Game Play Tips...NO SPOILERS

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I found this on the official msg boards for TOEE, and it helped me out tremendously. I hope that it helps some of you out as well......

" I imagine that TOEE's robust turn-based tactical engine would prove daunting to those uninitiated with 3rd and 3.5 edition pencil-and-paper D&D. So, I decided to start this post with some tactical tips (note: not spoilers) to help people survive in TOEE's oft-deadly world.

This is mainly for beginners, but others may find a few golden nuggets they can add to their repertoire as well, just as I hope to from your replies.

Beyond the tactical, I'll offer some character creation and progression tips as well. And, please, feel free to post your own tips and strategies.

1. Don't just attack. While it may be tempting to simply select attack, it is hardly often your best option. Instead, try some of the moves listed below.

2. Charge! TOEE will often let you charge your enemy. All you need is a little unobstructed distance between you and your foe. A charge will grant you a not insignificant +2 to hit. Even better, charge enables you to attack from a distance that is "yellow" to your foe. An ordinary attack would require you to use both "halves" of your first turn to close with the foe, only to attack on your next turn. Charge enables you to run a "yellow" distance AND attack at the end. Charge does hit you with a -2 AC penalty on your next turn, but, in my opinion, that is almost always more than worth it to be able to hit hard and hit early.

TIP!!! Charging is perfect for characters with reach weapons, like the longspear. They can charge to a protected spot behind an ally (where the -2 AC penalty rarely matters) and get their +2!

3. Flank. Flank. Flank. When you and an ally are on opposite sides of an enemy (directly across from one another with the enemy in between), that enemy is flanked. Flanking grants a +2 bonus to attack to both flankers, so it is key to obtain a flank as often as possible. A successful flank can be achieved in multiple ways, detailed in tips 4-6 (see below).

4. Use ALT to move. Using the ALT key to move will allow you to preview your end location options. It also, very importantly, tell you when your enemy will get a free attack, called an Attack of Opportunity. These can often be avoided using ALT. ALT will allow you to set waypoints for movement, so your character won't simply follow a straight path, especially through your enemy's "threatened space." Click once to set the waypoint and double click to execute the move. Use this to move around your enemies threatened space to his back to flank!

5. The Tumble Skill. Tumble is one of the only combat skills in the game, and it's well worth your investment. When moving around an enemy, as detailed above in 4, isn't practical, tumble will often save your bacon. When you move through an enemy's threatened space, the game will make a tumble roll. If the roll succeeds, his chance at an Attack of Opporunity is denied. It's a great way to gain superior mobility during combat, and great for achieving that flank.

Feats like Mobility (prerequisite: Dodge) can also help you avoid attacks of opporunity, and are the best route for characters with nasty armor check penalties that negate tumble bonuses (check your tumble rating while IN armor).

6. Flank with Summoned Allies! Many classes can summon creatures. Get double usage out of them by summoning them to a position that achieves a successful flank. This applies to any ally, even such enchantments like the cleric's Spiritual Weapon. Even if the summons is a weak first level creature, the flank bonus may alone well be worth it.

7. Learn the Five-Foot Step. Many might wonder what that 5' step is for. Well, it's mainly for getting out of melee without taking an attack of opportunity while still maintaining your ability to attack or cast. The classic example is a mage whose foe has closed in on him. If he attempts to cast while right next to the foe, bang!, attack of opportunity and a chance to blow the spell. If he retreats using his "green" distance move, bang!, attack of opportunity (though he still gets his chance to cast). If he merely takes a 5' step from the foe, no Attack of Opportunity and the chance to cast his spell without interruption.

8. If You Must Leave Battle, Withdraw. If you need to get all the way out of battle, be sure to withdraw. This takes your entire turn, but it means you can extract yourself from a nasty melee situation without taking any attacks of opportunity.

9. Born to Run. When your enemy is more than a double move away and you need to close to melee, Run. Running allows you to move 3x or 4x your normal move distance in a straight line. For those in heavy armor, it's a must to get there in time.

