AP – Action point.

BBEG – Big bad evil guy.

Burst/Nova/Spike Damage – Generally understood to mean the highest amount of damage a character can inflict in the space of a single round. Usually, calculations for this allow 1 round of setup before the actual damage.

CA – Combat advantage.

DPR – Damage per round, which is generally meant to mean the character's expected damage value using At-Will powers against a standard enemy of the same level (eloquently described by Adslahnit as the Official CharOp Inanimate Block of Tofu™).

ED – Epic destiny.

HP – Hit points.

LX – Level X.

MAD – Multiple attribute dependency, which is defined as needing 3 or more ability scores for a given build.

MBA – Melee basic attack.

MC – Multiclass or multiclassing.

NAD – Non-AC defense.

OA – Opportunity attack.

PP – Paragon path.

RBA – Ranged basic attack.

THP – Temporary hit points.

Leader– You have a smattering of powers that help your allies, and you're likely to poach more from the Skill Power lists, but you can't really heal.

Defender– Spiritbond Seekers can kind of function on the front lines, but that's the best that can be said of the Seeker as a Defender.

Striker– Seekers can put out much better damage than non-Blaster Wizards and non-Morninglord Invokers, but they still won't outpace even a non-Rebuking Warlock without sacrificing serious control to do it.

Hit Points – 12 + Con score at level 1, and 5 each level thereafter. Rejoice, you are Primal and therefore have better hp and surges than any non-Primal Controller. Spiritbond Seekers will need every bit of hp they can get, because they're restricted to thrown weapon range, which is usually within charge distance.

Healing Surges – 7 + Con modifier. Better than a lot of Strikers!

Defense Bonuses – +1 to Reflex and Will. If you're at range your Fort won't be targeted as frequently, so getting bonuses to your other two defenses is ideal. Good job on this one Seeker.

Armor – You get Leather, and no shields. Still better than many Controllers.

Weapons – Your weapon proficiencies suck, unfortunately. Bloodbond is okay with its default longbow, but Spiritbond's only real options, by default, are the javelin and the dagger. Neither build can get a +3 proficiency weapon better with a decent damage die without spending a feat; Weapon Proficiency is almost a tax for these guys.

Inevitable Shot – This is an interesting feature. It essentially helps you ensure that in a given round you will be able to apply at least some control, but it's situational. For it to be useful, when you miss with a ranged attack, you have to have another target within 5 against whom you can apply some useful control with an RBA. This would be better if it were just a reroll- the inability to make the second shot against your priority target is a weakness. However, Seekers have a few powers that let them make ranged attacks against multiple targets- if one of those attacks misses, you can use Inevitable Shot against another one of the original targets, and sometimes stack effects. It's unfortunate when you miss one of your Feyjump Shots and the target is only teleported 3 without the daze, but getting a chance to peg him with Grappling Spirits in the same turn can help you keep him stuck in the bad situation you're trying to put him in.

Also, try to ignore the recharge-on-AP feature. You almost always want to use an AP early in a fight, and this feature might tempt you to save it until you've expended Inevitable Shot, when an AP is less likely to swing a fight. In that same vein, use Inevitable Shot at the first opportunity, so that you're more likely to recover it when you spend an AP.

 

Nature – You're forced to take this one, but you'd have taken it even if you weren't- its an important knowledge skill based on your primary stat

  
Acrobatics – Worth training just for the skill powers and for the trained-only uses, conventional usefulness aside

Athletics – Having a decent score here will be useful if your DM uses interesting combat terrain, and even if he doesn't, Athletics just seems like the sort of thing the Seeker should be good at

Endurance – Unless you want a skill power, skip this and use Heal to deal with disease.

Heal – Very useful, to you and to the party as a whole, and based on a primary stat. Good in heroic when the healer goes down and you can't yet auto-pass the DC10 to trigger his Second Wind.

Insight – You can be useful in social skill challenges! Huzzah! If the skill sucked, it'd still be Sky Blue just for Insighful Riposte.

Perception – TAKE THIS. Don't get surprise round'd, control those sneaky Controllers before they control you.

Stealth – Utilizing Stealth is a great way for Bloodbonds to get CA and avoid being targetted, but its use is a little situational.

Thievery is not a class skill, but you have the DEX for it, and in some parties/campaigns it's worth picking up via background of MC feat. It comes with some good skill powers, too, like Fast Hands. Dungeoneering is also a great skill to pick up, and if your DM loves traps then Trap Sense could be very valuable.

There are some other skills that are worth picking up just for the sake of associated Skill Powers. Bluff is worthwile just for Stall Tactics, and Intimidate is nice for Everybody Move and, to a lesser extent, Snap Out of It.

Dragonborn: They can barely scrape a 16/18 post-racial array as a Spiritbond, but there's really no way a Seeker can take advantage of Dragonborn racial support. This is not a trap, but it's a bad idea.

Dwarf: They can't get WIS without losing STR, which keeps them from being the perfect Spiritbond race. Still, great feat support bumps this race up to being a good option. They are usually hammer-throwing Spiritbonders.

Eladrin: As a Bloodbond they can manage 16/18, and they don't offer much else to the Seeker. If you want to play on, reflavor a Shadar-kai or an Elf.

Elf: The quintessential Bloodbond Seeker. Wild Step means your minor action shift won't get shut down in rough terrain, the racial reroll is excellent for making sure your key powers land, the extra speed is great for staying away from melee, the skill bonuses are ideal, and it even opens up a decent racial PP. This race is everything good.

Half-Elf: Seekers have great At-Wills, so Dillettante/Versatile Master is less useful to you than to other classes, but Half-elves do at least have WIS, and with Adept Dillettante, you can poach something useful from a wide range of classes. You might be tempted to poach a melee ability as a Spiritbonder, but you shouldn't- Half-elves will have lower AC because they lack STR/DEX, and even if you use a thrown weapon you should stay away from melee if possible. Magic Weapon and Twin Strike (ranged, use like Divine Bolts) are good weapon-based options, and the latter opens up some excellent powerswaps. If you pick up an implement, your options are broader, but you have to be careful. For example, if you want the Wizard's Freezing Burst, you will need use Adept Dillettante to make it WIS-based, but then you won't be able to use your MC to pick up a slotless implement (Holy Symbol, Ki Focus). If you need a slotless implement, look for a Druid or Invoker At-Will. Grasping Tide and Chill Wind are good Druid picks, as is Fire Hawk if you're willing to give up AoE, and Spiritbonders can use the Alfsair Spear enchantment to get a weapliment. Invokers have good option in Hand of Radiance, Divine Bolts, and Grasping Shards, but if you need two hands for your weapon you'll need to MC somewhere else for a slotless implement.

Halfling: All of the disadvantages of being a small weapon-user, with none of the feat support melee halflings get to make up for it. Only Sehanine Dedicate keeps Halflings from being Purple- Seekers really like weapliments, Sehanine Dedicate is one of the only ones they can get, and Halflings are better short bow users than anyone else.

Human: This is the only race that gets Sky Blue without +STR or DEX. The bonus feat is wonderful (between Weapon proficiency, Expertise, Speed Loader, MC and Novice Power, and Hide prof, Seekers are particularly feat-starved in heroic) and the Seeker absolutely loves Heroic Effort. Ditch the bonus At-Will- there are only two you want

Tiefling: Tieflings have the dubious honor of being the only PHB race to get perfect wrong stats. None of the Tieflings' considerable support is particularly useful to you. Pass.

Deva: Wisdom is good, but Intelligence is (almost) useless to you. (You… might actually want to MC Arcane.) The racial is helpful, but what really saves the Deva from mediocrity is the Soul of the World ED.

Gnome: Fade Away is good, but being small and only being able to manage 16/18 DEX/WIS means your Magic Archer Gnome concept should really be a Bard instead.

Goliath: The best option for Spiritbond, pretty much hands down, mostly because, out of all three STR/WIS races, it has the fewest racial features that only work in melee. Seekers like Markings of the Victor too.

Half-Orc: CON/DEX is as good as you can get without having a WIS bonus, but the Horc offers very little in exchange for losing that primary stat. If your Horc must shoot projectiles, be a Hunter or a Ranger or a Rogue.

Longtooth Shifter: The second-best Spiritbond race. You love having two 18s at level one, and you love regen. Feat support is mediocre, but Seeker feat support is so thin that you might actually have use for some of it.

Razorclaw Shifter: Razorclaw Shifters have stats that Bloodbond Seekers want, though the face much more competition than Longtooth Shifters do as Spiritbonders. The Razorclaw racial is decent and the feat support is ignorable, but the stats really are all they need to be great.

Githzerai: Almost as good as Elves for Bloodbond, and they're still a good option for Spiritbond just because of Githzerai Weapon Training. (If you don't follow, consider the Farbond Spellblade enchantment.) The initiative boost is fantastic, and the defensive racial power is nice.

Minotaur: Spiritbond only. They offer almost nothing useful aside from the perfect stats, but those perfect stats are far and away the most important thing.

Shardmind: They lack a secondary bonus, which hurts, but their features are decent and they have a few decent feats. Their racial PPs scream Controller, too, and are worth a look.

Wilden: Same boat as the Razorclaw Shifter, but the racial power and feat support are both worse.

Bladeling(MotP): There's just nothing good about this except for those ideal Bloodbond stats, which are admittedly far more common than ideal Spiritbond stats.

Changeling(EPG): Ugh, this is absolutely nothing that isn't awful.

Drow(FRPG): The best Bloodbond race, and… also the best Spiritbond race. Pretty much the best Seeker race. Cloud of Darkness is an absolutely wonderful tool, with the normal dual purposes of gaining hidden+CA, and the stealth bonus and darkvision are wonderful. They have game-changing feat support, despite the number of lame feats, and an extremely excellent racial PP.

Genasi(FRPG): Technically serviceable, but a genasi Seeker is playing against the race's considerable strengths.

Gnoll(D367): Lacks a primary stat boost, and features and feat support are all melee/striker oriented. Pass.

Kalashtar(EPG): You get WIS, and your racial features are all generally helpful without being outstanding.

Mul(DSCS): You're a dwarf, but faster. Feat support makes you a better than average choice.

Revenant(HoS): Revenants can do a lot of things, but none of them fit the Seeker well enough to make up for those lamentable ability score bonuses.

Shadar-Kai(D372): Perfect Bloodbond stats, a very useful racial, and a few decent feats make this an excellent choice.

Thri-Kreen(DSCS): The stats are right for Bloodbond and the extra speed is nice, but they don't have much else working for them. They're a good choice, but there are many better ones.

Vryloka(HoS): A secondary stat and a flexible racial power doesn't do much to absolve the lack of a primary stat and a healing surge penalty. Just take the Vampire Heritage feat on your elf.

Warforged(ELG): Not much to offer here. 'Forged support is geared toward melee, and you should always remember that Spiritbond Seekers are not melee characters.

Flickering Arrow (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. Gives the target an aura that imposes a mild attack penalty on itself and other nearby enemies. Enemies will move away from the target before attacking next turn, but only if doing so is not inconvenient. This is only situationally distinguishable from one of your At-Wills. Never take it.

Mischief Spirits (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. Even if this was a daze, and not just prone, it would be terrible. This is situational control that you must apply before you know whether or not the situation will call for this power. It counts as an RBA, but since this isn't as good as your At-Will RBA, that is irrelevant.

