... or is it just me.
I am currently the party Leader. I have picked Bravura Warlord. For those who have not looked at the class, they have a lot of powers that are based off of 'give the enemy a free attack in order for your ally to get a free attack.' It is fun. I keep loosing consciousness.
I am a Dwarf. I use a Reckless Maul (+4 damage, -2 to your AC). So I gave up the shield option. I picked fun feats that helped healing and charge and such. My fighters are a bit 'cautious' and I frequently went in first with a Charge. I did not fare well.
Eventually my DM and I talked and he let me exchange a bunch of feats to take Scale Armor proficiency, Heavy Shield proficiency and Durable. I just could not spare the AC and hit points. I also have a Walking Dead Cloak (2 surges when I take 2nd Wind) and Dwarven Armor (daily free surge) so I do not suck up too much healing resources. The Reckless property is now on a Craghammer and I use the Reckless property sparingly. I also wait for the fighter to get engaged and then I move into a tactical spot in the second line. I also cannot safely engage brutes since they 'always' hit. Finally, the group never seems to line up right for me to use my 'all allies in X radius heal' powers.
So now that I am cowardly wimp, I still I feel like a liability. I still suck up the Healing Surges that I should be using to help the party. I always run out of healing surges first and the group takes an extended rest. Is the Bravura Warlord pretty on paper but works out poorly since 'hit-me, hit-you' does not play well? Am I missing another major weakness besides the need to maximize hp and AC? The only thing keeping me alive is that I threaten to come back as a female gnome bard if the DM kills me.
Well, the main problem with Bravura Warlords is that they're highly reliant on luck. If you're rolling well, the enemies will be beaten into a bloody pulp. If you're not, you're going to be the bloody pulp.
Well, the main problem with Bravura Warlords is that they're highly reliant on luck. If you're rolling well, the enemies will be beaten into a bloody pulp. If you're not, you're going to be the bloody pulp.
Yes, unlucky is a potential Bravura weakness. Players have been known to steal my 'unlucky' dice since I frequently do not roll well. They do not seem to mind that when I am DM!
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Just my two cents, but don't forget Weapon Expertise to shore up a low attack bonus. Pretty much anything that bumps your attack bonus makes pulling off those crazy Bravura warlord stunts easier. Also, don't ignore the bonus HP from Toughness. 5 per tier seems kinda small in the long run, but those extra HP may be the ones that keep you standing while you strike the killing blow. Plus, more hit points means better bang for your healing surge buck.
Again, just my two cents. Hope it helps.
Theoretically speaking, isn't the warlord a Leader rather than a Defender? Could explain the whole losing consciousness thing.
Theoretically speaking, isn't the warlord a Leader rather than a Defender? Could explain the whole losing consciousness thing.
The problem is that this Warlords powers can be summarized as "After your melee attack the enemy may make a basic attack on you. If they do so, an ally gets a basic attack on the enemy." You also heal as a special power. But your ability to 'buff' your buddies is by giving them extra attacks for your sacrifice.
Since as you said you are not the Defender, you are up there fighting with less ability to hit, a lower AC and fewer hp/surges. And it gets worse since you are fast forwarding combat; two attacks on you in one round so that an ally (presumably a Defender) gets a second attack on the enemy. Maybe the opponent dies faster, but so does the Bravura Warlord.
The class seems flawed. It exposes your weaknesses to get your special powers working. It would be a like a Wizard who gets +2d6 damage to his attacks spells, but you must cast the spell in melee and let the opponent get an AO. I think it needs a way of getting temp hit points. Bravura Warlord is a fun class, but it seems foolish unless you are incredibly lucky.
Dwarves bring a lot to the table by default, and Con is always handy - but lack of either primary or secondary stats, plus specialization in low-proficiency weapons... well, it isn't a game-breaker, but I suspect it is one of several factors that have hindered the character.
Yes, being a Dwarf does not maximize my strengths. I did not try to be the 'best' Defender, I just wanted to contribute/survive. I picked Dwarf for the Dwarven ability to 2nd Wind as a minor action and because being a brave, foolhardy Dwarf fits my imagine of the character.
Well, there are a number of very nice feats for it in a few online Dragon articles. I'm not sure if you or anyone in your group has access, but the ones that stand out:
- Harlequin Assault ...
- Menacing Brute Style, ...
