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Old 12-01-2009, 01:42 AM   #16
Dundee Slaytern
Ironworks Moderator
 

Join Date: June 10, 2001
Location: Pasir Ris, Singapore
Age: 41
Posts: 11,063
Trick or Treat Re: How much micromanagement are you guys doing?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chewbacca View Post
I'm really enjoying the Hold Postion/Move Freely command on one of the quick buttons as well. Luring foes into carefully positioned ambushes is my new favorite sport.
Aye, and with Survival, you can actually passively "scan" for enemies and reveal their locations/type before even opening the door to the next room. What happens next is that my Ranger uses her expendable pet to open the door, bark at the enemies, and lead them into a gauntlet of Frost/Shock/Acidic Grease/Sharpnel/Claw/etc... Traps; and should by some miracle of the Maker a survivor actually makes it into the room where the rest of the party is chilling out, he/she will probably be on the verge of death already and it merely takes a plink of an arrow to finish him/her off.

It's beautiful to hear their screams.

Good times, good times...

~~~~ ~~~~

The Ranger pets are quite possibly, one of the best things in this game because they help to break up the enemy's "Focus Fire". Having a pet distract a Mage or force Archers into melee does a tremendous deal in reducing the potency of an enemy attack. The best part being, with three pets, by the time the 3rd pet dies, the cooldown on the first one should have expired by then, and it is extremely rare to cycle through more than 2 pets in a single fight, save maybe against Dragons.

Ranger pets also helps in fights where you have control beforehand, since the enemy will always have initial aggro on the first thing to appear in their sight. It's not a big deal if the pet dies, and trust me, if you're using the Great Bear, it doesn't die easily (even on Nightmare); but it can be a game-ender if your tank dies.

Especially beautiful in fights against Revenants, since you get a free meatshield while your party switches to ranged weapons. It saves a lot on potions.

My Ranger is currently in a party with Leliana, which means I have TWO Rangers, with two pets. Which basically means I have a party of 6.

Spirit Mages also have Reanimate Dead, but I chose to skip Mages in this runthrough because they make the game WAAAAY too easy, like Sorcerers in BG2. Thinking of a future runthrough where I will have 3 Rogues( +Zevran). The thought of 3 Great Bears smacking Arl Howe silly is amusing. I might make the 4th member a Spirit Mage specialised in support only, so that I can have a party of EIGHT units.

The only annoying thing is that you need to set their tactics manually each time they're summoned. It doesn't get saved, and you have set it up again, or they won't use their special skills properly, especially the Spider's Web ability.

Cheers.
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