Possessing Spirits (PHB3) – Targets Will, Keywords Charm, Primal, Weapon. Daze at first level is great, and multi-target daze is wonderful. Unfortunately, in order to use this power a lot of pieces have to fall into place: First, you have to have a target with a good MBA that you know about. Second, that target has to be adjacent to another target. Third, you have two chances of missing- the initial (admittedly very accurate) attack and the target's MBA. If either miss, no daze. Still one of your best picks at this level.

Serpent Arrow (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. This suffers the same problem as Mischief Spirits, except that the effect is stronger and even more situational. Sliding something later is just so, so much less useful than sliding something now. Don't take this, even if you're Spiritbond.

Spider Spirits (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Poison, Primal, Weapon. The poison keyword hurts here, since a good number of monsters (mostly undead) are immune and therefore ignore both the damage and the slow/defense debuff. The defense debuff is not situational at all, which is a pleasant departure from other Seeker encounter powers, but this is still only barely better than your At-Will.

Steel Forest (D389) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. You want AoE, because you're a Controller- unfortunately, you still need your powers to do something. Steel Forest doesn't really provide any meaningful control.

Fungal Blooms (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Conjuration, Poison, Primal, Weapon. Single-target immobilize (save ends) is only slightly better than your encounter powers or Grappling Spirits, and that's the only thing this power has going for it. The damage caused by entering one of the effected squares is trivial, there's a chance it will miss, and only one can be triggered per monster turn.

Persistent Arrow (D389) – Targets AC, Keywords Conjuration, Primal, Weapon. Basically, you hit something for some damage, and the only control involved is that the target takes some damage if it enters a specific adjacent square of your choosing. One time after that, you can use a Minor to make another attack that prones. This is all mind-blowingly underwhelming.

Rime Strike (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Cold, Primal, Weapon, Zone. Single-target immobilize (save ends) is okay, though it's not great, and you also get to make the zone unpleasant for the duration of the encounter. Lackluster.

Spirit Rider (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. You do some damage, and then after that either minions will not end their turns adjacent to the target, or the target will move away from any minions before attacking. That's seriously all this does.

Storm of Spirit Shards (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. Friendly burst damage. This Swarming Bats but a smaller area, and with all of the (already unimpressive) control stripped out. Don't take this.

Swarming Bats (PHB3) – Targets Reflex, Keywords Primal, Weapon, Zone: This is a bunch of different little goodies that add up to make a solid power. You get Weapon vs NAD accuracy on a 5×5 friendly AoE, you slide all the enemies you hit, you create a big patch of difficult terrain that, while unfriendly, is movable and has the minor benefit of making enemies grant CA. Sustain Minor, but what are you using those for? If the map has a burst 2 chokepoint somewhere, this can win a fight. Otherwise, it can lock artillery and skirmishers in melee. This is not as good for thrown weapon users- this power really wants a good long range behind it.

Harrying Spirits (PHB3) – This doesn't make sense. It's basically a Daily tool to discourage an enemy from targetting you, but the effect isn't potent enough for the enemy to care about it. Also, the trigger is bizarre and unrelated to the effect.

Warding Arrow (D389) – The best of these, there's a small chance you'll be able to turn a hit into a miss with this power. Alternately, you can just burn it for CA. Meh.

Hunter's Instinct (PHB3) – You are not a Striker. All this does is lure you into melee.

Stag's Grace (PHB3) – If you're Bloodbond, you avoid OAs with your Minor Shift. If you're Spiritbond, you can use a melee attack or two until you're able to disengage. If you really think you need this, just buy Shadowdance Leather armor instead.

Stone Spirit Ward (PHB3) – This is decent for Spiritbonders if you can anticipate when you're going to be taking multiple attacks- sometimes combat doesn't go how you planned, after all.

Burrowing Shot (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. This is the encounter version of the Spirit Rider D1. For one round minions will avoid being adjacent to the target. Almost worthless.

Escaping Shot (PHB3) – Targets Will, Keywords Primal, Psychic, Weapon. You get a daze on a Weapon vs NAD power that you can use in melee and that includes a shift (a big one if you're Bloodbond), and the Psychic keyword can be useful. This is what a decent controller power looks like.

Into the Black Bog (D413) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Teleportation, Weapon. Easily your best choice at level 3. Multi-target with forced movement and a debuff that is comparable to weakened- at level 3. The damage penalty doesn't scale with monster damage, however, and so by upper heroic the damage debuff is meaningless. Around level 8 you'll want to retrain this.

Seeker's Due (D389) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. The Bloodbond extra damage rider offers no control is not worth considering, so let's look at this for Spiritbonders. What's that? STR mod penalty to attack rolls? That's fantastic OH WAIT, the power requires you to use a bow, even though the good rider is for the build that uses thrown weapons. This power is a cruel joke that needs to be errata'd. If it is, it will be blue or sky blue. If you're play a Spiritbonder, ask your DM to waive the weapon prereq. and then take this. they just errata'd away the Spiritbond rider instead of removing the stupid weapon prerequisite.

Spectral Scorpion Sting (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Conjuration, Poison, Primal, Weapon. The idea here is to discourage enemies (including the target) from leaving squares near the target. If the penalty for doing so interrupted movement, and not damage that any significant enemy will ignore, this power would be worth a Standard Action.

Stampede Shot (PHB3) – Targets Fortitude, Keywords Primal, Weapon. This is an accurate attack with some solid forced movement. Spiritbond especially will get a lot of mileage out of it, and the Seeker can use all the forced movement it can get. Good pick.

Winter Spirit (PHB3) – Targets Fortitude, Keywords Cold, Primal, Weapon. This is a straightforward power; it immobolizes a thing, and you can use it as an RBA. This is not bad, but it doesn't do much to expand your Controller toolbox. You can hamper movement effectively already with just your At-Wills.

Call of the Ghost Wolf (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Conjuration, Primal, Weapon. You pick a square next to the target, and enemies don't want to be adjacent to that square, Sustain Minor. This would be good if the conjuration was moveable or punished moving away, but it isn't and it doesn't, so it's not.

Coralling Shot (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Reliable, Weapon. This is an interesting form of forced movement that lets you bunch up two or three enemies. It's situational, though Dailies can afford to be to a degree, but they need to be more powerful to make up for being situational. If it weren't reliable, this would make a good encounter power.

Cursed Dart (D389) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Psychic, Weapon, Zone. Stiff but situational penalty to the target for ending a turn adjacent to its allies (immobilize is ignorable for artillery that is out of melee range or for melee that has already engaged). Unfortunately, the effect is (save ends), so you get a round or two of the enemy not bunching up. Great. Skip this.

Ensnaring Shot (PHB3) – Targets Reflex, Keywords Primal, Weapon, Zone. This is the first power you get that allows you to hamper the movement of multiple targets, and it does this beautifully. This is an excellent example of a power being really good while retaining mechanical identity unique to the Seeker. Pin down enemies until you miss, and even then enemies can get stuck in the zone you leave behind. Sustain Minor, but you can handle that.

Protecting Spirits (PHB3) – Targets Will, Keywords Primal, Weapon. It's a friendly AoE, and it pushes and prones. It's not bad, but the effect is just not powerful enough to be a Daily. It would be a good encounter power.

Wildfire Shot (PHB3) – Targets Reflex, Keywords Fire, Primal, Weapon. Discourages grouping by threat of spreading ongoing damage. If this was an encounter power, it still wouldn't be Blue.

Blurring Stride (PHB3) – Good defensive ability, but the Sustain Minor is annoying and unnecessary, and you have to move 3 squares in a single move action to get the concealment. Better for Spiritbond, who can shift out of melee and still have enough actions to attack and move 3 squares.

Cloak of Quills (PHB3) – If you have STR you're Spiritbond, and I guess you're supposed to be in melee provoking OAs? No, you're not. Stay away from melee and don't provoke OAs and don't take this power.

Eagle's Aim (PHB3) – The errata that made this an At-Will saved this power. Now it's one of the best ways to get around the crappy range on the bola and the net. (The other best way being a Distance Weapon or similar enchantment)

Earthbond Gift (PHB3) – Temp hp when you're bloodied is good- 2x WIS is close to surge value for you. You don't really care that much about being weakened, but that's just a little icing.

Swirling Arrows (D389) – When it triggers you get to target the enemy you intended to target with the attack that triggered Inevitable Shot in the first place, which is nice, but it's too situational. On average you'd get to use this about once every other encounter.

Feyjump Shot (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Teleportation, Weapon. This is a kind of control that other Controllers can't quite duplicate, and the kind that can, under the right conditions, win encounters. Basically, if the enemy has a vulnerable, inaccessible target and a mean frontliner guarding that target, you force them to switch places (no matter how far apart they are) and daze them both, leaving the vulnerable target wide open for your Strikers. Even if swapping the positions of two targets isn't particularly helpful, you can still daze them both. This is a situationally great encounter power, but it's the only Seeker power that can totally win an encounter sometimes, which is what Control is about. Keep this through epic tier.

Thunder Spirit (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. Prone is trivial for you to accomplish if you have World Serpent's Grasp, and if you don't, it's still worse than most other things you could do with a Standard action. Deafened is worthless. This power is worthless.

Tremor Shot (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. This is another one of those annoying power that imposes no control on the thing you actually target. You can count on targeting maybe one thing with the secondary attack. A slide 1+CA-grant on one or two targets is pathetic. The only reason this isn't Red is that you probably can't slide with an At-Will.

Wasp Sting Shot (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Poison, Primal, Weapon, Zone. Oh boy, more WIS mod poison damage that enemies will ignore if they want to be in the zone you made. We're getting toward the higher end of heroic, this kind of thing isn't funny anymore.

Windstorm Strike (PHB3) – Targets Fortitude, Keywords Primal, Weapon. Spiritbonders can get a sizable push here, real AoE is rare for Seekers, it's friendly, and you aren't forced to center the burst on a target. The push is still not impressive enough at this level to merit more than a Black rating, but it is at least not bad.

Binding Shot (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. If you hit two targets, you slide one next to the other, and they they can't move apart even by teleporting. The effect, however, only has a 1/16 chance of lasting past one round. This is is better than purple only because you can slide a vulnerable target into melee, and that's valuable- IF there's a vulnerable target who doesn't want to be in melee but is within 5 squares of an enemy who is melee.

Nature's Vengeance (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon, Zone. A small slide is made much more potent when it comes with an immobilize. The zone it creates discourages enemies from being adjacent to the target by threat of their being immobilized and then restained if they try to attack, which is actually discouraging. That the zone applies to the original target is a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, discouraging enemies from staying in a zone is just not a useful thing to do.

Spider Thicket (D413) – Targets Fortitude, Keywords Poison, Primal, Teleportation, Weapon. Area burst 2 is big, and weakened (save ends) is pretty nice, especially post-MM3. The teleportation within the zone is only situationally useful, since the burst is unfriendly, and that kind of rearranging is usually only useful against targets that have already engaged the party, but it does let you slow all the targets if you take the Moonrise Stalker PP.

Spirits of Fire and Ice (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keyword Cold, Fire, Primal, Weapon. The ongoing damage is immaterial. This is just a single-target immobilize, which is was barely even decent at level one. Pass.

Squall Spirit (PHB3) – Targets Fortitude, Keyword Lightning, Primal, Thunder, Weapon. Ugh, ugh. This power doesn't even pretend to offer any control, and doesn't make up for it by offering anything else. Waste of ink.

Burrowing Stride (PHB3) – Not very useful in combat, but out of combat it's pretty good. Excellent for scouting or otherwise being sneaky. This is very, very DM/campaign dependent. If find you're easily distracted between combat encounters, pick something else.

