General Combat Tips 3.5

[emoryss1]

Hey all, I've been playing D&D for a while now, but I was just wondering what are some of your best tips for surviving and excelling in combat as any role (Tank, Melee, Caster, etc...). I know the simple stuff like flanking and such, but I'm looking for something to help me even more. Thanks! :smallsmile:

[Gruftzwerg]

Mobility is another important part of combat.

An Anklet of Translocation is a nice short range swift teleport. You can use it to get easier to a flanking position, attack the back-line or just to pass an enemy without provoking an AoO. It's cheap enough to buy even 2 or 3 of em to change between fights to have more daily uses.

Immediate teleport via "Shadow Cloak" is another option to escape many harmful situations.

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Action Economy is also very important.

Especially if you have teammates who like to use buffs. Wasting 2 or even more rounds to buff in combat is most of the times overkill imho. Unless you can prebuff before the start of combat, don't waste more than 1 round for buff unless it is really really important (only mandatory defensive buffs to prevent enemies from killing you).

Healing in-combat is also considered as wasted action unless you would be dead next round (which leaves the question, why didn't you retread within your last action?).
You should try to prevent healing in combat and try to do it in downtimes (of combat).

Unless you can kill a fresh (full HP) enemy in a single blow, always try to focus those who have suffered the most dmg. One dead and another unharmed enemy is better than two enemies who are almost dead, but still alive and attacking/doing their stuff.

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Take advantage of the terrain:

Use narrow passages/doors to fight bigger grous/packs of enemies.

Ranged characters should always look for opportunities for cover.

Tanks should have options at hand to get somehow bigger in size to cover more space on the battlefield. This helps with preventing enemies from getting to your squishies.

[GilesTheCleric]

The above answers are good. However, are you looking for tactics, or strategy? It sounds like tactics, but maybe I'm wrong. Tactically, charging is a very useful option. Don't forget that you can also use a partial charge if you don't have a full round (such as during the surprise round).

A particular build has a lot to do with excelling in combat. Generally, all I would add is that "being forewarned is being forearmed", and that in 3e, typically offense is more efficient than defense.

[Mr Adventurer]

Always delay your initiative until after the Wizard.

[KillianHawkeye]

General D&D Combat Strategy:

Step #1) Kill the wizard.
Step #2) Kill the cleric.
Step #3) Kill the biggest/ugliest one.
Step #4) Kill whatever's left.
Step #5) Get paid.

[ATHATH]

Geek the mage first.

[Eldariel]

Let's see:
- Scout. Whether you do this through invisible mage/rogue ahead, divination, animal companion/familiar, Prying Eyes or whatever, forewarned is half won. Preparation is key. So is locating any traps or hidden enemies before engaging.
- Identify. Knowledge-skills for finding out, what you're fighting (Arcane for Dragons/Magical Beasts, Local for Humanoids, Nature for Animals/Monstrous Humanoids/Giants, Dungeoneering for Aberrations/Oozes, Religion for Undead and the Planes for Outsiders) and their abilities and the things you need to keep in mind.
- Control. The party who controls the time of the encounter can cast short duration buffs beforehand. Lopsided information (invisible, silent scout, divination or such) enables you to know of your enemy with them being none the wiser.
- Surprise. The system favours attacker; the first save-or-lose spell, the first area disable (á la Silence), the first charge (particularly mounted with Spirited Charge, or with Pounce from shapeshifting magic) can swing encounters and thus you want to ensure you get the first hit in. In dungeons, avoid letting any enemies escape and warn the others.
- Prioritise. Focus fire targets down one at a time. Two enemies at ½ HP still do full damage, but one dead enemy cuts the enemy offense down by 50%. The faster you disable an enemy, the less damage they do to you and the fewer resources you need to heal up. AOE disabling spells (Glitterdust, Web, Grease, Stinking Cloud, Wall of Stone, Black Tentacles, Solid Fog, Entangle, etc.) are good for this, after which autoattacks can clean up. Similarly, prioritise the most offensively dangerous enemy (generally the mage or the mage-like monster) first and clean up the less important ones when the enemy offense is down - note, something like Summon Swarm or Silence can be quite efficient for shutting them down too.
- Action efficiency. Take the most effective action each turn for taking enemies down. Heal after combat if possible as if you heal, enemy just hits you again while you burn resources to counteract those hits. Buff in combat only if it is like to do more than casting a disabling/offensive spell would (Haste is one of the few spells likely to accomplish this).
- Use expendables to tank. Better than Barbarian eating a save-or-die is a summon or an animal companion that costs you no resources eating it instead. Same with damage. Simple placement can force enemies to target those. The less the party itself takes the less you need to burn on healing it.

[Vizzerdrix]

Speed wins. Init boosters should be high on your shopping list.

Always have some way to secure buffs you need and a bit of healing. Your party casters should cover these, but have a way to take care of yourself when they cant get to you or are running on empty.

Flanking is a free boost to hit. Use it.

Learn when not to attack.

[TheFamilarRaven]

Dead is the best status effect you can put on an enemy. An enemy with 1 HP can be just as dangerous as an enemy with full HP. Focus attacks on a single foe whenever possible.

