Combat Tactics

## Marching Order

In general, the following marching order should be used (top is the front):

1. Twinkletoes
2. Maya
3. Enoch
4. Damacus
5. Mario
6. Izzy

This pattern can be divided in two ways:

* Split Party (1-2-3, 4-5-6)
	+ Each division has: a highly charismatic face (Maya, Damacus), a tank (Maya, Mario), a scout (Twinkletoes, Mario/Izzy), and a mage (Enoch, Damacus).
	+ Unfortunately, 1-2-3 has 2 healers while 4-5-6 has none. Swapping Maya and Mario (or Enoch and Damacus) gives each division a healer, but deprives one from having a charismatic face.
	+ In this situation, it may be beneficial for Damacus to use his eagle like he would in Attack Pattern Epsilon in order to find the other party. In this situation, the other party would want to build a smokey fire.
* Ranks (Front: 1-2, Middle: 3-4, Back: 5-6)
	+ The Front and Back ranks each have a tank (Maya, Mario) and scout (Twinkletoes, Mario/Izzy), so either coming upon or being followed by a hostile party should be detected and defended against
	+ The Middle rank has the spellcasters (Enoch, Damacus), who should be protected under most circumstances.

## Turn Options in Combat

### Actions

* Attack
	+ Melee Weapon Attack
	+ Ranged Weapon Attack
	+ Grapple: target's speed becomes 0, and it can't benefit from any speed bonuses
		- Strength (Athletics) vs target's Strength(Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics)
			* Target can attempt this again to escape grapple
	+ Shove: knock target prone or push 5 feet away
		- Strength (Athletics) vs target's Strength(Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics)
	+ Unarmed Strike: made with proficiency, deals (1 + Strength modifier) bludgeoning damage on hit
* Cast a Spell with a 1 action casting time
* Dash
	+ Gain additional movement equal to your speed
* Disengage
	+ Don't provoke Opportunity Attacks
* Dodge
	+ Attacks against you have disadvantage, and you have advantage on Dexterity saving throws.
* Help
	+ You give someone else advantage on a target within 5 feet of you.
* Hide
	+ On a successful Dexterity (Stealth) check, attack rolls against you have disadvantage and attack rolls you make have advantage.
* Ready
	+ Use an Action as a reaction before your next turn. Cannot also be used with Opportunity Attacks.
* Search
	+ On an optional successful Wisdom (Perception) or Intelligence (Investigation) check, find something
* Use an Object
	+ Interact with multiple objects, or use an object that requires an action
* Stabilize a Creature
	+ On a successful DC 10 Wisdom (Medicine) check, a creature with 0 HP stops making death saving throws
* Damacus Only:
	+ Fey Presence
	+ Sense through eagle (prerequisite: eagle within 100 feet)
	+ Dismiss/Summon eagle into/from pocket dimension
* Enoch Only:
	+ Channel Divinity
* Maya Only:
	+ Divine Sense
	+ Lay on Hands
	+ Channel Divinity

### Bonus Actions

* Cast a Spell with a Bonus Action casting time
* Two-Weapon Fighting (prerequisite: Attack Action with a different light melee weapon)
	+ Attack, without proficiency, with a light melee weapon
* Mario Only:
	+ Enter/Exit Rage
	+ Attack with opposite end of polearm (prerequisite: take Attack Action with polearm)
	+ Dash (prerequisite: Raging)
* Twinkletoes Only:
	+ Dash
	+ Disengage
	+ Hide
* Izzy Only:
	+ Unarmed Strike (prerequisite: take Attack Action with unarmed strike or monk weapon)
	+ Flurry of Blows (prerequisite: take Attack Action and spend 1 ki point)
		- make 2 unarmed strikes
	+ Patient Defense (prerequisite: spend 1 ki point)
		- Dodge
	+ Step of the Wind (prerequisite: spend 1 ki point)
		- Disengage or Dash, jump distance doubled

### Reactions

* Cast a Spell with a Reaction casting time
* Resolve Readied Action (prerequisite: Must have used Ready Action in previous turn)
* Opportunity Attack (prerequisite: target exits reach by using movement)
	+ Mario Only: target enters reach (prerequisite: wielding polearm)
* Izzy Only:
	+ Deflect Missiles
		- Reduce damage taken from ranged weapon attacks
		- Make a ranged weapon attack (prerequisite: reduce damage taken to 0 and spend 1 ki point)
	+ Slow Fall
		- Reduce fall damage by 5\*(monk level)

## Attack Pattern Alpha

*Used for fighting a single powerful melee enemy.* **"Boss Battle"**

Maya (red) and Mario (black) flank the monster, giving each other advantage and blocking the monster from moving closer to the rest of the party.

