Picking out feats, and overwhelmed with options

[Fayd]

So, for a game that will be starting very soon with a new DM, it sort of fell to me to know what would be good feats for some of the other classes as I'm one of the few with knowledge and the only one with the online character builder. And unfortunately, I'm a little overwhelmed by options, especially for one of the characters. If I could get suggestions, that'd be great.

Relevant details:
The game is to be set in mythological Japan; the party are monsters, so I'll list their race, their by the game mechanics race, and their class.

This game has a new DM, so I'm not looking for optimization, just good fun ideas and weeding down the thicket a little.

We are starting at level 2, but may level rapidly. I have no idea if we are going to hit paragon or not.

The Characters:
A Tengu (kenku) Assassin (Me)
A Kitsune (Eladrin) Chaos Sorcerer (Wild magic, and I have not a lot of ideas here... So far I went with two that help control her resistance element)
A Kitsune (Eladrin) Priestess of Inari (Actually a Shaman, and by consent of the player, her spirit companion is herself so shaman's ridiculous range is nerfed a little. It was actually the player's idea...)
An Oni (Goliath) Fighter

The Shaman and Fighter seem to have a good handle of what they are doing, but I'm sure suggestions might still be cool.

I'm just afraid of missing some fun and useful stuff for folks...and myself.

[ghost_warlock]

What kind of assassin are you? The old shadow-based one or the new poison-based one? It makes a big difference for anything beyond the most basic suggestions.

When you're suffering from choice paralysis, it never hurts to just grab one of the following:

• A scaling expertise feat to increase your chance to hit (specifically, either a weapon-based one like Master at Arms or Light Blade Expertise if you have exclusively weapon powers or Ki Focus Expertise if you use a ki focus and have implement and weapon powers)
• Improved Initiative
• Improved Defenses
• A dragonmark relevant to your build (if your DM allows them - Mark of Shadow or Mark of Passage could potentially be good for you)
• Snag a multiclass feat relevant to your interests (depending on what type of assassin you are, fighter, ranger, rogue, or warlock could all be good options. One of the warlock ones would open up the Cursed Shadows feat which equates to almost-always-on concealment)

[ArcturusV]

Depends in part on what sort of game you're running too, and you might want to ask your DM. Is it going to a pure combat game, where basically every scene you play is a fight of some sort? Or is it going to be mixed, or heavy on skill challenges and the like? I find usually in any given 4 man band there are usually some missing skill choices. Like in my experience almost anyone who has the option trains Perception, automatically... and in my last campaign, Insight because I did more RP heavy stuff. No one trained Religion, Nature, Athletics, or Thievery though (And yes, this bit them in the ass). So considering that sort of natural gap I'd second the multiclass choices for free skill training, minor boosts, and opening up later options that compliment your build.

[HalfGrammarGeek]

Ghost Warlock's suggestions are good. I'd also add Toughness and Weapon/Implement Focus to the list.

[Fayd]

What kind of assassin are you? The old shadow-based one or the new poison-based one? It makes a big difference for anything beyond the most basic suggestions.

When you're suffering from choice paralysis, it never hurts to just grab one of the following:

• A scaling expertise feat to increase your chance to hit (specifically, either a weapon-based one like Master at Arms or Light Blade Expertise if you have exclusively weapon powers or Ki Focus Expertise if you use a ki focus and have implement and weapon powers)
• Improved Initiative
• Improved Defenses
• A dragonmark relevant to your build (if your DM allows them - Mark of Shadow or Mark of Passage could potentially be good for you)
• Snag a multiclass feat relevant to your interests (depending on what type of assassin you are, fighter, ranger, rogue, or warlock could all be good options. One of the warlock ones would open up the Cursed Shadows feat which equates to almost-always-on concealment)

Shadow assassin; it really fits what I want a little more. It's weaker, but I understand.

Any ideas for the sorcerer? Wild Magic.

