Good Classes for a Battle Royale? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Good Classes for a Battle Royale? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Ashlen
10-14-07, 11:20 PM So next week our DM is going to be out of town, so my group decides for laughs to hold an arena match between new characters we would create. It's basically going to be any race, any class up to level 10 (including prestieges), and 10k starting plat, and can use any of the current books.

I don't know if this will be duels, teams, or free-for-all matches, perhaps all of them.

I'm not quite sure what class would be good for this kind of thing, as I've always played support characters for normal campaigns. Does anyone have any suggestions?
happy_fuzzy
10-14-07, 11:30 PM frenzied berserker is usually good since you are not worrying about pk in a pvp arena. Cleric, Druid, and Wizard are also pretty good bets
draco1119
10-15-07, 03:40 AM A 10th level Cleric with 100000 starting gold?! Oh, the fun to be had!!
Johnny_Angel
10-15-07, 03:45 AM 10th level Bard...fascinate everyone and suggest that they go to sleep; then coup de grace all of them.
metalmayhem80110
10-20-07, 09:27 AM I would honestly go Archer, and figure out how to fire off as many arrows as you can in a round. Probably rapid shot/acurate weapon/full base attack. That is 4 attacks at 10th level, there is probably another item you can get or an additional attack. So you could get to 5 attack reasonably.

Load up on arrows of slaying, or death arrows or w/e they're called. Fort save DC 16 when you hit somebody, if they fail they die. Well 5 rolls, and you might roll a lucky low number, plus I'm predicting a lot of casters. So with their massive fort saves.....

Just sounds delightfully evil to me :D
EvilVegan
10-20-07, 09:50 AM I'm pro-bard in this case too. If it's one on one, that's your best bet. Get improved initiative and something to calm them down so you can fascinate them.

And hope they aren't immune to mind-affecting abilities.
draco1119
10-20-07, 09:59 AM I'm pro-bard in this case too. If it's one on one, that's your best bet. Get improved initiative and something to calm them down so you can fascinate them.

And hope they aren't immune to mind-affecting abilities.
It's not one-on-one. It's a five man free-for-all. Every man for himself.
Radiun
10-20-07, 10:44 AM It's not one-on-one. It's a five man free-for-all. Every man for himself.

Fascinate
"For every three levels a bard attains beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with a single use of this ability."

Level 1 bard = 1 target
Level 4 bard = 2 target
Level 7 bard = 3 target
Level 10 bard = 4 target

Right?

If so, since he's the 5th man...
Khadmus
10-20-07, 06:07 PM Nova?
Amon_V
10-20-07, 08:31 PM Telepath might be fun--win the fight by controlling everyone else to kill each other.

Rogue and Wizard could also do it--they just go invisible and then drop the last player they get their hands on.
Elsydeon
10-20-07, 09:44 PM Why not just do Psion 10 and Plane shift out? If the other players are blinded (meaning they see you disappear but don't know if it was a power or spell, or which power or spell) they'll think you're invisible. You can suppress the visual signs of manifesting a power with a concentration check, I believe. So they won't even be able to Psicraft you. You can come back whenever you like, and the randomness involved in where you wind up is a great defense (compared to something like Time Hop).

You can even dump Int down to 15 and use those ability points on dex and con. Improved init and Psi body help you stay alive if you lose initiative... you get the idea.

In scenarios like this you have to focus on winning initiative and surviving if you lose initiative. After that it's just a matter of having a good combat gimmick.
Ninja_Ferret
10-20-07, 11:36 PM Rogue with a scroll of anti magic field. and posions just going around limiting people on using magic.

Who needs Magic when you can just trounce someone with high melee damage.
Elsydeon
10-21-07, 02:02 AM The guy who doesn't want to trounce one player with high melee damage and then get trounced himself?
cryptictravler
10-21-07, 08:42 PM I played in a similar set up before.

The stuff you need to succeed:

1) Wind wall -pretty good ranged attack defense
2) Antilife shell - damn good mellee defense
3) Some way to do damage
4) some way to avoid magical damage

The design decision is how to get the defenses up quickly and how to do damage.

If you are all well designed, expect a waiting game.

My answers to 3 and 4 were summon monsters and the old 3.0 horn of something or else which allowed you to automatically command anything with 12 int or less.

Also just as an addendum, be able to fly. If you can't you deserve to lose.
Dog_O_War
10-22-07, 03:52 PM The Bard's facinate won't work; it states that a creature cannot be in a combat situation (or hostile). An arena battle is by definition a combat situation (with hostile creatures).

