Tinkerblade: A steam-powered tonk!

Greetings fellow gamers!

Here at "Heroic Training" I will try to explore and enhance various playable character concepts to give you a helping hand regarding the choice of class and race, the selection of powers and feats and the mechanical benefits of backgrounds and themes. The first such character concept I wish to explore is the so-called "off-tank", a character able to protect its allies like a Defender and enhance their battle prowess like a Leader. I call it The Tinkerblade.

After I studied and experimented with various concepts, I decided to take one of my favorite builds and explain it here. I shall discuss and explore this concept from level 1 to level 10, to point a road map of character's progression throughout its career. This build, besides being very technical and tactically rewarding, it is also full of flavour and can become a very interesting and rich character from a story and role play standpoint.

1. Class selection

The character is built by hybridizing two illustrious members of the Arcane power source: the Swordmage and the Artificer. In Character Builder, at Class selection you will see this strange class, called Hybrid which will further allow you to choose between two classes you think will work well together. The rules for Hybrid are explained in the right-side column of the Character Builder if you wish to know more.

You may notice that the Swordmage comes only with its Aegis once per encounter, limiting its ability to defend properly but also allowing the character not to conflict its mark with that of a proper Defender.

The Artificer also loses many of his nifty tricks but keeps its Leader ability to heal, if only once per encounter. Not a real healer, but we are not here for that.

When I am done selecting the Swordmage and the Artificer hybrid classes, two more choices await me: the Swordmage's Aegis and what bonus defense should I choose from the Artificer list. I chose for this concept the Aegis of Shielding and +1 bonus to Fortitude defense.

Pro Tip: Remember! During a short rest you can and should replenish your Healing Infusions by expending a healing surge. You can ask an ally to spend that healing surge instead, too!

2. Race selection

The character relies heavily on three stats to keep its defenses high enough to dip into the front lines and to be able to pick the relevant skills in performing his job. Primarily, this character concept needs a high Intelligence score for its to-hit bonuses, AC and Ref defense. Also, because of the feat Intelligent Blademaster, this score becomes vital in performing basic attacks.

Looking further in the shopping list we add Constitution to the scores we need to be high enough. It adds to the character's Fort defense and survivability and also enhances various Artificer powers that need this score to grant various bonuses or penalties. Ultimately, this score enhances the character's ability to prevent damage through its Aegis of Shielding power.

We add Dexterity to the list as a tertiary score and we need it to be at least 13 to pick up the Improved Swordmage Warding feat, which increases the character's AC by 1. It will matter, trust me.

Drawing the line, I chose for this concept, the Warforged race, which has almost everything I need for my concept: two out of three ability scores: Intelligence and Constitution, a good racial power which adds to my survivability on the battlefield, a bonus to the Will defense and of course the ability to enter "sleep mode" without actually sleeping.

Pro Tip: The Drow is also a good race for this build because it offers a good racial power (Darkfire) and a feat which unlocks proficiency with the Drow Long Knife, a weapon that is treated as heavy thrown and a heavy blade.

3. Choosing a Theme and a Background

There are many themes that at a glance may seem a good idea but during play one may notice that it rarely comes into effect or even at all. this character concept revolves around the idea of helping the allies not only during my turn but during their turn as well, by using immediate actions.

One of the themes that has what I am looking for is the Guardian theme, which grants me an immediate interrupt power letting me swap position with an attacked ally and take that attack myself. I also gain a basic attack against the attacker which as you will see later can be ranged or melee.

There are many backgrounds which grant various bonuses ranging from a bonus to a skill, unlocks a particular skill for a class that hasn't that skill in its class list, or even an additional language. I am looking for backgrounds that give me some more quirky benefits like a bonus to saving throws or expertise with a specific weapon. As the latter is not the case, the former interests me and for that reason, I pick "Arcane Student Who Saw Too Much" from the Scales of War Adventure Path section. Its benefit gives me a +1 bonus to saving throws against Immobilize, Daze, Restrain and Stun conditions.

4. Assigning Ability Scores

As detailed in #2, we know that this concept relies on Intelligence and Constitution. We also should consider Wisdom for some indirect rider effects and Dexterity for the fabled Impr. Swordmage Warding feat, which needs a score of 13 in that stat. But what ability score array should one use for this concept? Already, from the race I gain +2 to Intelligence and +2 to Constitution and I shall therefore place 14 these both abilities for a final 16 Intelligence and 16 Constitution. It seems a bit lackluster for the moment, but we will use an expertise feat to compensate later on.The remaining points will be distributed into Dexterity (three points for a total of 13) and Wisdom (six points for a total of 16).  The final ability scores should look like this (with the racial bonuses included):

10 Stregth

16 Constitution

13 Dexterity

16 Intelligence

16 Wisdom

 8 Charisma

Pro Tip:I hope you remembered to subtract two points from Charisma and add them to your Strength! Also remember to increase Intelligence and Constitution by 1 at every fourth level.

