Shambler story

[dholland]

Long Cove Apprentice with Arbalest, Vestal, Highwayman, (all level 2 with 2 upgrades) and Bounty Hunter level 1 with one set of upgrades. I wasn't looking for shambler, my dedicated marking party so far failed to find him, but I had mark on the arbalest and was trying out a new party combo. Yes, I know, it looks insane to have no stress healing, but I normally finish medium/long with no stress after camping, so I was experimenting. I was half way through, just killed a Collector, then cleaned out secret room. Shambler altar! What the hell, I have mark and Arbalest and Bounty Hunter. My first shambler battle. I marked it and got it near death after 2 turns, then it summoned help. Finished it off, but the clapperclaws were damaging and I had tons of stress (almost none before the fight). Vestal became virtuous, stress healing herself, very handy. Finished off the clapperclaws, camped, finished dungeon, camped. Completed with no stress, earned 19,105 + 7500 gold and camouflage cloak (got 3 now). Not as crazy a party selection as I thought, or just very lucky? I got through most combats with one or two enemies dead in 1st turn, only one enemy left after 2 turns, and had damage and crit trinkets mainly.

Probably won't be trying this selection at veteran and above, though!

[SpectralProphet]

Actually, in my professional and experienced opinion...
It does not really matter, most of the time, what teams you bring in to apprentice lvl 1 dungeons. As long as you play properly, ofcourse. If you're not experienced - you'll not be successful, obviously.

Team compositions start to be important on Veteran and especially on Champion difficulties.

Also, lvl 1 Shambler is very easy. As well as all other lvl 1 enemies.

So yeah. If you don't like risking too much - don't try this kind of party compositions.

Again - in my personal opinion - in your current party the weakest chain is Highwayman.
Since he's very weak after all the nerfs. I don't use him anymore. Other than that, I use party that contains Arbalest, Vestal, (?), Bounty Hunter very often. Because it's overpowered as f.
At "?" can place classes like Hellion, Man At Arms, HoundMaster, and so on.

[DuckieMcduck]

Mark teams do make short work of the Shambler. Not the worst boss in the game but definitely isn't a cakewalk either for some parties due to the shuffles.

First time I killed him I was doing a dark run in apprentice with a really dumb party composition (Occultist/PD/Leper/Leper). They were at 1/3rd bar worth of stress when I beat the mission, so I confidently went off to explore the last room and boom: my party gets lost on their way to the kitchen and is sucked into the nightmare realm.

We get a debuff on the thing and a vapour buff on one of the lepers as they both attempt to get back into position. It summons its tentacles, unbuffed Leper cuts one of them in half, making a path for the buffed Leper who strikes the Shambler. It shuffles the party again, keeping them away, and summons another one of its tentacles behind it in an attempt to have this dance eagerly repeat itself.

As the combat goes on, the group starts losing its marbles except for one member, the buffed Leper, who goes Powerful. Before everyone else perishes due to blood loss and stress, they offer their last gasps to our disfigured comrade: The afflicted Leper clearing the way for him by slashing off a tentacle, the Doctor giving him strengthening vapours and the Occultist reconstructing his right asscheek. They collapse immediately after.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=614893966

Witnessing as his companions fall all around him, he fiercely strikes the horror with a critical swipe leaving only one of its summoned tentacles in action. They trade hits twice, as the Occultist's plastic surgery gets undone, and are both left at Death's door. One wrong move from either side would determine who would be taking home the gold and attending a therapist for the following semester. All the attempts of Solemnity by our hero would be rudely interrupted by his humble sized yet unrelenting rival.

Exhausted and losing his vision, time calls for him to raise his blade one last time. It was either all or nothing. The wheels of fate turn, and then...

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=614894269

[dnrob7]

Originally posted by UnluckyDuckie:

Great story...

:'( *claps*

[dholland]

Originally posted by SpectralProphet:

Again - in my personal opinion - in your current party the weakest chain is Highwayman.
Since he's very weak after all the nerfs. I don't use him anymore. Other than that, I use party that contains Arbalest, Vestal, (?), Bounty Hunter very often. Because it's overpowered as f.
At "?" can place classes like Hellion, Man At Arms, HoundMaster, and so on.