[Elkad]

Movement speed matters. You have far more tactical flexibility when you are faster than your opponent. Any movement mode you have that your opponent doesn't can often be turned into an effective speed advantage.

Have a reserve. Save something for the bad guy who was taking a leak and wandered into the back of the party midfight. Or for that extra encounter. Or for when the BBEG says "I am not left-handed" or worse "This isn't even my Final Form".

[TotallyNotEvil]

Make sure you aren't a paper tiger. Or, in Logic Ninja's words, think you cunning plans all the way through.

[flappeercraft]

1. Squishies should be targetted first. If the squishy is a caster, even better.
2. Knowledge is power, that saying means a lot in this game.
3. Always have a plan in case things go wrong.
4. Statistics and probability are your friends, analyze things before fighting.
5. Know when and how to use your abilities well. A fighter who fights is more valuable than a caster who doesn't cast
6. Always have something to do, even if you do no damage to the BBEG, the beatstick might so help him flank
7. Don't play fair. Take surprise rounds, blind the enemy, use poison, etc. If you have something that gives you the advantage, use it.
8. You have 2 favorite status conditions to inflict on enemies. The first is dead, the second is daze
9. Don't just control, kill the enemies. BFC, Buffs and Debuffs don't do anything unless you actually kill the enemies.
10. Action economy > Raw power. 4 lesser powers who act 4 times can beat 1 major power who can act once.

[daremetoidareyo]

I'm going to avoid tactical roles held by characters and give you some advice that will guarantee that you have the full suite of options available to yourself regardless of role.

Listen to how the DM describes your environment. Look up and down. Text him/her questions that you need clarified.

Building materials are important - pay attention to wood, rope, & cloth. May attention to what stones the DM has chosen because it affects hardness. Anything made of metal is less likely to produce a tactical advantage.

Hardness Rock Type
6 Sedimentary (sandstone or shale)
7 Sedimentary (limestone)
8 Igneous (basalt, rhyolite)
9 Metamorphic (gneiss, granite, or marble)
Use the spell stone metamorphosis and look at the crazy things you can do with the magi-morphic rocks all in the underdark supplement.


Ambient moisture is important - fog and mist are tactical monstrosities, puddles can be frozen. Dry materials can be ignited. Rivers, lakes and ponds are movement nightmares.

Anything loadbearing is important - In combination with building materials, you can cause cave ins, you can drop chandeliers, you can push giant boulders into valleys, you can climb up a tapestry to escape stuff.

Light sources are important - produce them or extinguish them as needed. Use light spells on an item held above yourself to blind fliers.

Anything that affects tactical movement is important - Difficult terrain doesn't have to be your enemy. Sometimes improvised weapons are hiding as difficult terrain.

Sometimes, the DM uses throwaway descriptions of insect noise, bird chirps, owls, crow caws, and wolf howls. Chances are, these critters are a 1st level spell away from granting you a huge bonus to plot advancement.

If the DM mentions arms and armor on/near a wall, there is a 50% chance that it will be used against you, if you use it first, they can't.

If the DM has dead bodies in the environment, there is a 50% chance that you will fight them. Include them in area of effect effects that affect the environment.

[Amphetryon]

If one of your party members is injured enough to consider running away (and this is not the default reaction), the entire party may need to consider a tactical retreat.

[SirNibbles]

1. Position yourself carefully, always thinking about setting up flanking for yourself and your allies. Think what opponent you and your allies are going to attack next and make small adjustments (5 foot steps) to allow someone to flank.

2. If you're a Monk who uses Unarmed Strike, always carry a spear or some other reach weapon, even if you're not proficient. It gives you extra reach for flanking and AoOs and you can still use your Unarmed Strike to full effect with your hands full.

3. Think about what your teammates can/will do. If my Barbarian teammate has Great Cleave and is surrounded by enemies and he goes right after I do, it's better for me to damage two enemies to 50% HP than to just kill one, because my teammate can do a Great Cleave chain on low-HP enemies.

4. Make as many enemies incapable of fighting for as long as possible as quickly as possible. Grease, Soundburst, Glitterdust, Web, Entangle, Black Tentacles, etc.

[TotallyNotEvil]

Don't underestimate your enemies, positioning is vital.

Even the tankiest, grittiest character will be dead in no time if he gets sandwiched between a fighter and a rogue, and such example greatly hinders how one might quickly take them both out.

Damage piles up fast, there's less time to react and escape than you might think. Consider the fighter-rogue situation above, if you didn't flee the very first opportunity you got, the very next round will probably be too late.

The follow through to Debuff/BFC is the single most vital bridge between theorycrafting and actually behind effective in play.

[Endarire]

Know your game/campaign, know your party, and know thyself. We can't or shouldn't play the game for you.

