Dungeons and Dragons combat is many things, but it’s rarely simple. Each map and the monsters on it present a fresh puzzle. For a beginner, it can be pretty challenging to zoom out and see the best path to victory.
Still, there are a few catch-all tips that’ll help you pull your weight in combat. Here are my go-to bits of fight advice:
1. Know your role
This may sound obvious, but it’s vital you understand what the DnD classes in your party are good at. Too many times have I seen a Bard focus on dealing damage instead of buffing their allies. Time and again, I have seen squishy Warlocks on the frontlines and cautious Paladins at the back.
It can be tempting for beginner D&D players to feel like they must be good at everything. It’s also easy to see your Fighters and Wizards doing huge damage and fall into the trap of thinking that is the only way to succeed in battle.
But, as a reminder, different classes perform different roles:
- Tanky, up-close damage-dealers – Fighter, Paladin, Barbarian
- Hit-and-run damage-dealers – Monk, Rogue
- Long-distance damage-dealers – Ranger, Warlock, Sorcerer, Wizard, Cleric
- There to buff other players – Cleric, Bard, Druid, Wizard
- There to debuff the enemy – Bard, Wizard, Druid, Sorcerer
That’s a huge simplification, and the variety of subclasses out there create regular exceptions. Your War Cleric, for example, fits into category one, while a bow-wielding Fighter might be in category three. A Moon Druid might be your group’s best damage-dealer. But, for the sake of beginner-friendly strategy, this is the general spread your party will be working with.
Take the time to re-read your class description and spell list. Consider how these powers might interact with the strengths of your fellow players. And most importantly, find ways to work together during combat.
A Hasted Fighter is better than a regular Fighter. A Ranger can manage a horde better if magic stops their foes from moving. Everyone feels better after a bit of Bardic Inspiration. No one is the single star of the show – you’ll be most effective if your actions are designed to make each other stronger.
2. Know your enemy
You’ll never see the other side of your DM’s screen, and even the most studious meta-gamers can’t know everything about the enemy stat block. However, there are some things you can safely assume about the monsters you’re fighting. These facts can help you make life-saving decisions.
For example:
- If your enemy is a spellcaster, they likely have an area-of-effect spell up their sleeve. Spread out.
- Your average D&D character (including monsters!) can travel 30 feet by foot. You can avoid melee attacks by ending your turn more than 30 feet away.
- Beasts, monstrosities, and other non-magic users often have beefy Constitution scores, but are weak in mental stats. Consider this when deciding what saving throws to force on them.
- Beyond the early levels of the game, most D&D monsters can use multiattack. Standing next to them for two long is an easy way to take one, two, or even three attacks per turn, so look for ways to escape.
3. Create distance
Most of the examples above offer advice about positioning. That’s because your position on the map can make or break a combat scenario. In every fight, you should be asking yourself “how does my current position benefit me? And how does it benefit my enemy?”
Generally, it’s a good thing to put distance between you and a fearsome foe. Only the most heavily armored martial characters want to linger in melee range, and even then, they’ll often benefit from a temporary retreat. And, unless the monsters can only attack at range, distance will make it harder for them to hit you.
Spells like Misty Step and Vortex Warp are a net positive for any character build. Even if you can’t use magic normally, feats like Fey Touched are highly recommended. Alternatively, choose DnD races with abnormal speed, the ability to fly, or, yes, more ways to teleport.
Additionally, don’t underestimate the basic actions available to every character. If you’re backed into a corner, a well-timed Dodge or Disengage can be hugely helpful. This goes double for anyone like the Rogue who can use these as a bonus action.
Sometimes, though, the options above have been exhausted. Moving means taking damage, for sure – and many players will be hesitant to create distance if it means triggering opportunity attacks. But if you have hit points to spare and your enemy can use multiattack, it’s far worse strategically to stay put.
Of course, sometimes simply backing up isn’t enough to ward your attackers off.
4. Create barriers
If you can actively make it harder for enemies to reach you, you’re less likely to take damage. D&D offers many ways to make this happen, regardless of your class:
- Weapon masteries like Slow and Topple waste your enemy’s limited movement.
- Area control spells like Web and Spike Growth can seriously slow ground-based attackers down.
- High-level spells like Globe of Invulnerability and Wall of Force can make you nearly impossible to reach.
- Darkness, Fog Cloud, and similar effects can blind your attacker.
Plus, it pays to look for opportunities to create barriers in your environment. If you can fill some of the eight squares around your character, you’re harder to engage in melee.
Leading a horde down a tight corridor creates a bottleneck where only the guy at the front can get to you. Look for corners, crannies, and things to hide behind that create cover. High ground makes a melee grunt’s life harder, while hugging walls hurts the ranged baddies.
5. Thin their numbers
So far, I’ve mostly talked about strategies to avoid damage, and the benefits of using non-attack actions. But somebody is going to have to do some attacking in your party eventually. And things will go a lot smoother if everyone attacks the same target.
D&D is a game that’s all about action economy. The side that gets to take the most actions tends to win. That’s why you’ll rarely fight a high-level boss on their own. Even with legendary actions, lair actions, and high-level spells, they still need someone to soak up the incoming damage while they do their dastardly deeds.
The easiest way to tip action economy in your favor is to reduce the number of enemies on the field. That usually means taking out some of the grunts before you tackle the final boss.
However, it can also mean focusing all your efforts on a powerful foe that can keep creating more grunts to fight with. If your big baddie is an infinite source of minions, then they’re priority number one.
That’s our brief strategy session over – got tips of your own you want to share? Hit us up in the Wargamer Discord.
Source: Wargamer