Far Step Arrow (D389) – It's an encounter teleport! But you aren't a Striker, so there's no guarantee you'll be killing nonminions. Also you can't use it to escape melee without OAs. It's the most useless encounter teleport.

Feywild Jaunt (PHB3) – Now THIS is an encounter teleport; don't be fooled by the fact that it doesn't say teleport anywhere. Use it at the end of your first turn, and when Team Monster is blowing all their encounter/recharge powers you'll be safely off the grid, and free to choose where you begin your next turn.

Host of Sparrows (PHB3) – This triggers outside of your turn, and ends when your next turn starts, which is to say that the duration is very brief. It's a reaction, so insubstantial doesn't affect the triggering attack. This is only good if you are the enemy's only viable focus-fire target, in which case it may save you a little damage. It can also get you out of melee if no other monsters get turns between your turn and the triggering attack. This is mediocre.

Sheltering Underbrush (PHB3) – Cover for your allies and difficult terrain on a relatively small, immobile, Sustain Minor burst as a Daily? Completely unimpressive. I wouldn't take this at any level.

Arrows of Misfortune (D389) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. This works exactly like Persistent Arrow, a D1, except that you can affect two targets with it, and you get a double attack against each one, which is decent damage at least. Note that if you can put the two arrows adjacent, you can technically slide enemies back and forth until they are dead. Still, extreme punishment that only protects two squares is not useful, and the debuff on the secondary power is even not noteworthy.

Corrosive Slime (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Acid, Primal, Weapon. I wouldn't take this power if it were a level 1 At-Will. It's that bad. The effect can keep things from coming back to life, but if you choose powers like this there's no guarantee you'll be able to kill things in the first place.

Fey Sinkhole (PHB3) – No Attack (Secondary Targets Will), Keywords Primal, Psychic, Teleportation, Weapon, Zone. This is the best power Seekers have gotten so far. This is how you daze those monsters that shake off daze before their turn comes around. As long as you keep hitting (and you should, this is Weapon vs Will) and the target's allies can't slide him out of the zone, the target won't be able to escape or stay not-dazed. What's that? It also triggers Psychic Lock and kills minions? Excellent.

Triple Raptor Shot (PHB3) – Targets Reflex, Keywords Primal, Weapon. If you really want to multiattack, take MC Ranger, take Adept Power, and swap this for Confounding Arrows so you can stun something while you're at it. This is a good Striker power, but you are a Controller.

Wave of Sleep (PHB3) – Targets Fortitude, Keywords Primal, Sleep, Weapon. This is a big friendly AoE that can daze and render things unconscious, which is one of the best status effects. You have almost no way to force failed saves, however, and the AoE daze (save ends) isn't extraordinary. That Wizards do this at level one makes it look that much worse. Also, lol @Sleep keyword.

Bramble Hide (PHB3) – You get a little defensive boost that you can pop if you foresee getting caught in melee. Kills minions that try to attack you, also. Meh.

Earthfriend (PHB3) – Once per day, at the cost of using a different Sustain Minor Daily or using your Bloodbond shift, you let your whole party ignore difficult terrain. It's pretty situational, but it can turn a whole encounter around, even though it's more of a Leader thing.

Ephemeral Wings (PHB3) – This is a slight upgrade to the Ranger U2 Yield Ground, which is embarrassing. It's still not a bad choice, though- that's a particularly good Ranger power.

Sure Sight (PHB3) – Also conditional, but being able to see no matter how much the DM wants to obscure things is potent. Darkness in various forms is a common obstacle.

Convocation of Arrows (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. Exactly the same amount of control as Twin Strike. Utter trash. You should be ashamed of yourselves, designers.

Flesh-Tether Shot (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. The most optimal use of this is to discourage a distant melee enemy from closing to melee range. This will not dissuade him from doing so, or impede him from attacking. The Bloodbond rider literally does nothing whatsoever, since dazed targets already grant CA.

Infestation of Moths (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Polymorph, Primal, Weapon. You slide a thing (big distance if you're Spiritbond), give it a huge defensive boost (are you kidding me?) and blind enemies next to it UNTIL they move away, which they won't have any trouble doing. If you could use it on your Fighter to slide him next to a priority target, that would actually be better than hitting an enemy, but the Bag of Rats rule nulls that use. Trash.

Seeker's Peerless Shot (D389) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. This is Seeker's Due, from L3, all over again. The weapon requirement restricts it to Bloodbond, but the Bloodbond rider is worthless and the Spiritbond rider is better even than blind. doesn't exist anymore. This power is made of spite and bile.

Spectral Forest (D413) – Keywords Primal, Psychic, Weapon, Zone. At least Convocation of Arrows gives you damage in exchange for its total lack of control. This gives you nothing. It literally does nothing meaningful.

Sprite Dance (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Teleportation, Weapon. This is actually good! It's like Feyjump Shot, but with a range limitation, and you don't have to hit twice to achieve the effect of dropping enemy artillery onto your Fighter's lap. You don't get to daze, but you do get more freedom in the destination square and you grant a Free MBA. This isn't Sky Blue only because at L17 we expect better.

Black Arrow of Fate (D389) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Psychic, Weapon, Zone. Bloodbond only, you give the target an aura that makes him daze other enemies near whom the target ends its turn. The aura is save ends. Even if the target can't just move away from other enemies, conditional daze isn't worth a Daily.

Captivating Missile (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Charm, Primal, Reliable, Weapon. An RBA power with real control! But really, dominate is great, and there are no silly conditionals you have to deal with. This is straight-forward. Don't miss the Reliable keyword, which is nice.

Conflagration Spirit (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Fire, Primal, Weapon. Ongoing damage is not control. Ongoing damage is not control. Say it with me.

Fury Spirits (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Conjuration, Primal, Weapon. This is Fungal Blooms, but without the Poison keyword. Let me rephrase: this is trash that's like other trash, but different.

Grasping Vines (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. This power encourages bad tactics or missing in order to get an effect that is only decent as a level one encounter power.

Rending Vines (PHB3) – Targets Reflex, Keywords Primal, Weapon, Zone. It's Ensnaring Shot, but upgraded. Bigger burst, with restrain instead of immobilize. The problem is, that's not a huge upgrade, and Ensnaring Shot was level 5. Fey Sinkhole is a lower level and does the same thing but much better.

Guiding Spirit (PHB3) – If you don't have a Leader who liberally distributes large power bonuses to hit, then this is fantastic, and really it's still good if you do. Pop this before you make an important attack, and you drastically reduce the odds that you'll choke.

Land Passage (PHB3) – You and maybe an ally are simply not available for Team Monster to target- and unlike Feywild Jaunt, this only activates when and if you're attacked, which means that it's guaranteed to waste your enemy's actions. Jaunt, by contrast, will usually just force enemies to attack your allies instead. Be very mindful of initiative order when you bring an ally with you- they'll have to delay after you to get their normal turn, and that might not be desirable.

Nature's Passage (PHB3) – This is only situationally useful in combat, though it's better out of combat. Phasing is generally only useful one or two rounds per fight- this would be better as an encounter power with a brief duration. You should be doing much better than this at this level.

Primal Morass (PHB3) – Hey, a utility power that his controller-y! Oh, it's just a Daily Sustain Minor with a giant patch of unfriendly super-difficult terrain, and it explicitly doesn't affect flyers. Lame, but in the right campaign (ie depending on DM style) this kind of thing could be useful.

Seeking Arrow (D389) – This is an interesting power, but it's not as good as it looks. You're trying to be as accurate as possible, which means that ideally Inevitable Shot should only trigger every other round at most. That's twice in the first four rounds, the first instance of which you would have been able to use Inevitable Shot without this power. After that, you're hopefully in mop-up, and there may not even be enough targets for you to use IS at all. So… this is like a daily extra use of Inevitable Shot.

Quill Storm (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. Oh look, it's like Biting Swarm but you don't apply the penalty to the target, the AoE penalty might miss the nearby enemies. The secondary attack can pop minions and the penalty might stick for an extra round, but isn't this epic tier?

Roaring Missile (PHB3) – Targets Fortitude, Keywords Primal, Thunder, Weapon. Friendly AoE daze with Weapon vs Nad accuracy. Solid power, but Wizards and Invokers both get encounter stuns at this level. Deafening does nothing.

Sinking Earth (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. This is not terrible, but it would have been appropriate 16 levels earlier. Restrain (save ends) is decent, but it's situational too, and this is single-target.

Spirit Inferno (PHB3) – Targets Reflex, Keywords Fire, Primal, Weapon. Single-target immobilize? You had that at level one. The damage can build up fast (especially for Spiritbond), so enemies will actually want to distance themselves from the target before attacking. Still not a particularly useful effect.

Stride-Breaking Shot (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. This is the Bloodbond version of Spirit Inferno, but it's even worse, because the number of damage instances is lower and the damage is even less likely to affect monster behavior at all. So, this is a pure damage power, which means it's worthless.

Wisp Shot (D413) – Targets AC, Keywords Polymorph, Primal, Weapon. Oh, what's that? Your precious solo is immune to stun? Ha, yes, well, we'll see about that. Oh, and it's (save ends), and while you're at it you keep any baddies close to the target from teleporting or using immediates for a round. Really fantastic stuff.

Fading Grotto (D413) – Targets Will, Keywords Primal, Weapon, Zone. Remove from play is some really meaty control- not as good as stun, but much less likely to get ignored by a solo- especially when, as in this case, it's not even (save ends). You can keep banishing things as long as you can get them into the burst 2 zone and hit them, but you and your allies should have the forced movement on hand to make that happen, and the zone makes them grant CA. The only unfortunate limitation is the 'once per target' line on the secondary attack. Oh well, can't have everything.

Lightning Burst (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Lightning, Primal, Weapon. Unfriendly AoE damage. No control. Waste of ink, again.

Slavering Sentinels (PHB3) – No Attack (Secondary Targets Reflex) Keywords Conjuration, Fear, Primal, Weapon. This lacks hard control, but it's worth a second look. The Secondary attack triggers at the start of adjacent enemy's turn, so it's easy to trigger, and the push 5 is more useful when you can place the push originator without moving much yourself, and you have 4 points from which to push.

Thundering Shot (PHB3) – Targets AC (Secondary Targets Fortitude) Keywords Primal, Thunder, Weapon. Why daze AoE with an encounter power when you can do it with a Daily that slows in exchange for forcing you to center the burst on a target? But really, this should lose (save ends) and be an encounter power. It doesn't even do anything on a miss.

Wind of Decay (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Poison, Primal, Weapon, Zone. Why daze AoE with an encounter power when you can do it with a Daily that doesn't work against undead and forces you to center the burst on a target and doesn't do anything on a miss? The zone this creates as an effect does nothing but waste the Minor you use to turn it off.

Abundant Growth (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. This is a slow that can become an immobilize and a prone under certain conditions. Is that better than forced movement+daze, blind, or AoE daze? No? Okay, then there's no reason to retrain one of those powers (Feyjump Shot, Swarming Spirits, Roaring Missile) away to replace it with this.

Angry Earth (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. Is an AoE prone worth more than forced movement+daze, blind, or AoE daze? No? Okay.

Devouring Arrow (PHB3) – Targets Fortitude, Keywords Necrotic, Primal, Weapon. Is AoE weakened worth more than forced movement+daze, blind, or AoE daze? No? Okay.

