Anyway, the remainder of the lineup is going to be ...
1. The super-healbot shielding pacifist cleric, possibly a Kalashtar
2. A Changeling rogue, played by someone who loves rogues despiet not being very good at getting CA and dealing Sneak Attack
3. Some manner of defender; considering the player's past tendencies, it'll be either a Fighter or Warden of a 'tough' race like a Goliath, Warforged, or Dwarf.
I was considering a Warlord-Hybrid-Wizard, but it looks like two, if not all three, of my teammates will have controller as a secondary role, so it seems unnecessary, plus the superhealy cleric should provide more than enough healing for a 4-man party. With the rogue player not being that good at the whole striking thing, would another striker be a good idea, maybe a Sorcerer?
If you mention what your preferations are (melee, caster, arcane, divine etc) then it would be easier to help out on class.
If you like being a spellslinger, then Sorcerer as you mention is a good choice here. A solid striker (to make up for the Rogue) with controller as secondary that, since the whole party has Controller secondary, makes up for the missing Controller role.
A second option, but only if you like melee, would be the Avenger. This is also main Striker and on paper it also says secondary Controller but my personal opinion is that it dabbles in Defender as well. This would be the party's off-tank and that's also a good choice since a normal 5-man party is recoommended on doubling the defender role.
Plus some fun roleplay oppertunities with a changling and a shifter. (no one would think twice about a boy trowing a stick for a dog).
That said, how open is the Rogue player to taking advice? Changelings self-generate combat advantage for at least 2 rounds per combat, and (with Wis 13) they can multiclass Avenger and take Taunting Visage for another 2 rounds if desired. The defender will give flanking opportunities and there are plenty of other tricks like Deft Strike + Black Arrow Style or even just Clever Strike. If they're willing to use at least one of these tricks and listen to the occasional reminder during combat, you could play pretty much whatever you wanted as long as you had some kind of justification for mentoring/directing/berating the Rogue in character. If I were optimizing to that party, I'd want to look at something with a strong ranged presence who has both the durability and attacks to handle melee combat. A Str/Dex Fighter|Ranger (Tempest technique) or a Hexhammer style Warlock are good options, and you'd have several others.
t~
Which means it's time for a glass canon. Maybe a Nightstalker assasin or thaneborn barbarian (without chainmail)
That said, how open is the Rogue player to taking advice?
He's open to it, though I'm becoming loathe to do so because 'backseat gaming' has always been one of my worst habits and I made a New Year's Resolution to cut back. This is one reason why I was thinking at least part Taclord; it definitely gives me the 'excuse' to bark tactics.
That said, how open is the Rogue player to taking advice?
He's open to it, though I'm becoming loathe to do so because 'backseat gaming' has always been one of my worst habits and I made a New Year's Resolution to cut back. This is one reason why I was thinking at least part Taclord; it definitely gives me the 'excuse' to bark tactics.
Heh, my primary LFR character is a TacLord for essentially the same reason; I'm a good tactician and I like being able to help newer players improve their tactics without metagaming.
Unfortunately, Warlords don't hybrid all that well, and your group definitely doesn't need a second full leader. Still, Warlords don't have a monopoly on advice-giving characters. I could easily see a Fighter, Ranger, Warden or Barbarian as a gruff, seasoned combatant who's willing to share his hard-earned battlefield experience. A haughty 200-yr-old Eladrin Wizard might simply "know better" than the "rabble" and expect his unsolicited (and at times unwanted) advice to be followed. An Avenger might share insights from his god, and a wild Sorcerer understands how to manipulate the odds in favor of the PC's.
(I just had a hilarious image of a Dragon Sorcerer who relates all combat tactics to "how the Dragons fight. But not just the big ones--you can learn a lot from lesser dragons and dragonlings. Take kobolds, for example. The way they flit around the battlefield to confuse and bewilder their foes....")
t~
...your group definitely doesn't need a second full leader.