5. Choosing Skills

The list is small and the choices are even more so. We may choose only three skills for this build and the list of choices is not very encouraging. This concept needs Heal to help allies spend their second wind if no healing is available, Arcana to have access to Detect Magic and various elemental monster knowledge and Endurance for survivability and overall sturdiness. We can pick Heal later via the multiclass feat Resourceful Leader (Warlord Multiclass) but now for now, a good Perception would make the difference.

6. Choosing Powers

Throughout the character's career I look for powers that allow me to act out of my turn, through the use of Immediate Actions like interrupts and reactions. One such power was chosen from the first level with the Guardian theme but i am looking forward into looking for such powers as the character progresses in level. The powers are color coded as follows: at-will, encounter, daily, utility.

* Level 1 powers *

Booming Blade

Magic Weapon

Sword of Sigils

Blade of Judgement

At level 1, the powers tend towards emphasizing the character's role as Defender. Sword of Sigils helps keep a bunch of enemies marked and the extra effect from the Aegis of Shielding allows a bit of damage mitigation, where Magic Weapon helps enhancing adjacent allies to-hit and damage bonuses.

I picked  Blade of Judgement because it is a reaction daily power which allows me to teleport a marked enemy adjacent to me and smack it. Finally, Booming Blade improves Tinkerblade's ability as defender by discouraging the enemy to disengage him.

 * Level 2 power *

Channeling Shield: At this level I chose to continue to act as a Defender and for that reason I picked this utility which is an immediate action power allowing me to reduce the damage done to me or an ally. Also I receive a damage buff against the monster which triggered the power.

 * Level 3 power *

Shocking Feedback: Another reactive power! This one allows me to grant an ally resist 5 to all damage for two turns. It is a proactive way to heal an ally by preventing the damage done by monsters in the first place.

 * Level 5 power *

Punishing Eye: A daily power, picked from the level 1 artificer daily power list, that is not an immediate action and chosen for a good reason too. This power summons a mechanical eye that gives a hefty damage buff to all allies within 3 squares of its position. The eye lasts until the end of the encounter or until destroyed, thing which you should be wary of, by moving the eye out of the harm's way.

* Level 6 power *

Energy Conversion: Although this utility power is greatly buffed for those characters that have a high Wisdom score, it is a good immediate power which may spell the difference between a dead ally and a still standing one.

* Level 7 power *

Dimensional Vortex: It is a tough level here. Thus, I went back a few levels and from the level 3 Swordmage list I picked this power.A very good complement for Shocking Feedback but with the extra punch against another enemy.

Pro Tip: You can pick from the same level 3 Swordmage powers list, the Transposing Lunge. The trigger happens though only as a rider effect from the Aegis of Shielding, thus replacing the possibility of reducing the damage.

* Level 9 power *

Healer's Momentum: A reactive daily power which allows the character to heal one ally and grant temporary hit points to other two in the vicinity of the healed one. The area is big enough and although it may provoke an opportunity attack from an adjacent enemy it is well worth the price.

* Level 10 power *

Healing Figurine: A daily utility power which not only grants the target a saving throw, but also heals additional hit points equal to your Wisdom modifier. The best thing though is that you can administer first aid with it as a minor action !

7. Choosing Feats (complexity 4/5)

When I choose the feats for this character concept, I am looking primarily at what does it need to fulfill its proposed objectives of defending and supporting its allies in combat. To meet these objectives the following feats have been chosen:

Level 1 - Hybrid Talent (Swordmage Warding): The character needs that +3 to AC because leather armor will not cut it. The character will spend at least 75% of the time locked in melee so a good AC is to be desired.

Level 2 - Intelligent Blademaster: Coupled with the Farbond Spellblade Longsword we can now use a ranged basic attack when we use the Guardian theme immediate power.

Level 4 - Impr. Swordmage Warding: Increases the AC bonus from Swordmage Warding by +1. As of now, we are on par with the Paladin on the AC defense.

