[Party Challenge] Team Alpha Strike

[PrimeJunta]

So, just how much damage can you pile onto an alpha strike and still keep the team somewhat viable?

 

Think six minmaxed rogues with Backstab, equipped with arbalests or arquebuses, creeping up on the opposition and firing a Crippling Strike volley. That ought to do an ungodly amount of damage, no? Unfortunately they'd be shredded by any survivors if that's the only trick in their bag, and with the sheer size of the mobs in PotD, there will always be survivors.

 

Since we want our squad to survive to fight another day, we'll need to think of that part as well. What tools do we have available?

• Swap out one of the rogues for a Flames of Devotion-based paladin, and give him Zealous Charge

That paladin will be no slouch alpha-striking either although I suspect it won't be quite up to rogueish standards. He'll also be able to get the strike force out of trouble a lot of the time. I think this will largely solve the survivability problem with maps that allow hit-and-run tactics.

 

Some of them don't though. How does our team survive a fight in a confined space?

• Shadowing Beyond

That'll give two more stealthed alpha strikes per rest. Would just possibly make some close-quarters boss fights winnable. Expensive strategy though, not something you could use all the time unless you want to be running back for supplies all the time. Also, if one of us isn't a rogue, the paladin will be left alone to be clobbered, which is kind of unfortunate. In theory you could use Potions of Fleet Feet to run away when needed so you wouldn't need the pally with the Zealous Charge, but I suspect it would get too expensive fast. I figure I'd go through a dozen of them just clearing Pearlwood Bluffs.

• Emergency Tanks

Suppose we build our pally and two of the rogues with some tankiness in them (e.g. keep high Mig and Per for the alpha-strike ability, but trade off some Dex for Res for better Deflection), equip them in heavy armour and give them big shields and, why not, hatchets. Then use them to pin down the enemy while the truly dedicated strikers finish them off. Would it buy enough time to win the fights?

• Emergency Interrupt-O-Mats

Suppose instead of heavy armour + shields, we give them light armour and light, fast weapons + Interrupting Blows. Will they be able to keep the onrushing horde Interrupted long enough for the second row to finish them off?

• Zealous Endurance

What if Mr. Paladin Striker also took Zealous Endurance, and switched to it when things got heated? Would it be enough to tip the balance frequently enough to make it worthwhile?

• Emergency Alchemy

Front line glugs defensive potions that give them ungodly Deflection for a while. Add a Scroll of Defense and a Scroll of Protection. Enough to survive a boss fight? Enough time to glug a Potion of Power, Deleterious Alacrity of Motion, or other attack-enhancing one to make them go down faster?

 

I'm not going to get into this right now, perhaps later, but I think it might be fun to try.

[Boeroer]

I once did a playthrough with six rogues on PotD 2.01. At first it was ok, but it started to get really tedious in Galvino's Workshop and kept on being that in the Battery and so on. The Lagufaeths where a real pain in the a then. I got stunlocked all the time and had to use a lot of summons so that all the paralyzing and stunning was focused on them before I could even try to go into melee fight.

 

The main problem is not that you are squishy - you can build some of your rogues sturdy enough so that they form a good front line. I even had a riposte build (low DEX, maxed RES, with shield, fat armor, retaliation and maxed deflection bonus against disengagement attacks and boots of speed) who ran around the mobs in circles and it worked. But this was the only kind of good and reliable CC that I had. It worked as CC because some of the enemies would chase the rogue forever while he would run past other enemies to force diseng. attacks. The Sap ability wasn't within reach and although I had focused on weapons with prone or stun capabilities they did not prove to be a reliable source of disabling against tough buggers.

You just don't have enough AoE for all the foes on PoTD - there will always be two or three that you can't control and the will annoy you big time.

I did work around that with scrolls of paralysis and so on. That works quite well as you can guess because a rogues with high ACC and good INT (to buff the prone/stun durations from weapons) is great for using scrolls - but its... I don't know... just scrolls. Feels weird that you are so dependent on them. I like them as a bonus - but if a build or even a party doesn't work without them it doesn't feel right for me. Maybe taking Enigma's Charm and getting some mind-control items like Munacra Arret would have been a good idea - or still is.

 

So I think a paladin and a cipher frontliner would definitely improve such an alpha strike party. I know it ruins the idea of a pure rogue party though.

But pallies and ciphers also can do lots of damage with alpha strikes (paladin: FoD, cipher: Soul Whip + Runner's Wounding Shot if you like) and while the paladin can do things like healing, revive, buffing and be really sturdy the cipher can greatly improve the CC capability. One mind controlled foe alone that you turn at the start of the fight can make things so much easier. The mob will attack (and probably CC) him first and you can pick your targets without stress. Mental Binding is great for a alpha strike party, too. As long as they are stuck they can't swarm you. I also like to use mind wave as an alpha strike when the mobs start to move towards your party because they automatically will run in a formation that's perfect for the cone AoE. A weapon that does prone or stun on crit together with Tactical Meld (can be cast before combat for zero focus loss) and Borrowed instinct is also great. +40 ACC is like a guarantee for crits. A paladin with Zealous Charge and Boots of Speed is also a great tractor for the cipher's Ectopsychic Echo by the way.

 

Ok, that' my mustard*.

 

 

 

 

)* = my two cents, german idiom 

[PrimeJunta]

The idea isn't a pure rogue party actually, it's a party with maximised alpha-strike potential which can also survive the aftermath. The objective is to give up as little alpha-strike power to get sufficient followup power to be able to win without undue pain.

 

Yeah, about the scrolls. Paralysis-spam just feels wrong to me. The game isn't all that consumable-friendly actually, as (1) they have to be prepped in quickslots, and (2) using them takes time, i.e. carries and opportunity cost. The latter especially: if you want to use consumables at the start, you'll be late for the alpha strike which is a big trade-off.

 

Frankly I don't think the game would suffer if it allowed pre-quaffing potions. If you like, they could make a limitation that only one potion can be in effect at a time so you wouldn't be able to stack too many.

 

If you dropped the paladin and gave everyone Fast Runner, would it be enough to let you get out of trouble most of the time, I wonder? 

[Boeroer]

I think. With some exceptions like enemy monks and this forest lurker bounty. In both cases they are running very fast so that +1 move speed is not sufficient.

[Mocker22]

Sounds like a fun concept. I think maybe 3 paladins so you can use all 3 auras. With that many options you could have all of the paladin goodies and still have them all hit really hard. Plus later on in the game Scared Immo will make the remaining mobs a lot easier. Also could use coordinated attacks to buff the rogues alpha strikes. Hmmm I wonder if any caster could be built for an alpha strike and offer some CC/buffing after the initial wave.