Non-Caster Survival
- Thread starter Steverooo
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Plane Sailing
Astral Admin - Mwahahaha!
Steverooo said:
Why not take Entangle? If you are doing any outdoors stuff it has a vast area and makes them a sitting duck for your archery. Longstrider would be another good option if under 3.5; extra mobility is always good.
Are you a 3.5 ranger? What is your companion? What feats do you have and what combat path?
FWIW my campaign is a party killer, but the fighter types have been lasting longer than the rogue and wizard types
I'm wondering where you're guys stats are. You can't have a high Wis, otherwise you'd be getting and extra bonus spell. If you have a +2 chain shirt and +1 buckler that would make your AC 18+Dex; is your Dex any good? I don't see how you have a "low" AC unless you have dex penalties
Piratecat
Sesquipedalian
[Funny in-joke] Have you tried using archery? Ranged weapons are the way to go! 
[/funny in-joke]
BAB is designed to rise faster than AC; that's why you get good hit points. I think you may want to focus on mobility. If you can move faster than the enemy, you can pummel them with magical arrows and never be hit in melee.
I also agree about entangle; that spell is essential.
[/funny in-joke]BAB is designed to rise faster than AC; that's why you get good hit points. I think you may want to focus on mobility. If you can move faster than the enemy, you can pummel them with magical arrows and never be hit in melee.
I also agree about entangle; that spell is essential.
Entangle
Entangle is okay, as far as it goes (which isn't very!), but it sucks razor blades in the city & dungeon. In general, I haven't found it to be particularly useful.
Also, it hardly works with archery, at all, as the plants provide cover (25%/10', IIRC), and even with Blind-fight, you soon can't hit an entangled opponent.
Besides, even if it did work, you'd still just be a one-trick pony.
Other advice? How do you keep high level Fighters and Barbs alive?
Entangle is okay, as far as it goes (which isn't very!), but it sucks razor blades in the city & dungeon. In general, I haven't found it to be particularly useful.
Also, it hardly works with archery, at all, as the plants provide cover (25%/10', IIRC), and even with Blind-fight, you soon can't hit an entangled opponent.
Besides, even if it did work, you'd still just be a one-trick pony.
Other advice? How do you keep high level Fighters and Barbs alive?
Altamont Ravenard
Explorer
Steverooo said:
You're thinking of Web. Entangle provides no cover.
AR
Oni
First Post
How does anyone survive in dnd.... Teamwork. If you're going to be a fighter type, the simple fact of the matter is your going to take hits, thats why you have lots of HP. You want to do more damage than you take, if you consistantly do this you should be the one standing at the end and looking for the cleric to patch you up. It is the cooperation of you fellow party members that help you to achieve the more damage given than taken. Either through helping you damage your target by doing damage themselves, or helping you gain some bonus, either by maneuvering or buffing, or through healing. If after even all that you're taking more than you're dishing out (and this really applies to the party as a whole too), then retreat.
Beyond that I think a higher level fighter type's biggest weakness is saves and mobility. Saves can be boosted a little through multiclassing, but then your hurting your fightertype goodness. So unfortunately these are things you kind of have to turn to magic items for. (If I could change one thing about dnd it would be the dependence on magic items rather than the inherent abilities of the character, but such if life.)
Beyond that I think a higher level fighter type's biggest weakness is saves and mobility. Saves can be boosted a little through multiclassing, but then your hurting your fightertype goodness. So unfortunately these are things you kind of have to turn to magic items for. (If I could change one thing about dnd it would be the dependence on magic items rather than the inherent abilities of the character, but such if life.)
d4
First Post
my celestial dwarf 7th-level barbarian / 3rd-level fighter (ECL 12) survives by having lots of hit points. even so, he's died twice already (both times in Heart of Nightfang Spire).
unlike your character, i don't even really have the option of ranged combat -- he's set up to be a meleer and that's about it. his AC is about mid-range i guess (26 -- he gets missed a fair amount of times), so his hit points are about the only thing that keeps him going in melee. (we've had a lot of combats where i go from 118 hp to somewhere in the teens or 20s.)
the only stat-boosting item he has is a pair of +2 gloves of dexterity, which help his AC but don't really add anything to his primary focus (melee combat). he doesn't have any save-boosting item. (in fact, his Will save is still only a +3, meaning he's a sitting duck for spellcasters...)
the major thing that works in his favor, however, is what Oni mentioned: Teamwork. we've got a good group that works well together, and that makes all the difference.
unlike your character, i don't even really have the option of ranged combat -- he's set up to be a meleer and that's about it. his AC is about mid-range i guess (26 -- he gets missed a fair amount of times), so his hit points are about the only thing that keeps him going in melee. (we've had a lot of combats where i go from 118 hp to somewhere in the teens or 20s.)
the only stat-boosting item he has is a pair of +2 gloves of dexterity, which help his AC but don't really add anything to his primary focus (melee combat). he doesn't have any save-boosting item. (in fact, his Will save is still only a +3, meaning he's a sitting duck for spellcasters...)
the major thing that works in his favor, however, is what Oni mentioned: Teamwork. we've got a good group that works well together, and that makes all the difference.
Ridley's Cohort
First Post
Steverooo said:
I would recommend relying on item use, good tactics, bow fire, stealth, and healing from others.
Okay I can give one tip: scrolls and wands. Look at you spell list very carefully and consider which spells would be money well spent. Particularly think about scrolls that will help in dire emergencies. At 7th level he is a 3rd level caster and can cast a few 2nd level druid spells from scroll without fail. Spike Growth looks promising. Obviously it will break the bank to rely on scrolls for run-of-the-mill combat. But they might pull you out of a tight spot.
You do have a Wand of Cure Light Wounds, right?
billd91
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Steverooo said:
Well, medium armor hasn't been removed as an option at all. It has been removed as a costless option. You can still wear it though with a penalty, you can still buy the feat so that you are proficient. You just have to be willing to figure out what you'd like to pay to have that kind of protection.
So, how do you keep a melee character alive? Learn when and how to run. Use teamwork. Get some healing items (wands, potions, whatever). Get AC-increasing feats like Dodge, Mobility, and Combat Expertise. Get potions, srolls, or wands of barkskin. Use a reach weapon and get good at the 5'step back then attack backpedal maneuver. Get the party cleric to buff you with Bear's Endurance at the beginning of a dangerous-looking fight. Do not expect to go toe-to-toe with the clamshell-wearing fighter and paladin.
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