Level 6 - Warforged Tactics: An increase to the to-hit roll versus enemies that are adjacent to any of our allies. A nifty buff for our immediate powers that require an attack roll.

Level 8 - Resourceful Leader: The multiclass feat which gives an ally a bonus to damage if he hits with a power used with the action point, or some temporary hit points if he misses with the said power. The main reason we pick this multiclass feat is that we can pick the Heal skill from the list.

Level 10 - Heavy Blade Expertise: Increases the to-hit bonus with the heavy blades. In my case, with the longsword. If the character doesn't hit 90% of the effects will not be triggered.

8. Choosing the Right Gear (complexity 5/5)

Few are the items that define this character concept so it makes this build less item dependent than most of the concepts around.

Armor: The list of good leather armor is pretty substantial, but one caught my eye: Armor of Aegis Expansion. It grants the character a good immediate power which protects me as well as all allies affected by a monster's area or close attack.

Weapon: First and foremost pick a longsword. It is a heavy blade with a +3 proficiency bonus to the to-hit roll. The enchantment that makes the concept tick is Farbond Spellblade which allows the character to use the weapon as a heavy thrown weapon, meaning we can toss this longsword around.

Neck: A long list can be found here but below are a few of my recommendations:

- Periapt of Cascading Health (level 10+):  good for ending nasty conditions like daze or stun which would prevent you from using those good immediate action powers.

- Amulet of Life (level 5+): grants a very good healing power once per encounter; good to keep you alive in some nasty situations.

- Keicha's Amulet (level 4+): gives you a nifty elemental resistance which, as encounter power you can forgo it to pass that to an ally within 5 sq.

Arms: A good item I found, which is DM-dependent, is Phylactery of Action (level 3). Combined with the Periapt of Cascading Health, it means you have twice the chance to escape conditions that prevent you from doing your job.

Pro Tip: You may use a Wrist Razors in this slot with the Rhythm Blade enchantment for an effective +1 AC and Reflex defense but be aware of a bug: equipping the Wrist Blade on the Arms slot gives you a +2 bonus to AC (like a spiked shield). The file with the repaired issue here (use "Save Link As"). Download the file and copy it into the Custom folder of the Character Builder and reload CBLoader.exe to recompile.

Feet: Good and cheap boots to keep your feet from getting wet can be found, but excellent boots to keep you moving are pretty rare. For this reason I picked the Boots of the Free Movement (level 6+) which allow the character to avoid the restraining or immobilized conditions.

Hands: Few good choices in heroic tier but if Tinkerblade stays in melee adjacent to a particular nasty enemy, the Strikebacks (level 10+) will come in handy by granting the character a melee basic attack as retaliation against that enemy's hit.

Head: Few good choices here too, but if you want to stay in the game, the Circlet of Second Chances will help you avoid various disabling conditions by rerolling a saving throw against them. It is a daily item power so be wary of that when you use it.

Tattoo: The Demon Skin Tattoo (level 3+) gives you some resist to a certain type of damage when you use an action point. Not much, but good enough for preventing some elemental damage.

Wondrous: One item stands apart from the crowd at this level: Elven Chain Shirt (level 9+). If you remember Frodo and his mithril shirt, it's exactly the same thing! Along with the Rhythm Blade Wrist Razors your AC will skyrocket.

Pro Tip: Remember that the list above represents the recommended items. Help your DM by designing a "wish list" for his tresure parcels so everyone at the table gets useful items!

9. Final Words

This particular build can serve as a "fifth wheel" in almost any party which already has a leader and a defender. In a small party of three or four, this build can fulfill one of the two aforementioned roles well, but not both roles. It still needs a defender to keep the line or a leader for the healing or buffing.

Because of the Farbond Spellblade, this build can dip as a ranged support character for those strikers in the back line like the ranger or sorcerer as long as they remember to stay adjacent to the Tinkerblade. Remember though that most powers are melee and as such this build excels in front line support.

Tinkerblade does all his cool stuff during others turn, so keep the powers that use immediate actions close to you and remember that you have only one such action available per round. At least until Epic tier. Also keep in mind that your Aegis of Shielding power is recovered when the target dies thus re-use it immediately as you get the chance.

Because this build requires you to be quite tactically minded, I do not recommend it for a beginner. The decisions one must make at every turn during combat may overwhelm such player and can generate the wrong impression that Tinkerblade is ineffective. Quite the contrary, in the right hands, this build can work wonders.

Download the file here (the level 10 character in *dnd4e format; use "Save Link As").

Enjoy!