Party optimization

[interwyrm]

It seems to me that an all ranged party could work well if they are all highly mobile and focus on powers that push/slide/slow enemies. On the other hand, small rooms would be difficult.

 

[Eric Finley]

Small rooms, foggy swamps, twisty tunnels... there are lots of places where such a party would be suboptimal. Keeping both ranged and melee capability around is definitely very important to any party, just because the counters to all-melee and all-ranged are so readily available. (For example, our party is now hitting the third encounter in Storm Tower, and it's the first one where all-ranged wouldn't have been pretty heavily screwed... and even this one is a smallish room where we're certainly not more than a move+charge away from anything, even corner-to-corner.)

 

[Nifft]

As for ensnaring swordmage, my opinion is that ensnaring swordmages don't work well with anything--they should just be shielding swordmages and be done with it.

I could see them being good with a party that laid down a lot of zones.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Thundershield]

I'm personally fond of the combination of a Battlerager and an Artificer using Resistive Formula.

Especially since Battleragers tend to have a good amount of HP and a high healing surge value, making the Enhanced Resistive Formula feat even more appealing and a splendid way for the Battlerager to indirectly defend the party via the Artificer's temp HP buff (it's a free action to activate, so you can use it the moment an ally is hit to let the temp HP granted rebuff the attack).

 

[SigmaX0]

Our party for our new campaign was chosen largely based on what people thought was 'cool', we have:

-Deva Retriubtion Avenger
-Razorclaw Shifter Predator Druid
-Deva Tactical Warlord
-Goliath Rageblood Barbarian

Think it should be a fun party, with me (barbarian) and warlord holding the front line, the avenger taking out artillery and the druid filling in the gaps where needed.

Think we'll suffer without a pure defender? Also, the druid plans to spend almost all of his time in beast form, meaning we may lack some AoE control.

 

[Nifft]

Think we'll suffer without a pure defender?

The answer to this is, IMHO: is anyone squishy?

If every PC has an AC that can handle melee combat, Defenders are a luxury.

Cheers, -- N

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

The answer to this is, IMHO: is anyone squishy?

If every PC has an AC that can handle melee combat, Defenders are a luxury.

Cheers, -- N

One caveat to that. If everyone has an AC and hit points that can handle melee combat and has effective attacks that will not provoke opportunity attacks then you can do without a defender. What you don't want is a situation where three bad guys around a character means that the bad guys get three OAs if he makes a single attack.

 

[Nifft]

If everyone has an AC and hit points that can handle melee combat and has effective attacks that will not provoke opportunity attacks then you can do without a defender.

Right. Squishy means more than just "low AC". It means unable to thrive as a target in melee combat.

Cheers, -- N