Post by Zyraen on Oct 27, 2012 0:39:59 GMT 8
Just my Tuppence. Feel free to ignore...
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LEADER NOTES
- A Leader should communicate to the Party his healing plan before his Turn. Ideally, communicate after all the Enemies have gone. This allows the party to coordinate positioning and even attacks so that healing that comes from Leader attacks (eg. Astral Seal, Zealous Sanction) can go off on the correct party member.
- Leaders are usually high-priority targets for the DM, so a Leader that is in danger should either quickly escape danger or delay so that others can bring the Leader back up through Second Wind. Another good candidate is a Controller with less role to do.
- Leaders should recognise themselves as reasonably dispensable once they are unable to heal. Retreating and acting as support for the party would be ideal. Initiative order no longer matters, UNLESS a Leader has abilities that make it easier for Allies to hit Enemies, then they should still Go First. A Leader without such abilities (or not wishing to use them) might move forward to provide flanking for the Party, and/or try to land hits on near-death Enemies.
FOR ALL NON-LEADERS
- If you have only 1 Leader in your Party, make sure the Leader stays up.
- Assuming you have a Leader in your Party, and you think you might go down next round, delay until after the Leader's Turn.
DEFENDER NOTES
- If you are the Defender, assess if the Target you mark is accurate enough to hit and damage you with his Attacks. If not generally so, stay close to the enemy ; if generally you can be hit, stay far from the enemy. Avoid being caught with Allies in bursts / blasts from marked enemies, since that prevents you from "punishing" with your Mark.
- If the enemy can easily hit your Allies even when disobeying your mark, you might consider marking another enemy, unless you are doing considerable punishment to the Enemy.
- If both Defenders can Mark the same enemy, consider who can control better and impose more penalties and punish.
- If an Ally is not able to avoid drawing an OA, let the Defender go first to apply a mark, punish etc to reduce the effect of drawing the OA.
- Defender generally moves after AoE Controllers so that they can occupy better positions. However, they may act sooner to gain CA with Melee Strikers, or if they can get a position that does not result in them being caught in the Controller's AoE.
FOCUSING FIRE / STRIKING NOTES
- Enemies that are bloodied should be attacked by Strikers first, so that if they bring them down, non-Strikers can attack other enemies. Enemies that are near death should be attacked by non-Strikers so that the bonus damage is not wasted.
- The party as a whole should focus fire on enemies, especially bloodied ones.
- Party members can coordinate for Flanking bonuses & CA.
- Strikers should try to prioritise Enemies that cannot be marked / controlled
- Melee Strikers should generally go first, as their options are more limited, and Ranged Strikers finish off what is left.
CONTROLLERS & MELEE CHARACTERS
- Controllers that have positioning capabilities can use their powers to let Melee Characters, notably Defenders and Melee Strikers get their worthy attacks in. Controllers that let allies gain CA also should go before Strikers.
- When using Non-Party Friendly attacks, Controllers can opt to delay so they can get out of the way.
- If there isn't enough Defending / Marking to go around, and Controllers have strong Debuffs, they can apply them last after locating suitable targets.
- Controllers can also ready / delay to act during the Enemies turn to disrupt Enemies' actions. Controllers with Knock Prone, Slide, even Slows etc can use this to devastating effect against Melee Enemies that Shift-Charge or Move-Charge. They can also use such abilities against Ranged Enemies to slide them back adjacent to the Controller's Allies after they shift, forcing them to use Melee or provoke an OA.
COVER
- Whenever possible, all roles except Defender should move to cover etc to reduce chances of being targeted.
- If there is something that can be consistently used to hide for some advantage, characters should be taking cover 50% of the time. Rotating 2 groups in the open would help
- Take care to prevent clustering up.
COMBAT ADVANTAGE
- Everyone in the Party should know who gains exceptional benefits from Combat Advantage (notably Rogues) and work to let the Ally have Combat Advantage.