10. Maintain Mobility. You might love the AC bonus of heavy armor and a shield, but if your character moves through the battlefield like an 18-wheeler, it isn't worth much. Try to keep that 30' or 20' move. Barbarians and monks, with their speed advantage, have a real bonus here. And, remember, there are plenty of spells that buff AC (magic armor, barkskin, etc.).

11. DE-FENSE! Mainly, I think the best defense is a good offense [see 2 (Charge) above]. But, remember your defensive options, like Total Defense and Fight Defensively. If one character is holding off foes, that means there are many other characters free to attack while the enemy attempts to chip away at the well-protected character. Feats like Combat Expertise can boost defense even higher. Learn your defensive options.

Party, Feat and Skill Tips...

1. For a TOEE party, it is best to have one character, like a rogue or bard, be the "talker." Have them deal with the NPCs all the time. Make them use their plentiful skill points for "conversation" skills (Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Gather Information, etc.). Save other party member's skill points for combat options.

TIP: Bluff grants you bonuses to the Feint combat move, so it's one of the better "conversation" options.

2. Best combat skills for non-casters are: Listen (helps avoid being surprised), Tumble (if lightly armored, see 5 above), and Spot.

3. Best combat skills for a caster are: Concentration, Spellcraft and the above in 2.

4. Consider Hide and Move Silently for your mage or sorceror, and the Stealthy feat. For one, they should have a good dexterity since they aren't going to be armored. Two, it's a big plus to be able to sneak in on a tightly grouped bunch of foes and launch that area of effect spell.

5. Don't neglect the Use Magic Items skill. Many spells apply solely to the caster, like Shield or True Strike. Imagine a rogue with a good Use Magic Items skill using a scroll of True Strike for his next sneak attack!

6. All-around solid combat feats are: Improved Initiative, Dodge, Power Attack + Cleave, Point Blank Shot + Precise Shot (for ranged).

7. Druids should take: Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summons, and Natural Spell.

8. Characters with a high dexterity, but low strength (often rogues) should strongly consider weapon finesse. With a rapier, this is a hot combination.

9. Spring Attack is a wicked feat for those who can obtain it. The ability to move, attack and move again cannot be underrated, especially for rogue-types.

10. Clerics should strongly consider Improved Turning. Why fight undead when you can simply destroy them outright?

11. Weapon focus isn't necessarily a great bet for non-fighters (+1 isn't worth much). Plus, you might feel restricted if you find a nice magic weapon that isn't your focus. For fighters, who can Specialize and Greater Specialize, it's a great choice. Combine with Power Attack and Cleave!

12. Mages should focus on area of effect spells like sleep and fireball. It's their specialty. Let others handle buffing or single foe attacks.

13. Finally... Dual-Wield is cool, but two-Handed is better. For the most part, a two-handed weapon trumps wielding a weapon in each hand. Why? For one, a two-handed weapon often takes no feats to use, or, at most, one. It also means the character gets one and a half times their strength bonus to damage. Dual-wielding typically means penalties to hit, requires multiple feats to be effective (which could be used to enhance your two-handed weapon effectiveness), and requires a small weapon in the off-hand that typically does less damage and gets hit with a half-strength bonus to damage, while the main hand weapon must do "medium" damage (like 1-8 vs. 1-10, 1-12, 2d6 for two-handed). Dual-wielding also requires a full action (both green and yellow "halves" of your turn) to attack with both hands. I've seen analysis on this, and dual-wielding is almost never worth it.

Think about it. A fighter with a greatsword does 2d6. If his strength is 18 (+4), he will do 2d6 +6. Dual wielding a longsword and short sword, he'll get 1d8 +4 and 1d6 +2 (off-hand strength bonus is halved for dual-wielding). The difference in potential damage here is +2 for the dual-wield option, but he must hit both times. With the various penalties to dual-wielding, he will hit less often than with one weapon. And critical hits favor the two-hander as well.

