it was a pretty good battle last night, and the session lasted for an extra two hours due to the complexity & size of the battle.
The PCs were victorious, though. The party cleric casting Mass Heal on the party and the drow cleric being killed just before she could cast her own Mass Heal on her allies really changed the battle. (Note to self: need to create a dread necromancer to cast Mass Harm...)
One PC died, but the party psion did a Psionic Revivify on him and he later got helped by the Mass Heal to get back on his feet.
The drow duskblade caused havoc with Vampiric Touch on her blade before finally getting killed - twice. (She has been a party nemesis since the PCs were 3rd/4th level - this was the 4th time they ran into her) Getting killed twice meant that she was dropped, Revivified by one of the drow clerics, healed and then Vampiric Touched her way to get more hit points.
The drow sorcerer caused a lot of damage with his Greater Arcane Fusion spell - but, the PCs kept saving against his Disintegrate and Finger of Death spells, so only took the secondary damage. The encounter was too spread for him to use AoE spells like Waves of Exhaustion effectively. However, his Orb of Acid worked well as a 4th level spell. Next sorcerer will maybe be doing Greater Arcane Fusion in combo with Arcane Spellsurge.
The drow's orog fighter minions were basically ineffective due to most of the players being able to fly, and the drow wizard who did have Mass Fly memorized got killed early in the fight - before he could cast it.
The drow clerics were not as effective as I had hoped, as the PCs consistently made saves vs Mass Hold Person, Plague and Greater Command. (Domination & Tyranny domains) The best spell between the two clerics was the Chain Dispel Magic that did a pretty good job of de-buffing several party members - including some fire shields.
Oddly, the horned devil with his stunning effect from his Spiked Chain was very effective and a couple of PCs (including the dwarf fighter) spent a good part of the fight stunned.
The drow marshall was not as effective as I had hoped, as his orog fighter & hill giant barbarian minions were land-locked. The only time the minions got into melee, their attacks were countered by the Mass Fire Shield on the PCs, so they'd hit for 20-30 points of damage, and then take 18-20 back from the Fire Shield.
Overall, a pretty good encounter.
The PCs were victorious, though. The party cleric casting Mass Heal on the party and the drow cleric being killed just before she could cast her own Mass Heal on her allies really changed the battle. (Note to self: need to create a dread necromancer to cast Mass Harm...)
One PC died, but the party psion did a Psionic Revivify on him and he later got helped by the Mass Heal to get back on his feet.
The drow duskblade caused havoc with Vampiric Touch on her blade before finally getting killed - twice. (She has been a party nemesis since the PCs were 3rd/4th level - this was the 4th time they ran into her) Getting killed twice meant that she was dropped, Revivified by one of the drow clerics, healed and then Vampiric Touched her way to get more hit points.
The drow sorcerer caused a lot of damage with his Greater Arcane Fusion spell - but, the PCs kept saving against his Disintegrate and Finger of Death spells, so only took the secondary damage. The encounter was too spread for him to use AoE spells like Waves of Exhaustion effectively. However, his Orb of Acid worked well as a 4th level spell. Next sorcerer will maybe be doing Greater Arcane Fusion in combo with Arcane Spellsurge.
The drow's orog fighter minions were basically ineffective due to most of the players being able to fly, and the drow wizard who did have Mass Fly memorized got killed early in the fight - before he could cast it.
The drow clerics were not as effective as I had hoped, as the PCs consistently made saves vs Mass Hold Person, Plague and Greater Command. (Domination & Tyranny domains) The best spell between the two clerics was the Chain Dispel Magic that did a pretty good job of de-buffing several party members - including some fire shields.
Oddly, the horned devil with his stunning effect from his Spiked Chain was very effective and a couple of PCs (including the dwarf fighter) spent a good part of the fight stunned.
The drow marshall was not as effective as I had hoped, as his orog fighter & hill giant barbarian minions were land-locked. The only time the minions got into melee, their attacks were countered by the Mass Fire Shield on the PCs, so they'd hit for 20-30 points of damage, and then take 18-20 back from the Fire Shield.
Overall, a pretty good encounter.
