What powers/feats for a Heroic tier warlord help with saving throws?

Question

I have a level 5 Dragonborn Bravura warlord who is the only leader in my party. My build is focused around granting extra attacks and combat advantage (perfect for the dragon born with the dragon fear racial power).

One of the things that became apparent in our game last night was that I don't have any powers or abilities that grant extra saving throws or bonuses to any kind of save. We are about 2 weeks away from level 6 and I am looking at the feats and utility powers trying to find something to help my allies be able to save. This isn't a primary focus, but it would be helpful to the party.

Answer 1

There are a few ways to do this, the easiest one I found, after a quick look through my character builder, was the Saving Inspiration feat, In Martial Powers; you can forgo your extra dice of healing on Inspiring Word to instead grant the target a save. I would choose this one, because it gives you the ability to hand out two saves an encounter (more at higher levels) without having to take up a utility slot.

If you would like to keep the feat slot you could retrain your level 2 utility, to Shake It Off(players handbook): a minor action that grants a save+ your cha, or your level 3 encounter, to Inspiring War Cry: it is a decent 2[w] swing that even if you miss with you grant someone within 5 a save (also Players Handbook). There are also some other daily powers that do similar things but I do not recommend them.

I have always found the optimization forums on the WotC community to be very helpful when I choose how to level my characters, and what is the "best way" to get things done. I highly recommend Chasing Glory: The Warlord's Handbook.

Answer 2

The most consistent "here, have a save" for any leader is the "Mark of Healing" feat. Shake it off and Inspiring war cry are acceptable alternatives as well.

You may also want the feat Courageous Example. While a little situational, it's good for enemy controllers spamming effects on the party: Whenever you succeed on a saving throw to end an effect, the next ally to make a saving throw within 5 squares of you before the start of your next turn gains a +4 bonus to that saving throw.

You may want to MC paladin, as they have a number of solid save-granting abilities, as well as a non-trivial amount of channel divinities which grant saves. Unfortunately, dragonborn are not the best race for save-granting.