It’s been pointed out to me that the really neat thing about the In-Play series are the builds. This is fine with me because Character Builder is my obsession. Since I almost always GM, I live vicariously through my players and the CB. I have approximately one hundred characters of various races, classes, and levels sitting on my hard drive. So sharing my various builds is something I’m more than happy to do, and will most certainly proceed to do right now. Character level is still paragon.
The Obvious Build.
Thorn, Razorclaw Shifter Druid/Blood Moon Stalker
Thorn is built for speed. With feat choices like Defensive Mobility, Fast Runner, and Improved Initiative, this druid shifter gets in your face, and the gets out of it. While he will never be your main defender, he can use his control powers and moderate toughness in a pinch when you require backup. He also attends to any point on the field, leaving a mass of disabled and hobbling enemies in his wake.
The Interesting Build
Marek, Deva Druid/Ancestral Incarnate
Marek is interesting not only because he’s not of a typical race that you might associate with the druid, but because he is a shining example of how the racial paragon classes present in PHB2 can fill in gaps or heighten synergy for “off-builds”. Devas are cool to build with anyways, as their racial power gives them the ability to be very accurate with a clutch power once an encounter. Plus, the concept of a protector of nature who has persisted an reincarnated for centuries is too good for me to pass up.
Marek is most comfortable controlling from the back. His power choices reflect this, and Ancestral Incarnate gives them a nice bump. Resurgent Action lets you get an expended power back and get your extra action, so it’s pretty strong. Past-Life guardian isn’t going to win awards for broken mechanic of the year, but it helps fill out your role as a controller nicely.
Four Powers
Here are four powers that I think are strong/interesting. We have one at-will, one encounter, one daily, and one utility.
- Call of the Beast –This is the at-will pick. I like this power because it allows you to increase defender stickiness. Run up to the frontline, pop this beauty, and force monsters to take noticeable damage or go pick on someone their own size, which is not you or anyone else except defender right next to you.
- Twisting vine –what a great power to tie up your enemies. Once this is placed on a group of enemies, movement drops. A great way to buy time to escap or hold off a contigent of enemies.
- Black Harbinger –This utility power gives you insta-streedcred as the sneaky guy, and gives you flight until the end of the encounter. Even better, you get to swap between this form, human, and beast form. It’s the ultimate position tool. Fly around, land, swap to your main attacking form, then flap away.
- Faerie fire –It’s hard not to like a power that slows and provides free combat damage, then scorches the opponent for slipping out of it’s effect. Even better, when they shake it, they still give combat advantage for a turn. A cool daily.
A Jack of All Trades ,or if you prefer, an extreme example of multi-classing, Gamefiend, a.k.a Quinn Murphy has been discussing, playing and designing games straight out of the womb. He is the owner and Editor-in-Chief of this site in addition to being an aspiring game designer. As you would assume, he is a huge fan of 4e.
By day he is a technologist.
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hey man. love the deva build. very cool. I also know what you mean about living vicariously through your players. at the moment, i don’t even have any, nor am i playing in any games any more (kid on the way) so living through the character builder has definitely become completely awesome. I should post some of mine up on my blog, haven’t done a druid yet, but i’ve mostly be working on my defenders as that is usually what i play with anyways (i’m usually the board and sword fighter) but i must say, the warden is quickly replacing it in my eyes as the newest of the elite defenders, consequently, my warden is also named thorn. I guess nature isn’t that big of a world when it comes to menacing vocabulary, though, a druid named venus the trap would be both interesting and comical were i to put one together
kudos. love the builds.
Thanks shinobi!
Wardens are indeed fun-looking. I want to convince one of my players to try one out –Player voyeurism FTW! I should have some interesting Wardens up soon.