Basically you are out of luck when your character's don't have darkvision. The enemy one hit even the fighter (AC 18, HP 22, Con Save +5), even in cover. Most of the time you miss and in the end you can't kill one in one turn, and then their regeneration kicks in.
P.S.: I did it again, and it basically boiled down to a couple of bad rolls at the beginning. This time it went pretty smooth...
But I think the randomness is too high. Maybe it would help if the enemie's damage rolls are fixed to average damage. This would reduce randomness significantly. Maybe this would be an option in the settings.
P.S.: I did it again, and it basically boiled down to a couple of bad rolls at the beginning. This time it went pretty smooth...
But I think the randomness is too high. Maybe it would help if the enemie's damage rolls are fixed to average damage. This would reduce randomness significantly. Maybe this would be an option in the settings.
The randomness is what makes it interesting. A tactic that worked once may not work another time because the enemy this time around rolled a bunch of crits. If we know averages, then it’s much more easier to predict the outcome.
But saying all that, I agree it can be made an option. The optional rules mods TA is implementing seems incredibly robust.
P.S.: I did it again, and it basically boiled down to a couple of bad rolls at the beginning. This time it went pretty smooth...
But I think the randomness is too high. Maybe it would help if the enemie's damage rolls are fixed to average damage. This would reduce randomness significantly. Maybe this would be an option in the settings.The randomness is what makes it interesting. A tactic that worked once may not work another time because the enemy this time around rolled a bunch of crits. If we know averages, then it’s much more easier to predict the outcome.
But saying all that, I agree it can be made an option. The optional rules mods TA is implementing seems incredibly robust.
The problem is that you can't do much if one of your party members get knocked out just when the encounter starts.
However, I can imagine that some people like that, so I agree it would be bad to take that away from them.
I am looking forward to the rules mod.
Btw. in my P&P campaigns I also use the average damage for most enemies, which is indeed a recommended procedure by the book, so it is nothing I came up with.
I just roll random damage for boss battles. IMO it makes for a better story when the heroes aren't killed by a bunch of orks that just had a good day with the dice. But that's of course just how I like it.
is this the rotating bridge encounter? regardless with good strategy all of the fights are easy. most are easy won by having a sneaky scout up front to find where the foes are, put everyone else at the edge of move+range weapon and with cover. have the sneaky one start the combat, so you get a free round of attacks and then just shoot and move back, shoot and move back by the time they get close enough to hit you have taken out most of them. hopefully it will be fixed in the final version, but you can sneak up to the foes and use magic to light the torches around foes and somehow they don't see you or what is going on?
yellow flower of courage
I run mostly elves/half-elves/dwarves because of their various stat and skill bonuses, so light is rarely a problem, so the following might be off a bit:
- Hold down the alt key. This will highlight any torches. Use Fire Bolt or the wizard cantrip (Sparkle, I think?) to light them. Sparkle does three at once, almost like Magic Missile for torches.
- I saw a video of casting light on a character (maybe their items?). That becomes a moving 8-radius lit area.
- Use Dancing Lights.
More generally, don't rush in. They will use wall crawling and cover, making it hard to hit them. Make them come to you: I sneak just far enough to spot the one on the top left wall, surprise him, which generally kills him before he can act, then use Ready/Ranged Attack (Ready/Cantrip Attack for the mage) actions until they come to me. They step out and get arrows and crossbow bolts to the face. Usually, only 1 to 2 end up in hand-to-hand. There is one pain in the neck who likes his cover and will not rush you if you are in missile range, so you usually have to either withdraw until he rushes you or rush him when the others are dead.
More generally, don't rush in.
Basically this. Old school tabletop players know not to charge in anywhere and oh, have a 10 foot pole.
Somewhat off topic but I’d like to see some encounters where your party is completely outnumbered and it’d be wiser to negotiate than brute force.
Then perhaps offer a future opportunity to even the odds later on. I know there are encounters already that lets you bypass areas without a fight, but the fight itself usually isn’t that much harder.
Somewhat off topic but I’d like to see some encounters where your party is completely outnumbered and it’d be wiser to negotiate than brute force... I know there are encounters already that lets you bypass areas without a fight, but the fight itself usually isn’t that much harder.
The vampire fight in the dark castle is close to 'negotiate or die' for lower-level characters. She has 10 HP of regen a round, plus the ability to drain a character's maximum HP, plus the ability to one-shot any character she has drained (or two-shot just about anyone). Also, she will retreat for a round or two to regain HP. That one's only 'easy' if you are already level 5 and have 2 blows a round for your fighters and 3rd level spells for your spell casters. IMO - maybe a better tactician than I am could win that at level 4, but I think it would be difficult.
