Fighting in groups

Fighting as a Group
Also known as "Why are they shouting at me?"

DDO is a game built around adventuring in groups, yet the actual experience of doing so is sometimes very frustrating, particularly with impromptu pick-up groups or 'PUG's. With the exception of the rare player who really IS a social misfit instead of merely pretending to be, this is usually due to a lack of knowledge about how to play different roles in a group.

In Korthos you can get away with charging at the baddies all together and hacking or blasting them to death. While satisfying, this is poor preparation for the exacting ballet that will be required in the combats to come, where every character has their own role to play.

Notice the word “role”. This has no formal definition but the informal usage is consistent in the game, and we use it to distinguish it from Classes which are not the same. For instance, not all Rogues specialize in the role of trap disarming, nor do all Clerics specialize in the role of healer.

An example group ...
How do the veterans do it then? Every actual fight is different, and usually much messier than the participants intended, but certain simple principles apply almost every time. These are best explained by example, so let us look at a hypothetical fight.

Our brave party consists of Jeets (a halfling trapsmith), Cellimas (a human healer), Talbron (a warforged caster), Fred (a dwarven tank) and you. You play an elven archer, which is one of the most popular choices for newcomers. (Some believe that, in DDO, archery is under powered, and that the -2 CON handicap to elves is painful at higher levels.)

Everyone also has a secondary role. Jeets and Fred have decent 'DPS', and even you have discovered when to drop your bow and swing a pair of swords. Cellimas and Talbron have good (but different) buffs, and Cellimas can exert some 'crowd control'.

... In a typical battle
So, at about level 4, which is when fighting as a team starts to be important, you decide to mount your first Assault on Splinterskull Fortress attack. At the entrance you all stop for Cellimas and Talbron to do their thing, and fortified with spell-based goodness, you manage to beat off the ambush of spiders. You trot down the rocky passageway with Jeets in front, ready to stop dead if he was to shout “TRAP” in chat. (None of you would ever impatiently run on ahead, or edge forward just to see where the so-called trap lay.)

Now the walls ahead change to neatly built masonry. Clearly you are approaching some sort of habitation. And there, pointing at you in alarm, are two hobgoblins. You, as the archer, do not just let fly at the nearest, because then the two of them would charge after you in person. Instead you wait until Fred has landed the first blow before loosing arrows to help take them down.

Unfortunately a third hobgoblin runs for a large gong hanging there, and suddenly a whole squad of enemies is charging down the corridor. With great self-discipline, the rest of you dispose yourselves properly, while Fred alone attacks them front on. Jeets drops into sneak mode, and heads for the wall to get around the side of them. Cellimas jumps up on a box, out of danger but where she has a good view of the proceedings. Talbron steps back so he is away from the action but still in casting range, and you step to one side to get a good line of sight on the enemy at the back.

As soon as Fred has landed his first blow (thus ensuring that the enemy aggro is centered on him), the rest of you let fly.

Jeets the DPS
Jeets attacks the nearest hobgoblin from behind, with both longsword and shortsword whirling. Because he has trained in two-weapon fighting he avoids some of the penalty for having a blade in each hand. He is hitting twice as often as Fred, and he has the sneak attack bonus. He knows that he does not need to be actually sneaking to get this, just attacking an enemy with its back to him.

Jeets takes down that hobgoblin quickly, but he is aware of his weak armor and low health. He is safe only while the hobgoblins are focused on Fred, so he backs up to the wall to avoid attention. Jeets might even use Diplomacy (often wrongly regarded by some as a useless skill) which can help creatures of small brain-power to decide that the little halfling is no threat, and that they really ought to focus on that big fighter over there.

One look around reassures him that no-one is looking his way so he dives in again, to demolish the Slayer that for some reason is sitting there looking dazed. "Get in there quick", he mutters, "before they recover". He moves on at the back of the crowd, and every time he slips round to a new enemy he takes half a second to plant his feet firmly, before each new attack. (Without the Spring Attack feat, this is the only way to avoid the big penalty for attacking while moving.)

