Post/Author/DateTime	Post
95 12-13-07, 11:50 AM	what is your favorite single weapon fighting technique? when your in one on one combat how do you go about trying to win the engagment? maybe give an example of one of your favorite fights your character has won... step by step
Suin Bahhar 12-13-07, 12:22 PM	At lower levels I like to use ranged combat for as long as possible than whip out the biggest weapon I can carry up close. You can find a little story how my rogue3/fighter1 dispatched a group of 5 drow who had concealed themselves in an obscuring mist here (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=925119).
Phelf_Der_Zemit 12-13-07, 07:41 PM	Obscuring mist is an absolutly awesome low level spell. At low level you want to have the appropiate deffesive abilities, and weapon focus. You almost must be a human for the extra feat, the main two is dodge, and weapon focus (weapon of choice, i.e. Big, Big sword -bastard sword-). Oil of Magic Weapon will come in handy, and you want something like mediam armor for the mobility (better than heavy) and protection (better than light). If your a rogue, dump all you can into bluff, and get a high charisma (third ability after 1) Dex and 2) Int) so you can make your enemies flat-footed and get the benifit of your sneak attack. thats all i got for know. who knows maybe more later.
captaincarot 12-14-07, 01:36 PM	ranged combat, to soften them up. use obstacle for cover and concealmant. use bad terrain to slow their approach. grease and web work wonders. sleep gives you the edge in numbers. so if you have a low level mage, in a party, buy grease and web scrolls get lots of sleep spells memorised. if you can get opponents surprised hit em with a web spell to immobilise their spell casters, then if their fighters break free put em to sleep next round and gang up on whoever is left after that. get up high and cast grease on the groud/ wall/tree trunk below you.
Suin Bahhar 12-14-07, 02:21 PM	I largely adhere to the dwarven principles on war Fight with a plan The shorter the battle the better Expend firepower not manpower Destroy the biggest threats first Fight with unified purpose Never fight on an enemies terms
icuall 12-17-07, 06:31 PM	In addition to the other good suggestions. Seperate and Conquer....try to cut off a group from the rest of party, deal with those first, then go for the rest. i.e. in a dungeon, as a enemy start coming in to the room you are in, have someone close and bar the door, dispatch the ones in the room, then re-open the door for some more. As you are higher up, Wall of Stone or Fire is nice to have.
Diffan 12-20-07, 10:16 AM	Well, to answer your questions: 1. what is your favorite single weapon fighting technique? -I'd have to go with Greatsword. Hands down the most damage dealing weapon there is and with the added two hands strength bonus = sweet. 2. when your in one on one combat how do you go about trying to win the engagment? -In all honesty, DO AS MUCH DAMAGE FIRST! Can't tell you how many times inflicting a ton of damage in the first round demoralizes your opponent. -In low-level encounter for your party, using the Knowledge skill to figure out your opponents weaknesses is helpful as is figuring out which enemy is the strongest and target him 1st with your meat shield (aka fighter type). Using the cleric's buff spells 1st and foremost before the battle can turn the tide and putting your rogue in position for ranged sneak attacks helps out tactically. (also, I'd suggest a rogue to take at least 1 level in swordsage to gain the Island of Blades stance (an opponent you and an ally threaten are considered flanked, reguardless of position of ally) is awesome for sneak attack damage. Lastly, your wizard plays a crucial part with debuffing spells (ie. ray of enfeeblement), terrain spells (ie. grease), and concealment spells (ie. obscuring mist) as people have mentioned. Direct damage spells have they're place, but you should let the meat bags take care of that. 3. maybe give an example of one of your favorite fights your character has won... step by step. -Well, it wasn't a low level encounter, pretty high really. But my character was a barbarian 1/ fighter 8/ frenzied berserker 7. We went up against a mountain ,more or less, of a monster (CR 19, I think) and because his Init was So low it went last. It gave my companions the time to cast spells like Brilliant Aura (all weapons gain the brillant energy property) and as I went I power attacked for all (+16) and used the Leap Attack feat (which then did triple the power attack damage if you make a jump check DC 15). Adding up my modifiers, my rage/frenzy boosts, the impressive power attack damge, I did something like 180 damage in one swing. Add that to the fact my other party members did roughly 90 to 110 damage before I attacked and it died in the 1st round. I could do the math for you if you like, but case in point, DO AS MUCH DAMAGE FIRST! :D
Suin Bahhar 12-20-07, 01:37 PM	Those are not exactly lowlevel characters Diff (but a good example of an optimised character doing his thang) but the advice still stands, put on the hurt as soon and as much as possible.
