"Well, I cannot heal. But, I throw minor force discs out during combat to protect one ally a little and I can also distract my enemies somewhat. I should be able to use the discs to protect Susan on occassion so that Jarren does not need to heal her quite as often. My perspective, though, is that offense is the best defense. The faster we take out each foe, the less damage that foe can do to us."
Once the group is on the train, Grys says some more:
"This is KeKe." Grys says, pulling a small demonic creature out of his pocket. "Don't let his appearance fool you. He's actually quite harmless. But, he can assist us in combat. I send him invisibly in amongst our foes and he can distract them so that our melee combatants like Susan here or any of our summoned allies can get a bit of a drop on them." Grys then puts KeKe back.
"Personally, I prefer to stay out of a lot of close combat. I'm hardly dressed for it." Grys says, indicating his regular clothes and lack of armor of any sort. "But, I will move into close combat on occassion. I am not very good with my sword in melee, but I can use it to send out arcane blasts of Force."
"My personal thought was that Susan appears to be the best protected, so she should be up in front the most. I should stay near the center of the group where I can assist where needed. The rest of the team should spread out where they think they are most useful, preferably in areas of cover. I am fairly mobile, so I should be able to move from hot spot to hot spot. But I tend to not stay in one place for long, so I won't be able to help Susan too much. The summoned creatures and companion will have to fill up that niche. Along with Susan, they are our front line."
"Did you bring enough arrows Ryda? Hobgoblins multiply like rabbits. We might be in for a long haul."
[sblock=OOC]
Re: Summoned Creatures. Mythra can dismiss the creature before it dies so that he does not need to expend a healing surge.
Re: Storm Pillar. It does not take up a space. Anyone can move into it's square, it just cannot be conjured into an occupied square. One of the best ways to use it is to put it in the square above a foe. That way, that foe is locked down from any normal movement unless it wants to take damage.
Re: Creatures. My familiar cannot prevent a foe from moving into its square, but Jarren's spirit companion and Mythra's summoned allies can. We should be able to often set it up so that Susan isn't surrounded. The spirit companion, however, is pretty limited. It cannot flank. But, it does take up a square which is helpful, and it is also immune to burst and blast attacks, so those of us with bursts or blasts that target creatures do not have to worry about damaging the spirit companion. Such attacks might, however, damage my familiar or Mythra's summoned allies.
A good tactic is to have the spirit companion out in front the most, even in front of Susan before we get into an encounter. If foes move in to attack the companion, then Mythra and I can blast them with Grasping Shadows and Scorching Burst without having to worry about harming the spirit companion, or Susan for that matter. And, the spirit companion might be able to set off traps so that Susan doesn't.
Re: Marks. Susan's mark is better than Grys', so she should mark most foes as often as possible. However, Grys' mark is what lessens the damage an ally takes, so she shouldn't override his mark too often. But, there will be times where it is best for her to override it so that he can use it on someone else instead. Also, whichever foe Grys has marked should typically be the last foe we attack since Grys reduces the damage done by that foe if it attacks anyone besides Grys. For all intents and purposes, Grys decreases the effectiveness of one foe per encounter, so that foe should often be the last to fall. I will try to make this an elite or other strong foe each time so that we can concentrate on shifting action economy to our favor as fast as possible.
[/sblock]