[edit] What the heck with the formatting? Eh, not worth figuring out. [/edit]
I really like this game. But I have been stuck on this second Sorak battle for weeks. Looking forward to finally beating it so I can move on to other parts of the game.
The vampire fight in the dark castle is close to 'negotiate or die' for lower-level characters. She has 10 HP of regen a round, plus the ability to drain a character's maximum HP, plus the ability to one-shot any character she has drained (or two-shot just about anyone). Also, she will retreat for a round or two to regain HP. That one's only 'easy' if you are already level 5 and have 2 blows a round for your fighters and 3rd level spells for your spell casters. IMO - maybe a better tactician than I am could win that at level 4, but I think it would be difficult.
That encounter is a good one. I even want it to be challenging for a level 5 group unless the group finds a way to gain an advantage. I think of BG3 and the goblin camp where you can poison a good chunk of the goblins to make the fight more manageable if you choose to fight them.
Maybe gain allies along the way who don't like the vampire? I'd just like to see solutions beyond brute force or just a skill check.
I really like this game. But I have been stuck on this second Sorak battle for weeks. Looking forward to finally beating it so I can move on to other parts of the game.
do you have the flare, fire bolt or dancing lights cantrips? those will let you avoid any penalties with light. also the chill touch cantrip 'should' stop them from regenerating so you can put all of your fire power on to one of them at a time an take it out in a round or two. also depending on how you talk to the survivors you can pick which ones you want, the most powerful option is the guy at the bottom [robran or something?] and the dwarf lady. he is a higher level fighter than the human female and the dwarf is a cleric so she can stand in the back and do healing word while also throwing some cantrips out. the scout guy is mostly useless unless you need a sneaky sneak
yellow flower of courage
The vampire fight in the dark castle is close to 'negotiate or die' for lower-level characters. She has 10 HP of regen a round, plus the ability to drain a character's maximum HP, plus the ability to one-shot any character she has drained (or two-shot just about anyone). Also, she will retreat for a round or two to regain HP. That one's only 'easy' if you are already level 5 and have 2 blows a round for your fighters and 3rd level spells for your spell casters. IMO - maybe a better tactician than I am could win that at level 4, but I think it would be difficult.
i've done it at 4th level with a few different party make ups all using point buy so no crazy stats. i think it would be a different story if the light cantrip was not treated as sunlight so i'm looking forward to trying it again at 4th level once that is fixed. what works for me is not stick around in their clouds and have readied actions since they can zoom in and out the room[s] you are in. clear out the back room and 'open' all the windows in case you need to drag the battle into there
yellow flower of courage
Somewhat off topic but I’d like to see some encounters where your party is completely outnumbered and it’d be wiser to negotiate than brute force... I know there are encounters already that lets you bypass areas without a fight, but the fight itself usually isn’t that much harder.
The vampire fight in the dark castle is close to 'negotiate or die' for lower-level characters. She has 10 HP of regen a round, plus the ability to drain a character's maximum HP, plus the ability to one-shot any character she has drained (or two-shot just about anyone). Also, she will retreat for a round or two to regain HP. That one's only 'easy' if you are already level 5 and have 2 blows a round for your fighters and 3rd level spells for your spell casters. IMO - maybe a better tactician than I am could win that at level 4, but I think it would be difficult.
[edit] What the heck with the formatting? Eh, not worth figuring out. [/edit]
It can be won at lvl 4, but yes, it is quite difficult and will most likely require a reload or two,, or three, or ...
I run mostly elves/half-elves/dwarves because of their various stat and skill bonuses, so light is rarely a problem, so the following might be off a bit:
- Hold down the alt key. This will highlight any torches. Use Fire Bolt or the wizard cantrip (Sparkle, I think?) to light them. Sparkle does three at once, almost like Magic Missile for torches.
- I saw a video of casting light on a character (maybe their items?). That becomes a moving 8-radius lit area.
- Use Dancing Lights.
More generally, don't rush in. They will use wall crawling and cover, making it hard to hit them. Make them come to you: I sneak just far enough to spot the one on the top left wall, surprise him, which generally kills him before he can act, then use Ready/Ranged Attack (Ready/Cantrip Attack for the mage) actions until they come to me. They step out and get arrows and crossbow bolts to the face. Usually, only 1 to 2 end up in hand-to-hand. There is one pain in the neck who likes his cover and will not rush you if you are in missile range, so you usually have to either withdraw until he rushes you or rush him when the others are dead.
If you want to win the second Sorak Fight, do what this guy says.