Fey Commander's Lure (D413) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Teleportation, Weapon. Your Leader might enjoy moving the whole party into position to engage the enemies, but why do that when you can move the enemies into position for your party to engage them? Slap a big fat attack penalty on them while you're at it, so that keeping them close isn't so dangerous. Oh, and your ranged attacks for the next turn and a half can suck in any mobs who flee or who you missed on the first pass, and apply all the same effects. Good stuff.

Razor Hail (PHB3) – Targets Reflex, Keywords Cold, Primal, Weapon. Is AoE movement discouragement worth more than forced movement+daze, blind, or AoE daze? No? Okay.

Widow's Net (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Poison, Primal, Weapon. Is forced movement+AoE restrained better than forced movement+daze, blind, or AoE daze? No, it isn't. Don't retrain another power into this power.

Baleful Shot (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. You finally get a stun, but it's still worse than a level 1 Invoker Daily. It's single-target and (save ends), and if you miss it becomes a daze (save ends), so don't miss. The attack penalty applied to the rest of Team Monster is nice, but not large enough to be a big deal.

Biting Wind Arrows (D389) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. Another one of these. Protecting three squares that you can't freely choose with the threat of tiny damage and a small slide is not good even for a heroic tier Daily. Three Minor action attacks that prone and apply a small debuff to attack and defense is decent for a heroic tier Daily, but this is your capstone level.

Bones of the Earth (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Primal, Weapon. No control, just a little ongoing damage that enemies that don't need to move can ignore.

Trampling Shot (PHB3) – Targets Reflex, Keywords Primal, Weapon. Friendly AoE prone is pathetic for a capstone, but the effect is fun. This would be a fine epic tier encounter power.

Uttercold (PHB3) – Targets AC, Keywords Cold, Primal, Weapon. Single-target restrain+vulnerability is capstone-worthy? Ugh.

 

Heroic Tier:

Bloodied Elusion (PHB3) – Short-range shift that happens under conditions you probably can't control, for the build that can shift with a Minor. Useless.

Improved Inevitable Shot (PHB3) – If you use a Crossbow, this is red. If you don't, it's still not worth a feat slot.

Inescapable Shot (PHB3) – This slightly increases the likelihood that you'll be able to do something useful with Inevitable Shot. Very, very slightly.

Spiritbond Defense (PHB3) – Overly conditional, insignificant benefit.

Strengthened Bond (PHB3) – You don't want to be in melee enough to use this twice, but if you're bloodied, there's a good chance you're in melee more than you'd like anyways.

 

Paragon Tier:

Bloodbond Wrath (PHB3) – Why why why would you not just take Vicious Advantage instead.

Inevitable Volley (PHB3) – Hey, this is actually good. An extra RBA with a common trigger is good times, especially considering how good your RBA control is.

Primal Eye (PHB3) – +5-9 damage on your At-Wills is not amazing for a Controller. It's nice, but you probably wan't to hold off on this til you've gotten some more important Paragon feats.

Punishing Rebuke (PHB3) – An extra dice of damage one or two times per encounter? Please.

 

Epic Tier:

Inevitable Accuracy (PHB3) – If you took Inevitable Volley, this feat is unlikely to do anything. Skip it.

Ruthless Price (PHB3) – Immobilize is significantly better control than slow, but you're in epic tier now, and you deserve better.

Spiritbond Outrage (PHB3) – Adding a prone to this is decent, but it's just so unimpressive at epic tier. There are better ways to spend your feats.

 

Heroic Tier:

Armor Proficiency: Hide (PHB) – You generally won't qualify til Paragon, but this is a great way to patch your otherwise meager AC.

Battle Caster Defense (PHB3) – You shouldn't need this, but you might have a DM who loves forcing you to provoke, and a party who can't stop him.

Battlewise (HotFK) – Spiritbond only- this patches the disadvantage of not having DEX. Initiative is important.

Cunning Stalker (HotFK) – This is one of a few feats you can use to consistently get CA from range, which is very important for you simply because you need as much accuracy as possible
.
Expertise (Various) – Not a question of whether you will take it, but when, and which one. I'll be rating the benefits.
-Bludgeon Expertise (HotFL) – This is a nice perk for all the Dwarven Throwers out there.
–Bow Expertise (HotFL) – Extra damage is okay- pity this doesn't help your control.
–Crossbow Expertise (HotFL) – This will really ease your targetting concerns, and simplify combat. Excellent.
-Heavy Blade Expertise (HotFL) – It's a small bonus, so it should only be relied upon if you have another large bonus to defense against OAs, like Battle Caster Defense or Githzerai Mobility.
-Light Blade Expertise (HotFL) – More extra damage. Meh.
-Spear Expertise (HotFL) – You shouldn't charge, take Master at Arms instead.
-Master at Arms (HotFL) – It's a pity the action economy is limited to weapons, but this can still be useful. A potion can be an improvised weapon, right? Kidding.
-Versatile Expertise (PHB3) – No feat tax refund, but this is your only choice if you want to pick up some implement powers. Be glad it exists.

Distant Advantage (PHB2)-  How useful this is depends on your party. In the right group, it can be extremely valuable.

Far Throw (PHB) – I don't think it's fair that this does so much less than the Far Shot feat, but when you're using thrown weapons you often need all the range you can get.

Great Fortitude/Lightning Reflexes (PHB) – You will have a bad NAD, and this is a decent way to patch it if you don't qualify for Superior Fortitude/Reflexes. That means you should never take Iron Will, though.

Grounding Shot (PHB3)-  You prone things, and other people sometimes prone things. Turn that disadvantage into an advantage.

Hafted Defense (PHB3) – A nice perk if you're throwing a glaive or a greatspear or I don't know maybe a talenta sharrash.

Hidden Sniper (HotFK) – Concealment is really easy to get at higher levels, provided you don't have to deal with item rarity. This combines very nicely with Armor of Dark Deeds.

Improved Defenses (HotFL) – This is best taken in early paragon. You can take it earlier, but you shouldn't take it much later.

Improved Initiative (PHB) – If you don't go first, you lose a huge opportunity to fulfill an important controller function: dictate the terms of the battle.

Mark of Storm (EPG) – Combined with a Lightning Weapon, this gets you forced movement on all your attacks, which is valuable. Being item dependent limits it, as does the fluff- many DMs won't let you take this outside of an Eberron campaign, and even then will restrict its access to half-elves.

Mark of Handling (EPG) – Mounted combat offers a lot of options, and can be rewarding. You need this or Mounted Combat. This gives you a few more benefits, but is very campaign dependent.

Mounted Combat (PHB) – This or Mark of Handling is required for mounted combat to be very good, unless you stock up on Figurines of Wondrous Power with Mounts.

Nimble Blade (PHB) – Sometimes you throw daggers and you have CA a lot and you're very accurate, partially because of this feat.

Resilient Focus (HotFL) – Failing saving throws is one of the most annoying things. You can do something about that if you want.

Skill Power (PHB3) – There are more very good skill powers than you have utility slots for. You probably want this by L18 so that you can get both Land's Passage and Insightful Riposte, or earlier if you want both Earthbond Gift and Natural Terrain Understanding.

Shield Proficiency: Light (PHB) – If you're Spiritbond you probably qualify, and you get a better defensive boost than you do with Hide proficiency, and if you MC Fighter you can use Hindering Shield. You're limited to a one-handed weapon, though.

Speed Loader (PHB2) – Hurray, now you can use a Superior Crossbow AND use your Minor actions for things. Invaluable.

Spring Step (PHB3) – Prone can really mess you up, especially if you aren't Bloodbond. This eases the pain.

Superior Fortitude (HotFL) – You will have difficulty qualifying for this before epic, and it will only add one to your Fort over Improved Defenses. The resistance is nice, but not important. Of course, if you get

Superior Reflexes (HotFL) – This will get you CA in the first round, when it's difficult to get and most important to have. Excellent in combination with Armor of Dark Deeds and Hidden Sniper.

Superior Will (HotFL) – If you are dazed or stunned, your ability to apply control is compromised. So, don't be dazed or stunned.

Weapon Focus (PHB) – Damage is not what you're about. That said, everybody in the party is responsible for contributing to the party's damage. This helps you do your part.

Weapon Proficiency (PHB) – If Bloodbonders want a +3 proficiency bonus, and Spiritbonders want to throw something decent, they'll need this feat.

World Serpent's Grasp (HotFK) – This is difficult to use at-will since Grappling Spirits only slows until the end of the target's turn, but being able to prone with out-of-turn attacks and APs is still really very valuable. There's just very few other ways to directly increase your capacity to control.

Vicious Advantage (PHB3) – A lot of your powers slow or immobilize, but you can't take advantage of this at-will. It's not bad, but Distant Advantage, Hidden Sniper, and Cunning Stalker are all better.

 

Paragon Tier:

Armor Specialization (Hide) (PHB) – You probably won't be able to afford the 15 CON until epic, but this is a great boost to your defenses. The removal of the check penalty is a nice perk too.

Danger Sense (PHB) – If your DM usually runs monsters with high init, then you'll need this in addition to your feat bonus. Otherwise, you probably won't have room for it, even though it's nice.

Distant Shot (PHB) – This is only black for Bloodbonders, but for thrown weapon users this effectively doubles your limited range.

Opportunistic Withdrawal (PHB3) – This is a pretty useful tool for getting out of melee, if you still have trouble doing that. If you don't have CA through some other means, just have a melee ally come flank with you, then get out of there.

Polearm Gamble (PHB) – This is only for Spiritbond Seekers who use a Polearm that has inherited the thrown property via weapon enchantment, but this is a great feat for that niche build.

Psychic Lock (PHB) – This is mostly weapon dependent, but this is still a fantastic way for you to expand your ability to control. Penalties to attack are the least situational debuffs.

Spear Push (PHB) – This is good for the traditional javelin-throwing Spiritbonder who takes forced movement powers, but not that good.

 

Epic Tier:

Bow Mastery (PHB2) – Only take this if you have feats that let you recharge powers when you crit.

Deft Aim (PHB3) – This makes your RBAs significantly more accurate, and is particularly valuable if you have an enabler in the party or you're frequently able to get through all your encounter powers.

Epic Fortitude/Reflexes/Will (PHB2) – Patch that low Fort/Reflex!

Epic Resurgence (PHB) – Many of you won't have access to an expanded crit range, but encounter power recovery is still nice.

Long Step (PHB3) – This great for most characters, and it's just that much nicer when you can shift as a minor action.

Primal Resurgence (PHB2) – Recharge your Dailies, just like a big boy Controller! This is much more limited than Arcane Mastery, of course.

Superior Initiative (PHB3) – Remember Improved Initiative? Replace it into this.

Unfettered Stride (PHB) – Difficult Terrain will never trap you in melee again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crimson Hunter (PHB3) – Even more accuracy on your RBAs is good, and the U12 is some nice mobility, but there's nothing else this path has to offer.

Death Arrow (PHB3) – The U12, a big on-demand accuracy boost, is great, but the rest of the path is lame. The central mechanic, Rattling Arrows, demands a condition you can't easily arrange (hidden) and doesn't debuff the target you actually hit.

Moonrise Stalker (D413) – The F11 is the biggest draw here- when you've teleported something somewhere it doesn't want to be, slowing it so that it can't reposition easily is great. The D20 is embarrassingly mediocre, but the E11 is tons of fun and the U12 is extremely handy. The F16 shouldn't be underestimated either- Seekers have quite a few powers that are only good if the enemy can't teleport. You'll have to be creative to hit targets with those powers and an RBA in the same round, though.

Ocular Adept (D394) – This is an oddball path with bizarre flavor, but it's surprisingly solid. It doesn't give you additional high-end control, but it helps you apply your at-will control more, (Fantastic AP feature and D20) it saves you a feat if you use a crossbow, and it makes you more mobile.

