, including Slashing Storm at Epic tier. This is THE MC feat to take if you aren't planning on using a Paragon Path that requires any other MC feat.

Initiate of the Faith. 1/day Healing Word is nice. The skill training is clearly wasted, but this also opens up Radiant Servant, as well as the possibility of taking Acolyte Power to grab Bastion of Health, which is a fantastic tool for extending encounters, and gives you insurance in case your Leader gets pressed. This feat also opens up Radiant Advantage at Epic tier. This is awesome, since Multiclassing into Cleric usually means you're building around Bond of Retribution.

Divine Secretkeeper. Gain training in Arcana or History, pick up Ritual Caster, and open up Blightspeaker or Arbiter of Forgotten Justice.

Note: The Heroic tier feat list ends here because I feel that the class is currently in the beautiful position of having more good feats to choose from than slots available at this point. I will list more Heroic tier feats in the Paragon feat section, as that is now the best time to grab some of the other strong feats available at Heroic tier.

Perception. Take this every time. No exceptions.
Stealth
Athletics
Endurance

...and I highly recommend using Background: Occupation (Criminal) to gain [color=blue]Thievery[/color] as a Class Skill.

Note: The Perception, Stealth, and Thievery Skill set combines with your huge defenses to make you arguably the best possible point-person in the game.

There are other skills, of course... take them based on personal preference. I simply list these because they often have big impacts on combat encounters.

Key:
11F = L11 feature.
AP= Action Point feature.
16F= L16 feature.
11E= L11 Encounter power.
12U= L12 Utility Power.
20D= L20 Daily power.

Astral Cloak. Encounter. Only lasts until the end of your turn, but allows you safe movement, total concealment (Stealth check), and on-demand Combat Advantage. While CA is very easy to come by these days, Deadly Draw and Vicious Advantage + Power of Earth don't grant you Combat Advantage until after you hit with them. This power gets it for you right off the bat, which helps set up Censure's Grip immediately.

Refire the Forge. Daily. While the healing is for a small value, it can serve as damage reduction of a sort. Also relevant: This power piggybacks an extra Immediate. Consult with your DM to determine whether he'll let you negate the triggering attack. The fact that it's an interrupt would seem to indicate this, but some DMs may not find this agreeable.

Winds of the Astral Sea. Encounter. OK teleport distance. Astral Cloak + a normal move action will get you a longer range of safe movement, plus significantly more numerous tactical applications.

(Insight Skill Power) Insightful Riposte. Encounter. For you, this generally changes the rare miss into a hit.

Painful Oath. Take this at L11, unless you're a Half-Elf taking Versatile Master, or are a Storvakal grabbing Power Attack at L11. Note: Painfun Oath confers both the Radiant & Necrotic keywords, once per turn. Again, that is once per turn, rather than once per round, which means that it applies to granted attacks, as well as Immediates and Opportunity Attacks.

Improved Defenses This is technically a Heroic tier feat, but we're slot-starved enough that many of us will be passing on this until Paragon, at which point it becomes a +2 feat bonus to all of your NADs, and truly becomes gold.

Danger Sense. Going early = awesome. With your Dex & DS, you'll go early a LOT.

Fleet Footed.

Justice Hammer. Good grab if you crit about 1/5 of the time. 'Meh' otherwise. Pair with Prone-on-Crit for lovely control on a crit-based build.

Lasting Frost. Yep. It's only 'OK' for you. You don't need Frostcheese for CA, and Frost weapons conflict with Radiant fun. An OK alternative, of course. Note: Using a Frost weapon makes all of the damage dealt become cold damage, which means you lose the Radiant & Necrotic keywords from Painful Oath by using it.

Overwhelming Critical. Best when paired with Daze-on-crit. Redundant with Assault Boots.

Paragon Defenses. Defenses are a huge part of what you do... BUT... with the arrival of Improved Defenses, this is now obsolete.

Pervasive Light. Worthless... UNLESS you're a Radiant + crit build.

Reserve Maneuver. Depending on your PP, this is either worthless, or awesome.

Aggressive Advantage. Nice for fans of Censure's Grip.

Alertness. Nice little boost to Perc, and preventing surprise rounds against you = good times.

Disciple of Freedom. If you have an oppositional DM, and you find yourself going to war trying to preserve your OoE double rolls, this one is a gimme for you. It's basically Font of Life vs anything that may keep you from going where you want to go.

Eager Advance. That +4 bonus to speed only applies once per enc, but it means you get one HUUUUGE move right out of the gate. If you use this with Distracting Flare, or Mighty Sprint, you may very well be on top of Artillery on your very first turn.

