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How to survive Melee?

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
deneb
Feb 17, 2009 23:27:20 I am currently playing a 6th level WF Artificer. Most of my party is 7th level. The DM prefers to throw stuff that is +1 or +2 to the average party level.

The party consistests of
a ranger 5/ druid2 archer
a spelthief/bard/luckbased prc
a mystic theourge
a ninja/ psion
me
and a DMPC favored soul for healing.

The last creature we fought was a Giant that nearly killed 2 party members simply cause we took 7 rounds to kill it.

For feats i have extend and persist (i havent chosen my 6th level feat yet.)

What spells, items or feat could i use to significantly increase the damage delt by the party OR would increase my defence so that I dont get 2 shot when I start doing damage?
#2
malkavon
Feb 18, 2009 0:56:04 With the Artificer bonus on making items, you can grab 4th-level spells. There are some majorly important spells for bufficers at this level. Make a wand of divine power, wand of wraithstrike, and wand of polymorph. Anyone who has UMD can use 'em, but you can abuse 'em. Give yourself full BAB (plus Str and HP), grab a nifty form to fight in and go to town. For extra punch, wand of venomfire + Fleshraker form is a brutal combo. 6d6 acid damage on 3 out of 4 attacks on a pounce is pretty boss at that level. It's even more boss when all of those attacks are touch attacks. Plus, Fleshraker gives you the free trip + pin attempts, which you should be able to land against anything your size or smaller (the +6 Str from divine power will definitely show itself here).

Against bigger baddies, you still have the face full of pain that you can bring to bear, so you are certainly not lacking in that department.

For some defense, a wand of greater mage armor, wand of mirror image (or it's greater cousin if it's online yet, I can't remember its level), and wand of displacement all will go a long way to making you harder to hurt. Also, look at making a Bloodstone weapon (MIC, +1 enhancement, acts as a spell storing weapon for vampiric touch, auto-Empowers vampric touch when channeled) to give yourself a way to boost your HP. Possibly add the Mouthpick enhancement (Savage Species) so you can wield it in place of your bite attack (most good combat forms come with one). Your CL is really too low to take full advantage, but hunter's eye is killer on a staff later on (since you can use UMD to jack the CL up). Gaining SA = to 1/3 CL when you can get your CL into the 80s-90s with the right items is pretty awesome.

If you go for some blasty-type metamagic, Twin and then Empower/Maximized (not sure which works better on blastificers. My experience in blasting is mostly with Sorcs) + wand of scorching ray + Wand Mastery can crank out the damage. Look at Energy Substitution to deal with fire-resistant baddies.

Unfortunately, a lot of this stuff will be of less use to your party (esp. those without UMD). They won't be able to persist any of it, but those who can activate the items can still benefit from a few of them, like polymorph. Still, your party seems pretty unoptimized (Ranger 5/Dru 2? WTH?) In a way that'll make it harder to play an Artificer, because if you take advantage of your class features you will embarrass the other PCs (hell, you'd make a DMM: Persist Cleric and a well played Druid work hard to keep up in melee, since you can use most of their tricks combined, plus grab lots of nice arcane spells).
#3
hogarth
Feb 18, 2009 8:17:30 It looks like you have basically no good melee characters, so some ability to summon creatures can be handy. One low-level "summon" spell I like is Conjure Ice Beast from Frostburn. At low levels, they're more durable compared to creatures from Summon Monster and Summon Nature's Ally, and you get to pick from an interesting list of abilities. For a giant, I'd recommend a Conjure Ice Beast III huge centipede with Engulf.
#4
gilfalas_elaandrin
Feb 18, 2009 10:33:52 The best defense against melee is to not be IN melee. Your an artificier. Make a wand of fly and use it all the time.

It is amazing how effective a defense being 30 feet out of reach is versus melee. Plus it allows great battlefield view and coordination with your group.

If your not averse to multiclassing I would say grab 4ish levels of warlock and 'fell flight' for permanent 24 hour flying. It is not the fastest flight out there but being able to always fly is huge and will definately allow you to get out of melee reach.
#5
arz
Feb 18, 2009 10:38:44 Malkavon had some good suggestions. Tactically speaking though your group should be run n' gunning. Nobody there can take the pounding. If you stay mobile you might stand a chance.

Also find a way to hang that healer out to dry. He's a dm pc that isn't doing you any good. Your MT can handle your group's healing needs. Maybe you cn trade up to a rogue or fighter.