Seven Fates Archer (PHB3) – The AP feature is good, but I don't see why you would ever use the other 11 feature. The powers are all painfully mediocre. They're not actively terrible, their control is just… weak. Damage on that D20 is pretty stellar, but that doesn't redeem the rest.

Swift Strider (PHB3) – This path offers a good defensive boost when you shift, lots of ways to shift, and a damage reward for being mobile. It doesn't expand your control repetoire at all, though, which keeps it from being good.

Here, I'll be marking the race that corresponds to the Path along with the source. I'll only be including recommended Paragon Paths here, that is to say, those rated Black or higher. If it's not on the list and it's in my sources, it's not a good idea.

An additional note: Powers that lack the weapon or implement keywords are meant to include an Expertise bonus in their scaling; some of them do (the ones that are +3/+6/+9) but others (+2/+4/+6) do not. You should ask your DM to let you apply your Expertise feat bonus to such powers.

Curseborn (Drow, D367) – Holy balls, you guys. You'll never use the 11F, and the 16F doesn't matter unless you pick up Master of Fire and Darkness, but that doesn't matter. The AP feature lets you reuse Eyedark Strike, the 11E is a Minor Action attack that dazes, the U12 is simple and good, and the D20… is an E20. That's right, you get another encounter power at level 20, and it is ridiculously powerful battlefield control all encounter, every encounter. Before you ask, it's already seen errata once, and they didn't change it to a Daily then.

Twilight Guardian (Elf, PHB2) – The 11F is a waste if you use a crossbow, but the other features are solid, and while the U12 is bad, the powers do offer control. Unfortunately restrained(save ends) is not that much better than what you can do with your own powers.

Storvakal(Githzerai, D378) – The features are decent; though they don't directly help you control, the help you remain able to apply what control you have. The D20 is lame, but that 11E is pretty fantastic battlefield control. Put everybody where you want them to be.

Adroit Explorer (Human, PHB 2) – This is a fantastic PP for Seekers, for the same reason it's good for almost everyone else: because even though your powers mostly suck, you have a couple really good ones. The 11E is essentially a second Feyjump Shot, and when you get to epic you can get that AoE daze AND still have Feyjump instead of having to decide between the two. Also, you know, APs, resist all, saving throws, etc.

Scion of Leng (Minotaur, D389) – This is a surprisingly solid path, even though it mostly requires that you be close to melee. Get Superior Will to deal with the stun on the 11E, enjoy forcing enemies to attack each other with your AP feature, and have fun with your excellent banish D20.

Gatekeeper (Sharmind, D387) – You don't get anything impressive at L11, but the U12 is the real draw here: you draw a line that enemies can't cross, and at L16 you can do it twice per encounter. The D20 is a cool remove-from-play(save ends), too. This power is solid just on the strength of its powers.

I'll only be including Epic Destinies worth having (Black or higher) here, with the exception of the only Seeker ED. In general, there are three things you might want from an ED: Ability score bumps, power recovery, and miscellaneous goodies like extra accuracy or survivability.

Deadly Trickster (PHB) – This is a solid ED despite the lack of stat bonuses, thanks to the exceptional utility provided by the numerous rerolls and power recovery methods. Epic Trick is just the coolest thing.

Destined Scion (HotFK) – This gives you everything you want (except power recovery) in droves. Arguably the best choice you can make here.

Champion of Prophecy (EPG) – This is a nice thing. You get your stat bumps, a little extra accuracy here and there, and though there's no "Actually I don't die" feature, you do get to duplicate the Wizard's Arcane Mastery with your capstone ability. Really wish that feature came earlier.

Chosen (FRPG) – Demigod, but deity-specific, slightly different flavor, and a variable L26 Utility. Look and see if there's something you like there.

Demigod (PHB) – This is enduring standard of great EDs. Stat bumps, tons of extra durability, and power recovery at the capstone.

Eternal Seeker (PHB) – This ED merits its own guide. I will say that if you've picked up some kind of implement proficiency, this will turn you into some kind of a monstrous Primal Invoker/Druid. If you haven't, you still get to retrain the feats you spent powerswapping, which is great. Eternal Action is the finest gravy, of course, especially if you pick your capstone from Harper of Legend or Warmaster. Sage of Ages offers a capstone that competes with all that AP synergy, though. Good L22 utilities for you to grab: Bag of the Four Winds, Rune of Hero's Resolve, Wrath of Root and Soil, Invisible Stalker, Oni's Gift, Wall of Inky Night(!!!)… and a ton more. Suit your fancy.

Indomitable Champion (HotFL) – Stat bumps are great, as is the considerable durability this imparts, but the lack of other accuracy increases or power recovery makes this less desirable.

Master of the Eternal Hunt (PHB3) – The WIS bonus is good, and literally everything else is bad.

Harper of Legend (D367) – The lack of a stat bump hurts, but the rest of the path is very strong. The extra encounter power can come from a class you've MC'd, which is great, and you get extra APs. The benefits of this path are farely front-loaded, too.

Heir of Siberys (EPG) – Demigod stat bumps, but without as much durability, a different form of capstone power recovery, and a potentially great utility, depending on which Mark you have.

Primal Avatar (PHB2) – No stat bump, but the L24 feature lets you kind of pretend like you got some WIS. This offers ittle in the way of durability, but the L21 feature lets you get out of melee really easy.

Reincarnate Champion (PrP) – You don't get your WIS bump til 24, but at L21 you get to be Drow if you aren't already, or an Elf, or Half-elf, or all three. This is very very useful.

Soul of the World (D385) – Deva only, but you get your WIS bonus at 21, you get to take the best parts of Reincarnate Champion and combine it with a little of the Eternal Seeker's encounter power swap trickery. This is the only convincing reason to play a Deva, but boy is it persuasive.

Choosing your entry feat was a choice between an extra good skill and a 1/day Healing Word, and it still is if your DM thinks RAI is important, but now Divine Healer can be used to grab Battle Cleric's Lore, letting you choose to maximize WIS and let STR/DEX fall behind or just enjoy the +2 shield bonus.

Divine Healer
Initiate of the Faith

E1 Cause Fear
D1 Font of Tears
D1 Moment of Glory
U2 Veil of Darkness
E3 Command
D5 Halo of Consequence
D5 Hold Foe
D9 Dismissal (remember, for some solos, "end of next turn" lasts longer than "save ends")
D9 Rebuke Violence
D9 Blade Barrier (no implement required for this one)
D15 Sacred Armistice
D25 Sacred Word
E27 Divine Contempt
E27 Sublime Light

Hammer of Moradin (if you're a dwarven hammer thrower, this is really solid stuff right here)
Messenger of Peace (watch out for that unfortunate Diplomacy training prereq)
Truthseeker

Initiate of the Old Faith (Take Grasping Claws, Savage Rend, or Swarming Locusts)
Harbinger of Nature's Wrath

E1 Gust of Wind
E1 Wall of Smoke
D1 Lightning Arc
D1 Summon Giant Toad
U2 Verdant Bounty
E3 Wind Wall
D5 Wall of Thorns (no implement required!)
U6 Camouflage Cloak
E7 Charm Beast (This is almost gold. The only problem is that you have to delay this or Feyjump Shot til L13)
D9 Sunbeam
U10 Updraft
D15 Baleful Polymorph
D15 World Warp
U16 Wall of Stone (also no implement required! Walls are great!)
E17 Infiltrating Drone (Beast keyword means you're required to MC via Initiate of the Old Faith, but it's worth the inconvenience)
U22 Wall of the World (Seriously)
E23 Blinding Swarm (Only take if you don't have Wild Shape, otherwise keep Charm Beast- it's actually better than Dominate Beast)
D25 Avian Cloud
D25 Summon Proud Mastodon
D29 Hinterlands Exile (This isn't a huge improvement over Baleful Shot but it is an improvement, and it's too cool not to mention)

Keeper of the Hidden Flame

Master Hierophant

Net Training
Bola Training (Giving up all the damage you would have dealt is actually not a good idea)

Student of the Sword
Brawling Warrior

Dragging Flail
Hindering Shield (tricky to use, but if you use a javelin you can stack this with PM)
POLEARM MOMENTUM (this is why you MC'd Fighter)

Divine Secretkeeper is the better feat, but that 13 INT requirement is a bummer. Take it if you roll for stats or something.

Divine Secretkeeper
Acolyte of Divine Secrets

D1 Silent Malediction
D5 Searing Orb
U6 Demand Justice
D9 Visions of Paradise
E13 Seal of the Heretic
U16 Walls of Hestavar
E17 Glyph of Radiance
D19 Tomb of Magrym (Don't swap Captivating Missile for this- if you take it, do it at L29)
E23 Word of Bewilderment
E27 Compel Action
D29 Storm of Creation
D29 Invoke the Absolute Dark
D29 Word of the Gods

Hammer of Vengeance
Stonecaller

Heaven's Arrow
Invoked Devastation
Reaching Invokation (Only take this if you don't want Invoked Devastation, ie because your party doesn't make room for your unfriendly AoEs)

E1 Fox's Cunning
D1 Guardian Arrow
U2 Invigorating Stride
U2 Stalker's Mist
E3 Disruptive Striked
D5 Spitting-Cobra Stance (This isn't worth picking up til L9, but at that point it's a great pick)
DU6 Evade Ambush
D9 Thousand Arrow Awareness
D15 Confounding Arrows
U16 Howling Winds
U16 Wall of Earth
E17 Entrapping Arrows
E17 Suppressing Shots
D19 Surprising Arrow Stance (pick this up at 25, if this is better than the dominate you get at 19, it's not better by enough to warrant a feat)

Avalanche Hurler (powers are wasted, but this brings thrown weapons up to par)
Darkstrider (Blindsense is nice, the powers add control to your toolbox, and Minor Action shift means hidden isn't as hard for you as for some)
Giantslayer (U12 and probably 11F are wasted, but powers are really great control)
Sylvan Archer (Fantastic powers, though the features don't do a lot, and you have to be an elf)

Sly Dodge (a few good Rogue tricks require Intimidate training- this way you don't waste your Background getting it)
Sneak of Shadows (if you don't need Intimidate and don't want to stealth, this at least gives you some bonus damage)
Twilight Adept (rating is for those who want to try to use Stealth in combat)

Two-Fisted Shooter (Great benefit, but not sky blue because you have to bend over backwards to benefit from it. You want an expanded crit range to go with it, which means dual xbows and Bow Mastery or Jagged/Melegaunt's Dagger mainhand and Master of Arms.)