Headsman's Chop. If you have a 20% crit rate, and a Rending Exe Axe, it averages out to less than +1 DPR. Only good for builds that generate multiple attacks on crit.

Invigorating Pursuit. Good grab for dedicated chargers. Wording implies that you get the +2 damage for the associated charge attack, since the condition is 'hit', rather than 'deal damage'.

Light of Order. The real cost of getting value out of this feat is 1 Feat slot and 1 Utility power. It's worth it for a Free action, +damage power ('Punitive Radiance').

Power Attack. If you're a Dex/Wis or Str/Wis race, you can start with 14 Str and auto-qualify for this by Paragon. If you grabbed Deadly Draw or Power of Earth + Vicious Advantage, this is all win.

[b]Resilient Focus. Congratulations, you're an Elite monster.

Ritual Caster. Great in some campaigns, but most groups have someone who covers this.

Skill Power.

Superior Fortitude. Ongoing damage sucks, and Fort is generally your lowest defense. Not a bad pick up.

Superior Reflexes. CA against all enemies for T1, AND your Reflex gets SILLY at this point. Very nice!

Superior Will. DMs everywhere cried the day Heroes of Fallen Lands came out. This feat is the reason why.

Wintertouched. See 'Lasting Frost' above.

Under construction.

Ghostly Vengeance. Daily. Meh. You can already move around safely.

Indomitable Resolve. Daily. Negate a hit entirely? Situational, but awesome when you need it.

Raven Wings. Daily. Better than Indomitable Resolve, because it's No Action, AND lets you reposition.

Refuge of Piety. Encounter. You don't have to shift when you make the saves, but you can. This is pretty awesome.

Shield of Providence. Encounter. Lets you take only 1/2 damage for a turn, including the triggering attack, and gives you an average of +11 damage on your next attack. Situational, and burns an Immediate. I'm on the fence with this one.

Twin Step. Enounter. Aside from the fact that it lets you safely travel a big distance, this power also sets up a bunch of your other effects and riders that want your target to move or end its turn away from you. One fun trick-- Oath a target, teleport to it with this power, hit it with an attack, and use the free action component of this to teleport to the other side of your Defender. There's no way your OoE target wants to run past the Defender to get to you, so he's going to eat a rider, Relentless Stride, etc. Lots of potential for laughs with this.

Hand of Divine Guidance. 19-20 crit range is good for anyone. For Avengers, it's GREAT.

****Robust Defenses**** used to be listed here, before it was clubbed over the head and replaced by Improved Defenses, which you can grab as early as Heroic tier. At the very latest, you should have Improved Defenses by L16, so you shouldn't have to think about it here anymore.


Yep. So far, that's about it for Must Haves. You have a lot of flexibility here.

Divine Mastery. 19-20 crit + OoE + Symbol of Victory = you get to use this a LOT.

Epic Fortitude. Very nice boost to your softest NAD. When I only take one, this is usually it.

Epic Reflex. Solid pick. Boosts an already-high NAD.

Epic Resurgence. Looks great, right? Not so fast. Only triggers on your first crit. By the time you get this, you have a pretty good chance of triggering it before you're able to gain real value out of it.

Epic Will. While your Will is already very high, attacks against Will usually SUCK at Epic tier, so this has extra value. Great way to avoid a lot of Dominates, Stuns, Dazes, etc.

Enmity Shared. This is the fastest possible route to locking in Censure's Grip consistently, and it provides you with 2 turns worth of CA. Great for damage, fantastic for your Defender secondary, etc. All in all, a great choice. Even better for Solo fights, as it will give your entire party CA for the critical first 2 turns.

Font of Radiance. Pure win. Even more win if you're Avenger/Blightspeaker.

Halo of Tethering. Good pick-up for anyone who doesn't have Censure's Grip. Great for killing any enemy who wants to work at range.

Halo of Warding. OK choice. Better for anyone whose DM likes to swarm Avengers.

Long Step. Doesn't really bring much to the table, unless you're a charger.

Mighty Enmity. Meeehhhh. Helps a little with action economy, and has a fun interaction with Relentless Stride.

Punishing Radiance. Good all by itself. Better for Ardent Champions. Marries Font of Radiance very well.

Superior Initiative. For someone who is already Dex-secondary, this is a mountain of icing on top of a delicious cake. This is a spectacular choice.

Triumphant Attack. This is situationally strong. Most of the time, your kill rate diminishes its value.

Vengeful Declaration. This basically allows you to use Fury's Advance, RRoT, and other Minor action stuff earlier. Saving a Minor action 1/turn (Mighty Enmity) is ok. Saving a Minor action every time you use OoE = win.