1 ton ghost 12-22-07, 01:51 PM	-Spring Attack vs. reaching opponets (greater than 5ft) as to not draw an AoO. if you measure the distance correctly pre and post-spring, they will still have to move more than 5ft, thereby negating a potentially nasty Full Attack. -alternately in group combat vs. giants, whoever has Mobility tries to go on defense (preferably w/ Combat Expertise) and moves to become threatend, baits giant into attacking them, thereby giving up it's 1 AoO for the round. this lets the group work up on him (ignoring AoO's) and box him in quickly for flanks and the like. Spring Attack when appropriate. it is pivotal that you know your enemy doesn't have Combat Reflexes first, howerver, most large types tend to go w/ the Power Attack progression. -dungeon/urban and hallway combat specfically; sieze the doorway as a choke point as fast as possible. take them 1 at a time, rather than a group, cycling out melee combatants w/ 5 ft. steps and resetting intitiative and delaying to capitalize on attack timing so everyone gets in. -alternatively, you could put your tank in the 'A' slot while others assist his AC and heal when needed, they can attack from 'B' and 'C' (his left/right flanks respectively), but they're looking at 1/2 cover vs. hallway enemy -if you are in this position, Overrun and Bullrush as best as you can. while they have you lined up in the hallway, unless you can Tumble through (and become terribly vulnerable until rest catch up), you're just dying to eat a Lightning Bolt. reach weapons when needed, but ultimately, tank must push his way through the blockade and draw AoO's so when party moves through, they don't (take one for the team basically)
Nevulin 01-03-08, 09:10 PM	If I'm using a strong fighter with a large weapon, I like the "cleave" feat. But with an agile character, I like "weapon finesse" coupled with a scimitar because of it's broad crit threat range.
Suin Bahhar 01-05-08, 08:38 AM	I believe you meant a rapier there, a scimitar is not finessable (except for whirling dervishes).
Darak 01-12-08, 08:13 PM	the winner is the one who strikes first,so initiative is the most important thing for example: (low level character) human ftr1 with dex+3 thug or blooded (regional feats) and improved initiative feat + power attack. + greatsword :) (init +9) rarely someone will survive direct hit. :P average damage 11. 2d6(6) + 3(str 14 for ex) + 2 (power attack).
Rext20 01-15-08, 09:23 AM	Yes initiative is very important, as for wepon choice I would go with longaxe or greateaxe+ power attack + cleave
GoldDragon 01-19-08, 05:04 AM	what is your favorite single weapon fighting technique? when your in one on one combat how do you go about trying to win the engagment? maybe give an example of one of your favorite fights your character has won... step by step Always direct the Party to aim for the Weakest looking foe first, and if there is a Mage Foe or Priest foe they get some darts or arows, hammers, or such thrown at them at least once a round to try to foil any spell casting. MAgic User: I prefer to buy wands of Fireball, Lightning, and Magic Missles and/or necklaces of Missles as soon as I can afford them and will have the Mage use the Fireball want as a "Softening Blow" for 3 rounds then switch to Lightning bolt wand when foes are lined up just right...especially when there is a wll for lightning to bounce back on and hit the foes again, and Magic Missles to target Priest foes, mage foes, and foes hanging back using projectiles. Fighters: For My Fighters the best armor I can buy is Key. I always have the Fighters carry a Pole Arm (Like a Halbard), a Sword (preferbly enchanted and silver) a Shield (preferbly Enchanted and Silver), a Mace (preferably of Disruption), a Sling or Staff Sling, and bought bullets and things like Stinkpots and Vials of holy water, and of course...healing potions Clerics: Same as Fighters but used Maces and flails or different sorts. Thief: Usually used to Dual Class or Multiclass to a thief
sleeplessghost 01-25-08, 01:41 PM	I think the best defensive weapon in the game is a spiked chain. The spiked chain gives you reach which will let you stand behind another character and get in sneak attacks if you are a rogue. Also if you are in a tight corridor you may be able to take down more than one character at 10 feat with the combat reflexes feat. At 2d4 points of damage the average damage is pretty good.The obvious downside is that you need to use a feat to use a spiked chain effectively. The best strategy also involves a spiked chain. Combat Expertise and Improved Disarm will make you an absolute monster against armed opponets. The best one-on-one story at low levels involves my 3rd level Drow Fighter going against a 4th level Duegar Barbarian. I kept using improved trip/disarm to keep him relatively harmless and buy me extra attacks of opportunity. Combat expertise put my AC up high enough so that when he raged he had to hit a roll of 17 to hit me.
Ramar Aulinvox 01-25-08, 07:54 PM	I enjoy the reach weapon system. Longspear or glaive (depending on class). This combined with combat reflexes and quickdraw gets you extra AoO with a quick switch up when they get too close. Use bucklers to get a bonus to AC.
mustafathered 01-26-08, 09:55 AM	At first level, I always walk out the door with a cold iron morningstar and a silver light weapon (the exact weapon depends on the character - but EVERYONE of my first level chars walks out the door with a cold iron morningstar). I also have a missile weapon. By 2nd lvl I like to upgrade to a bow of some sort if I am able to (and I am convinced that the vast majority of folks don't abide by RAW for crossbows). It is hard to go wrong with using the cold iron morningstar as a primary melee weapon. If you have knowledge that dictates otherwise, great, otherwise you have 3 froms of DR penetration - cold iron, bludgeoning and piercing. Also have some sort of slashing weapon for well-roundedness. Bucklers are good - and for 3rd level or so, keep in mind that mithral bucklers offer neither armor check penalties nor arcane caster failure chance and can be enchanted as the game progresses.
Bonzai 02-02-08, 05:11 PM	A fun one was using rope trick with a wand of magic missles enhanced with the transdimensional spell meta magic feat. My wizard would climb into his extra dimensional hidey hole, view the battle through his viewing portal, and pot shot them with magic missles with no chance of retaliation.
Bullet06320 02-04-08, 12:53 AM	in a Bar, have someone else throw a bag of flower onto the table to create a dustcloud, while at the same time charge with a pitchfork and slide under the table to do sneak attack damage. It worked once