Fred the Tank
Fred is wielding his enormous two-handed great sword to good effect. It does more damage than any single handed weapon, but its real advantage is that it hits more glancing blows, damaging all the enemies in front of him at least a little. His job is not just to kill things, but to keep the attention of as many enemies on him alone as he can attract. (That's aggro.) Even if he does not land the killing blow on any one of these hobbies, he is enabling Jeets, Talbron and you to get on with it in safety.

When things get a bit too hot, he grabs his shield, drops to a blocking pose, and sends out a wave of Intimidate. Every enemy affected will now concentrate on him for the next six seconds, whether he hits them or not. Six seconds is plenty of time for Jeets (or even you) to take out one of these guys from behind.

At the same time Fred waits patiently for the ‘heal’ he knows is coming. He has good armor, and his shield reduces the damage though some of the blows get through. He also knows that the higher he gets in the game, the more often enemies will hit him. No, what he relies on is his robust health. He has lots of hit points and he trusts his healer to help out when his HP is too low. Just in case, he has several Cure potions in the event something is attracted to Cellimas and she has to defend herself.

Cellimas the Healer
Despite her role as healer, Cellimas did not start with healing anyone. Instead she managed to land two shots of Command on Hobgoblin Slayers, and those two sitting on the ground are looking pretty stupid. She knows that neutralizing some of the damage heading towards her fighters can be more effective than healing them afterwards. With her bit of crowd control done, she starts sending Cure spells at Fred. While he is her main focus, she also keeps an eye on the other red bars of the party. Sending a Cure to Jeets (who caught a couple of glancing blows) is as easy as pressing his party ‘F’ key then the spell hotkey. From her elevated position everyone is always in sight, and she need not bother with trying to actually target the spell on her recipient.

Talbron the Caster
Talbron tries a web but unfortunately the hobgoblins save against it, so he follows up with a couple of shots of Electric Loop. He is going for spells that affect more than one enemy, and still do half damage even if they save against them. Although he does not yet have Wall of Fire (a popular first-attack weapon of experienced Wizards and Sorcerers), Talbron still creates a lot of damage. As the levels get higher and the spell damage gets better, it's common for casters to have a higher kill count than the melee hackers you would expect to be leading the list.

And you, the Archer
You, meanwhile, loose off a series of arrows at one of the two hobgoblin clerics at the back. You aim at them partly because they have less armor and less health than the hobgoblin warriors, but also to get them to target their spells on you rather than on the front line. This is much more important than adding your meager arrow damage to Fred’s output. You have elven spell resistance, high ‘reflex’ and ‘fort’ saving throws, and (thanks to well chosen jewelry) adequate ‘will’ saves. Even if a spell does land, you are by yourself so no one else in your party will be affected, and if you are frightened or frozen, there is no scimitar-waving hobgoblin in front of you to take advantage of it.

You manage to take out one cleric, but it takes too long for the second one. You change to your twin swords, ready to run at the other. But at that moment one of the Slayers breaks away and charges for Talbron, presumably upset about that last lightning blast. The wizard runs, but not backwards. Instead he runs towards you, then stops and blocks. The hobgoblin stops in front of Telbron and prepares to slash at him. But the heal from Cellimas arrives almost before the first blow, and your attack on the hobgoblin causes it to change its target. By the time it has sorted out who to go for, it lies dead.

With Talbron safe again, you leap into the fray. Yes, literally jump over the heads of the front line. You do have high jump, remember? Your first priority is that last cleric, who has started casting spells on the other members of your party. Fortunately it falls quickly to your twin weapons and a well timed heal from Cellimas enables you to carry on. If that had not arrived you were going slip away from the fray for long enough to chug a few ‘pots’. (Yes, you always carry heal potions, even when there is a cleric in the party.)

