Powergaming Group

OBS! This page is just a "stub". Made to show how you could avoid thinking in the terms of Tank - damage dealer - healer. As this would be to oversimplify DDO roles.



Party from a powerplayer point of view
One way of viewing the roles in a party is to look at it from a math point of view. You want to keep your hp up so party members don't die. You like to take the hp down on enemies so they die. Or you like to avoid the enemy.

Stealth and disarming traps
The Rogue is that class that is best prepared to help the group avoid taking damage. This is done by stealth and scouting so you don't get into fights that you can avoid, and being better informed/prepared for the ones you can't. He can also find hidden doors so that you can take short cuts. But the key feature for the Rogue is to find and disarm traps. Much damage will hit the party without someone looking for the terrible traps.

Crowd Control
The Bard or a Wizard/Sorcerer can use his Crowd Control spells to make your enemies into temporary friends or just make them not notice when you walk you way through them. Spellcasters can also debuff the enemy to avoid damage.

Avoid getting hit in the fight
If it come to a fight it's really nice to have a Fighter or Paladin with heavy armor standing and take the most of the beating.

Melee damage
Fighters, Barbarians, and Rangers can deal considerable melee damage if specced for it. Rogues can do fine melee damage, as long as the target is vulnerable to critical hits, and there is at least one other melee warrior helping (because the DDO system allows sneak-attack bonuses on any opponent who isn't attacking you. The bonus applies on every swing, until you "get aggro").

Ranged damage
This hold also true for Ranger specced for ranged damage.

Burst damage
When it come to key encounter the Wizard/Sorcerer can shine in burst damage (using up a lot of spellpoints).

Getting back lost hitpoints:
Everbody loves the healer. For non-Warforged Cleric is the best healer closely followed by Bard. But even Paladin and Ranger have healing capacity at later levels. For Warfored a Wizard can heal (eg repair) as good as the Cleric heals a non-Warforged. Sorcerors can learn repair spells as well, although it's unusual for them to use their limmitted known spell slots on such spells. But a Sorcerer in a party full of Warforged with be the best healer in the game before Cleric gets his heal spell.

Making your friends stronger
Bard has the abilty to "sing" so his friends become stronger. Bard and other spellcasters have also ordinary buffs; Buffs that for example can make the Warrior inflict more damage by raising his strength, or getting hit less by raising his Dexterity. The same Dexterity buff would also increase the Rogue ablity to stealth and disarm traps.