WHEN NOT TO "COLLAPSE" INITIATIVE
In general, if your immediate action might result in an Enemy that might otherwise be killed / disabled / dazed / marked by you taking an offensive action, then it is better to act first instead of "delaying" to act with the rest of the Party.
This should also be done if your delay might result in YOU being unable to perform your Role. eg. If the Enemies are in a very advantage position for a Burst Power you have, take advantage of it before they stop clustering OR If the Enemies have powers that Daze, Stun, Weaken, Blind, etc disabling effects.
ORDER OF ACTING
Of all the roles, Controllers should have the most flexible Initiative Order. Defender should be the next most flexible. Assuming the Entire Party acts at once, we can use the following general order.
- Leader (Safe) : to pick allies up before they take their Death Saving Throws
- Controller : Positioning to get the Melee or Enemies manuevered here and there. CA-granting attacks also aid Strikers in doing their job. ( also to Polish Off Near-Death Enemies so bonus Striker Damage is not lost)
- Melee Strikers : agree on a target, get CA, hit. strikers should try and prioritise targets that will likely not be marked. Defender can act here as well to provide a CA advantage.
- Leader (Danger & facing AoE concerns) : A Leader in danger should delay as much as possible, but maybe to move before the Controller fires off an AoE, if any.
- Controller : Non-Party-Friendly AoEs go off here. Those who can get away usually can get away, and this helps to pick off weak enemies before the Ranged Strikers go and get their bonus damage "absorbed".
- Ranged Strikers : pick off the bloodied Enemy Targets that are left.
- Defender : Mark what is left. Defender can also act first to reduce effects of drawing OA or simply before the Ranged Strikers so as to "finish" a near-death Enemy, but that is not ideal unless the Mark is already utilised.
- Leader (Danger & non-AoE) : Acting here is best so others can bring you up if you go down. In terms of Opportunity Cost, being "raised" by a Defender is the best, especially if the Defender can maintain his Mark while forcing a Second Wind. Next best ally to bring you up is usually a Controller (situational) followed by Melee Striker.
- Controller: Debuff & Disrupt the Enemies.
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LEADER NOTES
- A Leader should communicate to the Party his healing plan before his Turn. Ideally, communicate after all the Enemies have gone. This allows the party to coordinate positioning and even attacks so that healing that comes from Leader attacks (eg. Astral Seal, Zealous Sanction) can go off on the correct party member.
- Leaders are usually high-priority targets for the DM, so a Leader that is in danger should either quickly escape danger or delay so that others can bring the Leader back up through Second Wind. Another good candidate is a Controller with less role to do.
- Leaders should recognise themselves as reasonably dispensable once they are unable to heal. Retreating and acting as support for the party would be ideal. Initiative order no longer matters, UNLESS a Leader has abilities that make it easier for Allies to hit Enemies, then they should still Go First. A Leader without such abilities (or not wishing to use them) might move forward to provide flanking for the Party, and/or try to land hits on near-death Enemies.
FOR ALL NON-LEADERS
- If you have only 1 Leader in your Party, make sure the Leader stays up.
- Assuming you have a Leader in your Party, and you think you might go down next round, delay until after the Leader's Turn.
DEFENDER NOTES
- If you are the Defender, assess if the Target you mark is accurate enough to hit and damage you with his Attacks. If not generally so, stay close to the enemy ; if generally you can be hit, stay far from the enemy. Avoid being caught with Allies in bursts / blasts from marked enemies, since that prevents you from "punishing" with your Mark.
- If the enemy can easily hit your Allies even when disobeying your mark, you might consider marking another enemy, unless you are doing considerable punishment to the Enemy.
- If both Defenders can Mark the same enemy, consider who can control better and impose more penalties and punish.
- If an Ally is not able to avoid drawing an OA, let the Defender go first to apply a mark, punish etc to reduce the effect of drawing the OA.
- Defender generally moves after AoE Controllers so that they can occupy better positions. However, they may act sooner to gain CA with Melee Strikers, or if they can get a position that does not result in them being caught in the Controller's AoE.