Then add in all the feats the fighter would need to boost two weapons. He could easily Weapon Focus, Weapon Specialization and Greater Weapon Specialization that greatsword. Can he afford to do that to both the longsword and shortsword? I doubt it.

Thanks for reading. Hope this helped. Please add any other tips, character building strategies, etc. in replies (I'll be sure to read them). I'll also add any others I can think of.

Good gaming,
E."

 

wow Very effective tips your giving! Many many thanks!

 

A couple of other things to consider.

Don't underestimate the extra 'reach' of weapons such as long spears, glaives and guisarmes (among others). This really helps to give a slight edge in most combat situations. For example, a character with a reach weapon can attact effectively from behind two other party members without actually entering melee range.

Combined with the feat combat reflexes (extra attacks of opportunity) and cleave (automatic attack against adjacent opponent after a killing blow) this is *very* effective. Whether using a reach weapon or not, any character with a dexterity bonus greater than +1 will benefit from the Combat Reflexes feat, as it allows the character a number of attacks of opportunity equal to their dex bonus rather than the standard one.

 

Agreed. With a Barbarian, you can rage and charge, granting a +4 (!) to hit, to say nothing of the +3 damage you can inflict during a rage (assuming the stereotype of the greataxe-wielding barb). Combine this with Power Attack, and you can inflict a tremendous amount of damage. The only downside is if you fail to hit (which is more unlikely in a charge, however). You will be vulnerable afterwards. But, hey, that's what the Barbarian's d12s and Uncanny Dodge are for. Remember that you provoke an AoO versus monsters with big reach. Sometimes it's wiser to inch closer so as to not provoke that swing of the Ogre's greatclub.

Yes. Include Sneak Attack in this equation, and things can get glorious. Imagine a Hasted, dual-wielding Ranger/Rogue. Triple (I think) Sneak Attacks.

IIRC, summoning monsters is a full-round action. That means that your critter appears on your next turn. Sometimes those monsters may already be in front of your mage.

You can worry less about this with Mobility. Or with Total Defense. One character might end up being Horatio at the bridge, so to speak (preferrably a combat class of course, e.g. well-armored Fighter or raging barbarian). Hopefully this Mr. Horation has some way of increasing movement in case things get ugly (e.g Barb's fast movement, or Expeditious Retreat).

Disagree with Dodge. The point of Dodge is to be weak, but its strong point lies in it letting you take better feats. Also, you need 13 Strength and 13 Dexterity to take these feats (except I. I.).

Why Spell Focus (Conjuration)?

Monk/Rogue. Spring Attack. Weapon Finesse. Stunning Blow. Who the heck needs that silly thing called Strength?


Is there Manyshot in ToEE? If so, it's a cool idea to combine that with Shot on the Run. Move. Shoot a pair of arrows. Move.

Spiked Chain gives you 10' reach, right? Combat Reflexes. Combat Expertise. Weapon Finesse. Improved Trip. Improved Disarm. 13+ Dex. 13+ Int. Who the heck needs that silly thing called Strength? Just dumb barbarians, of course.


DISCLAIMER: My feedback on this consists of knowledge in P&P D&D, which I assume ToEE tries hard to replicate combat wise.

 

Yes, Manyshot is in ToEE, although I haven't used it yet.

One other thing to add. For those that aren't familiar with D&D rules, your spell casters can attempt to avoid attacks of opportunity (AoO) in close combat by using the Cast Defensively option. This can be turned on or off as you need it. When selected, the caster will need to make a concentration check (based on Con) and, if successful, the spell is cast without provoking an AoO. Failure means the spell is 'miscast' - but still no AoO. This is greatly aided with the Combat Casting feat (+4 to concentration checks). This tactic is almost mandatory to make effective use of many spells - mainly those that require a successful touch attack or at least close range. Also for when your healer is most needed in-close.