[Eldariel]

As for archetype specifics:

- Frontliner:

Try and cooperate with other frontliners to flank enemies and avoid being flanked in turn.
Sink points into Power Attack based on the debuffs you're able to apply to enemies (tripped enemies have -4 AC for instance).
Use lighting conditions and the terrain to your advantage; darkvision means you don't have concealment in the darkness for instance.
Ensure you position yourself in such a way as to make the best use of your attacks of opportunity as possible. Try and ensure that your threatened area blocks enemies from reaching your squishies, and try to have attacks of opportunity available that block movement (such as tripping).
Ensure your first strike is highly damaging. If you have to move and only take a single attack, you'll take a disproportionate amount of punishment in return. Use options like Spirited Charge, Pounce and company to land a telling blow first.
If you can, move to threaten enemy casters (again, reach weapon is crucial so they can't 5' step away and cast). If this is something you reasonably often have an opportunity to do, you definitely want the Mage Slayer feat.
If you have dex for light armor use, take ranks in Tumble to position without regard for enemy positioning (unless they have Thicket of Blades).


- Caster:

Open up with AoO disables to hit as many opponents as possible. The more you can take out, the less of a threat they are to you.
Target enemy weaknesses. Generally heavily armored or big things have poor Reflex and touch AC. The less armor and size it has, the better the touch AC likely. Non-spellcasters tend to have poor Will, while spellcasters tend to have poor Ref and/or Fort. Unless they have 4th level Abjuration or a Ring of it running (you can approximate with Arcane Sight), they tend to also be vulnerable to combat maneuver checks from spells like Summon Monsters, Black Tentacles and Telekinesis. Outsiders and Dragons have all good saves but you can bruteforce through Outsider saves and Dragons tend to have poor Touch AC (and caster level so you can disable their protective spells and then Ray them).
Immune doesn't always mean immune. Undead have poor Fort-saves and can be targeted by spells like Disintegrate and Polymorph Any Object since they are hit as objects. Constructs have similar considerations but they're often also immune to magic, which means you should hit them with SR: No spells and environmental effects (Disintegrate the ground underneath them, cast Fog or something, make them slip, summon things to fight them, throw Orbs of Fire at them, etc.). If you have access to Supernatural Abilities from e.g. Shapechange or Polymorph + Assume Supernatural Ability, you can use those as they ignore spell resistance/immunity.
Use weakening magic on big single boss type enemies if you can't take them down. Things like Ray of Enfeeblement, Ray of Exhaustion, Shatter (their weapon), etc. are solid debuffs that are hard to resist and that can make a big monster more manageable. A fighter type might just collapse in their armor.
Don't waste your spells. If it doesn't look like you need to cast a spell, just attacking with weapons is a perfectly fine option. Don't cast protection, healing or such spells when your action would be more efficient disabling/killing the enemy.
Summons enhance your multitarget buff spells. The more attackers you have available, the better Haste becomes for example.
Buffs in general are a nice option in that while offensive spells generally end encounters faster, buffs are always usable.
Minions are extremely potent. Animate Dead produces really powerful frontliners or even AOE casters in Zombie Dragons [Draconomicon], while Animate Dread Warrior creates class-leveled underlings. Simulacrum makes squishy but potent spell-like ability users (Outsiders in particular make for great Simulacrums) as the caster level and spells remain intact, and Planar Binding can get you almost anything. We don't talk about Ice Assassin and Mind Rape.


- Thief:

Stay hidden. Don't attack alone, look for the flank or the unfair fight.
Your primary job is to scout the environment before the fight and get a tally on your opponents. Try and find any traps or objects that might be important in any coming fights. Use things like concealment, cover and magic to stay hidden.
Use Magic Device is your best friend. Allows you to replicate numerous low level spells to improve your scouting and combat prowess.
You can often attack from range with a bow and get an initial sneak attack. You can also use thrown weapons like Alchemist's Fire to target touch AC instead, while still getting Sneak Attack/Sudden Strike/Skirmish.
Find a way to full attack as often as possible. You're entirely reliant on it to deal damage. Your single attacks tickle at best.


Note, your character can be a combination of these types - take what applies. Druid can be a double frontliner/caster, Beguiler can be a thief/caster, Cleric or Bard can be all 3 for example.

[Goaty14]

Grappling is better at lower levels, especially if you have a rogue or somebody that benefits greatly from the opponent losing dex.

DONT take improved grapple though, I know it sounds nice on paper, but unless your party is staying low levels, you're out of luck.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Swift and overwhelming offense from the surprise round saves lives. Damage lower than "dead" doesn't count--finish off wounded enemies.


Related-but-different: Damage now is better than damage later. The return on investments in future damage is notoriously poor in D&D, not to mention extremely uncertain. The only exception may be Stormguard Warrior, but even that is best used with a belt of battle.

Examples: standard-action casting invisibility to get SA, regular touch-attack grappling (without Improved Grab) to get Constrict damage, move + attack to get into Cleave position.


If you can deal with an attack, your party will thank you. Spells like mirror image and blur waste enemy actions. In contrast, invisibility (or being out of range, ethereal, behind a wall etcetera) does not waste actions, only changes them. For example, a rogue in full attack-range might take cover, only for the wizard to get charged. Depending on the state of the rogue and wizard, that might be quite bad.

More prosaically: hit points are there to be used. Healing after combat is cheap. Saving a couple of lesser vigour charges is nothing when you had to break out the revivify scrolls.