I hope the reasoning for the hard enounters is short sessions with long recovery times between encounters.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 deneb Feb 17, 2009 23:27:20	I am currently playing a 6th level WF Artificer. Most of my party is 7th level. The DM prefers to throw stuff that is +1 or +2 to the average party level. The party consistests of a ranger 5/ druid2 archer a spelthief/bard/luckbased prc a mystic theourge a ninja/ psion me and a DMPC favored soul for healing. The last creature we fought was a Giant that nearly killed 2 party members simply cause we took 7 rounds to kill it. For feats i have extend and persist (i havent chosen my 6th level feat yet.) What spells, items or feat could i use to significantly increase the damage delt by the party OR would increase my defence so that I dont get 2 shot when I start doing damage?
#2 malkavon Feb 18, 2009 0:56:04	With the Artificer bonus on making items, you can grab 4th-level spells. There are some majorly important spells for bufficers at this level. Make a wand of divine power, wand of wraithstrike, and wand of polymorph. Anyone who has UMD can use 'em, but you can abuse 'em. Give yourself full BAB (plus Str and HP), grab a nifty form to fight in and go to town. For extra punch, wand of venomfire + Fleshraker form is a brutal combo. 6d6 acid damage on 3 out of 4 attacks on a pounce is pretty boss at that level. It's even more boss when all of those attacks are touch attacks. Plus, Fleshraker gives you the free trip + pin attempts, which you should be able to land against anything your size or smaller (the +6 Str from divine power will definitely show itself here). Against bigger baddies, you still have the face full of pain that you can bring to bear, so you are certainly not lacking in that department. For some defense, a wand of greater mage armor, wand of mirror image (or it's greater cousin if it's online yet, I can't remember its level), and wand of displacement all will go a long way to making you harder to hurt. Also, look at making a Bloodstone weapon (MIC, +1 enhancement, acts as a spell storing weapon for vampiric touch, auto-Empowers vampric touch when channeled) to give yourself a way to boost your HP. Possibly add the Mouthpick enhancement (Savage Species) so you can wield it in place of your bite attack (most good combat forms come with one). Your CL is really too low to take full advantage, but hunter's eye is killer on a staff later on (since you can use UMD to jack the CL up). Gaining SA = to 1/3 CL when you can get your CL into the 80s-90s with the right items is pretty awesome. If you go for some blasty-type metamagic, Twin and then Empower/Maximized (not sure which works better on blastificers. My experience in blasting is mostly with Sorcs) + wand of scorching ray + Wand Mastery can crank out the damage. Look at Energy Substitution to deal with fire-resistant baddies. Unfortunately, a lot of this stuff will be of less use to your party (esp. those without UMD). They won't be able to persist any of it, but those who can activate the items can still benefit from a few of them, like polymorph. Still, your party seems pretty unoptimized (Ranger 5/Dru 2? WTH?) In a way that'll make it harder to play an Artificer, because if you take advantage of your class features you will embarrass the other PCs (hell, you'd make a DMM: Persist Cleric and a well played Druid work hard to keep up in melee, since you can use most of their tricks combined, plus grab lots of nice arcane spells).
#3 hogarth Feb 18, 2009 8:17:30	It looks like you have basically no good melee characters, so some ability to summon creatures can be handy. One low-level "summon" spell I like is Conjure Ice Beast from Frostburn. At low levels, they're more durable compared to creatures from Summon Monster and Summon Nature's Ally, and you get to pick from an interesting list of abilities. For a giant, I'd recommend a Conjure Ice Beast III huge centipede with Engulf.
#4 gilfalas_elaandrin Feb 18, 2009 10:33:52	The best defense against melee is to not be IN melee. Your an artificier. Make a wand of fly and use it all the time. It is amazing how effective a defense being 30 feet out of reach is versus melee. Plus it allows great battlefield view and coordination with your group. If your not averse to multiclassing I would say grab 4ish levels of warlock and 'fell flight' for permanent 24 hour flying. It is not the fastest flight out there but being able to always fly is huge and will definately allow you to get out of melee reach.
#5 arz Feb 18, 2009 10:38:44	Malkavon had some good suggestions. Tactically speaking though your group should be run n' gunning. Nobody there can take the pounding. If you stay mobile you might stand a chance. Also find a way to hang that healer out to dry. He's a dm pc that isn't doing you any good. Your MT can handle your group's healing needs. Maybe you cn trade up to a rogue or fighter. I hope the reasoning for the hard enounters is short sessions with long recovery times between encounters.