D1 Blinding Barrage (Ignore the damage nerf, you don't care. AoE blind.)
U2 Fleeting Ghost (Almost mandatory if you want to Stealth effectively)
D9 Knockout (Absolutely worth a quick jaunt into melee)
U10 Executioner's Mien (Intimidate training is lame, but adding -2 to hit on all your attacks for an encounter is boss. Don't take this til L16, though, since only unwise people spend a feat to swap out Feywild Jaunt.)
E13 Stunning Strike (Almost worth a quick jaunt into melee)
U16 Hide In Plain Sight
E17 Tumbling Strike (Acrobatics training required- this doesn't offer control but I have to mention a minor action attack that lets you get out of melee no questions asked)
U22 Invisible Stalker
U22 Seize the Moment
E27 Pebble to Boulder
E27 Perfect Strike (Less accurate than Pebble to Boulder, but more damage and no onerous weapon restriction)

Daring Slinger (This makes slings pretty decent, and adds a little control to boot. Respectable, compared to your other options.)
Cloaked Sniper (Not much control on the powers, but pretty decent Stealth/crossbow support)

Spirit Caller
 –

Sudden Call (kind of mandatory to get some powers to function)
Nimble Spirit (this makes the SC much more useful as a control tool, even if the OA is still 1/enc)
Spirit Mender (while you're MCing Shaman, picking up a 1/enc heal can't hurt if you have room)

D1 Spirit of Grief's Shadow (One of the few ways you can penalize saving throws, this is only good combined with other Dailies. Consequently, avoid until around L9)
U2 Stormhawk Vigilance (The kind of leader power that's nice on anybody, especially if your DM is a **** about making you spend actions to draw weapons during surprise rounds)
D5 Shrieking Wind Spirits (Don't take this til L9, but this is friendly AoE daze+forced movement, which is great. The OA will be difficult to trigger unless you try to place the zone over a melee engagement, which is a great idea)
D5 Spirit of the Hawk's Wind (Again, don't take til L9, but SC-independent, non-provoking blind with an encounter-long mobility granter is pretty cool)
U10 Call Forth the Spirit World (Pretty great attack debuffer- enemies can end it by wasting attacks on your companion, so you win either way. The healing is gravy.)
U10 Primal Gust (Cash in on that Striker in your party who took Agile Opportunist)
E23 Beguiling Call
E23 Spirit of the Vengeful Mountain
D25 Spirit of the Brain Mole
D25 Sunder Spirit
D29 Fury of Athas

Phrenic Master

Learned Spellcaster (assuming you have 13 INT for some reason)

U2 Shield
U2 Mystical Debris
U6 Wall of Fog
D9 Wall of Fire
U10 Wall of Gloom (Take Feywild Jaunt before you take this or Blur)
U10 Blur
D15 Wall of Ice (Don't take til like… L25)
U16 Spatial Lock
U22 Wall of Force (If only this blocked LoS, it would probably be gold. As it stands teleporters render it useless.)

Bows – All the range you need, with no feat cost, although the lack of +3 proficiency options is tragic. Several good enchantments save this weapon group from mediocrity. This is the Bloodbond default.
 

Crossbows – More costly than Bows in terms of feats, but if you want long range with a +3 proficiency bonus (and you do, really badly) AND you don't want to waste your weapon enchantment on getting those first two things, then this is your only option. To make things sweeter, crossbows come with several excellent enchantments.
 

Slings – Not terrible, but really only useful if you want to take advantage of the few good Rogue powers that require a sling.
 

Axes – You like Javelins, but hate the long range and slightly better available enchantments.

Flails – The ranged options here are surprisingly interesting. The short range and low proficiency bonus hurt them, but the tricks they bring to the table (namely Mark of Storm+Dragging Flail/Flail Expertise) keep them worth mentioning. LOL NEVERMIND, FLAIL EXPERTISE IS MELEE ONLY
 

Hammers – A specific Dwarf build can actually use Throwing Hammers and be very accurate, and Dwarves can use them as holy symbols with the right enchantment. Otherwise these are trash.

Heavy Blades – Melee ones come in the Farbond Spellblade variety, but it's the Drow Long Knife that really pulls Heavy Blades up from mediocrity, because Gith Silver DLK is the only way a Spiritbonder can proc Psychic Lock.
 

Light Blades

Dagger (PHB) – No feat cost +3 proficiency with acceptable range. Enjoy your out-of-the-box level+7 to hit, Spiritbonders. The only thing you wish you had is better enchantments.

Polearms – The only polearm you should consider is the Greatspear, which is covered in another section.

Spears – The Javelin is the second of the two best thrown weapons, and with Polearm Momentum this weapon group can offer a lot of extra control.
 

I'm taking a leaf from the designers' book with regards to level distribution: the + sign indicates a progression every 5 levels, there's another version of the armor with an additional +1 enhancement bonus.

 

Level 2+

 

Awakening Armor (Hide, Chain) (PHB3) – The bonus to Will is too small and conditional to be a selling point, but the Daily power is a great thing for a Controller to have- don't waste that high Initiative being surprised

 

Repulsion Armor (Cloth, Leather) (AV) – Keeps folk away from you. Better for Spiritbonders who lack the Bloodbond Minor Action shift.

 

Screaming Armor (Hide, Scale, Plate) (AV) – A free bonus to Intimidate, and a nifty debuffing power (with range, no less). A solid choice
.

 

 

 

Level 3+

 

Armor of Sudden Recovery (Cloth, Leather) (AV 2) – Ongoing damage is common, and otherwise-unconditional regen is fantastic for surge efficiency.

 

Defensive Armor (Any) (PHB 3) – This property features a solid Daily defense-booster, which becomes meatier with power points (it's better if you're a Noble Adept).

Skald's Armor (Leather, Chain) (PHB 2) – This is a great way to turn the tables when you get swarmed.
 

 

Level 4+

 

Battle Harness (Cloth, Leather, Hide) (D 368) – High initiative is part of being a good Controller, and if you want to pick up any implement powers via multiclass, this will help you cope with only having two hands.

Ectoplasmic Armor (Leather, Hide) (PHB 3) – Psychic resistance is pretty decent, and the item power (interrupt an attack and gain insubstantial for a turn) is pretty decent- together it's worth your time.

 

Flowform Armor (Cloth, Leather) (PHB 3) – The fact that it's an immediate saving throw that doesn't count against the per round immediate action limit makes it worth mentioning- the fact that it's an encounter power makes it the best heroic tier alternative to vanilla Magic Leather.

 

 

 

Level 5+

 

 

 

Deathcut Armor (Leather, Hide) (PHB) – Necrotic and poison are very common damage types, especially in ongoing damage form, which is where resistance is most relevant.

 

Gloaming Armor (Cloth, Leather, Hide) (MME) RARE – The item bonus to Stealth is handy if you're into that kind of thing (it's worth being into) and the encounter power(!) is very useful- treat it like an extra use of Feywild Jaunt.

Shadowdance Armor (Cloth, Leather) (SAC) – This is especially nice if you use a shorter range weapon, but even the crossbow users get stuck in melee occasionally. This is an airtight solution.

 

 

 

Level 10+

 

Lifeblood Armor (Hide) (PHB 2) – Temporary hit points at the end of each rest means you get a small buffer for every fight. This armor is expensive, however, and by the time you get it, the amount of thp it gives is pretty small compared to your hp total.

 

Level 14+

 

Armor of Dark Deeds (Leather, Hide) (AV 2) – Concealment when you attack with CA is nice. Combine with the Hidden Sniper feat, and then you also have CA when you attack with concealment… and then you… waaaaait a minute!

 

Greater Armor of Eyes (Any) (MME) RARE – Blind immunity on its own makes this worth picking up. You're well suited to use the Perception bonus, too, especially since now you have Darkvision, heyo.
 

 

Level 15+

 

Assassinbane Armor (Any) (AV) – Direct upgrade over Awakening Armor. Decent for the same reasons, but keep in mind that surprise is something that shouldn't come up that often.

 

Bloodvine Armor (Hide) (PHB 2) – Expensive, but the power can help you stay alive. Worth a look.



Trollskin Armor (Hide, Scale) (PHB) – Regen is always a nice thing to have in your back pocket, but its steep cost puts a ceiling on how awesome it can be.


 

 

Level 19+

 

Great Cat Armor (Hide) (AV 2) – Particularly nice for Bloodbonders, (who can shift as a Minor action, if you recall) but this is obviously great for any ranged attacker.

 

 

 

 

I'm taking a leaf from the designers' book with regards to level distribution: the + sign indicates a progression every 5 levels, there's another version of the weapon with an additional +1 enhancement bonus.

Level 1+:

 

Distance Weapon (Any Ranged) (AV) – Very useful for thrown weapon builds, for whom range is an issue. The weapon enchantment slot is worth more than simply solving this problem; the primary draw here is how marvelously cheap this is.

 

Level 2+:

 

Duelist's Bow (Bow) (AV 2) – This is a simple, inexpensive way to grab some extra control, and those are two very important qualities. Most of your control works better against melee targets, but this anti-artillery tool rounds out your control repetoire nicely.

Dwarven Thrower (Axe, Hammer) (D385) – I'm including this because some people are attracted to the idea of throwing a Mordenkrad or an Executioner's Axe. Dear Readers, don't do that. It's a trap. If you want to throw an axe, use a Handaxe. If you want to do a lot of damage, throw a Frost Handaxe.

Hungry Spear (Spear) (AV 2) – This is required if you want to throw a Greatspear, which is not unreasonable. (What? You want to throw a Gouge? Nope, get out of my house.) Even if you don't, it's nice to have a Hungry Javelin as a backup weapon for the power. The fact that the weapon doesn't come back immediately when you use the power unfortunately makes it very hard to use, and past heroic tier keeping a Hungry Javelin at-level is not a good use of your resources. This gets bumped up to Blue because there are a few nice things that work for polearms but not spears.

Rebounding Weapon (Any Ranged) (AV 2) – Basically grants you an additional use of Inevitable Shot each encounter, which is nice- since Inevitable Shot is not a free action attack, you can use this power and Inevitable Shot off the same trigger, which is pretty cool.

Resounding Weapon (Hammer, Flail, Mace, Sling, Staff) (PHB) – That this is useful in heroic mostly speaks to how desperate the Seeker is for hard control. If you use a Throwing Hammer or a Sling, a daily power to daze on a hit is not bad.

Alfsair Spear (Spear) (AV 2) – This is useful for avoiding MID if you want to powerswap Shaman or Druid. If that's your only concern, you're probably better off with a better enchantment on a Javelin and an off-hand totem. On the other hand… if you poach Magic Stones (Half-elf/Hybrid) you can use this to bring Polearm Momentum into the mix. That build has issues, but it's worth a mention.

Shock Spear (Spear) (MME) – If you want to proc Mark of Storm and you're okay sticking with a
Javelin, this is cheaper than a Lightning Weapon.

Way-Leader Weapon (Spear) (MME) – Kind of a Leader effect, but it's so fantastic that you don't care. As a high Initiative Controller, putting your melee Striker and your Defender adjacent to enemy artillery as soon as an encounter starts is some of the best control you can apply.

Weapon of Long Range (Any Ranged) (MME) – See Distance Weapon; this is slightly more expensive for a lot more range. A great deal for a short range thrown weapon like the Bola.
 

 

Level 3+:

 

Armbow (Crossbow) (EPG) – You shouldn't be a Warforged Seeker, but if you are, this is very nice.

Frost Weapon (Any) (PHB) – I try to dissuade people from investing their Seeker's resources in damage when they could be improving control instead, but I know some people will ignore me. Those people should use a Frost Weapon with Gloves of Ice and a Siberys Shard of Merciless Cold.

Luckblade (Heavy Blade, Light Blade) (AV) – This is best as an offhand weapon that you don't upgrade. A daily reroll is handy to help you land that crucial shot.

Point-Blank Weapon (Any Ranged) (AV) – This weapon does a mediocre job solving a problem that can be solved absolutely by Shadowdance Armor. This is a misuse of your weapon enchant slot, and bears mentioning only because it's the kind of thing people tend to think is a good idea. If you can't get Shadowdance Armor, just stay out of melee.

Screaming Bow (Bow) (AV 2) – This is a cheaper alternative to the Lightning Weapon, with the mild disadvantage of requiring that you mostly choose powers that deal untyped damage and the more serious disadvantage of being restricted to a bow.

