Dire Ape. [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

Dire Ape. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
A_monk_00
06-11-06, 06:07 PM My party had a bit of a fiasco the other night involving a Dire Ape. They were quite sloppy and unorganized going into the fight and it literally tore them to shreds. The party consisted of 4th level ranger, wizard, cleric, and ninja. No one died, though the ranger was at 3 or 4 hp and the wizard was knocked unconsious twice. It would have easily been a TPK had I not bailed them out.

My real question is: Has it been the experience of others that the Dire Ape is a tough fight for it's challenge rating (CR 3), or was my party really that terrible?

Thanks!
Venenum
06-11-06, 07:20 PM Maybe it was an advanced dire ape and the the cr was higher. Did you kill? and How much treasure did you get? We need more information to answer your question.
Secrets Untold
06-11-06, 07:25 PM He's talking from the point of the DM. The party is the problem.
Venenum
06-11-06, 07:50 PM I did not read the whole post sorry. Were they rolling poorly, thats done me in before. Did yhey work to gether. or did you roll really well.
A_monk_00
06-11-06, 08:38 PM The party is the problem.

This was my initial reaction also. They were horribly uncoordinated, and didn't work together at all. Granted, the ranger is new to the game, but the other three should have known better.

Right. Back to the tactics soapbox.
lukelightning
06-12-06, 01:45 PM The secret to fighting things like dire apes is "don't let them get a full attack" Keep on moving, even if it risks an attack of opportunity. I'd rather get an extra swipe on me than risk getting hit by a rend.
cwslyclgh
06-12-06, 03:45 PM A dire ape killed a 5th level paladin in my game in one round, the paladin charged it and hit it, then the dire ape full attacked, hit with all of it's attacks, between the attacks and the rend it rolled 1 point less then maximum damage, dropping the paladin to -9 hp, nobody else in the party could help him in time and the paladin died on his next turn in the initative order.

Dire apes, like anything else with rend, can be nasty if they get a full attack action and either roll very well or are attacking somebody with a fairly crappy AC, but they are fairly simple to dispose of if a party plays keep away and uses ranged weapons and/or spells. All in all I think that CR 3 is about right, although the circumstances of the encounter could easily raise the EL (if it is fought someplace where mobility was limited and it could get lots of full attacks).
Secrets Untold
06-12-06, 06:09 PM The key to a battle with a single monster is to have the melee characters flank it* and have the casters blow the living daylights out of it.

*: If the creature has rend, invest in the spring attack feat, which a 3rd level fighter could get, especially if he's human, and don't let the creature hit you wit ha full attack.
pres_man
06-12-06, 06:34 PM Another thing to consider, dire apes don't get ranged attacks, thus they can be easily picked off before they get into melee. That is why they are kind of low on CR, at higher levels the ranged folk will drop them before they get a chance to full attack.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
A_monk_00 06-11-06, 06:07 PM	My party had a bit of a fiasco the other night involving a Dire Ape. They were quite sloppy and unorganized going into the fight and it literally tore them to shreds. The party consisted of 4th level ranger, wizard, cleric, and ninja. No one died, though the ranger was at 3 or 4 hp and the wizard was knocked unconsious twice. It would have easily been a TPK had I not bailed them out. My real question is: Has it been the experience of others that the Dire Ape is a tough fight for it's challenge rating (CR 3), or was my party really that terrible? Thanks!
Venenum 06-11-06, 07:20 PM	Maybe it was an advanced dire ape and the the cr was higher. Did you kill? and How much treasure did you get? We need more information to answer your question.
Secrets Untold 06-11-06, 07:25 PM	He's talking from the point of the DM. The party is the problem.
Venenum 06-11-06, 07:50 PM	I did not read the whole post sorry. Were they rolling poorly, thats done me in before. Did yhey work to gether. or did you roll really well.
A_monk_00 06-11-06, 08:38 PM	The party is the problem. This was my initial reaction also. They were horribly uncoordinated, and didn't work together at all. Granted, the ranger is new to the game, but the other three should have known better. Right. Back to the tactics soapbox.
lukelightning 06-12-06, 01:45 PM	The secret to fighting things like dire apes is "don't let them get a full attack" Keep on moving, even if it risks an attack of opportunity. I'd rather get an extra swipe on me than risk getting hit by a rend.
cwslyclgh 06-12-06, 03:45 PM	A dire ape killed a 5th level paladin in my game in one round, the paladin charged it and hit it, then the dire ape full attacked, hit with all of it's attacks, between the attacks and the rend it rolled 1 point less then maximum damage, dropping the paladin to -9 hp, nobody else in the party could help him in time and the paladin died on his next turn in the initative order. Dire apes, like anything else with rend, can be nasty if they get a full attack action and either roll very well or are attacking somebody with a fairly crappy AC, but they are fairly simple to dispose of if a party plays keep away and uses ranged weapons and/or spells. All in all I think that CR 3 is about right, although the circumstances of the encounter could easily raise the EL (if it is fought someplace where mobility was limited and it could get lots of full attacks).
Secrets Untold 06-12-06, 06:09 PM	The key to a battle with a single monster is to have the melee characters flank it* and have the casters blow the living daylights out of it. *: If the creature has rend, invest in the spring attack feat, which a 3rd level fighter could get, especially if he's human, and don't let the creature hit you wit ha full attack.
pres_man 06-12-06, 06:34 PM	Another thing to consider, dire apes don't get ranged attacks, thus they can be easily picked off before they get into melee. That is why they are kind of low on CR, at higher levels the ranged folk will drop them before they get a chance to full attack.