Clegane brothers, Mr. Drogo, and Tormund suddenly teleported to Solasta world. They need to forget their past and fight together for their survival.
Well, they don't look like GoT at all but I tried a bit XD. Wish to see more costume options in the future.
Gregor when he was level 4. All boys were 16 16 16 9 9 9, and now they are now 18 16 16 9 9 9. I will grind them till lvl 6, and then they will become 20 16 16 9 9 9. True "Hardhead" party.
My dudes are tanks. Nothing can stop them. No one can craft, but that is not that bad. I sold all crafting materials, and I was able to grab a good amount of $$$ from a relatively earlier point of view. I finished 4 Plates for my dudes at a very early level 4 phase.
Too bad, I looted the Rosary with them. This is the first time I ever looted Rosary during the 4th campaign, and none of my fighter dudes can use this. My luck is wasted. :(
From level 5, they hit twice, then they become armored killing machines. Even Orc Chieftain couldn't survive more than a turn. In fact, he didn't even have a chance to hit anyone. Four building-wrecking bois steam-rolled poor Orcs. Wights? Meh, they didn't even scratch my dude's shield.
Here are my notes:
1) Their HP pool is huge, never had an issue with Sleep spell. None of my boys fall asleep due to Sleep spell. I didn't get much Blind because boy's Cons were 16, but I think I had 1~2 Blinded boys. But well, they were not a serious issue at the moment, the situation was manageable.
2) The only problem with them is Wis save spells like fear and hypnotic pattern. Their Wis is 9, Fear or Hypnotic or any other Wis roll spells can be a serious life-threatening issue for them. So I always prioritize casters, especially skeleton casters. They love to use Fear when Martial characters are in range.
3) I never had dangerous moments at all so far. (Dangerous moment means any of my dudes were downed.) I think this kind of min-maxed all-fighter party is only possible because it is EA. With more high-level dungeons and more powerful casters in full release, my four poor dudes wouldn't survive that long. Sorry guys :(
3) Use crossbow for secondary weapon. Very useful against ranged enemies. Solak boss dude was the only annoying experience because he uses Shield spell and he flies. But, after some turns, his spell slot run out or I was lucky, I hit him, and he dropped. Then, my angry bois stomped on him and cut his throat.
4) Two of them (Clegane bros, let's just assume that they somehow get magical ability when they teleported to the world of Solasta) are Spellblades. But I think one Spellbades would be fine. In fact, because their INT is 9, most spells are useless. So, 2 Spellblades can be a sort of waste. I could do two Champions, but I pick Spellblade over Champion because I feel the Champion is more or less boring. Too bad we cannot use the Battlemaster subclass. In my 5e TRPG experience, I enjoyed Battlemaster Fighter.
5) Basic human is totally playable and fine and fun race. I respect opinions like "humans are relatively weak" because that is true. But I don't agree at all with opinions like basic humans should be removed or fully replaced because no one plays them. Well, I'm not in that "no one", right? Not only this party but 50% of my other parties were humans. Sometimes I'm really curious how many people actually tried this game with basic humans in total darkness. They are not easy, but it is fun and doable.
6) Food can be a slightly annoying problem. Food is always lacking on the way to Bone Keep and coming back to town from Bone Keep. I don't have Clerics or Rangers, so no Berries or free foods. So, they need to starve, but who cares? They are not like they need to memorize something every morning, their muscles can do works nicely. Sorry guys but only short rests for you. It is not my fault though :( I wish if there are more ways to get food on the road on the world map in the future.
7) I never felt darkness was a serious issue. Boss battles are exceptions, but all other 'normal' battles, whether the world map engagements or in-dungeon engagements, torches were OK. But I wish if TA gives us more useful light options, like throwing a torch, fire a fire arrow at the wall on the other side to give light for a limited amount of turns, enflame the enemy for light for a limited amount of turns, and lamp in the accessory slot to free hands from the torch, or etc...
I think, 4 Clerics would be powerful and balanced, so they would have no issues. 4 Paladins would be good, not that great and they will have similar issues that my 4 fighters had, but 4 Paladins will be slightly more flexible than 4 fighters. Too bad we can't see Oath of Vengence paladin in this game. I really loved my Vengence Paladin in one of my TRPG sessions in the past.
PS) Now I'm thinking, for this party, I may not need to minmax like 16 16 16 9 9 9 at the beginning. I think 16 14 16 10 10 9 or 16 12 16 10 12 9 would be also fine. That will be a bit more balanced, and will slightly reduce a chance to get fear or hypnotic.
An interesting read. /respect
The only way it could have been better if all of them were dwarves, haha.)
An interesting read. /respect
The only way it could have been better if all of them were dwarves, haha.)
Well, I can say a 4-Dwarven-cleric party will be a really fun, strong, and balanced party.
Sun domain for light/fire damage and control spells
Battle domain for damage spells and decisive strike and herald of battle.
Life domain for healing and tanking (heavy armor)
Any Elemental domain for misty step (chest boxes) and damage spells.
I think the Oblivion domain is also good, but peaceful rest can be a problem (only for EA) because it will reduce the world map engagement and can interfere the grinding for level 6.