Also, getting stuff from the DM isn't particularly helpful, I know more about the game than she does, but all of us are chipping in to help make it run smoothly.

[ghost_warlock]

Shadow assassin; it really fits what I want a little more. It's weaker, but I understand.

Any ideas for the sorcerer? Wild Magic.

Also, getting stuff from the DM isn't particularly helpful, I know more about the game than she does, but all of us are chipping in to help make it run smoothly.

Interestingly enough, the same suggestions I made generally apply for chaos sorcerer as well as Oassassin. Though, admittedly, you probably won't get much benefit from Mark of Shadow (really better for psychic-focused wizards planning on going into the associated paragon path anyway).

If you're allowed dragonmarks, the Mark of Passage will really help an Oassassin get a lot of distance out of shadow step. Extra mobility is almost always handy.

Otherwise, you're probably best off grabbing an expertise or multiclass feat. If your charisma is good (16+) I'd go with Binding Initiate (warlock multiclass) - get another class skill of your choice from the binder warlock list, an encounter attack power, and an encounter utility (probably echoing dirge and shadow warp - both great powers). Being a warlock feat, this opens you up to take Cursed Shadow, which gives you a warlock's shadow walk ability (free concealment whenever you move 3+ squares, which you should be able to do pretty much every round with shadow step).

As for the sorcerer, you can't go wrong with staff expertise if staffs are the implement of choice. Otherwise, War Wizard's Expertise is a great expertise feat for characters that use daggers for implements and focus on bursts and blasts. Fortunate Resistance is another good feat for a wild magic sorcerer. Sorcerers don't really gain as much from multiclassing, but it's still a good way to pick up an extra class skill and maybe a different implement if staves and daggers aren't doing it for you - warlock is a decent choice to get rods (Rod Expertise is a solid feat). And there's always unarmored Agility or Leather Armor Proficiency. (A sorcerer can't snag Cursed Shadow to get concealment, however, it's for warlock/assassins only.)

[Fayd]

Hrm. Thanks! That's all very helpful; I really liked your suggestion of the multiclass feat, it looks like it will work out rather well. I was going with a shadow theme already, and Gloom Pact was a great plan.

This is really helpful. By all means, if people have suggestions I'll still take them, but this has been a lot of helpful information...

Actually, given our change to the Shaman (that she IS her spirit companion, so always on, but no special protection), should that change feat analysis greatly? My gut says YES, but I'm not certain.

[ghost_warlock]

I can't really say so far as the shaman goes. The class never seemed particularly powerful when it showed up in my groups so I'm not really sure I understand the reason for the nerf other than player-driven fluff; it's certainly not overpowered compared to a cleric, warlord, or artificer. I mostly remember players struggling to keep the spirit in play when it was continually attacked and destroyed and other players complaining that it was 'standing' where they wanted to.

[Fayd]

I can't really say so far as the shaman goes. The class never seemed particularly powerful when it showed up in my groups so I'm not really sure I understand the reason for the nerf other than player-driven fluff; it's certainly not overpowered compared to a cleric, warlord, or artificer. I mostly remember players struggling to keep the spirit in play when it was continually attacked and destroyed and other players complaining that it was 'standing' where they wanted to.

The reasoning is that the player considers the class terribly over-powered due to range. Also I believe they allowed the spirit to occupy the same space as a person, though I'm not sure about that.

[Fayd]

Any last minute suggestions? We'll be meeting really soon.

[ghost_warlock]

Have fun and remember to focus-fire on tough encounters.

[Fayd]

Well, thanks for all your help everybody. First session went well, I think. The consequences of making the shaman and the spirit companion one entity has a lot of interesting implications that we're still figuring out.

I realized I forgot something rather key to my character initially: What weapon I would use. On the fly, I picked Glaive, and it has served me REALLY well so far. The ability to NOT actually be in melee but still hit with weapon powers is REALLY nice.