We almost had a full tpk the last time we played. Only the wizard survived. So we decided to switch around the roles of the party and I decided to go with the Defender role and picked fighter, and I am hoping for some advice and criticism about the build I am going with. We are starting at level 8

Human Fighter, Weapon Talent(two-handed), Combat Challenge, Combat Superiority(planning to go for pit fighter as a paragon path)

Ability scores after racial at level 01:

Str: 18

Con: 13

Dex: 14

Int: 10

Wis: 14

Cha: 8

At level 08:

Str: 20

Con: 13

Dex: 14

Int: 10

Wis:16

Cha: 8

Feats: Stubborn Survivor, Resilient Focus, Improved Defenses, Axe Expertise, Berserker Fury, Power Attack

At Will Powers: Cleave, Brash Strike, Threatening Rush

Encounter Powers: Hack and Hew, Parry and Riposte, Come and Get it

Daily Powers: Villain's Menace, Rain of Steel

Utility Powers: Glowering Threat, Get Up

Going for Greataxe and Scale armor, We aren't allowed to use the adventurer's vault book so no fullblade or anything like that available, also we aren't allowed to use anything that came out in any Dragon Magazine issues.

Well if you are worried about TPK I would always go sword & board not 2HW for my 4e Fighter. This seems fine if you want an offence oriented Fighter and aren't too worried about party wipes.

Things I do for survivability -
Toughness feat makes a surprising difference, but as you are starting at 8th it can wait to Paragon at a pinch.
Warlord Multiclass for the 1/day Inspiring Word - bring back your fallen Leader, or give yourself a quick boost.

Power Attack is a pretty weak feat in 4e, especially when you have a low-accuracy weapon.

Your stats, feat and kewl powerz won't stop a TPK.

You and your fellow players must focus on TACTICS.

As a nasty bastard DM, I promise you that min/maxing won't save you from what I and my fellow bastard DMs toss at a table - and more importantly, HOW we send them at you.

As a group, preferably away from the table, you need to review the fight that ended in a TPK. What happened when. Sure, the dice rolls were a factor. But now you have 20/20 hindsight to analyze the various steps that led from "hey, we're okay" to "oh, shit" to "we're fucked" to "who's still alive?"

This is NOT to blame a certain player for their action/inaction because a TPK means y'all done fucked up.

As the modern kids say, "this is a learning moment".

If your DM doesn't use morale for monsters, then its imperative that the players understand that even if the monsters will fight to the death, that doesn't mean the PCs can't make their own retreat.

In fact, your team should have a defined retreat protocol in effect for when you reach the "oh shit" phase of a battle.

Quote from: S'mon on January 01, 2022, 05:38:28 PM
Power Attack is a pretty weak feat in 4e, especially when you have a low-accuracy weapon.

Thanks for the tips, I think I will replace power attack with something else. Its annoying that there aren't a lot of feats in heroic for Two Handed Weapons.

Quote from: Spinachcat on January 01, 2022, 08:24:15 PM
Your stats, feat and kewl powerz won't stop a TPK.

You and your fellow players must focus on TACTICS.

As a nasty bastard DM, I promise you that min/maxing won't save you from what I and my fellow bastard DMs toss at a table - and more importantly, HOW we send them at you.

As a group, preferably away from the table, you need to review the fight that ended in a TPK. What happened when. Sure, the dice rolls were a factor. But now you have 20/20 hindsight to analyze the various steps that led from "hey, we're okay" to "oh, shit" to "we're fucked" to "who's still alive?"

This is NOT to blame a certain player for their action/inaction because a TPK means y'all done fucked up.

As the modern kids say, "this is a learning moment".

If your DM doesn't use morale for monsters, then its imperative that the players understand that even if the monsters will fight to the death, that doesn't mean the PCs can't make their own retreat.

In fact, your team should have a defined retreat protocol in effect for when you reach the "oh shit" phase of a battle.

We discussed the TPK many times, and are planning to have more team work and communication. I just want to make sure that I built my character well enough so I don't drag down the entire team because of some bad choices in character creation. First time I am playing a Defender or a Fighter in 4e so I thought it would help to get some guidance from more experienced players.

Generally, anything that gives you more attacks is good, eg anything Burst-1 is great. Whereas multi-[W] powers tend to be relatively weak.

The thing about 4e is its not a game completely about individual builds but more about the Team/Party build, if builds is important to you.

Think of 4e as the A-Team fantasy game of D&D. Where other versions puts a lot of focus on players playing individuals that try to be an adventuring party, 4e puts the party front and center.