Seeker Weapon (Any Ranged) (MME) – Besides being thematically appropriate, this weapon's power is actually much better than it seems at first. Feyjump Shot is easier to use and more disruptive when one of it's targets can be out of LoS/E. Still only situationally useful, though.

Swiftshot Weapon (Crossbow) (AV) – This property basically let's you put off Speedloader in early heroic when you most desperately need the few feat slots you have. The Daily power is very nice, even if it is just gravy.

Targeting Weapon (Bow or Crossbow) (AV 2) – It's a Leader power, not a Controller one, but it's good enough that it's worth a mention.
 

 

Level 4+:

 

Dislocation Weapon (Heavy Blade, Light Blade) (PHB3) – Being restricted to the dagger means the range at with this power is limited, but the distance of the teleport is only limited by where you're allies are. The strategic applications here are manifold, but think of this as an anti-Artillery power (of which you don't have many), especially if you have an Aura Defender.

Shielding Blade (Heavy Blade, Light Blade) (D391) – A cheap +1 AC in exchange for you off-hand. An excellent trade for many builds.
 

 

Level 5+:

 

Lightning Weapon (Any) (PHB) – Useful only if you can take Mark of Storm, in which case you can use it to add some forced movement to all your attacks, which is fantastic and definitely worth how expensive this is.

Weapon of Speed (Any Ranged) (MME) RARE – Definitely worthy of being called Rare. Scaling initiative boost AND an unconditional Minor action RBA every encounter? Yes, please!
 

 

Level 8+:

 

Aura Killer Weapon (Any Melee) (AV2) – Thrown weapons only. It's hard to recommend an enchant that has nothing but a Daily power, but this is a really useful power. Consider maintaining it as a backup weapon- it activates on a hit, so you can afford to keep it a + behind your main weapon.
 

 

Level 9+:

 

Feyslaughter (Any) (AV) – Simple and effective. Enemies who teleport can bypass a lot of the Seeker's best area movement control, and this shuts this down.

Githyanki Silver Weapon (Heavy Blade) (MoP) – This is Drow Long Knife exclusive, and one of the best arguments for using the weapon. Psychic damage means you can proc Psychic Lock, and the Daily banish (save ends) compares favorably to most Seeker Dailies. Really excellent pick.

Lullaby Weapon (Flail, Hammer, Mace) (AV) – Worth mentioning simply because the Seeker doesn't get access to a Sleep-like power until level 15. That said, this power isn't very accurate, and doesn't scale well.

Songbow of Lullabies (Bow, Crossbow) (AV 2) – Requires another failed saving throw compared to the Lullaby Weapon, but since the power activates on a hit it's harder to say which is more reliable. This version works better as a backup weapon.
 

 

Level 12+:

 

Wyrdwarped Weapon (Any Ranged) (MoP) – Nothing but a Daily power that lets you teleport your target on a hit. Simple, but good enough to be worth a mention.
 

 

Level 13+:

 

Moonbow (Bow) (D386) – Are you a Moonbow Dedicate using a shortbow as an implement for Cleric/Invoker powers that you've swapped in? Tight on feats? Pick this up (comes in longbow flavor!) and retrain Moonbow Dedicate.

Sniper's Weapon (Crossbow) (AV) – This is campaign dependent- do you really need that much extra range? You might, if your DM likes extremely long range combat. The Daily is a nice accuracy boost.

Thunderbolt Weapon (Any Ranged) (AV) – If you were using a Lightning Weapon, upgrade to this to save some cash AND replace a lame Daily power with a sweet Daily power.
 

 

Level 14+:

 

Battlemaster's Weapon (Any) (AV) – This is premium golfbag fare. Put it in your back pocket and recharge Feyjump Shot when you really need it. Pity it's so high level- it'll be a while longer before you can afford a backup weapon of this caliber.

Mindiron Weapon (Bow, Crossbow) (AV) – Combine with Psychic Lock, and enjoy the accuracy-boost encounter power.

Transposing Weapon (Any) (AV) – If your DM likes putting artillery in inaccessible spots, this is tons of fun.

Voidcrystal Weapon (Any Melee) (AV) – Nothing going for it except for a Daily power, but that power is a until-next-turn banish that you activate on a hit, and lets you move the target 3 squares on its return without a save against being moved into hindering terrain.

Wind Weapon (Any Melee) (MME) RARE – Encounter forced movement power that doesn't cost a Standard is nice- playing Leader with the Agile Opportunist in your party is very nice. Not that Controllerish, but good enough to be worth a mention.
 

 

Level 16+:

 

Forceful Weapon (Bow) (AV) – Instant forced movement on every hit. One of the best arguments for using a bow.
 

 

Level 19+:

 

Tenacious Weapon (Any) (AV) – An encounter power to roll twice on your next attack is nothing to sneer at. You can do much better at this level, though.

 

Since there is no set-in-stone progression symbol for items that don't follow the standard "every 5 levels" progression, I'm going to be labeling the levels at which each version of every item in this section is available.

 

Level 3

 

Bracers of the Perfect Shot (L3/13) (AV 2) – These seem like a good idea- Seekers do RBAs, right? Yes, but until L19 only your At-Will powers are RBAs, and there's no epic version of these anyways. Pass.

 

Phylactery of Action (L3) (RPGA Village of Hommlet) – No action encounter save rerolls are fantastic. Downsides include being forced to use it at the end of your turn when you normally roll saves, and being limited to specific conditions which are, admittedly, most of the ones you badly need to save against. Still a really excellent pickup.

 

 

 

Level 5

 

Quickhit Braces (L5/15/25) (AV) – Some decent damage, but only if both attacks hit. Better if you’re getting an item bonus to damage from another source (like Radiant Weapons).

 

 

Level 6

 

Bracers of Archery (L6/16/26) (AV) – If you’re using a bow or a crossbow, this a fine and good use of this slot. If you're using a crossbow, have a good chuckle at that Daily power.

 

 

 

Level 7

 

Bracers of Escape (L7/17/27) (D365) – Daily Interrupt to teleport out of range of a melee attack. Since you don't have utility powers like these like the Ranger does, this is pretty nice.

 

 

 

Level 15

 

Winged Shield (L15) (D394) – Bam, you have three hands. Light Shield and Superior Crossbow, yes please, why hello there Hindering Shield, how do you do. If you're an Ocular Adept ignore this obviously, as you already have three hands.
 

 

Level 19

 

Trollhide Braces (L19/29) (AV) – Regeneration is always a solid defensive choice.

Since there is no set-in-stone progression symbol for items that don't follow the standard "every 5 levels" progression, I'm going to be labeling the levels at which each version of every item in this section is available.

 

Level 2

 

Acrobat Boots (AV) – Cheap, and they let you stand up as a minor action (a very useful property). Somewhat diminished in value because of the At-Will skill power that lets you do the same thing, though.
 

 

Level 7

 

Boots of the Fencing Master (AV) – Rewards you for moving around. What's not to like?
 

 

Level 8

 

Boarding Boots (AV 2) – This basically lets you "charge" with an At-Will once per day, which is pretty cool for a Melee Ranger. It's also part of the Kamestiri Uniform item set, which makes it look better if you already have pieces of that set.

Boots of Quickness (L8/18/28) (AV) – A decent boost to your Reflex defense.


 

 

Level 9

 

Boots of Eagerness (AV) – Pretty cheap, and they pack a pretty nice mobility-advantage power.
 

 

Level 10

 

Boots of Sand and Sea (AV) – This is a cheap speed boost that also allows you to swim if you're in light armor. Not bad.


 

 

Level 12

 

Battlestrider Greaves (PHB) – The cheapest speed boost available for heavy armor users.


Shadowdancer's Boots (AV 2) – A speed boost for light armor wearers that gets better in darkness is OK, and it's also part of the Shadowdancer's Garb item set.
 

 

Level 16

 

Survivor’s Boots (AV 2) – Yeah, they require you to be bloodied, but after that, you can pretty much do whatever you want in combat. Glorious for Archers.
 

 

Level 22

 

Boots of Speed (AV) – +2 to speed and a decent power.


 

 

Level 24

 

Boots of Caiphon (AV 2) – They sap your HP, but it’s probably less damage than you would take for eating an OA, especially at these levels, and you ARE moving with a minor action…

Zephyr Boots (AV) – A fly speed. Must I really discuss this further?
 

 

Level 25

 

Sandals of Avandra (AV) – Expensive, but they allow you to move around quite a bit on an At-Will basis.
 

 

Level 28

 

Boots of Teleportation (AV) – Get them if you can afford them. That is all.

Since there is no set-in-stone progression symbol for items that don't follow the standard "every 5 levels" progression, I'm going to be labeling the levels at which each version of every item in this section is available.

 

Level 3

 

Gloves of Piercing (PHB) – Real cheap, and they should punch through most resistance to your attacks if they're not element-based.
 

 

Level 4

 

Gauntlets of Blood (AV 2) – A sweet damage bonus against Bloodied enemies, this is probably your default Hands choice if you don't have something specific in mind.
 

 

Level 5

 

Gloves of Recovery (AV 2) – A consolation attack after a miss is nice (especially after a Twin Strike; the consolation attack may deal more damage than the original). This is part of the Blade Dancer's Regalia item set, so picking one or more items from that set makes this go up in value.
 

 

Level 8

 

Gauntlets of the Ram (PHB) – Anything that allows you to push more is sweet for an Archer packing a Forceful Bow.


 

 

Level 10

 

Antipathy Gloves (AV) – A decent ability for Ranged users that do not want to be engaged in Melee.



Dwarven Throwers (AV) – This allows you to make a basic attack with your main weapon at range once per encounter. Pretty cool.



Strikebacks (AV) – Though the bonus to Opportunity Attacks likely won't see that much play on you, the free Melee Basic Attack every encounter when you get hit will. A most excellent choice for Melee Rangers.
 

 

Level 11 

 

Gloves of Ice (L11/21) (AV 2) – More damage for your cold attacks, or punch through cold resistance. Glorious, especially with Frost Weapons.

Shadowdancer's Gloves (AV 2) – If your Stealth skill is good, +1d6 damage is a nice benefit to have. Being part of the Shadowdancer's Garb item set doesn't hurt, either.
 

 

Level 13

 

Gloves of Missile Deflection (AV) – Some solid resistance against Ranged attacks. Archers get targeted with them more than Melee Rangers, so they appreciate this a bit more.
 

 

Level 16

 

Gloves of Accuracy (AV) – This is nice to have if your DM likes to put obstacles in the way of your arrows and you have minor actions to burn.

 

 

Level 18

 

Gauntlets of Destruction (PHB) – Rerolling all 1's on Melee damage roll can certainly add up to be a very nice effective damage bonus.

Since there is no set-in-stone progression symbol for items that don't follow the standard "every 5 levels" progression, I'm going to be labeling the levels at which each version of every item in this section is available.

 

Level 2

 

Eagle Eye Goggles (L2/12/22) (AV) – A scaling attack bonus to Ranged Basic Attacks is a pretty nice benefit to have.
 

 

Level 4

 

Casque of Tactics (L4/14/24) (AV) – An initiative bonus is good for anyone, and swapping initiative who anyone who rolled high once per day is nice too.


 

 

Level 6

 

Horned Helm (L6/16/26) (PHB) – If you have any sort of charging focus, this item is for you.

 

Level 8

 

Coif of Mindiron (L8/18/28) (AV) – Protects against an increasing array of mental conditions (albeit only against Will) as an ENCOUNTER POWER. Sexy.