Do you really need all 4 Fighters with a DEX of 16? Especially if you wear Heavy armor that ignores your DEX modifier for AC. DEX Saving Throws and Skill Checks (like Acrobatics) are not very common plus Sleight of Hand and Stealth are for cowardly Rogues. You can use Thrown weapons, like Javelins or Throwing Axes, that use STR instead of DEX for accuracy (to-hit) and damage but they have limited range. I do, however, recommend one character with DEX 16 but he needs the Low-Life background so that he gains Proficiency in Lock Picking.
Having a higher WIS score will improve not only your Perception and Survival checks (used to find food while traveling overland) but WIS Saving Throws which are very common -- and can be debilitating; Hypnotic Pattern or Suggestion, for example.
Love the theme! Hopefully as more face options are added you can get a facial scars, broken noses, torn ears, eye patches or other visual reminders of how tough these guys are.
Do you really need all 4 Fighters with a DEX of 16? Especially if you wear Heavy armor that ignores your DEX modifier for AC. DEX Saving Throws and Skill Checks (like Acrobatics) are not very common plus Sleight of Hand and Stealth are for cowardly Rogues. You can use Thrown weapons, like Javelins or Throwing Axes, that use STR instead of DEX for accuracy (to-hit) and damage but they have limited range. I do, however, recommend one character with DEX 16 but he needs the Low-Life background so that he gains Proficiency in Lock Picking.
Having a higher WIS score will improve not only your Perception and Survival checks (used to find food while traveling overland) but WIS Saving Throws which are very common -- and can be debilitating; Hypnotic Pattern or Suggestion, for example.
Love the theme! Hopefully as more face options are added you can get a facial scars, broken noses, torn ears, eye patches or other visual reminders of how tough these guys are.
Thank you and that is a good idea.
Yeah, I also mentioned in my post, that I could decrease Dex and increase Wis. But this time I just maxed Dex 16 to use crossbows, because the range of throwing weapons feels not enough. Especially against the Solak boss fight... But well, I didn't tried Javelin or Throwing axes against him so, maybe next time? :) I'm also thinking of 4 paladins, not sure if I really could go for it... but let's see.
Good idea about Low life background. But in this party, everyone is sellsword background because well, they are GoT characters :D
This was a great read! Someone is doing a Let's Play of a party of four wizards on Youtube. I fear some later fights in the Dark Castle are going to be a bit frustrating with no tank or little healing available.
I fear some later fights in the Dark Castle are going to be a bit frustrating with no tank or little healing available.
Well, I also worried a bit but I didn't need to :) Mighty 4 dudes are very tanky.
She couldn't even bite me for once... I guess AC22 (and AC24 for mountainner) was too high for her.
Well, it was her who shrouded herself in the dark clouds with 4 angry dudes, not me, which turns out to be a very bad choice for her life. XD
The mountaineer subclass was really great in this situation. He absorbed all attack/bite attempts from Aksha by evading with high AC (Full plate, shield +1, AC bonus when one the character stands by the wall). Mountaineers in this game get a bonus to shove when a shield is equipped. Aksha couldn't resist the knockdown at all.
Of course, in the dark cloud, my boys missed their swing but proning her down helped a bit, and eventually, she couldn't escape from her own trap. She continuously attempts to bite one of my dudes, too bad her roll was not good enough to successfully bite my mountaineer guy, and not enough to withstand shoving attempts. She didn't even attempt the teleport.
During the final combat, I was able to kill the boss guy in a turn. I was expecting the skeleton caster will use Fear, but I didn't expect it will fear all of my 4 boys.
My poor boys all rushed out of the door in panic :( For 2 turns, there was nothing I can do. But one guy luckily gets his mind back. Then I begin to fight back again. On top of that, my boys are too tanky, most of the swings and spells from wights and undead casters missed the target.
There was a little bit dangerous situation, where one guy had ~50% of his HP. (It was rare to see 50% HP of any of my fighters during this 4 fighter campaign) But eventually, one by one, my guys get their mental back and joins the fight. And quickly, the tide turns.
Finally, I executed one left wight and saw the ending.
I feel sorry to my boys that I couldn't fully trust their power, tankiness, and potential. They really rocked in the castle. I would try all-human-fighter party again after the new patch and/or full release in the future.
Clegane brothers, Mr. Drogo, and Tormund suddenly teleported to Solasta world. They need to forget their past and fight together for their survival.
Well, they don't look like GoT at all but I tried a bit XD. Wish to see more costume options in the future.
Gregor when he was level 4. All boys were 16 16 16 9 9 9, and now they are now 18 16 16 9 9 9. I will grind them till lvl 6, and then they will become 20 16 16 9 9 9. True "Hardhead" party.
My dudes are tanks. Nothing can stop them. No one can craft, but that is not that bad. I sold all crafting materials, and I was able to grab a good amount of $$$ from a relatively earlier point of view. I finished 4 Plates for my dudes at a very early level 4 phase.
