PDA

View Full Version : [3.5] What would you expect to come up against in a gestalt arena?



Zovc
2010-07-21, 06:31 PM
I'm considering joining a gestalt arena game. The game facilitates both level 12 and level 18 characters, but I'm going to play in the level 12 arena.

I haven't played 3.5 D&D much, and I've never played past level 4, so pretty much everything I know is just theory (and that isn't very sharp). What would you expect to come up against in a level 12 gestalt arena? What kinds of immunities, defenses do I need to overcome, and what immunities and defenses should I grab (and how should I grab them)?

I was considering doing Wizard+PrCs 12//Factotum 8/Something 4, but you can only take two rounds worth of actions in one turn, so that might not be quite as awesome as I want it to be.

FantomFang
2010-07-21, 06:40 PM
I'm not much experienced in this either, but if you're looking for high-lvl optimization in an arena environment you should look into Test of Spite. They had tons of interesting fights and optimization discussions. And all of the relevant fights should be linked to in the first post :D


EDIT: here's the link - http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150821&highlight=test+spite

Zovc
2010-07-21, 06:43 PM
I'm not much experienced in this either, but if you're looking for high-lvl optimization in an arena environment you should look into Test of Spite. They had tons of interesting fights and optimization discussions. And all of the relevant fights should be linked to in the first post :D


Isn't Test of Spite level 6 or 8? I'm sure I could pick up some tricks, but I'm not sure how effective they would be at level 12, especially in gestalt.

I appreciate the thought, though, and I'll poke around 'for the heck of it'.

Yukitsu
2010-07-21, 06:45 PM
Expect a lot of wizard//warblades, or ghost paladins depending on how the rules are written up.

Jack_Simth
2010-07-21, 06:49 PM
A couple of questions....

1) How does the Arena rule on LA?
2) Does the Arena have any multiclassing restrictions?

If LA goes on one side, expect to see some monsters - Phrenic Half-Fey Spellscale (+4 LA, +10 Charisma) Hexblade-3/Cleric-1 (Pride domain)Arcane Duelist-2/Blackguard-2//Sorcerer-12 with Improved Unarmed Strike, a Monk's Belt, Ascetic Mage, and a +6 Cloak of Charisma gets Charisma to saves twice, Charisma to AC twice, and with a base 18 in Charisma, would have a +13 Charisma modifier. With a Dex of, say, 16, that's a Touch AC of 40 (Greater Mage Armor would grant a regular AC of 46, shield brings it up another 4 to an even 50). Levels in Abjurant Champion and it goes even higher. Plus saves in the 30's, rerolling all 1's, to go with Evasion and Mettle. And if that monster casts a spell at you, it's got a save DC of 23+Spell level (or higher - Spell Focus (Conjouration) isn't a bad thing with spells like Glitterdust, Web, and Stinking Cloud in play)). Plus standard Sorcerer defenses, such as Mirror Image, Displacement, or Blur.

And that's not as bad as it gets.

Zovc
2010-07-21, 06:54 PM
1) How does the Arena rule on LA?

I don't see any rules on that, I'm assuming LA goes on one side.


2) Does the Arena have any multiclassing restrictions?

XP Penalties:
Because I want things to be as open as possible, there will be no XP penalties based on the classes you take.


[snip]

That is pretty scary, and a lot worse than I could have done left to my own devices, I think.

Jack_Simth
2010-07-21, 06:58 PM
I don't see any rules on that, I'm assuming LA goes on one side.



XP Penalties:
Because I want things to be as open as possible, there will be no XP penalties based on the classes you take.



That is pretty scary, and a lot worse than I could have done left to my own devices, I think.

On a slightly more helpful note...

With your build plan, you'll want to make sure to have a few Quickened True Strikes available. You'll also want ways to avoid detection - I'm fond of Greater Invisibility, plus Invisible Spell (Cityscape) on an Obscuring mist. If they use See Invisibility, True Seeing, or similar, then they see a fog cloud. If they don't, they see nothing.

playswithfire
2010-07-21, 09:02 PM
If you want some idea of what you might come up against, you might also want to look at the various Gestalt (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96283#post5274381) Warrior arena (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6707627#post6707627) threads. At least for melee optimization. They're at level 15, but may still provide some insight.