Harlequin Assault should be a nice improvement. I will retrain from Exotic Fighting Style Gladiator to Harlequin Style. It seems to always work better than 'Gladiator' and it works with more of the bravura hit-me/hit-you powers whereas 'Gladiator' only works with Brash Assault. I will see if I can trade for 'Menacing Brute' but I don't know if I have enough feats.
Brash Assault is certainly an odd power, since it only really becomes better than an normal basic attack if the enemy decides to take the attack against you. If you get too good at using Brash Assault such that attacking you becomes a horrible choice, they are likely to just refuse to take the opportunity to attack you.
The Evil Eye Fetish from Adventurer's Vault is a magic neck item that causes any enemy that hits you when they have combat advantage to take a small amount of damage. Since Brash Assault grants combat advantage for the extra attack, it would mean a little more damage for using the power.
Other than that, I consider the most powerful thing to give things like Brash Assault more bite to be the other members of the party. If your warlord works with a fighter marking the target you would give the fighter yet another attack if the monster chooses to attack you. Similar results with the other defenders. However, this might be enough for the monster to just decide not to take the attack.
If you have a fighter in the party you can do some other tricks beyond threatening monsters with two basic attacks from your allies. You can choose to use Brash Assault on a target that the fighter hasn't marked. If they attack you, you can give the fighter the free attack allowing them to mark this enemy as well. If initiative is set up right, that monster would also be receiving the fighter's discouragement from using their more powerful non-basic attacks against you.
Again, I view powers like Brash Assault to be odd powers. For them, it seems just as important to trick the DM into believing that attacking you is the best option as it is to make the power better to use (Even if all you do is not declare how dead they will be if they decide to take that attack).
... or is it just me.
Not just you.
Eventually my DM and I talked and he let me exchange a bunch of feats to take Scale Armor proficiency, Heavy Shield proficiency and Durable. I just could not spare the AC and hit points. I also have a Walking Dead Cloak (2 surges when I take 2nd Wind) and Dwarven Armor (daily free surge) so I do not suck up too much healing resources. The Reckless property is now on a Craghammer and I use the Reckless property sparingly. I also wait for the fighter to get engaged and then I move into a tactical spot in the second line. I also cannot safely engage brutes since they 'always' hit. Finally, the group never seems to line up right for me to use my 'all allies in X radius heal' powers.
So now that I am cowardly wimp, I still I feel like a liability. I still suck up the Healing Surges that I should be using to help the party. I always run out of healing surges first and the group takes an extended rest. Is the Bravura Warlord pretty on paper but works out poorly since 'hit-me, hit-you' does not play well? Am I missing another major weakness besides the need to maximize hp and AC? The only thing keeping me alive is that I threaten to come back as a female gnome bard if the DM kills me.
Hey, Gnome Bards rock.
That being said, I think that Warlords are best suited to go with the +3 proficiency weapons or something with reach, or perhaps both (*my Inspiring Warlord uses the Greatspear for just this reason*) So, for a Dwarf that's probably a Halberd (it's an axe on a stick, what's not to love). Charge in to the closest space using your reach, then hit from a distance, preferably from directly behind the fighter. You don't need the shield, because you're using the fighter as one.
Toughness as well as Durable is good advice(it'd replace the Heavy Shield feat since you're using your fighter for that), that gives you more HP, which also makes your Healing Surges higher.
Also, the feat to bump up the amount healed by your Inspiring Word might be nice (so you use your Inspiring word on yourself. You're the one in combat, you're the one sucking up the punishment so that nobody else gets it.) Remember at 6th level, it goes to +2d6 (we missed that until 9th level)
Make sure that you're using the PHB2/Adventurer's vault chart to get the "masterwork" armors for the free AC upgrade. I think they start at +2.
And honestly, it sounds like you're playing "Plan A: Get Them." in a group that's either more cautious (nobody wants to move in) or less cooperative (nobody wants to get the bennies provided by the warlord if it means taking damage.) So, while you'd probably have fun with this character in our Saturday group (rage barbarian, twf ranger, star warlock, dragon (fire) sorcerer, orb wizard, and melee cleric) where three people are running fast as they can to get in the middle of the scrum, it may be a really bad fit for the group you're with (if your fighter doesn't like to get hit, and everyone else is ranged, Bravura warlord not so good), so something else might be better.
Although you might get some of the benefit switching from Bravura to Inspiring. You still charge in, you're just not using the Bravura powers to get the extra smash.
Your character sounds really cool though. So switching seems like a disappointment to be avoided to me.