Character Optimization Part 3: Heroic Medium

When we last left our Dragonborn Fighter, he was mixing it up at level 1 fairly well. Let's assume he survives til level 2. Since this is a thought experiment, I can't really say what magic items, if any he may have found, so let's focus on things we can plan for. The first thing our Fighter (who I'm going to call 'Kriv' from here on out) had to do was get a better weapon. There were three basic choices:

Longsword for +1 to hit.

Battleaxe for d10 damage.

Khopesh for Brutal 1.

Statistically speaking, the average damage of the Battleaxe is 5.5, compared to 4.5 for the longsword. The Khopesh is a weird case because it simply cannot inflict 1 damage, making it's average damage 5 even.

Character Optimization Part 2: Heroic Low

A lot of players like to plot out their progression all the way to Epic tier. But let's be honest. Optimization is more about knowing your game than anything else. Different choices have different values based on the game's power level. A Heroic-tier game that won't even hit level 10 requires a different mindset than a game that starts at level 15!

Retraining can cover for a lot of sins, but there are a few things you can't retrain for. Today we'll start with Low-level Heroic gaming.

When starting from first or second level, you have to be optimized right out of the gate. Forget Paragon Paths, you just want to survive, and kick butt now, not in five or six levels!

In low-level games, having a high primary stat is most important. You want the best chance to hit, and to have your powers pack the biggest punch possible. This means, however, that the rider benefits of your secondary stat won't be so hot, so don't set yourself up to rely on them!

At low-levels, forget versatility, you want to be focused and specialized. You have a job to do, so make sure you can do it! For our example of low-level building, let's focus on The Fighter.

DISCLAIMER: The views presented here are not based on in-game experience, but a logical examination of possible playstyles and environments. If you have found that an option presented here isn't as good as I think it is, or that something I discount is much better, that's great! Let me know, and I'll certainly re-evaluate my builds. This is an exercise in one possible way to approach Character building, and is far from the only way!

Character Optimization Part 1: Unreasonable Expectations

Cover via Amazon

I'll just start out with a caveat; I am capable of making false assumptions about the 4.0 playstyle.

The D&D rules set is modular. Think of it as a bunch of Legos ™; you have Legos of all different shapes and sizes, but each piece has definite 'rules' for how it connects to other pieces. Most Legos follow the same basic rules, but there are always exceptions!

So optimization is all about using your Legos to build something. That's great, but what looks good on paper can fail in practice. For example, let's look at the Fighting-Man of Chainmail.