You move on to the hobgoblin ‘Infiltrators’ lurking at the back. Thanks to your high spot you have a bead on them, and as they are primarily ranged enemies, you can handle them toe-to-toe where you would be struggling against a heavy hitting ‘Slayer’. You polish off those two, then return to help Jeets attack the backs of the crowd around Fred, now fast shrinking. Although you are not a Rogue, and miss their nice sneak attack bonus, everyone gets the flanking attack bonus for hitting an enemy from behind.

Victory!
And then suddenly, there are no hobgoblins left. Yay!

Generally, the DPS is more often handled by a Barbarian, Fighter or Ranger, but even a Rogue is effective if he knows what he is doing.

Hopefully you noticed;


 * It is all about handling the aggro. "Who do we want those mobs to go after?"
 * Attack the right enemy not the nearest. "Who is the most dangerous, or the most vulnerable to my attack?" Commonly, target enemy mages first. They have weaker defenses but often have spells that can immediately cripple whole parties.
 * Archers and rogues can make melee attacks safely IF properly choreographed with the main fighter.
 * Protect your healer and your caster.
 * If in trouble, run towards your friends, not away from them.
 * Don't worry about who made the kill. A fighter is only as good as his back-up.
 * Class names don't matter. Having clear roles and fulfilling them properly does. In the case of Jeets, he added to damage when he could, fulfilling two roles, that of trap locator and backstabbing DPS.

Congratulations. Coordinated teamwork has defeated the baddies again. But remember, this was the simplest and most obvious of battles. Never be shy about saying, before you open that door, "This is my first time. How do we do this one?" It may still go wrong - but at least you will know why.

The Roles
Now the detail. This list describes the roles you can play, (i.e. what you can do). Although this is linked to your class and your race, (i.e. what you are) and some classes specialize in certain roles, there is a lot of overlap and duplication.

Tank
Just as the name suggests, you are a defensive fighting machine. Your goal is to be the first target for assaults on your group and to control the enemies' movement by attracting their Hate (more commonly known as Aggro). Tanks always have high hit points and either enough DPS to attract attention or significant skill in Intimidation. You may use two-handed weapons to get more glancing blows, or a shield to provide damage reduction. At low and mid levels good armor helps, but at the highest quest levels it is often irrelevant.
 * Usual classes - Fighter, Paladin.
 * Usual races - Human, Dwarf, Warforged, Half-Orc.
 * Can combine with DPS, buffer, archer

DPS
‘DPS’ stands for melee 'damage per second', which says it all. You are a fast hitting killer concentrating on attack rather than defense. You know that the quicker you kill something the fewer blows it can return. While having good Constitution and enough hitpoints to survive life in the front line, you prefer not to be the focus of attention for too long. Shields would just slow you down (or can't be used), and you usually go for Two Weapon Fighting rather than Two-Handed Fighting to help with more effective off-hand attacks.
 * Usual classes - Barbarian, Fighter, Ranger, Monk.
 * Usual races - Human, Dwarf, Warforged, Halfling.
 * Can combine with tank, trapsmith, archer.

Archer
Unfortunately ranged damage in DDO is not as powerful as it is in 'pen and paper' or in many other games. However there are many explicit situations where the ability to hit the enemy from a distance is valuable. The most obvious is in returning fire to ranged mobs standing out of reach, but more useful is the ability to grab the 'aggro' of enemy casters or the boss from a distance. Clearly, don't do this if you do not have a good plan for how to deal with them afterwards! Note that the pure archer is rare, so mix in with other roles.
 * Usual classes - Ranger, Fighter.
 * Usual races - Elf, Half-Elf, Drow, Human.
 * Can combine with tank, DPS, trapsmith.

Healer
Good healing (not to be confused with the almost useless Heal skill) is essential in many dungeons, and guarantees your character more invitations to groups than any other profession. You need to be able to keep track of the health of a dozen people while juggling multiple hotkeys, and stoicism helps, to enjoy playing what is essentially a support role. Adding capabilities like offensive casting and crowd control makes the role both more challenging and more rewarding.
 * Usual classes - Cleric, Favored Soul
 * Usual races - Human, Dwarf, Halfling.
 * Can combine with buffer, crowd control, caster.