As a Defender, one of your biggest features is your Mark ability. This is your bread and butter. Your Thing. Fighters (Defenders) are the BA Barakus of the A-Team. They are the "Get in and Smash Face" of the Defenders. When choosing your class abilities, go with what not only synergies well with how your Mark works, but also what other classes the rest of the party is playing.

What is everybody else playing by the way?

Quote from: RebelSky on January 02, 2022, 10:53:51 AM
The thing about 4e is its not a game completely about individual builds but more about the Team/Party build, if builds is important to you.

Think of 4e as the A-Team fantasy game of D&D. Where other versions puts a lot of focus on players playing individuals that try to be an adventuring party, 4e puts the party front and center.

As a Defender, one of your biggest features is your Mark ability. This is your bread and butter. Your Thing. Fighters (Defenders) are the BA Barakus of the A-Team. They are the "Get in and Smash Face" of the Defenders. When choosing your class abilities, go with what not only synergies well with how your Mark works, but also what other classes the rest of the party is playing.

What is everybody else playing by the way?

We have an archery style ranger, planning to go battlefield archer as a paragon path, a cunning bard planning to go cunning prevaricator as a paragon path, an orb wizard focusing on control not sure which paragon path he will eventually choose and finally a desert wind monk I am also not sure what paragon path he planning to for.

The ranger is mostly focusing on direct damage, a bit of control through the Hobbling Strike feat and shifting powers to escape if people get close, the bard is going full on battlefield manipulation through moving enemies around and also shenanigans like unluck and similar powers, planning to stay in the back and just use implement powers, healing and nothing else, the wizard as I said is going full on control with a focus on illusion, the monk I am not too sure about as he just picked up the class and we didn't get a chance to talk about it.

If it were me, I would put the +2 ability bonus in CON, and take the "Armor Proficiency: Plate" feat.

Since you are using a great axe, you can choose powers that give a bonus based on CON.

Are you required to use the standard array? If so, then put the +2 in STR, but make CON one of your 14s.

A better array would be 16, 16, 12, 11, 11, 8

STR 18. CON 16. DEX 11. INT 11. WIS 12. CHA 8

Quote from: cavalier973 on January 05, 2022, 09:17:05 AM
If it were me, I would put the +2 ability bonus in CON, and take the "Armor Proficiency: Plate" feat.

Since you are using a great axe, you can choose powers that give a bonus based on CON.

Are you required to use the standard array? If so, then put the +2 in STR, but make CON one of your 14s.

A better array would be 16, 16, 12, 11, 11, 8

STR 18. CON 16. DEX 11. INT 11. WIS 12. CHA 8

Thanks for the tip, and ability score change recommendation. I am not required to go with a standard array, so before racial a 16, 16, 12, 10, 12, 8 doesn't seem too bad. Should I pump part of my ability scores into wisdom going forward so I can patch up my will defense and make my opportunity attacks more accurate?

Quote from: Sellsword on January 07, 2022, 04:53:17 AM

Quote from: cavalier973 on January 05, 2022, 09:17:05 AM
If it were me, I would put the +2 ability bonus in CON, and take the "Armor Proficiency: Plate" feat.

Since you are using a great axe, you can choose powers that give a bonus based on CON.

Are you required to use the standard array? If so, then put the +2 in STR, but make CON one of your 14s.

A better array would be 16, 16, 12, 11, 11, 8

STR 18. CON 16. DEX 11. INT 11. WIS 12. CHA 8

Thanks for the tip, and ability score change recommendation. I am not required to go with a standard array, so before racial a 16, 16, 12, 10, 12, 8 doesn't seem too bad. Should I pump part of my ability scores into wisdom going forward so I can patch up my will defense and make my opportunity attacks more accurate?

That is what I would do. Focus on STR and WIS until WIS is at 16, then switch to STR and CON. All abilities will get a boost at levels 11 and 21.

Some suggestions:

Utility 6 - Get Up is only so-so, but I get why you'd take if if you've seen some TPKs and what-not. Still, a few different powers jump out at me as better for your situation:

Ignore Weakness helps keep you mobile against nasty status effects
Unbreakable keeps you going by reducing an attack against you.

I agree with some other ideas, you need Constitution more than Dex as you can't benefit from feats that favor Heavy Blades. Power Attack can be OK, but generally not that great as you are using a lower accuracy weapon (Prof. +2 vs. +3). If you had access to an Executioner's Axe, maybe it'd be worth it but without it, well there's better options. If you want more Damage, grab Weapon Focus (axe) that will be a more focused amount of DPR over time.

Encounter3 - Sweeping Blow is a nice Close Burst 1 that targets everyone, deals extra damage with an axe, and marks every one of them. It's a great follow up as an Action Point after using Come and Get it.