The bugbears must know if they take out the spellcasters.The fight is easier for them.So they trip and suround them.("Just try to cast a spell scumbag") Is the only hope for them to survive.
I was siding with the anti bugbear crowd, but that's ^ a good point. Bugbears are soldiers. They most likely think in terms of the welfare of the unit first and foremost, and themselves secondarily. Thus, dashing through a crowd in hopes of killing the most dangerous guy is probably an acceptable loss if the tactic fails, in the collective sense.
My point was that it is counter-productive as it changes the way parties deal with bugbears - how many people lose a wizard to bugbears more than once or twice?
Hi My "Favorite" ( NOT !! ) Four are 1.) Stirges 2.) The Goblins at Welwood Bog 3.) Bugbears ( especially the 100+ HP "Hill Giants in Bugbear Clothing" ) 4.) Bodaks Regarding the earlier comment about the Greater Salamander Nobles in the Fire Node, I never have much of a problem with them. First off, as soon as I arrive in the Node, everybody gets Protection From Element ( Fire ) and Resist Element ( Fire ) cast on them. Would you walk around in an active volcano without some protection from the heat ?? Of course not, so protect your people. Once I get to where the not so noble lizards are, the tanks move up and the casters back up a bit and crowd in around the Wizard, who casts "Lesser Globe of Invulnerability". The Sallys will throw Fireball after Fireball at the Wizard, only to watch them fizzle out to no effect, while my tanks tear them apart. The Royal Canadian
A good tactic to deal with them is to use Feint; their absurdly high AC is principally due to their Dexterity, and feinting is a non-magical nice way of denying the Dexterity bonus to AC (works better with chars with high Charisma/bluff, but anyone can try it.) Other way is, of course, using Invisibility/Improved Inv. Regarding the OP's question, I have to say that the enemies I hate the most are the Lizardfolk/Giant Lizars hordes. The Lizardfolk for their slow hitting animations (except their bite); the Giant Lizards for the fact that they seem to be very, very lucky with their to hit and damage rolls, and their exp gained/annoyance relation for low/mid-low level parties is very unfavourable, at least in my opinion. Regarding the Greater Temple Bugbears, I also hate them, but in the "good way" as described by Gaear in the first post (that is, feared and/or respected.) Actually, I love fighting against them; I consider them a great test for my party build.
The two I hate the most are the Carrion Crawler and the Galeb Duhr. It's so painful waiting for them to finish their turn.
LionXavier: re Bugbears, I agree. Always a little twinge of regret after clearing out that big room on 2 and the barracks on 4 that I shall not see their like again..
1.) Enemy casters that cast dumb spells. I enjoy fighting the arena wizards, slavers, noble salamanders, balor, and other cleric/wizard enemies that cast useful debilitating (or high damage) spells. It breaks up the repetitive nature of combat, and requires planning and adaptation. But so many of the clerics in the temple dungeons are easily steam rolled because they waste turns casting spells that are mere nuisances, like fireshield, summoning a snake, bane or spiritual weapon. There is nothing threatening about a lot of these fights. Thoughts on stirges- They are annoying; crappy xp, combat tends to be slow to resolve due to being swarmed and waiting for them to attack, and their debuff can be brutal. Personally, I like enemies that cause nasty debuffs which wear on your party, and wish there were more of them.
Creating effective spell routines takes a lot of doing. Plus, many casters are not really high level, so their repertoire of spells will include a lot of low level ones. Being casters, you would think they should cast rather than just whack away at you like everyone else, so ... hello Bane. This may become less/more of an issue when you find yourself at lower level when encountering them due to the upcoming NC shifts.
Gaear, I have to say your spell routines are more than good enough to put spell casters at the top of my hit list. I generally try to drop them before they get ANY spells off.
Tell me about it. Besides, when I rest at the moathouse I'm allways happy when disturbed by a band of bugbears (good exp & loot, and a good challenge) ... and annoyed when the ones visiting are a pack of giant lizards :angry: Oh, and speaking of wizard enemies... I HATE their Ray of Enfeeblement. Who says low level spells aren't harmful?
My favorite (Read: Most hated) caster is the one that casts Confuse right from the get go in the Nulb Ambush >_>
Oh, yes. Her. She dies first, followed closely by the other caster. My first few attempts, I concentrated on the other one first. That was a mistake.
Nulb ambush? Does this include lizard men? If not, pray tell me where this ambush takes place a little more specifically than Nulb.