I'd go Dwarf rogue2/fighter8
With the feats;
1st - point blank shot
F1 - E.W.P. Harpoon
3rd - quickdraw
F2 - rapid shot
6th - great fortitude
F4 - weapon focus Harpoon
F6 - weapon specialization Harpoon
9th - ranged weapon mastery Piercing
F8 - Improved initiative

Use poison-tipped harpoons (with a flavor of your liking; I'd go for con drain or sleep)

You only need masterwork harpoons, which means all your cash can go towards special armour (think fortification).

The damage is something like 1d10+4+STR+poison plus reflex save. within 30feet you add +1+1d6 damage.

Just be sure to carry potions of neutralize poison on you.
Krusk
10-22-07, 04:22 PM i would go for something stealth. Hide out and take potshots and killsteal.

Who wants to bother trying to find/track down/and kill that guy who is spending his time hiding from the fight, when there is a charging frenzied berserker running at you?

Find a way to get greater invisability and a way to cast it a few times. I would also suggest ways to high one shot damage kill people, and i would agree lots of poison.

Target mages first, followed by archers and then melee types.

I would recomend a ranged weapon, maybe a bow of some sort. Stock up on human bane arrows, and the like.

As for armor, your going to want +1 as high fortification as you can afford. Helps you out against sneak attack as well as crits.

An item of dimension door is handy too, attack while hidden and then appear somewhere else.
Ninja_Ferret
10-22-07, 04:43 PM Ok heres what you do. Play a Sorcerer or mage with lots of spells.
from there you buy lots of bags of holding and portable holes.
Now you use your first level spells on unseen servent.
Ok with me so far.
Now give a portable hole and a bag of holding to each unseen servent.
Have said unseen servents follow you around ( while you are invisable mind you) and then have them run right next to the square another pc is in and put the portable hole inside the bag of holding .

You now have one less person to fight. LOL
Repeat the process as nessasary. if you run across something that is just to fast you have nifty little spells to cast.
jonasdrieghe
10-22-07, 05:03 PM 3 words:

