TOPIC: Minimal req. for Nightmare?

Hey TDForums.

So I have a few questions about nightmare difficulty. But before my questions let me lead in with a bit of backstory. I am a 4th level player and I have ran two nightmare runs before but each time I was loaned piles of tokens. Now two years later I would like to move from normal mode to nightmare but this time on my own merits rather than the charity of others.

So here are my questions. When is a player considered geared for nightmare? This year I ran as our party rogue for both events and my gear is listed below. Am I geared up enough to stand on my own and not be a hinderance to the rest of the group? If I am close to what is considered exceptable what items should I look to upgrade or include before 2012's Gencon? Also what amount of healing and consumables should I bring for myself per run? Should I have a backup class built for those "just in case" situations?

Also any other parting words of advice will be more than welcome. Especially if I have some glaring problems with what I am carrying.

•+1 Darkwood Club
•Brawler's Mug
•Darkwood Shortbow
•Cap of the Owl
•Lenses of Accuracy
•Amulet of Mugwort
•Cloak of Elvenkind
•Faerie-Iron Armor
•Bracers of the Sea Lich
•Ring of Fortitude
•Ring of Riches
•Boots of Elvenkind
•Ioun Stone Iridescent Spindle
•Ioun Stone Emerald Prism
•Ioun Stone Black Pearl
•Masterwork Thieves' Tools

p.s I do also have an "adventures kit of 24 commons, rope, backpack, ect.

Thank you all in advance and sorry if this question has been asked often I tried searching for prior advice and did not find much.

Get lots of healing. Puzzle damage and push damage in Nightmare is brutal.

I would have enough healing potions/scrolls that you could be full hp if you had to use a Death's Door in the next to the last room.


Good teamwork, good sliding and good puzzle-solving helps the most.

There is no set thing to have. Of course UR's help alot but it can be done without if you can get the right equipment and good slides.
The changes I would make if you don't plan on getting UR's are this.

Hat: hat of escape
Armor: elven chain
Ring: +1 ring of protection
Off Hand: archer buckler for when you use the bow
Amulet: torc of armor +1

If UR's are not a problem to get then things change alot.

Ok, I am going to be the devils advocate here. If your running a nightmare puzzle run, your fine, just have lots of healing. If your doing a combat run, unless you are a master slider and can hit the 19-20's all the time no matter how slick the board is and how small the spot is, you are going to need better combat gear. Need more + plus to hit and more damage, cause even if you manage to hit the monster on nightmare, you wont be doing much damage, which despite what anyone else tells you, is impotent. At least on nightmare with the big bosses, cause your group does not get a lot of slide and you need to not only hit with those slides, but do good damage.

A few suggestions:

Ioun Stone - Violet Prism - a lot of 3rd level spells that can take a character out or almost out, even from full hp. The prism can be a game saver.

Switch Cloak of Elvenkind out for Cloak of Protection +2. I have not seen many situations where a person would take "no action" in a room. That, to me, defeats the purpose of being in TD. I guess if you are near death, and your party is about to defeat the monster, the Cloak of Elvenkind could be a lifesaver. But you will get more benefit from the +2 Cloak in all rooms, not just monster combat.

Torc of Natural Armor or Oakskin Medallion over the Amulet of Mugwort - the +2 or +3 to AC is typically going to be much more beneficial than the +1 hp from Mugwort.

MU Skulls Rob.

We had mulled around with the idea of the entire team wearing the Cloak of Elvenkind. This way we could force the monster to hit specific persons. Let’s say you’re up against a powerful magic resistant foe, i.e. a Draco-lich. Only your best equipped will be able to hit and damage it in melee, i.e. no reason in wasting time for a rogue to attack it after the first round. Let say the only persons you have attacking it have the Dragon Belt, un-dead bane (Mithral set), amulet of thorns, etc. thus giving up to 26 points (30 if you have the Sea Urchin charm and die of the hit) of damage every time the creature hits you. Not all of the characters can be built for this, thus the need of the Cloak of Elvenkind. Meanwhile your cleric, who is also in harms way but being protected by the 5th level Paladin, who also gives 26 points of damage every time he is hit, is healing the character(s) that have taken damage. Just a thought.

I used to carry along enough elvenkind cloaks just in case I ran into an asshole on a PUG run. I figured everyone else could put on the cloaks and sit on our hands while we watched the monster beat him/her to death.

only problem with the cloak of elvenkind is that if a spell or breath weapon covers the whole room you still get hit.Also does not work if you are the only one alive.

henwy wrote: I used to carry along enough elvenkind cloaks just in case I ran into an asshole on a PUG run. I figured everyone else could put on the cloaks and sit on our hands while we watched the monster beat him/her to death.

That's cruel.

...

Awesome, but cruel. I wonder how a DM would actually handle that...

henwy wrote: I used to carry along enough elvenkind cloaks just in case I ran into an asshole on a PUG run. I figured everyone else could put on the cloaks and sit on our hands while we watched the monster beat him/her to death.

Noob alert. Define "PUG" for me? Thanks!

Pick Up Group. Basically, any run where you haven't bought all the tickets and pre-filled.

I suggest you use the character builder to play around with stats for your character. Put in the build you are currently using. Then test tokens you are considering adding and see how much of a difference they make. For example, what is the difference between using a rare +2 Cloak of Resistance and using the ultra-rare Dougal's Cloak of the Stars? Then consider if you used tokens to max out your saving throws: how good can you do with rares like ioun stone beryl prism and the +2 cloak; how much better will you be upgrading to ultra-rares like Dougal's Cloak and Questor's Charm.

You can get pretty decent stats just by optimizing your use of rare tokens, and then you can look for glaring weaknesses where an ultra-rare would really beef you up.

As a rogue, you would also want to consider ultrarares Ektar's Tool and Boots of the Underdark. But they aren't necessary, and you can do just fine with boots of elvenkind and masterwork thieves tools.

For nightmare, I generally want an AC above 20, to hit bonus of at least +4 for my primary weapon, and saving throw bonuses of at least +4 for each category. If I am a fighter type or rogue, I would try to max my damage bonus.

The biggest killer in nightmare is damage for incorrect puzzle solutions (up to 12 points for each incorrect guess) and push damage. No token will help you avoid that damage-- you either need to upgrade your brain or have lots of healing.