Enoch (purple) stays within 60 feet of Maya and Mario to cast Healing Word when they fall, but otherwise as far away from the enemy as he can

Damacus (gray) stays with Enoch, covering the rear at range with Eldritch Blast

Teller Izzy (tan) stays far enough away for her to run up to attack the creature then return to a safe distance, about 20 feet away from the monster.

Twinkletoes (orange) stays within range to throw his weapons, around 20 feet away from the monster.

## Attack Pattern Beta

*Used for fighting many weak melee minons from a single direction.* **"Woodchipper"**

Mario (black) stays close to the enemies, using his Polearm Master feat to attack monsters that enter within 10 feet of him.

Maya (red) and Enoch (purple) stay in a line with Mario, leaving 5 feet between them. This extends coverage, while leaving enough overlap for opportunity attacks against foes who try to slip through the formation.

Damacus (gray) hangs back behind the group, casting Eldritch Blast.

Teller Izzy (tan) hangs around Enoch, running into enemy territory to strike multiple foes each round before returning to safety.

Twinkletoes (orange) hangs around Maya, throwing weapons at approaching enemies.

## Attack Pattern Gamma

*Used for fighting many ranged enemies.* **"Stop, Drop, and Roll"**

**Turn Option 1 (defending):** On each turn, a character should take the Dodge action, which gives any attack roll against that character disadvantage, and gives the character advantage on any Dexterity saving throws.They should move as close as they can to the enemy.

**Turn Option 2 (attacking):** If a character does not take the Dodge action, they should drop prone at the end of their turn. Dropping prone does not cost movement, and gives the enemy disadvantage on ranged attack rolls. At the start of their next turn, they should stand (which costs half of their base movement), and either take the Dodge action or drop prone again.

Twinkletoes should Dash as a bonus action each turn (allowing him to travel 1.5x his normal speed each turn).

Teller Izzy may want to avoid dropping prone in order to fully utilize her Deflect Missiles feature. If she is hit by a ranged attack, she can reduce the damage done to her. She can potentially catch the missile and make a ranged attack with it during the same reaction, which would have disadvantage if she were prone.

Damacus may want to either cast Eldritch Blast each turn, or send his eagle into the enemy's territory and cast spells through the eagle. Attack spells with a range of touch, or debuffs to the enemy would be preferable if the eagle strategy is taken.

## Attack Pattern Delta

*Used for fighting when the party is surrounded by minons.* **"Huddle"**

The party gathers around Damacus.

The characters should each be within 5 feet of at least 2 other people. This is to minimize the enemy's ability to flank any particular character, and allow the party to flank any foe that tries to get to Damacus.

If the party needs to move through a wave of monsters, it will most likely be in the direction of Izzy (tan), since she can defeat multiple monsters in one turn, which will open a path for the party to travel while keeping in this formation. In this sense, Izzy (tan) and Enoch (purple) are the "forwards", while Mario (black) and Maya (red) are covering the "rear". Damacus (gray) and Twinkletoes (orange) provide ranged support.

## Attack Pattern Epsilon

*Used when stealth is important, or when arriving in a new time/place.* **"Noah's Raven and Dove"**

Izzy checks the map to get a sense of where the group is relative to Kazakhan Spire. She should do this by wanting to return to the spire, which should set the destination on the map to a known location. This should let the party know how far away they are from the spire, and in which direction.