Buffer
This is another support role that can make all the difference. You not only prepare the party with defensive buffs before opening the door, but also enhance the DPS dealt with timely short-term buffs like haste. Bards have songs, which add yet more power to a melee fighter's elbow. Note that Bards, Clerics and Wizards have different buffs, while Rangers and Paladins have a small set of Cleric buffs. Path of Harmonious Balance Monks and Bards have buffs that can't be dispelled by enemies, although Monk buffs are tactical and of very short duration.
 * Usual classes - Cleric, Bard, Wizard, Monk
 * Usual races - Human, Warforged, Drow.
 * Can combine with healer, crowd control, tank

Caster
The word always implied before "caster" is "offensive". Your main job is blasting mobs of enemies or taking out that one tough boss, and many fight strategies are built around the use of Wall of Fire. You will often have certain specific buffs, and should have the Repair spell to fix Warforged.
 * Usual classes - Wizard, Sorcerer.
 * Usual races - Warforged, Drow.
 * Can combine with buffer.

Trapsmith
This role finds secret doors, disarms traps and unlocks everything that can be unlocked. There are parts of certain dungeons where sending one shadowy figure around the back can avoid many minutes of hacking through enemies. But the best thieves are also assassins, creeping up on an enemy for a sneak attack. The sneak attack bonus keeps adding at every other level, so stay with Rogue if you want to become a back-stabbing assassin. However even one level of Rogue unlocks ‘Disable’ etc., and enough skill to be useful with the right skill points and equipment, so this is a common second profession. (Note, if taking a Rogue level, always make it the first one to maximise the initial skill points on character creation.)
 * Usual classes – Rogue, Ranger, Bard
 * Usual races - Elf, Half-Elf Drow, Halfling
 * Can combine with DPS, archer, buffer

Crowd Controller
This role handles mobs en masse through stopping them in their tracks, bewildering them, or even charming them to fight for your party. Casters often use Otto's Irresistible Dance (that amusing disco ball lighting effect, complete with a backbeat) in a doorway, making it easy for the party to carve through enemies. The Otto's ball can be combined through the "Disco Inferno": Combining Wall of Fire with Otto's Irresistible Dance to let enemies dance themselves to a fiery death.

Casters can also use Charm Person spells against enemies to get them to fight amongst themselves to great effect. Be sure to know how to remove the charms afterwards so the party gets their "Conquest" experience bonuses.

Melee classes can bring down some crowd control in a limited and slower fashion through paralyzing, Flesh to Stone or similar effects on weapons. A fast Monk with paralyzing handwraps isn't bad in a pinch.


 * Usual classes: Wizard, Sorcerer, Bard

Undead Slayer
You probably know enough about the undead from zombie movies. They show up in huge numbers. They aren't easily convinced to go away. They want your brain. Skeletons and wraiths aren't much better.

While many people see Clerics as healers, they are the masters in undead crowd control through annihilation of the target through the Turn Undead feat and related abilities that amp up destruction of more powerful undead such as vampires. Other divine classes such as Paladins and Favored Souls have similar abilities as well. The Paladin's Hunter of the Dead enhancements will certainly put the undead back where they belong.

Monks who choose the Shintao Monk enhancements also hurt undead very badly through their smiting and banishing attacks. Normally, undead are immune from being paralyzed, but a Monk's Jade Strike ability can do it.


 * Usual classes: Cleric, Paladin, Favored Soul, Monk

Beholder Slayer
Once you encounter a beholder, you'll remember it. Once its anti-magic cone strips you of your buffs, you're left vulnerable to instant death by Disintegrate or other death spell. Casters hit by the cone can't cast spells for 3 long seconds. And negative energy attacks go everywhere from the beholder, draining levels and abilities like holes in a water barrel.

