Thwarting Darkstalker

[Tael]

I need to find a way to beat Darkstalker in an arena game I'll be playing in. I already know that Mindsight won't work, and the only thing I can come up with (apart from boosting perception with stuff like Divine Insight) is Lifesight. Unfortunately, I can't think of any ways of getting Lifesight. Can the playground help me out?

[Toliudar]

Check out spells that don't care if you're invisible. Alarm doesn't care if the creature approaching is unseen. Mage's Faithful Hound reacts to the presence of a creature, even if Darkstalker plus insane listen/spots. Then solid fog + glitterdust the most likely avenues of approach.

[nekomata2]

The Psionic Power touchsight thwarts darkstalker, if I remember correctly.

[Curmudgeon]

The Psionic Power touchsight thwarts darkstalker, if I remember correctly.

Depends what you mean by "thwart" here. Pinpointing means you know what square, but you still can't target the creature. That makes a lot of spells or powers non-starters, and gives your weapon attacks a 50% miss chance.

[Lapak]

If you're a caster, area effects are the order of the day. Particularly no-save effects that harass a sneaky-type. The damage from laying down a field of Spike Stones can add up if you're able to avoid it and the enemy is not; Walls and Fogs and Blade Barriers can make it difficult or dangerous to approach you except down known pathways. Also, large enough direct-damage bursts or spreads can take down a hidden foe even if they can be Evaded - everyone fails a saving throws occasionally, and a dedicated stealth-type may be lowish on the hit point scale.

If you're not a caster, your best bet may be to level the playing field. Using items (magic or otherwise) to blanket the area with darkness or fog will at least make everyone effectively invisible, and the Darkstalker will not have as much of an advantage in that case.

None of this thwarts Darkstalker directly, but if what you want is to beat the fellow using it you may not need to.

[SurlySeraph]

Becoming a Necropolitan lets you get the Lifesense feat from Libris Mortis for Lifesight, but you'd have to build around the level loss. Lifesense's prereqs are Cha 13 and Con -, so any way of turning into an undead or non-living construct should work. You could be a Warforged, use Metamorphosis or Polymorph to become a true construct, and take Lifesense then. You could do this either earlier in your build, if you have a way to be permanently polymorphed, or do it before the battle and use the Dark Chaos Shuffle (possibly on a Fighter feat gained by casting Heroics) to pick up Lifesense before the battle.

As above, there are plenty of options that don't care whether the target's invisible that can be useful. Battlefield control to limit where your opponent can be, wide area of effect attacks so it doesn't matter where he is, casting Invisibility Purge / True Seeing/ whatever, etc.

[Person_Man]

Darkstalker relies on Hide, and so just having a high Spot check works. Whatever bonuses they can get - magic items, feats, class abilities, soulmelds, Marshal aura, etc, you can get too.

The three biggest boosts would be a custom magic item (+10), an Item Familiar (level + 3), and nanobots (Animate Object + lots of Aid Another checks). Also, anything that allows a reroll, such as a Luck Blade.

[jguy]

It seems unless they have Hide in Plain Sight, having a source of very bright light on you at all times would negate their ability to hide. Just casting daylight should be enough to cover the arena in light, or if its that large, having a metamagic rod of Widen should be easy enough.

Also I assume that them hiding has them Sneak Attacking you in some manner. Cast fly and rise 40 feet in the air, 50 if you want to be really safe, and you are out of range for being sneaked attacked.

[Curmudgeon]

Also I assume that them hiding has them Sneak Attacking you in some manner. Cast fly and rise 40 feet in the air, 50 if you want to be really safe, and you are out of range for being sneaked attacked.

Yeah, I don't think so. A Feathered Wing graft is a pretty decent investment, and of course a wand of Fly is something any decent sneak attacker is going to be able to activate with UMD.

[Galthromir]

Couldn't you simply polymorph into something with a burrow speed, burrow under the arena, dig out a small room, and seal the entrance you came in? It will be quite clear when he enters the area, as a new hole will open.

[HunterOfJello]

Glitterdust gives -40 to Hide on anyone in the area automatically. That will make anyone easy to see.

Detect Thoughts would also be effective to determine the direction of the being that is thinking. After that you can cast Glitterdust.

[Curmudgeon]

Glitterdust gives -40 to Hide on anyone in the area automatically. That will make anyone easy to see.

It's only a 10' radius, though, so it's wasted if they're not there when you cast it.

[Person_Man]

It seems unless they have Hide in Plain Sight, having a source of very bright light on you at all times would negate their ability to hide. Just casting daylight should be enough to cover the arena in light, or if its that large, having a metamagic rod of Widen should be easy enough.

Also I assume that them hiding has them Sneak Attacking you in some manner. Cast fly and rise 40 feet in the air, 50 if you want to be really safe, and you are out of range for being sneaked attacked.

The bigger issue with Hide in Plain Sight is that it can be done as part of any movement, assuming that other preconditions (shadows, cover or concealment, and/or whatever) are met. So a caster or someone with UMD can use a Standard Action to cast, then use a Move Action to move and Hide as part of that movement. Theoretically you can even Hide with a 5 ft step. In either case, the real threat is not Sneak Attack, which would only apply against the first attack each round. The real threat is that your enemy Hides at the end of his turn each round, and you don't know which square to target with your attacks, and potentially face a 50% miss chance even if you do guess correctly.

[Chambers]

Readied actions can help. When the sneak attacks he/she comes out of hiding for the attack and at that point Darkstalker becomes irrelevant - they're not hiding anymore.

There are a couple ways to use/abuse readied actions. Once psioncs trick comes to mind...I think it's pairing Synchronicity with some other power. Hmmm. Don't remember which one.

[Eldariel]

Readied actions can help. When the sneak attacks he/she comes out of hiding for the attack and at that point Darkstalker becomes irrelevant - they're not hiding anymore.

If they have a functional HiPS and high enough Hide-modifier, they can Hide while attacking quite easily. Or they might not even attack in the first place; spells and powers exist, after all. Touchsight is by far the best way to go about it. After that you're free to do just about anything; True Striked attack spells autohit, AoE spells autohit, Touchsight pretty much defeats Darkstalker singlehandedly. Other than that, something like random AoE might just catch him offguard; never give up.

Flour or some such you can find in A&EG and has classic uses of betraying the target's location; that's all you need. You could summon the arena full of things or create lots of walls and force him to specific location. And there's the Hauntshift detection Doc Roc used in that one arena test.

[Curmudgeon]

In either case, the real threat is not Sneak Attack, which would only apply against the first attack each round. The real threat is that your enemy Hides at the end of his turn each round

Given a sufficiently skillful character, they'll be full attacking and hiding with each swing. Once you've got Hide in Plain Sight to enable the check, it's just a -20 penalty to either Hide or stay hidden each time you attack. The difficulty for most Rogueish types isn't the opposed check, but rather getting past the obstacles (in plain sight and being observed) to be allowed to make the check in the first place.

[Tael]

I'm pretty sure my opponent has the Dark Template, and would likely either be a Whisper Gnome or some other +ridiculous hide bonus. Thanks for all the advice. I might be an Artificer and go with Moderate Fortification armor to negate 75% of his damage, and the Touchsight power will really help. Necropolitain w/ Lifesense is also a nice idea if the DM says I can't be an artificer.

[jguy]

If you turn the ground into mud or cover it in water, you'd at least be able to see their footsteps. That way you can target their square with whatever you are trying to do. Like glitterdust.

Or fun for randomness is to kill all the light in the area and don a Ring of Darkhidden. If the only way they can see you is with darkvision you are invisible.