Defeating a hydra as a melee fighter
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Hypersmurf
Moderatarrrrh...
Question said:
If you can arrange for an Improved Invisibility, he doesn't get any AoOs.
If you have Spring Attack, ranks in Tumble, a potion of Invisibility, or a tower shield, you can close without provoking any AoOs. Combining the Invisibility with a Charge-Power-Attack-Leap-Attack-Smite-Evil-Sneak-Attack-Superpowered-Combo! is going to give you a good start to the combat.
If you have a potion of Enlarge Person and a reach weapon, you can carve him up from 20 feet away.
A tricked-out grappler might do okay; hydras have good grapple checks, but no matter how many heads they have, they're limited to one (or iterative, depending on ruling) attack in a grapple. I took down a hydra with a Reaping Mauler grapple build once - add enough bonuses to your grapple check, and you can play with the big boys.
-Hyp.
(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
Question said:
You only draw the two AoOs (or however many) approaching the hydra. From then on, if it moves more than five feet, you get an AoO. (So if it moves more than five feet in an attempt to force you to draw AoOs, at least you get to hit it.)
But, of course, you'll need support.
Aust Diamondew
First Post
Reach Weapon or just don't do melee and bring a potion of fly and a Might Long bow (preferably of wounding) to the battle.
Every character should know when to change roles.
Every character should know when to change roles.
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Land Outcast
Explorer
12-headed Hydra: Fast healing 22, 20ft speed, +17 12 heads
Books not here --> Wealth of a lvl 11 Ftr???
Lvl 11 Ftr:
Weapon Focus --> lvl 1
Combat Expertise --> lvl 1
Dodge --> lvl 1
Weapon Specialization --> lvl 2
Greater Weapon Focus --> lvl 9
Full Plate +3 (9k+1.5k=10.5k)
Tower Shield +3 (9k)
Amulet of natural armor +1 (2k)
+1 Flaming Frost Bastard Sword (18k)
Belt of Strength +4 (16k)
Str 20, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 8
Normal:
Attack: +17/+12/+7 melee (1d10+5+2 plus 1d6 fire plus 1d6 cold/19-20)
AC: 32 (+7 Shield, +11 Armor, +1 Dex, +1 Dodge, +1 natural)
Using combat expertise:
Attack +12/+7/+2 melee (1d10+5+2 plus 1d6 fire plus 1d6 cold/19-20)
AC 37
And our 12-headed friend only hits on a natural 20... but it is not receiving damage (Ftr averages 19 damage per hit...)... hum...
Chances of hitting thrice are around 0.8%
Chances of hitting twice are around 18%
(might be wrong, I am humble... on this matter)
looks like he's screwed, but that's his fault, he should be adventuring with a party!
(Note I didn't make use of floating shields... things I do not like. Just built him almost identical to my previous char, a Templar of Helm... now, if you want me to present an hydra slayer, that's another whole story with Magical Beast Bane Greatswords, Animated shields, Monkey Grip, as well as a Half Orc instead of a human)
Books not here --> Wealth of a lvl 11 Ftr???
Lvl 11 Ftr:
Weapon Focus --> lvl 1
Combat Expertise --> lvl 1
Dodge --> lvl 1
Weapon Specialization --> lvl 2
Greater Weapon Focus --> lvl 9
Full Plate +3 (9k+1.5k=10.5k)
Tower Shield +3 (9k)
Amulet of natural armor +1 (2k)
+1 Flaming Frost Bastard Sword (18k)
Belt of Strength +4 (16k)
Str 20, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 10, Cha 8
Normal:
Attack: +17/+12/+7 melee (1d10+5+2 plus 1d6 fire plus 1d6 cold/19-20)
AC: 32 (+7 Shield, +11 Armor, +1 Dex, +1 Dodge, +1 natural)
Using combat expertise:
Attack +12/+7/+2 melee (1d10+5+2 plus 1d6 fire plus 1d6 cold/19-20)
AC 37
And our 12-headed friend only hits on a natural 20... but it is not receiving damage (Ftr averages 19 damage per hit...)... hum...
Chances of hitting thrice are around 0.8%
Chances of hitting twice are around 18%
(might be wrong, I am humble... on this matter)
looks like he's screwed, but that's his fault, he should be adventuring with a party!
(Note I didn't make use of floating shields... things I do not like. Just built him almost identical to my previous char, a Templar of Helm... now, if you want me to present an hydra slayer, that's another whole story with Magical Beast Bane Greatswords, Animated shields, Monkey Grip, as well as a Half Orc instead of a human)
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Land Outcast
Explorer
Then his best choice would be to keep mopving and help however little he can with some arrows. That will reduce the impact of fast healing.
You could of course make use of the environment, trees? prepare the terrain ahead and drop them down on the hydra, place wooken stakes (actual sharpened trunks) hidden among some bushes at an acute angle witht eh floor and retreat there, you can easily avoid them, the Huge hydra cannot.
Oh, yes: even the meek spell: levitate, will be your friend here, in any scenario.
You could of course make use of the environment, trees? prepare the terrain ahead and drop them down on the hydra, place wooken stakes (actual sharpened trunks) hidden among some bushes at an acute angle witht eh floor and retreat there, you can easily avoid them, the Huge hydra cannot.
Oh, yes: even the meek spell: levitate, will be your friend here, in any scenario.
Um, cautiously close to melee range and go nuts with powerattack 'till its dead.the_mighty_agrippa
First Post
Yes, get the party to help in any way you can. Improved Invisibililty, AC buffs, Blur, Bear's Endurance, etc. When I have to square off against a golem or something, I ask for as many modifiers I can get to stack the odds in my favor - spells like Bless, Prayer and Recitation all give bonuses to hit that can be channeled into Power Attack or offset the penalties for fighting defensively. Spells that lower the critter's attack bonuses are also highly desirable.