Interesting that you would consider playing without direct stress healing (Houndmaster in ? can't use his Cry Havoc although you could shuffle him back between fights). I have used Hellion, but rarely MAA, since I like being able to hit lots of ranks with my ? rank 2. Also used HM in ranks 2 and 3. I like him for playing safe with his guard when someone is at death's door, but his attacks without dog treats (at least, in high torchlight) are so weak, he's only good for bleed and I prefer early enemy deaths. I was amazed by how well my level 1 BH did, one-shotting so often and hardly missing.

I like GR also for pure damage and mobility. The only classes I've not tried are Leper (I prefer hitting to missing) and Abomination, but I'll get some practice with them eventually.

[SpectralProphet]

Originally posted by dholland:

Originally posted by SpectralProphet:

Again - in my personal opinion - in your current party the weakest chain is Highwayman.
Since he's very weak after all the nerfs. I don't use him anymore. Other than that, I use party that contains Arbalest, Vestal, (?), Bounty Hunter very often. Because it's overpowered as f.
At "?" can place classes like Hellion, Man At Arms, HoundMaster, and so on.

Interesting that you would consider playing without direct stress healing (Houndmaster in ? can't use his Cry Havoc although you could shuffle him back between fights). I have used Hellion, but rarely MAA, since I like being able to hit lots of ranks with my ? rank 2. Also used HM in ranks 2 and 3. I like him for playing safe with his guard when someone is at death's door, but his attacks without dog treats (at least, in high torchlight) are so weak, he's only good for bleed and I prefer early enemy deaths. I was amazed by how well my level 1 BH did, one-shotting so often and hardly missing.

I like GR also for pure damage and mobility. The only classes I've not tried are Leper (I prefer hitting to missing) and Abomination, but I'll get some practice with them eventually.

This kind of group is focused on killing enemies fast enough, before they get a chance to get their attacks on you. Due to high critical chance of those characters - you'll get stress relief you need.

MAA is great for very safe play. And also for Weald, for obvious reasons (Giants). He also crits often and hits quite hard. Meanwhile being able to guard someone, slow down enemies/reduce their dodge, stun...

Leper needs ~110+ accuracy to almost never miss. Just like every other class.
Accuracy is not his main problem. His main problem - shuffle. If you get shuffled and he gets to rank 4 - you might waste few rounds getting him back to position. So he requires very mobile group.

Also, my latest post about groups.

Originally posted by SpectralProphet:

I'll post some of groups that I've used, that I remember, and also that I know will work well.
It's not all the possible compositions - you can use whatever mixes you want.
As a reminder - I'll write down only safe groups.
Which means - no "4 dps" groups, and only with at least 1 healer.
And I will not include class that I personally do not use due to it's weakness: Highwayman.
Also - my Occultist usage only in group with Abomination due to restrictions. If you want to use Occultist instead of Vestal everywhere - it's your own choice, use him on your own risk.

If you use 4 dps groups - it's your own risk. I don't care.

The groups I list are for lvl 5 champion dungeons with all options enabled (corpses, etc.). On lower difficulty dungeons use them on your own risk, even though they will most likely work there as well.

Weald:

Vestal, Jester, HoundMaster, MAA.
HoundMaster, Vestal, MAA, Hellion.
Arbalest, Vestal, HoundMaster, MAA.
HoundMaster, Vestal, Bounty Hunter, MAA.
Arbalest, Vestal, Bounty Hunter, MAA.
Vestal, Bounty Hunter, MAA, Hellion.
Vestal, Bounty Hunter, MAA, Bounty Hunter.
HoundMaster, Vestal, HoundMaster, MAA.
Vestal, Grave Robber, HoundMaster, MAA.

Cove:

Plague Doctor, Vestal, Bounty Hunter, Hellion.
Plague Doctor, Vestal, HoundMaster, Hellion.
Plague Doctor, Occultist, Abomination, Bounty Hunter.
Occultist, Bounty Hunter, MAA, Abomination.
Occultist, Jester, Abomination, Bounty Hunter.
Occultist, Jester, Abomination, Hellion.
HoundMaster, Vestal, HoundMaster, MAA.
HoundMaster, Vestal, Bounty Hunter, MAA.
Jester, Vestal, Leper, Leper.

Ruins:

Arbalest, Vestal, Bounty Hunter, Hellion.
Plague Doctor, Vestal, Bounty Hunter, Hellion.
Plague Doctor, Vestal, Crusader, Hellion.
Jester, Vestal, Leper, Leper.
Jester, Vestal, Crusader, Leper.
Jester, Vestal, Leper, Hellion.
Plague Doctor, Vestal, Bounty Hunter, Bounty Hunter.

