What are your party's combat tactics?

[Voadam]

In our small group I usually handle the tactics and ambush planning. Our paladin is of the "Right, Charge!" type and our dwarven fighter cleric pretty much is as well, although he likes to buff with bull's strength given time.

I usually start out with thunderlance if I have time for the 20 foot reach or stick with my magic bastard sword for melee if I don't (I play an Eldritch Knight) with magic missiles, webs, and lightning bolts for my ranged attacks. I also like to fly with my winged boots a lot. Mirror image has shown itself to be useful as well.

For an ambush we once had an underground area we knew an invisible bad guy party would show up in, so I set up an illusory wall for us to hide behind, and placed an alarm spell at the dungeon entrance and nearby, the entrance was our cue to buff then go quit, the second one was for the cleric to use invisibility purge and for us to launch our assault. We killed the illithid and ogre mage very quickly and the rest fell like chaff afterwards. I was proud of that ambush.

 

[kigmatzomat]

double post.

 

[kigmatzomat]

What kind of combat tactics does your party use? I'm curious to learn more about different techniques, ones I haven't experienced before. DMs, this goes for you, too.

How do you set up flanking? What spell/combat combinations are most effective? When do you retreat? Do you have any special dirty tricks? How do you take advantage of your party's unique matrix of traits & abilities?

Well, my party churns through wizards so the tactics change according to magic support.

Basic tactics when the players are proactive is:

1. scout first. The party doesn't attack things randomly. (Yay!) If they see a critter that isn't an immediate threat to the region or will make their mission difficult, they avoid it.

2. Massive use of cheap ammunition. With a bard/rogue/arcane archer and a ranger/deepwood sniper for primary "death from afar" with the rogue, fighter, and paladin providing additional bow based fire support. The cleric and wizard have crossbows but prefer to hold action in case artillery or defensive magics are needed in short order.

3. Use party augmenting magics if the targets aren't falling quickly enough. Typical (3.0) party augment is mass haste, mass fly, bless and bard song. Otherwise they are frugal with their spells.

4. Once the can has been opened, don't hold back. Flame strikes and fireballs in bulk are the order of the day while the opponents are at range and bunched up with Searing light and (element) Orb when they close. For distributed forces Summon spells are a good choice. The wizard was partial to infantry (dire bears) but the cleric likes air support (arrow hawks and lantern archons).

Party structure is usually paladin and fighter in front, rogue tumbling/sneaking for a good flank on the toughest looking opponent, an archer towards each flank with war-mounts as living shields and casters towards the center but back far enough so a single fireball can't cook the party but they can move in and cast Mass (buff) if needed.

When fighting a single powerful creature (like a hydra) they try to surround it. That maximizes flanking, gives casters more chance to use an AE spell, and cuts down the impact of breath weapons or other AE attacks.

Defensive tactics are variants of this to the limits of the battlefield.

 

[kigmatzomat]

sigh. multipost.

 

[Numion]

In our group the defining factor in combat is the division of the PCs to close and ranged combatants. Then we try to act so in combat that the second group is kept from close combat.

Mostly we are on our own (= no tactic at all), but in cramped environments like dungeons and such the division works rather naturally. Most of the time the ranged combatants aren't attacked by the enemy. That means that the close combatants are doing their job.

 

[Nighthawk]

The current group I am with as a player is lacking in tactics overall, but that is mainly due to the player characters' exceptional stats and having quality mundane equipment. There are six players in the group and that leads to a greater versatility for the group, but also increased willingness to take on challenges without any thought as to the possible consequences of doing such things.

The most common melee tactic we have is based on our three warrior-type characters: one in the center with a reach weapon (glaive) flanked by the two others with non-reach weapons. This tends to be a solid formation for skirmishes, especially when supported by the two multi-classed spellcasters and the rogue. One of the non-reach weapon warriors is seriously considering taking Quick Draw and such because he has an interest in thrown weapons. He is curious how effective thrown weapons would be in the beginning of close combat. It helps tremendously that the character has a high Strength score.

I think that as we increase in experience levels, we will broaden our tactics more, although I am unsure if the frequency of such will actually increase.

 

[Ao the Overkitty]

Hmm... tactics.... lets see. For the campaign I play in, they go something like this.