FOCUSING FIRE / STRIKING NOTES
- Enemies that are bloodied should be attacked by Strikers first, so that if they bring them down, non-Strikers can attack other enemies. Enemies that are near death should be attacked by non-Strikers so that the bonus damage is not wasted.
- The party as a whole should focus fire on enemies, especially bloodied ones.
- Party members can coordinate for Flanking bonuses & CA.
- Strikers should try to prioritise Enemies that cannot be marked / controlled
- Melee Strikers should generally go first, as their options are more limited, and Ranged Strikers finish off what is left.
CONTROLLERS & MELEE CHARACTERS
- Controllers that have positioning capabilities can use their powers to let Melee Characters, notably Defenders and Melee Strikers get their worthy attacks in. Controllers that let allies gain CA also should go before Strikers.
- When using Non-Party Friendly attacks, Controllers can opt to delay so they can get out of the way.
- If there isn't enough Defending / Marking to go around, and Controllers have strong Debuffs, they can apply them last after locating suitable targets.
- Controllers can also ready / delay to act during the Enemies turn to disrupt Enemies' actions. Controllers with Knock Prone, Slide, even Slows etc can use this to devastating effect against Melee Enemies that Shift-Charge or Move-Charge. They can also use such abilities against Ranged Enemies to slide them back adjacent to the Controller's Allies after they shift, forcing them to use Melee or provoke an OA.
COVER
- Whenever possible, all roles except Defender should move to cover etc to reduce chances of being targeted.
- If there is something that can be consistently used to hide for some advantage, characters should be taking cover 50% of the time. Rotating 2 groups in the open would help
- Take care to prevent clustering up.
COMBAT ADVANTAGE
- Everyone in the Party should know who gains exceptional benefits from Combat Advantage (notably Rogues) and work to let the Ally have Combat Advantage.
WHEN NOT TO "COLLAPSE" INITIATIVE
In general, if your immediate action might result in an Enemy that might otherwise be killed / disabled / dazed / marked by you taking an offensive action, then it is better to act first instead of "delaying" to act with the rest of the Party.
This should also be done if your delay might result in YOU being unable to perform your Role. eg. If the Enemies are in a very advantage position for a Burst Power you have, take advantage of it before they stop clustering OR If the Enemies have powers that Daze, Stun, Weaken, Blind, etc disabling effects.
ORDER OF ACTING
Of all the roles, Controllers should have the most flexible Initiative Order. Defender should be the next most flexible. Assuming the Entire Party acts at once, we can use the following general order.
- Leader (Safe) : to pick allies up before they take their Death Saving Throws
- Controller : Positioning to get the Melee or Enemies manuevered here and there. CA-granting attacks also aid Strikers in doing their job. ( also to Polish Off Near-Death Enemies so bonus Striker Damage is not lost)
- Melee Strikers : agree on a target, get CA, hit. strikers should try and prioritise targets that will likely not be marked. Defender can act here as well to provide a CA advantage.
- Leader (Danger & facing AoE concerns) : A Leader in danger should delay as much as possible, but maybe to move before the Controller fires off an AoE, if any.
- Controller : Non-Party-Friendly AoEs go off here. Those who can get away usually can get away, and this helps to pick off weak enemies before the Ranged Strikers go and get their bonus damage "absorbed".
- Ranged Strikers : pick off the bloodied Enemy Targets that are left.
- Defender : Mark what is left. Defender can also act first to reduce effects of drawing OA or simply before the Ranged Strikers so as to "finish" a near-death Enemy, but that is not ideal unless the Mark is already utilised.
- Leader (Danger & non-AoE) : Acting here is best so others can bring you up if you go down. In terms of Opportunity Cost, being "raised" by a Defender is the best, especially if the Defender can maintain his Mark while forcing a Second Wind. Next best ally to bring you up is usually a Controller (situational) followed by Melee Striker.
- Controller: Debuff & Disrupt the Enemies.