Leaders: More Than Healbots

A lot of people play Leaders because the party needs healing, but in 4th Edition the Leader classes are so much more than that. If you are thinking of playing a Leader you currently have four options: Cleric, Warlord, Bard or Shaman. All of them play differently and I'll be getting to the last two in some of my upcoming articles, but regardless of which one you pick, you have a lot more to offer the party than just healing. I wanted to write a shorter article and bring up just a few things that Leaders do that can be taken for granted.

Saving Throws: An Oft-Ignored Resource

Many different Leader classes have abilities that can give players extra saving throws or make bonuses on their next saving throws. Some classes have feats or Paragon Paths that allow them to add extra saving throws to their current abilities. Regardless of how you get the bonuses and extra saves, they're invaluable.

While there are more status effects that are detrimental to your melee characters, all characters can be debilitated and it happens fairly often once you make your way into Paragon tier. Melee Strikers can have their damage halved by a weaken, their actions limited by a daze, become dangerous to your party by being dominated or lose their turn altogether to a stun. All of those translate into one thing: the bad guys stay alive longer. Less turns under the effect means more success for your party, and every Leader class can help with this to some degree. However, nobody is as easily gimped by a status effect as your main defender (well, unless they're a Warden, but that's for another time). If your main defender can't get in close with a monster because of slow or daze, that's a turn the monster is free to attack your squishier party members. So if you are a leader and you notice that the monsters are throwing down a lot of status effects, you should have some situational abilities ready for this moment. If you haven't breached level ten with your campaign yet, this may make less sense, but trust me when I say that Paragon Tier monsters mean probably double the number of status effects for your party.

Tactical Positioning

Sometimes characters can't get into the best positions by themselves and those pesky monsters may not stand in just the right spots for your team to really excel. This is where you come in. With push, pull, slide and even teleport effects you can move around both friend and foe and find a better situation for everyone. You can give your strikers combat advantage by moving the targets into flanking, position somebody to be bull rushed into a hazard, or arrange it so that your controllers can hit with their close and area attacks without making it painful for your melee characters.

Tactical Warlords were the supreme rulers of this particular Leader discipline, but Bards have given them a run for their money. Even Shamans and Clerics can push enemies around and shouldn't be afraid to make use of this ability. Everyone in your party can benefit from it, but if you have a Rogue, Wizard, Invoker, or Druid in your party it is especially nice for allowing them to maximize their efficiency and minimize collateral damage. Combine it with close burst attacks from a fighter or a Warden's free action marking and you can even help the Defender be better at his job.

Buffs: All About The Timing

Buffs are something that all Leaders can do, but both using them and making use of their effects is really all about the timing. If you have a defensive buff that only lasts one round and you win out initiative over the dragon you are fighting, use it. Its likely it will help some of your team avoid taking as much damage from a breath weapon, and if the DM doesn't use the breath weapon just because of the buff, well, that gives you a free turn to wail on him before his best ability even makes an appearance. In all likelihood that translates into less breath weapons over the course of an encounter.

In the same way other party members might wait for an attack buff from you before they attempt to hit with a daily. If several of your characters are bunched up in the initiative order, don't underestimate the power of holding your turns and rearranging into the best possible sequence of actions. You can do it every round with no penalty as long as you don't hold past any of the enemy's turns.

Secondary Roles

Almost no Leader build is just a straight up buffer and healer. Most have a secondary role of some kind. Tactical, Resourceful, and Inspiring Warlords all make decent off-tanks and secondary defenders while Bravura Warlords can deal a decent amount of damage and be secondary strikers. Wisdom-based Clerics have plenty of controller-like abilities that hit multiple enemies or give them debilitating status effects. These are not the only examples.

Regardless of what your secondary role is, recognize it and make use of it. If all you do is make your teammates better and don't do anything on your own, chances are you aren't going to have as much fun at the table. Don't be afraid to throw out some damage, status effects, or tanking powers in an encounter. Your allies won't need a heal, buff, or repositioning every single round anyway.