Simon (Aristocrat/Fighter/Barbarian) Power Attacks and smashes through the bad guys while his cohort Ursella (Cleric) heals and boost the party (if she's with us).

Padraic (Aristocrat/Monk) does cool and cinematic things like stopping an overrunning red dragon, jumping 15-20 ft up to punch a dragon to death, leaping from windows, and generally doing the unexpected. There is a line at our table; "You can prepare for everything but Padraic."

Seth (Bard/Paladin) swishes a lot at the bad guys, starts singing, then goes back to swishing. Eventually he gives up and starts healing. My dice hate me...

Fiona (Aristocrat/Sorcerer) lays waste to the baddies with her mighty spells and makes us all look inferior (well... maybe not Simon). But that's okay, cause we love her for it.

Tellsford (Ranger) shoots things with lots of arrows until they drop. Sometimes he charges them with his horned helmet.

Now, if we know what we're facing and have time to prepare, that might alter Ursella & Seth's spell lists, but the general tactics are the same.

 

[Altamont Ravenard]

Hm... do we have tactics?

In the game I'm playing in tonight (low-magic), the basic strategy is "everyone wade in combat and fight until all is still and silent". The barbarian proves to be the most effective at that tactic, but not by much (paladin, cleric with magic staff, and me (barb/rogue)). Sometimes, SOMETIMES, the cleric remembers to buff the other PC's, and by "buff the other PC's" I mean cast Bull Strength on the Barbarian (much to the dismay of the somewhat competitive Paladin).

In my other games... lemme think...

The aforementionned strategy prevails. Wizards, sorcerers and clerics only use damage spells. Fighting types rush into combat and kill as much as they can.

It's pretty pathetic, really. Probably explains why we died so much recently.

I must admit that ENWorld's influence has proven beneficial on my tactics. Recently, I've actually readied a counterspell (blocking a teleport from a recurring wizardly villain) and divided the enemies so we wouldn't have to fight them all at once (Fiendish Levelled Ettins, IIRC) with a Wall of Force.

AR

 

[Quasqueton]

Recently, the adventuring party (five 6th-level PCs) invaded a dungeon. They hacked and slashed their way to the BBEG without bothering to question the dungeon denizens about what might be encountered.

When the PCs encountered the BBEG, they charged right in without caution or tactics. In 21 rounds, 4 PCs were dead, and the 5th only barely escaped. The BBEG was only about half wounded.

The living PC retreated back to the nearby village and put out word of what he and his group had discovered. Other adventurers (new PCs) came to investigate. The new PCs hooked up with the surviving old PC, and they went back to the dungeon.

This time, the party (now one 6th-level, and four 5th-level PCs) was forewarned about the BBEG. [Note: these new PCs were not particularly "loaded" for this one enemy.] They didn't charge right in, and they were cautious and used group tactics. In 25 rounds, only 1 PC was dead, and the BBEG was slain.

So, foreknowledge, healthy caution, and a little tactics made up for a lower party level.

This is a tactic/strategy that is probably the most often overlooked -- learning about the enemy before the fight. I'm sometimes astonished by how parties ignore all their resources for gathering information. You could capture minions or guards. You could question the local animals and plants. You could use various divinations. You could simply just set up a hide and personally watch the enemy from a distance. Even scrying spells are rarely used to just gather info -- it is usually only considered a tool to find the enemy, and is then immediately followed up with a teleport.

So often though, the party just busts in the front door and learns about the enemy in the hand to hand combat.

Quasqueton

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Tactics?...We don't need no stinkin' tactics!

Actually we do, but as the wizard in the group I have trouble getting the idea through the thick heads of the muscle-bound fools. Closest we come to tactics is trying to leave space for another party member to get in and gang up on a beastie. Heck, until recently they didn't even think to move 5ft so they could set up a flanking bonus.

As DM, I have not used much tactics yet, but mostly because the creatures they've fought have been relatively mindless or fanatical and don't spend a lot of effort thinking about things like that. That is going to change next time I DM as they will be fighting some groups of seasoned warriors.

One thing I did use was in the Serpent Amphora, when the aasath stole the amphora from the party and the party pursued, they did make nice use of a Grease spell to force the party from running full steam, Of course the Druid's misplaced Entangle spell also helped as well...