Damacus checks the surrounding area for notable places such as villages, smoke, and water sources. He should send his eagle straight up 60 feet (the fly speed of a hawk), and look through the hawk's eyes. He has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks during this, and should be able to see the general area for 5-10 miles (to the horizon from that altitude1). He should then dismiss the eagle into a pocket dimension, and summon it within 30 feet of him. This will prevent the eagle from being harmed on its return trip.

Twinkletoes, Mario, and Izzy should each scout in different directions (preferably travelling at a slow pace), preferably to any notable locations that Damacus saw. Damacus may use his fly to keep tabs on the rest of the party's perimeter while they wait for the scouts to return.

Depending on where the locations are, this process could take 5-6 hours (10 miles round-trip at a slow pace, plus time to actually survey the intended location). If time is of the essence, this process can be cut down to a potential maximum of 3 hours (2 hours round-trip, plus an hour to survey the location).

1 10 miles is average for seeing the horizon from that altitude on earth. Using less than 10 miles for this tactic will set Espera as smaller than earth. In addition, see the chart below for travel times as various paces. Using 5 miles would allow the party to know where they are going that they can get to within an hour, at a fast pace.

 Normal
 Slow

## Attack Pattern Zeta

*Used when fighting an undead horde.* **"Enoch's Turn"**

Damacus (gray) and Twinkletoes (orange) gather around Enoch (purple) and provide ranged support. Enoch uses Channel Divinity: Turn Undead.

Maya (red) stands within 30 feet of Enoch (purple), preferably near the most undead monsters. If she is able, she should Divine Smite anything she attacks.

Teller Izzy (tan) runs around the formation, attacking whenever she can, preferably getting an opportunity attack as the undead monsters flee past her.

Mario (black) uses his shortsword and shield to attack when he can.

## Attack Pattern Eta

*Used against group of non-minion opponents consisting of a healer, melee monster, and non-magical ranged monster.*

See this GIF for a demonstration.

#### Phase 1: Shoot the Medic First

Izzy (tan, using Step of the Wind), Twinkletoes (orange, using Cunning Action), and Enoch (purple) Dash to the Healer, avoiding opportunity attacks from the Fighter if possible. They should then hit the Healer as much as possible. Damacus (gray) should also focus on attacking the Healer (probably with Eldritch Blast), while keeping out of range of the Fighter.

Maya (red) should focus on attacking the Archer. This will distract the Archer from getting free shots on the party while they deal with the Healer, as the Archer will have to constantly move away from Maya to avoid taking damage (this opens up Maya to constantly get Opportunity Attacks as well). Alternatively, if the Archer decides to not move, then Maya can just repeatedly attack them. If Maya is able to defeat the Archer, she should attack the Healer.

Mario (black) should focus on attacking the Fighter, and preventing them from moving closer to the rest of the party. Grappling and just taking hits may be the best option here. If Mario defeats the Fighter, he should attack the Healer.

This pattern should continue until the Healer is defeated.

#### Phase 2: Take Down the Fighter, Distract the Archer

Maya (red) should continue distracting the Archer, if not already defeated.

Everyone else should focus on defeating the Fighter.

This pattern should continue until the Fighter is defeated.

#### Phase 3: Finish off the Archer

Everyone should get to the Archer and kick them to death, if they are not already defeated.

## Attack Pattern Theta

*Used when fighting a party with the same member composition as Destiny's Children.*

### Phase 1: Shoot the Medics First

The team should focus on taking out Nega!Enoch and Nega!Maya first. Attacking Nega!Maya with multiple low-damage attacks will be better than a one high-damage attack (per turn), since her AC will be incredibly high.

### Phase 2: Shoot the Mage First

The team should then focus on taking out Nega!Damacus with ranged weapons or spellcasting (since he will probably be the furthest away from the battle).

### Phase 3: Cleanup the Brawlers

Nega!Mario should primarily be attacked with Psychic damage (while raging he could have resistance to all damage except Psychic, if he took Totem Spirit: Bear).

Nega!Izzy should primarily be attacked with melee weapon attacks or spells (she can redirect ranged weapon attacks).

Nega!Twinkletoes should primarily be attacked with ranged attacks or spellcasting (he can Dash each round, allowing him to easily kite melee fighters).