"horn of blasting"
Ninja_Ferret
10-22-07, 05:21 PM Mirror of life trapping. or opposition. Both of those would be a blast to walk around hiding behind and when someone comes up and looks at it say the command word.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ashlen 10-14-07, 11:20 PM	So next week our DM is going to be out of town, so my group decides for laughs to hold an arena match between new characters we would create. It's basically going to be any race, any class up to level 10 (including prestieges), and 10k starting plat, and can use any of the current books. I don't know if this will be duels, teams, or free-for-all matches, perhaps all of them. I'm not quite sure what class would be good for this kind of thing, as I've always played support characters for normal campaigns. Does anyone have any suggestions?
happy_fuzzy 10-14-07, 11:30 PM	frenzied berserker is usually good since you are not worrying about pk in a pvp arena. Cleric, Druid, and Wizard are also pretty good bets
draco1119 10-15-07, 03:40 AM	A 10th level Cleric with 100000 starting gold?! Oh, the fun to be had!!
Johnny_Angel 10-15-07, 03:45 AM	10th level Bard...fascinate everyone and suggest that they go to sleep; then coup de grace all of them.
metalmayhem80110 10-20-07, 09:27 AM	I would honestly go Archer, and figure out how to fire off as many arrows as you can in a round. Probably rapid shot/acurate weapon/full base attack. That is 4 attacks at 10th level, there is probably another item you can get or an additional attack. So you could get to 5 attack reasonably. Load up on arrows of slaying, or death arrows or w/e they're called. Fort save DC 16 when you hit somebody, if they fail they die. Well 5 rolls, and you might roll a lucky low number, plus I'm predicting a lot of casters. So with their massive fort saves..... Just sounds delightfully evil to me :D
EvilVegan 10-20-07, 09:50 AM	I'm pro-bard in this case too. If it's one on one, that's your best bet. Get improved initiative and something to calm them down so you can fascinate them. And hope they aren't immune to mind-affecting abilities.
draco1119 10-20-07, 09:59 AM	I'm pro-bard in this case too. If it's one on one, that's your best bet. Get improved initiative and something to calm them down so you can fascinate them. And hope they aren't immune to mind-affecting abilities. It's not one-on-one. It's a five man free-for-all. Every man for himself.
Radiun 10-20-07, 10:44 AM	It's not one-on-one. It's a five man free-for-all. Every man for himself. Fascinate "For every three levels a bard attains beyond 1st, he can target one additional creature with a single use of this ability." Level 1 bard = 1 target Level 4 bard = 2 target Level 7 bard = 3 target Level 10 bard = 4 target Right? If so, since he's the 5th man...
Khadmus 10-20-07, 06:07 PM	Nova?
Amon_V 10-20-07, 08:31 PM	Telepath might be fun--win the fight by controlling everyone else to kill each other. Rogue and Wizard could also do it--they just go invisible and then drop the last player they get their hands on.
Elsydeon 10-20-07, 09:44 PM	Why not just do Psion 10 and Plane shift out? If the other players are blinded (meaning they see you disappear but don't know if it was a power or spell, or which power or spell) they'll think you're invisible. You can suppress the visual signs of manifesting a power with a concentration check, I believe. So they won't even be able to Psicraft you. You can come back whenever you like, and the randomness involved in where you wind up is a great defense (compared to something like Time Hop). You can even dump Int down to 15 and use those ability points on dex and con. Improved init and Psi body help you stay alive if you lose initiative... you get the idea. In scenarios like this you have to focus on winning initiative and surviving if you lose initiative. After that it's just a matter of having a good combat gimmick.
Ninja_Ferret 10-20-07, 11:36 PM	Rogue with a scroll of anti magic field. and posions just going around limiting people on using magic. Who needs Magic when you can just trounce someone with high melee damage.
Elsydeon 10-21-07, 02:02 AM	The guy who doesn't want to trounce one player with high melee damage and then get trounced himself?
cryptictravler 10-21-07, 08:42 PM	I played in a similar set up before. The stuff you need to succeed: 1) Wind wall -pretty good ranged attack defense 2) Antilife shell - damn good mellee defense 3) Some way to do damage 4) some way to avoid magical damage The design decision is how to get the defenses up quickly and how to do damage. If you are all well designed, expect a waiting game. My answers to 3 and 4 were summon monsters and the old 3.0 horn of something or else which allowed you to automatically command anything with 12 int or less. Also just as an addendum, be able to fly. If you can't you deserve to lose.
Dog_O_War 10-22-07, 03:52 PM	The Bard's facinate won't work; it states that a creature cannot be in a combat situation (or hostile). An arena battle is by definition a combat situation (with hostile creatures). I'd go Dwarf rogue2/fighter8 With the feats; 1st - point blank shot F1 - E.W.P. Harpoon 3rd - quickdraw F2 - rapid shot 6th - great fortitude F4 - weapon focus Harpoon F6 - weapon specialization Harpoon 9th - ranged weapon mastery Piercing F8 - Improved initiative Use poison-tipped harpoons (with a flavor of your liking; I'd go for con drain or sleep) You only need masterwork harpoons, which means all your cash can go towards special armour (think fortification). The damage is something like 1d10+4+STR+poison plus reflex save. within 30feet you add +1+1d6 damage. Just be sure to carry potions of neutralize poison on you.
Krusk 10-22-07, 04:22 PM	i would go for something stealth. Hide out and take potshots and killsteal. Who wants to bother trying to find/track down/and kill that guy who is spending his time hiding from the fight, when there is a charging frenzied berserker running at you? Find a way to get greater invisability and a way to cast it a few times. I would also suggest ways to high one shot damage kill people, and i would agree lots of poison. Target mages first, followed by archers and then melee types. I would recomend a ranged weapon, maybe a bow of some sort. Stock up on human bane arrows, and the like. As for armor, your going to want +1 as high fortification as you can afford. Helps you out against sneak attack as well as crits. An item of dimension door is handy too, attack while hidden and then appear somewhere else.
Ninja_Ferret 10-22-07, 04:43 PM	Ok heres what you do. Play a Sorcerer or mage with lots of spells. from there you buy lots of bags of holding and portable holes. Now you use your first level spells on unseen servent. Ok with me so far. Now give a portable hole and a bag of holding to each unseen servent. Have said unseen servents follow you around ( while you are invisable mind you) and then have them run right next to the square another pc is in and put the portable hole inside the bag of holding . You now have one less person to fight. LOL Repeat the process as nessasary. if you run across something that is just to fast you have nifty little spells to cast.
jonasdrieghe 10-22-07, 05:03 PM	3 words: "horn of blasting"
Ninja_Ferret 10-22-07, 05:21 PM	Mirror of life trapping. or opposition. Both of those would be a blast to walk around hiding behind and when someone comes up and looks at it say the command word.