The best way to attack them is to avoid their line-of-sight. Toss in a Wall of Fire when they're looking the other way and be done with it. But two classes and one race have an advantage should a head-on attack become necessary. A Paladin with the Hunter of the Dead II enhancements can't be level-drained and take less damage from negative energies. A Monk with Shintao Monk enhancements can banish or freeze beholders in a tomb of jade. The monk's saves, evasion and non-dispellable buffs make it an excellent anti-mage fighter. Warforged are best overall...they aren't affected by negative energy attacks at all.


 * Usual classes: Paladin, Monk
 * Good races: Warforged

Selecting members for a group
Clearly there are more possible roles than the number of places in a group. As a bare minimum you need enough DPS and some healing, but beyond that, it's a judgment call. Most roles can be combined, few quests need all of them, and different quests have different priorities.

The first consideration is deciding the quest you'll do. Prior experience in the quest is best, but even without it the game setting and the story usually offer clues. How does the dungeon relate to the characters' levels? Will it have traps, or locked doors? Will the quest have runes or levers that need Strength, Intelligence, or Wisdom to open? What kind of damage is the boss vulnerable against?

The second variable is your own play style. Will you be creeping carefully or zerging against the clock? Do you play a tank and healer pairing or rely on casters blasting away?

Simple questions like these suggest which character roles to look for when advertising for members in the Social panel, or alternatively, which quest your current group should be considering.

Combining roles
Many players find playing a pure specialist to be limiting, and so their characters have both a primary and secondary role. Common examples are given in the list above, but if a particular secondary activity lends itself to your play style and your character's best statistics, then try it out.

Combining roles adds fun and flexibility at low and mid levels, but becomes less useful in the higher levels of the game. Later on, going solo or in small groups becomes more difficult. Raids at end game levels favor the use of specialized characters leading to the so-called 'Min/Max" builds.

Special Techniques
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The wall
This technique, (most often used when fighting the Marut in Jungle of Khyber, though it can be quite useful elsewhere), consists of a Caster placing a Firewall across a doorway, while the melee-based party members array themselves in a wall behind it. The enemies are then allowed to enter the Firewall, thus aggroing them on the Caster, but are unable to reach said Caster through the secondary "wall" of players. This allows the rest of the party to hack away without being attacked themselves, as the enemy continues to attempt to reach the caster. In this manner, even truly dangerous mobs such as The Inevitable can be killed with relative ease.

The doorway
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The pull
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The kite (and when not to use it)
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Build Examples
You should expect your first character or two to be 'learning experiences'. Only after you have a good feel for how fighting in groups works, and you have decided which roles you want to aim for, should you invest time in your first serious character build.

Straightforward builds;
 * Starting a Barbarian - DPS
 * Starting a Bard - buffer
 * Starting a Cleric - healer
 * Starting a Fighter - tank
 * Starting a Favored Soul - healer
 * Starting a Monk - DPS
 * Starting a Paladin - tank
 * Starting a Ranger - archer
 * Starting a Rogue - trapsmith
 * Starting a Sorcerer - caster
 * Starting a Wizard - caster

More complicated builds;
 * Bastion of Light - tank then healer
 * Benedictine Healer - healer then CC
 * Dwarven Footman - tank then DPS
 * Elven Bladesinger - DPS then caster
 * Elven Mage - caster then CC
 * Floating Leaf - DPS then tank
 * Forest Warden - pure DPS
 * Frenzied Brute - DPS then tank
 * Hired Blade - DPS then trapsmith
 * Lyrical Poet - CC then buff
 * Reformed Thief - pure DPS
 * The Gladiator - tank then DPS
 * Whirling Dervish - pure DPS
 * Syndeo's Guide to Being an Effective Cleric - heal then buff
 * Syndeo's Guide to Being a Revered Ranger - Archer then DPS
 * Syndeo's Guide to Being a Respected Rogue - trapsmith then DPS

Read more about Powergaming Groups for a more analytical approach on how to inflict the most damage on those mobs.