Too bad, I looted the Rosary with them. This is the first time I ever looted Rosary during the 4th campaign, and none of my fighter dudes can use this. My luck is wasted. :(
From level 5, they hit twice, then they become armored killing machines. Even Orc Chieftain couldn't survive more than a turn. In fact, he didn't even have a chance to hit anyone. Four building-wrecking bois steam-rolled poor Orcs. Wights? Meh, they didn't even scratch my dude's shield.
Here are my notes:
1) Their HP pool is huge, never had an issue with Sleep spell. None of my boys fall asleep due to Sleep spell. I didn't get much Blind because boy's Cons were 16, but I think I had 1~2 Blinded boys. But well, they were not a serious issue at the moment, the situation was manageable.
2) The only problem with them is Wis save spells like fear and hypnotic pattern. Their Wis is 9, Fear or Hypnotic or any other Wis roll spells can be a serious life-threatening issue for them. So I always prioritize casters, especially skeleton casters. They love to use Fear when Martial characters are in range.
3) I never had dangerous moments at all so far. (Dangerous moment means any of my dudes were downed.) I think this kind of min-maxed all-fighter party is only possible because it is EA. With more high-level dungeons and more powerful casters in full release, my four poor dudes wouldn't survive that long. Sorry guys :(
3) Use crossbow for secondary weapon. Very useful against ranged enemies. Solak boss dude was the only annoying experience because he uses Shield spell and he flies. But, after some turns, his spell slot run out or I was lucky, I hit him, and he dropped. Then, my angry bois stomped on him and cut his throat.
4) Two of them (Clegane bros, let's just assume that they somehow get magical ability when they teleported to the world of Solasta) are Spellblades. But I think one Spellbades would be fine. In fact, because their INT is 9, most spells are useless. So, 2 Spellblades can be a sort of waste. I could do two Champions, but I pick Spellblade over Champion because I feel the Champion is more or less boring. Too bad we cannot use the Battlemaster subclass. In my 5e TRPG experience, I enjoyed Battlemaster Fighter.
5) Basic human is totally playable and fine and fun race. I respect opinions like "humans are relatively weak" because that is true. But I don't agree at all with opinions like basic humans should be removed or fully replaced because no one plays them. Well, I'm not in that "no one", right? Not only this party but 50% of my other parties were humans. Sometimes I'm really curious how many people actually tried this game with basic humans in total darkness. They are not easy, but it is fun and doable.
6) Food can be a slightly annoying problem. Food is always lacking on the way to Bone Keep and coming back to town from Bone Keep. I don't have Clerics or Rangers, so no Berries or free foods. So, they need to starve, but who cares? They are not like they need to memorize something every morning, their muscles can do works nicely. Sorry guys but only short rests for you. It is not my fault though :( I wish if there are more ways to get food on the road on the world map in the future.
7) I never felt darkness was a serious issue. Boss battles are exceptions, but all other 'normal' battles, whether the world map engagements or in-dungeon engagements, torches were OK. But I wish if TA gives us more useful light options, like throwing a torch, fire a fire arrow at the wall on the other side to give light for a limited amount of turns, enflame the enemy for light for a limited amount of turns, and lamp in the accessory slot to free hands from the torch, or etc...
I think, 4 Clerics would be powerful and balanced, so they would have no issues. 4 Paladins would be good, not that great and they will have similar issues that my 4 fighters had, but 4 Paladins will be slightly more flexible than 4 fighters. Too bad we can't see Oath of Vengence paladin in this game. I really loved my Vengence Paladin in one of my TRPG sessions in the past.
PS) Now I'm thinking, for this party, I may not need to minmax like 16 16 16 9 9 9 at the beginning. I think 16 14 16 10 10 9 or 16 12 16 10 12 9 would be also fine. That will be a bit more balanced, and will slightly reduce a chance to get fear or hypnotic.
I did a 4 battle cleric run, its was cheese. EXREMLY POWERFULL party I could just Magic missile my way trough the EA with 100% hit chance
4 battle cleric lvl 4 can cast 4 time magic missile lvl 2 per round for 3 round
min/max dmg per round 100% hit rate 32 - 80hp per round
never had to buy a single ration
I was crafting 8-32 healing pot per "traveling"
gold was raining
All I can think of is that Simpsons episode, "Goons, hired goons."
Lol. This seems like nearly literally the worst possible party you could build in EA (mechanically speaking), and you made it work and had fun. Good on you! I could never bring myself to assemble a team with this many disadvantages. Thanks for the great read!
Sounds like a fun run. You should try an all Paladin run and feel the difference between the classes. "Everything you can do, I can do better..."
On a note on humans: A lot of the complaints about them on this board was made when not having darkvision meant disadvantage on attack rolls in dim light. That is a major nerf compared to humans as they are now and in dnd standard, since lowlight areas are so common.
My hot take on humans is that I don't think variant human would be better than standard in Solasta as it us now. V-human is only as good the feat selection, which is pretty bad overall. Potent Cantrip and Sylvan Archer are alright, but that's about it.
I think that to put humans on more even terms with the other options, making a Solasta specific subrace more in line with the Dragonmark humans of Eberron would be a good option.
Typos happen. More so on the phone.