Wilderness Team...viable late game?

The team... All Wood Elves

 

PC - Barbarian - Dual Wield Hatchet

Ranger with Bear - Warbow

Ranger with Lion - Warbow

Ranger with Stag - Warbow

Druid - Boar - Spear and Shield

Druid - Wolf - Quaterstaff

 

The plan is to have the ACs draw aggro as the Rangers unleash their volleys. The Druids fire off AoEs for 1-2 rounds, then shift to support the ACs. The Barbarian wades in as Damage Master, supporting ACs, off-tanking. I am thinking of making all Bear ACs but I like the idea of mixing them up, if only to add a little more flair to the team.

I see no reason why it won't work. Obviously there's better weapon choices for a barbarian, but hatchets go well with the theme. You might have issues with all the rangers using Warbows, I think you can probably go with hunting bow on one of them. 

 

My biggest issue is this. How dare you make a wilderness team without a WILD Orlan?!

If I wasn't going all Wood Elf, Wild Orlan would be my first choice.

The issue I see is you don't have a main tank. A bear is not a main tank. So you basically have 3-4 off tanks.

 

Furthermore, having a pet go down is bad for your ranger and you're going to have these pets going down regularly. At the very least make one of your rangers tank specced.

 

I would go two bear/antelopes and a stag for aoe.

That is my main worry as well. How do I tank with a Ranger? Or a Barbarian? I was looking to utilize light armory only.

If you are eschewing metal, you can still get by. The 6 less DR in leather will be noticeable early, but less so later. Luckily you can have high defenses in any armor (def, fort, will, ref). You can also get a large shield early on that is made of wood. 

 

As for the class question, any class can tank. Go high Resolve and Perception, dump dex, the rest to taste. Use a shield and pick defensive talents like Careful Attack and Hold the Line. You won't be as good of a tank as Fighter or Paladin, but way better than a bear.

Ya weapons for rangers, I would go for warbow on two and hunting bow on the other one. Lenas Er is a very good hunting bow and does well on a ranger with Driving Fight to spread the debuff. You can also pick up Persistence early for that character.

 

Borresaine and Cloupiercer for the other two (which forces you to play for Dozens)

 

You might be able to trun the barbarian into an offtank. He has very low defelection but savage defiance can help a lot for heals at least, and you can support him with the druids. Alternatively I do not know how viable a druid can be as a tanky. But just max the defensive attributes and you should be ok.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Omnicron

I think Druid could be ok for tanking too. It does have the benefit of some nice cone AoE blast spells that are best fired off from the front line.

 

I also thought of a compromise for your non-metal team. There is a plate armor in the game that is mostly made of this living stone called Adra. It's got a good tanking property on it and it's Green! I know spoilers are ok here, but in case you don't want to know specifics:

 

 

You get it by killing the Fampyr lord on level 8 of the Endless Paths of Od Nua. He's a pretty bad dude, so, while you could avoid killing him, you shouldn't have an issue justifying it.

 

The plan for the Barb is DPS all the way. The ACs dont necessarily need to "tank" long i think. My arrow volleys followed up with AoE should destroy some of the opposition. By then with 3 ACs added to my Barb, more volley fire and either more AoE or Shifted druids, i think most fights should be a breeze as i should have greater numbers. My 1st true test will be Raedric. Will see... thanks for the feedback!

Raedric was a breeze. I'm really liking this party. Now at level 8. Barb using hatches dualled has turned out to be a rather nice balance for his role in the party. The extra Def allows for a little extra staying power in case he gets swamped. But its the Rangers that are carrying the day. At mid levels and I am still shifting in tough battles. It turns tide more often than not.

 

I truly love this game. Party builds are so flexible and every class can be played in different ways. Warrior Mages and Priests, Ranged Pallys, Armored Monks. Awesomeness.

Recruit Eder, steal his armor, slap it on the Barbarian.

 

Or buy the ring of wonders.