 

 

Level 9

 

Helm of Battle (L9/19/29) (PHB) – Initiative bonuses for everyone!


 

 

Level 10

 

Shadowdancer's Mask (AV 2) – A do-over for a Stealth check is very useful for certain types of Rangers. Being part of the Shadowdancer's Garb item set certainly helps the cause a bit.
 

 

Level 14

 

Circlet of Arkhosia (L14/24) (PHR: DB) – Making saves at the beginning and end of your turn against certain annoying mental conditions is surely worth a look.

Helm of Able Defense (AV 2) – A bonus to Will, and a bump to all defenses until you get hit is pretty good if you ask me.
 

 

Level 15

 

Carcanet of Psychic Schism (AV) – Slaps a penalty on you, but it sure beats being incapacitated.
 

 

Level 21

 

Coif of Focus (AV) – Comes by later in your career, and burns up a Magic Item Daily, but negating Daze or Stun is awesome.
 

 

Level 22

 

Helm of Ghostly Defense (PHB) – Helps you take the sting off your opponent’s hits, and smidge of necrotic resistance to boot.
 

 

Level 23

 

Eye of Awareness (AV) – A decent bonus to Will defense, and a huge initiative boost on top of that.

I'm taking a leaf from the designers' book with regards to level distribution: the + sign indicates a progression every 5 levels, there's another version of the weapon with an additional +1 enhancement bonus.

 

Level 2+

 

Badge of the Berserker (AV 2) – Makes charging a heck of a lot safer.

Cloak of Resistance (PHB) – Decent resistance for a turn.
 

 

Level 3+

 

Baffling Cape (AV 2) – It's on this list because it's part of the Blade Dancer's Regalia item set, since I don't think the power is any good.
 

 

Level 4+

 

Cloak of Distortion (AV) – Forces your enemies to get in close enough for you to engage them if you're Melee, and provide an eternal artillery v. artillery advantage if you're Ranged.


 

 

Level 8+

 

Pavise Charm (AV 2) – The only reason I mention this is because of the Kamestiri Uniform item set; pinning yourself down as a Striker is a big no-no.

Steadfast Amulet (AV) – This prevents daze or stun. 'Nuff said.


 

 

Level 9+

 

Amulet of False Life (PHB) – Your healing surge value in THP is a sweet ability, even if it's a Daily.



Shadowdancer's Cloak (AV 2) – Lets you squeeze in one more potshot against an unsuspecting opponent. This is also part of the Shadowdancer's Garb item set.
 

 

Level 10+

 

Periapt of Cascading Health (D 369) – Ends one effect per encounter, no questions asked. Win.

 

 

Level 13+

 

Amulet of Scales (D 365) – Scaling, immediate-application, encounter-long resistance to a keyword (which includes Arcane, Weapon, and the like, by the way) is nice.
 

 

Level 14+

 

Flamewrath Cape (AV) – Offers a nice damage boost, as well as disincentive for enemies attacking you. Only for one turn, though.

Timeless Locket (AV 2) – A very tasty bonus to initiative checks that should stack with just about every buff you can have for it. The only downer is that (post-errata) you can't attack with the standard action the Daily power generates.
 

 

Level 15+

 

Brooch of Vitality (AV) – More HP is NICE, especially the Epic Tier versions.



Cloak of Displacement (AV) – A nice bonus to AC and Reflex until you get hit, and a pretty cool power. Worth a look, especially for Archers.

Necklace of Fireballs (AV) – Defense that packs some decent offense.



Torc of Power Preservation (AV) – It retains Encounter powers when you use them. Need I really say more?
 

 

Level 30

 

Scarab of Invulnerability (PHB) – Makes you immune to everything for a round. Sure, it's a Level 30 item, but you will enjoy the short amount of time you'll have it.

Remember, you can have two of these, so look out for Rings that either work well together or work well in doubles.

 

Level 13

 

Ring of Giants (D 378) – A sweet bonus to critical hit damage, and push 2 + prone on any primal attack power you may power-swap for can come in handy.
 

 

Level 14

 

Iron Ring of the Dwarf Lords (PHB) – +1 healing surge is a pretty solid benefit.



Ring of Fury (D 366) – When you're bloodied, you let it be known.

 My issue with it is mainly that the trigger is hard to control.
 

 

Level 16

 

Ring of Protection (PHB) – Generic defensive item. Useful, though it's about as exciting as watching grass grow.



War Ring (AV) – Adds a little more 'oomph' into your criticals.
 

 

Level 18

 

Bone Ring of Better Fortune (AV) – Since this halves all necrotic damage, it can potentially be better than a lot of resistance.


Ring of Ramming (AV) – Hands you a bit more 'oomph' on those Archer pushes should you pick up a Forceful Bow or use Staggering Strike.


 

 

Level 19

 

Grace Ring of Prowess (AV 2) – A solid power that lets you rev up for +2 to hit before teeing off.
 

 

Level 20

 

Ring of Action Reversal (AV 2) – A hefty bonus to initiative checks, and a sweet benefit should you miss with an Encounter power.
 

 

Level 21

 

Ring of Heroic Insight (AV) – Allows you to buff yourself pretty well once per day.


 

 

Level 22

 

Blink Ring (AV) – Teleportation is nice to have as a Striker.


 

 

Level 23

 

Greater Ring of Invisibility (AV 2) – Invisibility every encounter, and concealment the whole way after a milestone. Wow.
 

 

Level 24

 

Golden Ring of Teros (AV 2) – +2 to AC and Fortitude is nice to have, even if it’s conditional.
 

 

Level 26

 

Ring of Guarded Will (AV 2) – A nice bump to Will defense.
 

 

Level 27

 

Avandra’s Ring (AV 2) – Ignoring difficult terrain is pretty cool. Too bad it shows up so late…

Ring of the Phoenix (AV) – A pretty sweet revival ability.

Shadow Band (AV) – You can't really argue against +2 to all defenses as a static property…


 

 

Level 28

 

Ring of Elemental Mastery (MOTP) – Allows you to shave some elemental resistance off your opponent, or flat-out ignore it after a milestone. Solid, especially for people looking to abuse the Frostcheese combo.

 

 

Level 29

 

Ring of Free Time (AV 2) – Expensive, but the action potential with this and all those minor action attack powers Two-Blade Rangers have (or the Beast’s Melee Basic Attacks) is just nuts, and everyone appreciates having extra actions to work with. And it packs resist all 5. Can't go wrong with this.
 

 

Level 30

 

Dauntless Champion’s Ring (AV 2) – Power recovery is good, though the price tag on this is steep.

Nullifying Ring (AV) – A capstone defensive item. Pretty nuts… if you can foot the bill.

Since there is no set-in-stone progression symbol for items that don't follow the standard "every 5 levels" progression, I'm going to be labeling the levels at which each version of every item in this section is available.

 

Level 8

 

Belt of Lucky Strikes (D 365) – A free attack after you miss is a solid benefit.

Belt of Vim (L8/18/28) (AV) – Reinforces what could be your strongest defense or your weakest one, depending on your combat style.


 

 

Level 10

 

Diamond Cincture (L10/20/30) (AV 2) – Easy-to-access healing, and a bonus a to Fortitude. Nice.

Shielding Girdle (AV) – A nice Daily AC buff.
 

 

Level 11

 

Healer's Sash (L11/21) (AV) – Anything that allows you to heal your allies is at least worth mentioning, even post-errata.

 

 

Level 15

 

Belt of Giant Strength (PHB) – A meh offensive Daily buff, but a pretty cool bonus to skills.


Girdle of the Umber Hulk (L15/25) (AV) – A solid burrow power, and a boost to Fortitude.
 

 

Level 16

 

Girdle of the Dragon (L16/26) (AV) – Fortitude boost, and an OK attack power.


 

 

Level 18

 

Belt of Mountain Endurance (D 365) – Glorious for Melee Rangers. +Str to surge value and an AP benefit, all in one package.
 

 

Level 19

 

Belt of Breaching (AV 2) – Healing and teleportation as you transition from kill to kill. That's definitely worth something on a Ranger.
 

 

Level 23

 

Belt of Vitality (AV) – Gets you up when you're down, and boosts Fortitude. Could be worse…
 

 

Level 25

 

Belt of Titan Strength (PHB) – A strong Melee buff for one turn, and strong skill bonuses.


 

 

Level 28

 

Sash of Regeneration (L28) (AV 2) – Having regeneration while bloodied is a nice benefit.

Since there is no set-in-stone progression symbol for items that don't follow the standard "every 5 levels" progression, I'm going to be labeling the levels at which each version of every item in this section that doesn't follow that progression is available.

 

Ammunition:

 

 

 

Level 3+

 

Firestorm Arrow (AV 2) – Lays down some heavy fire (pun intended). Lets you play focus fire and crowd control simultaneously.

Freezing Arrow (AV 2) – Extra damage AND slowing? Very nice.

Lightning Arrow (AV 2) – Extra damage is awesome, though this one is a bit behind the other magical ammunition after the errata.

Surprise Bullet (AV 2) – Free CA is a pretty nice benefit to have.
 

 

Level 10+

 

Dual Arrow (D 373) – REROLLS, you say?! Now this is what I'm taling about!

 

 

Dragonshard Augments:

 

 

 

Level 2

 

Eberron Shard of Lightning (L2/12/22) (EPG) – A great incentive to wield Lightning weapons.

Khyber Shard of the Fiery Depth (L2/12/22) (EPG) – Incentive for wielding Flaming weapons.

Siberys Shard of Merciless Cold (L2/12/22) (EPG) – Yet another reason to like Frost weapons.
 

 

Level 3

 

Siberys Shard of Radiance (L3/13/23) (EPG) – Another selling point for the Radiant weapon.
 

 

Wondrous Items:

 

 

 

Level 5

 

Power Jewel (AV) – A pain-free way to recharge a low-level Encounter power, which is nice to have… until you retrain all of them away.

 

Level 9

 

Backlash Tattoo (AV 2) – A free basic attack every encounter is a nice revenge sort of ability.

Endless Quiver (AV 2) – Endless ammo for Archers. Do I really need to explain why that is good? To boot, it's part of the Kamestiri Uniform item set.
 

 

Level 10

 

Salve of Power (AV) – Post-errata, this trades a surge for another Encounter power, which is a pretty good deal for most Strikers.
 

 

Level 11

 

Dice of Auspicious Fortune (D 381) – Gives you more chances to roll the number you really need.

 

Level 12

 

Foe Stone (AV) – Cheap, and it pinpoints your opponent’s weakest defense at will. Somebody in the party has to have this; why not you?

Stone of Earth (AV 2) – A very nice reroll for Melee Rangers (not missing on that Blade Cascade is awesome).

Stone of Flame (AV 2) – Fire lovers want one of these around.

Stone of Light (AV 2) – If you're into Radiant damage, having a do-over in your back pocket sounds like a good idea to me.

Stone of Spirit (AV 2) – If you're partaking in Psychic attack support, a reroll is good stuff.

Stone of Storms (AV 2) – If lightning and thunder are your elements of choice, this is good to have.

Stone of Wind (AV 2) – A do-over on a Ranged attack is a nice thing to have.
 

 

Level 16

 

Solitaire (Aquamarine) (AV) – Free attacks after a critical are nice.
 

 

Level 21

 

Solitaire (Cerulean) (AV) – Expensive, but getting rid of (save ends) effects this easily should be.
 

 

Level 26

 

Solitaire (Violet) (AV) – Free AP’s after a crit are awesome, but the price tag is very hefty.