During your exploits inDungeons & Dragons, you will probably be focused on making the most of your character’s abilities, both in and out of combat. While the careful choice and use of weapons, skills, and spells means a lot, how you interact with your teammates can speak far louder.
The abilities of any class are set up to blend well with the abilities of others, even in ways you may not have thought about. Whether through combat or exploration, there are unseen ways to combine tactics and abilities to make your time in D&D far easier. Plus, it helps bond you and your team as well, both in character and out.
8Wards & Shields
A Little More Protection
Being a martial character means you’ll be in the thick of things more often than not. Barbarians, fighters, and paladins are usually at the forefront of a fighting party, but with some clever thinking, even wizards can aid in the fray.
By using the wizard’s Projected Ward feature, you may greatly limit the damage to a nearby ally. Staying close to them also means they can protect the wizard in turn. This simple two-man fighting force can devastate opponents in short order, especially if it’s a paladin or barbarian that havea higher ACand damage resistances as well.
7Warding Knife
A Rogue’s Perfect Scenario
Not every combat experience has to be full-scale combat. Simply taking out one major target or the leader of a gang can be enough to end combat before it starts in earnest. For this idea, you’ll need a rogue with eitherthe assassin subclassor a similar way to do heavy damage with Sneak Attack.
From there, you’ll have a cleric or paladin character cast Warding Bond on them. From there, the rogue just has to sneak in and attack with Sneak Attack and then retreat before they get caught in the fray. Warding Bond will protect them from the worst of the damage as they retreat.
This is also a good way to kite enemies back to the party after the initial attack.
6Construction Zone
The Map Fights Back
A mix of spells and martial abilities is often the best way to go. One such way of using this deadly combo is through magical traps and getting your enemies to enter the affected area. This can be done in a multitude of ways, but it’s a simple idea with two parts.
You need a spellcaster with the ability to cast an area of effect damage spell like Arms of Hadar, or Wall of Fire. The next step is to get another party member, hopefully someone with telekinesis, or grappler, and high Strength, or similar ways to move creatures. The idea is to constantly shove your enemies back into the dangerous area, taking damage every round, without using too many spells or other limited-use abilities.
5Death From Above
Gravity Is A Harsh Mistress
Some of the ways to do damage against your enemies focus on the laws of the world around you instead of the martial prowess or innate abilities of your characters. Layering spells to affect the world around you can be a great way to use the world against your enemies.
For this one, pick a character to cast Spider Climb on, or similarly a flying character. After they get up to a reasonable height above their enemies, True Polymorph can be used to turn them into a heavy object. A boulder, an anvil, or a similar object works perfectly. From there, it’s as simple as letting gravity take over.
4Too Hot To Handle
Hot Potato
Sometimes, teaming up with your compatriots in combat can be both helpful and funny. All you need is a sorcerer, a fighter, and a little bit of patience. This idea works best on humanoid creatures like bandits. First, you have your fighter use a Disarming Strike, knocking the weapon from the enemy’s hands.
Follow that up with Heat Metal, and you’ll either have an enemy with no weapon in their hands, or someone taking a good amount of damage as they try and pick it up and hold it. This is a great workaround for not being able to use Heat Metal on worn or equipped items.
3Attack From The Shadows
A Step In The Right Direction
Rogues get the most attention when it comes to attacking enemies from the dark. Sure, they’re the usual assassins in D&D, but they’re far from the only ones that can manage such deadly attacks. Combining the rogue’s abilities with other party members that can do the same is a great way to end combat quickly or do some severe damage before combat starts.
The monk’s Shadow Stepability is a great example, allowing them to teleport into dark areas to hide from enemies. Combine them with a rogue doing the same and maybe even a long-ranged ranger or warlock, and you can get multiple stealth attacks in before anyone is the wiser.
2Fiendish Resilience
A Hot Shot
This one takes a little bit of extra setup from one player in creating their character, but the payoff can be pretty fun. You’ll need a tiefling with Hellish Resistance with a high Strength score, and another player with third-level spell slots. Long-term D&D players will see where this is going.
The idea is simple: have the tiefling character run into combat and target the “leader” of the group (or any important target really), grapple them to hold them in place, then have your spellcaster shoot a Fireball at them. Their fiendish constitution will negate half the damage, but the grappled enemy will be unable to effectively make the Dexterity save and take full damage instead. Repeat as necessary. Plus, take the Grappler feat for extra grab-ability.
It also helps to have some characters waiting in the wings with healing spells for the affected tiefling.
1Stemming The Flow
You Shall Not Pass
Polearms are a great way to get some extra reach on the battlefield. Combine them withthe Sentinel feat, and you have a character that can stop enemies from moving through the map with relative ease. The key to this idea is having your polearm-wielding character place themselves at a narrow point on the map, a hallway, or somewhere near difficult terrain that you can funnel enemies through.
From there, you have them use their attacks and reactions to do heavy damage to the enemies trying to get by them. For extra benefit, one or more characters with ranged skills can stand a distance behind the first character and pick off caught enemies. verify they have a good enough Dexterity or Sharpshooter to aim around the polearm expert, though.
You can also ask your DM if you can combine the bugbear’s reach with the polearm weaponry’s reach for extra attack distance.
