Favorite combat tactics? (2nd attempt)

Well, I was not quite done with the favorite combat tactics thread. So I may as well try to kick it off again. Once again, I am looking for situational tactics that arise from a combination of spells, and combat maneuvers.

Getting your theif into a position to get sneak attacks gets you no points.

Using True Strike so you can dump a huge amount of your BAB into Power Attack is not much better.

Hitting someone with a tangle foot bag after tripping them so they are stuck prone, that gets full points.

The highlights of the original thread were a few key suggestions of combat tactics, a series of useable on the spot decisions for dealing with a Flying Improved Invisibility Sorcerer and casting a whole lot of Magic Missile.

At about the time that the site bombed out, I was discussing the ramifications of the use of Teleport spells that dump melee powerhouses next to low AC targets.

For convenince, I will refer to the Flying Invisible spell caster as "Death From Above", and to Dei's habit of teleporting a half giant melee tank as "Teleport Hulk".

One thing I would like to repeat is that I consider the best tactics and counter-tactics to be those that are as usable by low leve characters, or at least as low as possible. Tactics that are hugely dependent on spells can always be countered by either Dispel Magic or Anti-Magic Field. A trip + Tanglefoot bag can be used by anyone with the Quickdraw feat and an extra Melee attack, so they can immediately use the Tanglefoot bag.

And now, a very quick recap of tactics already covered.

Charge Bait: Put archers with hard cover immediately behind a pit trap. Players like to charge archers. They fall in, and then the Archers can push something heavy on top of whomever fell into the pit.

Zombie Pool: Put any undead into waist deep water, and have them grapple opponents to hold them under water.

Tanglefoot Trip: Trip someone, and then hit them with a tangle foot bag.

Disarm and Snatch: Have a designated combatant setup to disarm. Have his mooks delay their actions, so that if the disarm succeeds, they can steal the weapons.

Death From Above: Fly, be invisible, and cast lots of nasty spells while being immune to most attack by virtute of being unhitible.

Teleport Hulk: Have a caster teleport a pumped up melee tank next to low AC targets. The telport should allow the tank a full attack on the soon to be blood stain.

Ok that should bring us all back up to speed. Let the thread continue.

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For fighters:

Carry around javelins/other throwing weapon, and have Quick Draw (especially nice along with Power Throw from Complete adventurer).
When not even a charge will get your opponent at reach, that's the way to go.

Wait for the enemy to Charge while in full defense (or just move to 10-ft from him), then Attack.
Result:
His attack was made at a -2 (with respect to the normal, +2 Att but +4 AC from the target)
Your attack was made at a +2 (with respect to the normal, -2 AC for charging)

For a sword-an-boarder charge witht your weapon 2-handed, and after the charge, draw the shield (Quick Draw is your friend).

[GOOD! One of the threads I was grieving upon loosing has been raised... now the one about BBEGs ]

Aid another is your friend (or at least the goblin's friend):
when four goblins lvl 1 aid the lvl 4 goblin Ranger/Fighter/Barbarian, things get somehow nasty.

Land Outcast said:

Aid another is your friend (or at least the goblin's friend):
when four goblins lvl 1 aid the lvl 4 goblin Ranger/Fighter/Barbarian, things get somehow nasty.

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That goes for grappling too. I love it when the Great Cleaving fighter wades in to a mass of kobolds only to have them swarm on him and drag him down to the ground

When a hiding group reveals itself to attack, it shouldn't be the whole group. Yes, not all of them will get the advantage of flatfooted enemies. But it allows the enemy to make false assumptions, run into ambushes/traps and get their focused groups drawn out.

Grapple Swarm

Who among us can say that they have not at least wanted to try to have a swarm of humanoids use Aid another in an attempt to take down a combatant who got sloppy? My Zombie Pool tactic is essentially an attempt to use this tactic in water.

The only real problem with using Kobolds, Goblins, or Orcs for this kind of thing is that you really dont have many chances to make it work. Pretty much every warrior can score a minimum of 4 damage, and they will probably take down the first to step up and try to grapple on his AoO. If the opponent has Cleave, he will get the next guy in line also. It does not take long to run through that first dozen humanoids. If Great Cleave or Spin Attack is handy, then you have real problems.

You either need a Monk, someone with Unarmed Strike, a very High AC grappler, or someone with enough HP to eat the AoO to make this work once you get to mid level gaming.

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Lord Zardoz said:

Disarm and Snatch: Have a designated combatant setup to disarm. Have his mooks delay their actions, so that if the disarm succeeds, they can steal the weapons.

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Also note one can use Unseen Servant to gank disarmed objects. The spell description states: "It can run and fetch things, [...]", which is exactly what one needs. It lifts 20#, and with a duration of 1hr/level, it's quite handy for this tactic.

I've been using the Night Haunt feat to access Unseen Servant as a melee type.

I suppose it would also work great with the nonproficient wiz/sor who uses an oversized whip to disarm with Truestrike.

I like this thread.

Getting the entire team to use stealth is key. It's possible to actually ambush the majority of enemies you will face. If you can get the fignhter and cleric to where they need to be relatively undetected, the battle tilts heavily in your favor when you strike.

Just the thief=minimal damage. The entire team=incredibly potent.

Entire parties I've been in (even with non-stealthy characters) use this simple tactic to level even the most difficult of encounters on to our level.

I consider the use of Stealth not so much a tactic, but as a means by which you can execute a tactic.

Consider why it is your hiding in the first place? Why is it important at any given moment that you remain undetected? Are you trying to perform recon on a target for information gathering? Are you trying to avoid patrols and combat altogether? Are you hoping to take out one target without alerting another, or are you trying to take out a target before he can ready his defences?

Given those goals, there are potentially other ways to acheive them.

If you want to perform recon, the obvious way is to get near without being seen. The less obvious way is to use Disguise and Bluff spells to hide in plain sight. Or you can use divination spells and avoid interaction all together.

If your trying to avoid a patrol, you can try to not be detected, but it is their job to detect intruders. Or you can use an illusion, or create some other form of distraction to draw the patrol away.

There are times when hiding and being silent are the only viable solution, however. When your trying to avoid all forms of combat, there are not a whole lot of options. The same goes for trying to take out one target and not another.

Trying to hit someone when they are unprepared for combat is something that can be acheived by either speed or stealth. You can sneak up on them or simply ambush them as they walk through a doorway, which is the use of Stealth. Or you can use Speed, and just hit them before they can possibly react. Teleport Hulk is a speed tactic. A large giant advancing on you is a que to cast that stone skin or a Interposing hand spell. But having someone magically appear next to you then not so magically put a sword through your head is all about speed.

Hide and Move Silently are the sorts of things that pretty much any reasonably well prepared enemy expects, and can counter. But Bluff and Diplomacy can be alot more dangerous in the hands of the right person. Con Artists have stolen much more money then any pick pocket can ever hope to acquire.

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Lord Zardoz said:

Zombie Pool: Put any undead into waist deep water, and have them grapple opponents to hold them under water.

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Zombies have an Intelligence of 0 - changing tactics to account for environmental conditions is beyond them.