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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FormerlyHemlock" data-source="post: 6550143" data-attributes="member: 6787650">Agreed that party optimization is where it's at. It's no use, for example, having a mobile stealthy party built around ranged combat and also a dwarf in plate mail with move 25.I'm on phone so a few miscellaneous observations:Paladin auras look amazing on paper but they force you into a tight formation which brings its own vulnerabilities. I've come to prefer Lore Bards stacking Bless and Bardic Inspiration because they can cover any formation even though they use more resources.Inspiring Leader is a fantastic feat for your party to have available. Healer is good too.It's often cheaper to have a teammate cover your weakness than to do it yourself. See move 25 dwarf above. He'd have to multiclass to monk/barb or take the mobile feat to be able to run away from most foes--or the wizard could cast Longstrider on him for 1 spell slot. Similarly, when I see a pure warlock take Armor of Shadows it makes me cry. You only have a few invocations. Why isn't a wizard casting Mage Armor on you instead?! (I know there are exceptions for wizardless parties and warlock/abjuror multiclass PCs.)Tactically, there's nothing wrong with taking a Dodge action or staying behind cover.Don't go charging into a fight where you will become the easiest target. That just burns resources. If Gomli's got the troll under control, Frido, don't enter the fight just because it's your turn! The troll will kill you and then Gomli will be annoyed that he has to do your job now.Fluff-wise I hate clerics, but they have some awesome mechanical options and combos available. My favorite is Death Ward (cleric) + Magic Jar (wizard). Again, this is a combo that is far cheaper for a party than for an individual.I've find that Shadow Monks are not impressive as front-liners but are great for party play because of 1.) Enabling stealth for everyone via Pass Without Trace; 2.) stunning strike on tough monsters; 3.) decent ranged option keeps them useful on the back line; 4.) have lots of cool random abilities that enable combos. E.g. monk (immune to poison, good in melee, can stun on opportunity attack) + bard (stinking cloud) = very sticky chokepoint and hard-to-kill monk. Or Cloudkill if you prefer.</blockquote>

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