An overlooked but powerful property - initiative

[Gob]

You can have a lot to think about when building your party's gear set, what with AC, +spells save/attack, damage etc to maximise. But once you have the handle on that then its very worthwhile looking to each character's initiative rating.

This determines the order that your characters and the enemies get to make their moves in each round.

If your party members' levels in this are low, you'll see that the enemies go first and this can mean you are already on the back foot by the time you get to go as you could be dealing with damage, debuffs, paralysis, and such,

If you get it higher than the enemies then you can make the first move and you can take out key targets, drop a nasty AoE spell, and/or buff your party. It really can make a huge difference.

For a lot of enemies, 4 or more initiative is good. Get it to 6+ and you'll be set, but really any amount over 3 helps with many enemies.

You can find the property on all kinds of armour, weapons, and shields. Its also buffed by dexterity, so your melee characters might get enough with little or no additional items. But it is often your casting characters that you want to move first.

Update - forgot to say: You can get +5 initiative from the Alert feat and from the Elixir of Vigilance.

[nuther]

Thats why I always take the Alert feat at level 4. Its a game breaker. There are potions too.

[Recjawjind]

Anyone who knows anything about these games (or any game in general) will realize that alpha strike potential is extremely valuable, and won't overlook initiative.

In regular D&D 5e, initiative is rolled with a d20, so there is a high variance in results, even with a lot of investment in increasing your bonus.

In this game however, a d4 is used for initiative rolls, meaning any investment is going to lead to a MASSIVE payoff. The alert feat virtually guarantees (unless you hardcore dump dex) that you'll be the first to go, in basically any fight. Alert is 5x as valuable in this game as it is in base 5e.

[Gob]

Originally posted by nuther:

Thats why I always take the Alert feat at level 4. Its a game breaker. There are potions too.

Oh yes, I forgot about both of those when writing this. If you can get a few items with initiative then you can save having to use a feat for Alert (+5 initiative).

[Sistalis]

There's also a Leather helm that increases your initiative. I've kept it on my Main Cleric of Helm. Nothing thins our the crows faster than being first and casting blade barrier. Every one just crashes into it.

[Ironwu]

Initiative being important is very true.

I try to make sure Shadowheart has high initiative so she can at least Bless the party or Bane the enemies before anything else gets underway. :)

[victorvnv]

Depends on your build, my custom made Unstoppable Paladin/warlock/cleric build can solo House of grief on tactician without breaking a sweat and only has +3 initiative

[guard65]

I hate to say it but with a d4 initiative die roll, if anyone in your party has any bonus they are top of the initiative list or rarely not. If you have a +2 from dex or any source then your lowest roll is a 3 putting you at the top most of the time.

This is just one of the many player cheats that were built into the game to advantage the player all the time. 5e the initiative die is d20 and everyone gets bonus not just the players.

[Illuminary]

Originally posted by Gob:

You can have a lot to think about when building your party's gear set, what with AC, +spells save/attack, damage etc to maximise. But once you have the handle on that then its very worthwhile looking to each character's initiative rating.

This determines the order that your characters and the enemies get to make their moves in each round.

If your party members' levels in this are low, you'll see that the enemies go first and this can mean you are already on the back foot by the time you get to go as you could be dealing with damage, debuffs, paralysis, and such,

If you get it higher than the enemies then you can make the first move and you can take out key targets, drop a nasty AoE spell, and/or buff your party. It really can make a huge difference.

For a lot of enemies, 4 or more initiative is good. Get it to 6+ and you'll be set, but really any amount over 3 helps with many enemies.

You can find the property on all kinds of armour, weapons, and shields. Its also buffed by dexterity, so your melee characters might get enough with little or no additional items. But it is often your casting characters that you want to move first.

Update - forgot to say: You can get +5 initiative from the Alert feat and from the Elixir of Vigilance.

The game isn't hard enough to require more than 14 con so it's usually 17 main stat and the Hag's hair later, 16 dex, medium armor for dex bonus, better if the armor takes all dex to increase AC, ASI, alert. Usually have about eight to 12 initiative depending on gear.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Welcome to Basic D&D Tactics 101.

[Gob]

Originally posted by Pan Darius Loveless:

Welcome to Basic D&D Tactics 101.

Many of us have never played d&d ;)

[Renegade]

It's a flaw of 5th Edition. At high level combats are effectively decided by initiative.

[Orion Invictus]

Originally posted by Recjawjind:

Anyone who knows anything about these games (or any game in general) will realize that alpha strike potential is extremely valuable, and won't overlook initiative.

In regular D&D 5e, initiative is rolled with a d20, so there is a high variance in results, even with a lot of investment in increasing your bonus.

In this game however, a d4 is used for initiative rolls, meaning any investment is going to lead to a MASSIVE payoff. The alert feat virtually guarantees (unless you hardcore dump dex) that you'll be the first to go, in basically any fight. Alert is 5x as valuable in this game as it is in base 5e.

That explains a lot. I assumed it was using a d20, but whenever I paid attention to the results they seemed abnormally low.

[DragonSoundxSG]

Initiative is King and why Act 3 is so annoying. It seems like no matter who initiates combat (unless surprised) the enemy ALWAYS has the initiative. Like if I initiate combat via dialogue I should have the initiative.

[Zeel Ara]

No one who has played a turn based game before in their life overlooks initiative. Even people who know nothing about games can give you the correct answer to the question "Is it an advantage to go first in a game?".

[Spiral_Architect]

The alert feat has such a big influence in BG3, because the initiative roll is 1-4 rather than 1-20. One of the two most contested alterations by Larian.