Warrens:

Arbalest, Vestal, Bounty Hunter, Hellion.
Arbalest, Vestal, Bounty Hunter, Bounty Hunter.
Occultist, Vestal, HoundMaster, Hellion.
HoundMaster, Vestal, Bounty Master, Hellion.
HoundMaster, Vestal, HoundMaster, Hellion.
Occultist, Vestal, HoundMaster, Bounty Hunter.
HoundMaster, Vestal, HoundMaster, MAA.

If you've got questions about game or particular group compositions - feel free to ask.

[LaserGuy]

Originally posted by dholland:

Interesting that you would consider playing without direct stress healing (Houndmaster in ? can't use his Cry Havoc although you could shuffle him back between fights). I have used Hellion, but rarely MAA, since I like being able to hit lots of ranks with my ? rank 2. Also used HM in ranks 2 and 3. I like him for playing safe with his guard when someone is at death's door, but his attacks without dog treats (at least, in high torchlight) are so weak, he's only good for bleed and I prefer early enemy deaths. I was amazed by how well my level 1 BH did, one-shotting so often and hardly missing.

I like GR also for pure damage and mobility. The only classes I've not tried are Leper (I prefer hitting to missing) and Abomination, but I'll get some practice with them eventually.

Honestly, I almost never use a stress healer, at any difficulty level. When I bring a Houndmaster, I usually don't have space for Cry Havoc, or he's up in position 2 where he can use his stuns. I prefer to avoid taking stress damage in the first place--with explosive damage or stun locks. Usually camping is enough to keep stress at manageable levels.

[edit]Houndmaster is best in bleed favoured areas (Warrens/Weald), or in combination with marking characters. Against marked targets, his damage is quite impressive, and his ability to hit all ranks is very useful. He also has one of the most powerful debuff abilities in the game, which both marks an enemy and craters their PROT stat.

[dnrob7]

Originally posted by aaron.m.barlow:

Originally posted by dholland:

Interesting that you would consider playing without direct stress healing (Houndmaster in ? can't use his Cry Havoc although you could shuffle him back between fights). I have used Hellion, but rarely MAA, since I like being able to hit lots of ranks with my ? rank 2. Also used HM in ranks 2 and 3. I like him for playing safe with his guard when someone is at death's door, but his attacks without dog treats (at least, in high torchlight) are so weak, he's only good for bleed and I prefer early enemy deaths. I was amazed by how well my level 1 BH did, one-shotting so often and hardly missing.

I like GR also for pure damage and mobility. The only classes I've not tried are Leper (I prefer hitting to missing) and Abomination, but I'll get some practice with them eventually.

Honestly, I almost never use a stress healer, at any difficulty level. When I bring a Houndmaster, I usually don't have space for Cry Havoc, or he's up in position 2 where he can use his stuns. I prefer to avoid taking stress damage in the first place--with explosive damage or stun locks. Usually camping is enough to keep stress at manageable levels.

[edit]Houndmaster is best in bleed favoured areas (Warrens/Weald), or in combination with marking characters. Against marked targets, his damage is quite impressive, and his ability to hit all ranks is very useful. He also has one of the most powerful debuff abilities in the game, which both marks an enemy and craters their PROT stat.

All of that^

[dholland]

Thanks everybody, especially Spectral prophet. May try out some of your Abomination and Leper squads at some point. Unfortunately, I can't get a leper to high accuracy right now, so that'll have to wait.

BTW, slightly fortunitously, I got another Shambler altar in my next dungeon, medium Ruins consecrate altars, with all level 3 squad with all upgrades, Arbalest, Occultist, Houndmaster, Bounty Hunter. Once again, had marks and jumped in to a much trickier Shambler fight. My occultist did good work with his Abyssal Artillery (and the mark if I remember correctly). BH and HM were awesome, despite lacking any dog treats, with their marking bonus damage. Again got the Shambler close to death in 2 turns, and damaged one of the minions (since I realized they are actually dangerous if ignored entirely). Huge stress but nobody reached 100 and I slow-played the last enemy to regain some health, but my Occultist and one other character were close to death. I backtracked to a room to camp to regain desperately needed health. Bit lucky with camp skills, as I hadn't bought any extras. The champion Shambler I will actually have to prepare properly for.

[Falcon_K]

aarggh i just ragequited lost dismas to the shambler,

for the next run ill leave both dismas and reynaurd at level 1 to send them to suicide on the last mission in DD, the achivement dont say they have to survive