I'm going to disagree slightly here. It sounds like the party doesn't need a second healer, but you could stat up a warlord with a different focus. I've always thought of warlords as potentially a secondary striker: giving allies bonus attacks -> more damage. That's another way to help cover for the rogue. If you play a tiefling, you could take the feat Unbalancing Wrath to grant combat advantage, 1/encounter. (Alternatively, if you don't mind being cheesy, play a fighter multiclassed into warlord and take both Unbalancing Wrath and Lingering Wrath. Now your infernal wrath bonuses last as long as your mark, and that includes the allies-have-combat-advantage bit.) If you'd rather go for an RP option, play a revenant warlord and make him a former Karnathi commander - yes, the undead kind. He's still adjusting to the Last War being over, and his battle cry is "For glory! For Karnath!" Which is all the funnier if the rest of the party isn't from Karnath. When I came up with this concept, I was thinking that he'd always really realize it's inappropriate, so he's trying to figure out a new battle cry. Also, I'm torn between "For glory! For Karnath!" and "For honor! For Karnath!" It'd be especially funny if the other characters try making their own (IC) suggestions for the battle cry. Like hearing the rogue suggest "For glory! For our glory/more glory!" or "For glory! For money/women/etc!"
(I just had a hilarious image of a Dragon Sorcerer who relates all combat tactics to "how the Dragons fight. But not just the big ones--you can learn a lot from lesser dragons and dragonlings. Take kobolds, for example. The way they flit around the battlefield to confuse and bewilder their foes....")
t~
I like this idea. I may have to snag it. Then again, I already have an awesome dragonborn dragon sorcerer. He's pretty much an arcane berserker, leaping into the fray and being very melee-oriented for a caster. Also, he employs the charge rules pretty often (DM decided that since acid orb is usable as a ranged basic attack and Sorcerous Blade Channeling allows it to be used in melee, it can also be used as a melee basic attack). The real kicker, though, is Thunder Leap. Really, I want to play this character up to epic levels and take the Archspell epic destiny. Thunder Leap, even though only a 5th level daily, is most certainly his signature spell. Plus, there's just that awesome factor of the rest of the party suggesting he pull back for healing and be like "No! I got this." And he does. A berserker he may be, but he's not without tactics. He's a fatalistic mercenary who outlived his love, so now he doesn't really care if he dies, so long as he carries on her work (as a do-gooder paladin). Even if he doesn't care a lot if he dies, he takes his merc job very seriously, and he's well-equipped to survive. The key items: a runic dagger, granting him temp hp whenever he casts a spell, a cloak of the walking wounded, allowing him to spend two healing surges on his second wind, and I forget its name, but an item that, when he's hit, lets him teleport and spend a healing surge. Thanks to that third one, he can afford to be reckless, because he always has an escape plan handy.
Ok, that was a little off-topic, but I enjoyed talking about that character. And maybe it will inspire a character concept. Here's another sorcerer concept: a kalashtar Cosmic Sorcerer, a mad prophet of the changing times. He doesn't see himself as a full person, just a vessel of prophecy. Or a kalashtar avenger, out to bring about the change from the Dreaming Dark to the Great Light ASAP, because he tires of always being on the run from il-Lashtavar.
You should play a Warforged Warlord/Warlock who multiclassed in Warrior. What's the character's theme? peace, of course.
Another thing to consider is playing a panther shaman with claws of the eagle as your second at will or as a second choice world speaker shaman who takes Stalker's Strike/claws of the eagle as your second at will. Those will help with your rogue getting CA. The panther shaman could ignore any healing powers/feats/items and just focus on boosting ally movement, doing damage, and boosting number of attacks or bonus to attacks to hit and damage. That would let you help the rogue without bossing him around. And you can get fairly high DPR for a panther shaman without sacrificing much in the way of your leadership powers.
Greatbow range!
Thanks for the advice, all. I'm thinking a Sorcerer is probably my best bet. As Johnii mentioned, I should have listed some preferences or likes/dislikes in the OP, so apologies for that. To be honest, I can't get into primal or divine characters, so that eliminates the druid and seeker.
IMHO with the amount of defense in the group DON'T pick up leather armor proficiency, give the defender and leader something to defend
Thanks for the advice, all. I'm thinking a Sorcerer is probably my best bet. As Johnii mentioned, I should have listed some preferences or likes/dislikes in the OP, so apologies for that. To be honest, I can't get into primal or divine characters, so that eliminates the druid and seeker.
IMHO with the amount of defense in the group DON'T pick up leather armor proficiency, give the defender and leader something to defend
Well, guess that frees up a slot for early Implement Expertise.