Common High-Level Tactics

[ashockney]

* Anti-Life Shell + spell barrage + undead bodyguards

Why doesn't anti-life shell get more love? It completely keeps those pesky enemy fighters from getting all up in your face and grappling you.

Much love here. That's a beauty.

A couple other fun tactics I've seen used in games (all from my previous list were dm'd):
*Limited wish opponent here, grapple into pit of acid, entrap with antimagic field...good times
*Water Breathing on your party and raise water, particularly in a cavern with underground river
*Blasphemy/Holy Word and gang tackle while stunned...rinse/repeat
*Move Earth/Earthquake in a cavern = a fun little cave in
*Whirlwind Attack with Vorpal Weapon (preferably as a standard action), in 3.0 with haste you could vorpal whirlwind, move, vorpal whirlwind (hasted attack)...good times
*Dragon performs grapple (snatch) with anti-magic field cast...awful
*Energy Substitution and Spell Shaping can make for fun 20d6 sonic bursts with DC30+ saves
*Indirect Artillery - there's some terrific spell combinations that allow wizards to reign terror on a room from several rooms away

Enjoy!

 

[hong]

A high-ish level tactic I have used with some success:

* Anti-Life Shell + spell barrage + undead bodyguards

Why doesn't anti-life shell get more love? It completely keeps those pesky enemy fighters from getting all up in your face and grappling you. But your undead minions are free to move in and out of the shell as necessary. Meanwhile, you can sit back and rain down flame strike or firestorm or implosion or whatever.

You'll want to kill the enemy spellcasters, then archers, first. But that goes for every fight.

It's great for BBEGs with undead and construct flunkies. Not so good for PCs, though, unless you like fighting alone.

 

[TarionzCousin]

A couple other fun tactics I've seen used in games (all from my previous list were dm'd):
*Limited wish opponent here, grapple into pit of acid, entrap with antimagic field...good times

Hopefully you're immune to acid, right? Otherwise, not so good times.

*Indirect Artillery - there's some terrific spell combinations that allow wizards to reign terror on a room from several rooms away

Don't be shy! Share with the rest of the class, please.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Project Image can be fairly sick if you have a way to get line of effect, yet remain hidden.

 

[Thanee]

Retire and Start Anew is a pretty refreshing high level tactic. And most definitely common.

Bye
Thanee

 

[kolikeos]

Here's tactics a 12th level wizard used against the PCs recently:
Have my undead minions block the path so the melee tank can't kill me in the first round. Have a Contingency with Stoneskin so the archer doesn't kill me in the first round. Cast Feeblemind on the sorcerer (hopefully before he uses any fireballs, which he did). Cast Repulsion, even if they kill all my minions I can't be grappled or power attacked. High save DCs.
Sadly, +2 composite (+4 str) longbows do more than 10 damage per hit, and I did not have any item that protected me from fire (although a better initiative might have helped here).

 

[Slife]

Err, guys, "You can pass into and out of the prismatic sphere and remain near it without harm." You just time stop, fly up 20' over your foe, cast prismatic sphere, and watch the jollity. For extra fun, ready an action to dismiss reverse gravity as soon as your foe hits the top of the range... and he'll fall through the sphere a second time!

Actually, the sphere cancels the reverse gravity. So they go up through it, then fall down through it, then go up...

 

[Piratecat]

Actually, the sphere cancels the reverse gravity. So they go up through it, then fall down through it, then go up...

It blocks line of effect.

Holy cow, I think I just had a geekgasm.

 

[Celebrim]

The key to high level play is to make the enemies proactive. It's not like the low levels where the monsters can just sit there in the dungeon waiting for the PCs to come along.

Actually, the key to making any level play challenging is making the enemies proactive. It's just that the players don't normally consider the tactics of high level play applicable until they get the 'neat toys'. But in fact, you can apply the same tactics at any level of play.

Think of it this way. An character level equivalent challenge is supposed to only reduce the players resources by about 20%. What's to stop the players of any level from doing just one encounter, spending a large percentage of thier disposable resources as necessary, and then immediately retreating to restore resources, heal up all hit points and so forth? The only thing that stops them doing that is, if they don't do something then the monsters will. If you don't play the monsters in a proactive manner, regardless of the level of the players, then you are pretty much going to get walked over by any smart party regardless of the level.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Last night's High-Level Tactic, stolen from two of the players in the game: Total Concealment.

The Shadow Template, or in the villain's case, the Shadow Body power, grants total concealment. That's a 50% miss chance except when in full daylight.

The best part was, the players couldn't figure out why they couldn't see the villain. Two of them have permanent See Invisibility, so they expected to see more than the general area of where the spells originated.

I guess what's good for the players is good for the DM.