Crits are insane in Champion levels, any help?

[Zuckerhund ®]

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I've already lost three champions, all of them to insane critical strike damage. It seems every two turns I suffer an incredible 28-35 damage in one hit and I just can't recover.

[jjpearson]

Make sure your armor is upgaded to level 5. Don't take anyone under level 5 into the dungeon.

Pray. Buy extra food to heal people between fights.

Cry. And run away after losing your best character.

Bring multiple healers or one healer with +heal trinkets. The +33% heal one for the vestral has saved my bacon quite a few times.

[pi73r]

Kill the enemy before they attack you.

[Muscarine]

Control (stun, debuff, move)
Initiative (speed, scout, surprise)
Guard (self buffs or dynamic protection)

The game is not about hoping you won't get crit to death, it is about presuming you WILL be crit to death and act accordingly.

[h0b0king]

It's also worth noting that enemies have different crit chance and that enemies who are out of position have very low one. The crossbow skeleton for example will drop nasty crits on you back rank from enemy ranks 3 and 4, but is less effective then a club skeleton in ranks 1 or 2. Since keeping enemies stunned for more then one round can be tricky, pulling rear rank ranged damage foes into the front and pushing front ranked ones back is an effective means of reducing damage and nearly eliminating crits.

[Muscarine]

Originally posted by h0b0king:

It's also worth noting that enemies have different crit chance and that enemies who are out of position have very low one. The crossbow skeleton for example will drop nasty crits on you back rank from enemy ranks 3 and 4, but is less effective then a club skeleton in ranks 1 or 2. Since keeping enemies stunned for more then one round can be tricky, pulling rear rank ranged damage foes into the front and pushing front ranked ones back is an effective means of reducing damage and nearly eliminating crits.

Exactly, this is particularly true in the Ruins and in the Weald.
Although very ineffective in the Warrens and the Cove, except against Cultists.

[pi73r]

Exactly, this is particularly true in the Ruins and in the Weald.
Although very ineffective in the Warrens and the Cove, except against Cultists.

The opposite I'd say. While it's good to send the scratchers to rank 3 and 4, fungal artrillery actually rapes you from slot 1-2 with blight.

[Muscarine]

Originally posted by pi73r:

Exactly, this is particularly true in the Ruins and in the Weald.
Although very ineffective in the Warrens and the Cove, except against Cultists.

The opposite I'd say. While it's good to send the scratchers to rank 3 and 4, fungal artrillery actually rapes you from slot 1-2 with blight.

Not when your frontline includes a 100+ dodge HoM or a Cleansing Crystal MaA, you send the scratchers look what's up behind while you 2 shot the artillery. (Actually you pull the 3rd slot artillery or cultist, and next round you pull the 4th slot artillery, meanwhile your frontline defense is setup, and the rest of the fight is just about healing 0 to 8 damage per turn.)

[Zuckerhund ®]

Actually, I think the rare level armor did the trick. Just did a medium "room battle" champion level and I wasn't crit in a crazy way. What a shame I didn't upgrade the blacksmith before my original crusader died.

Oh well. At least progress is being made. I also found that the arbalest and vestal is a great combination, because with those two combined I get extra healing when I need it, and no DPS loss when I don't.

[HoneyDrake]

Originally posted by jjpearson:

Make sure your armor is upgaded to level 5. Don't take anyone under level 5 into the dungeon.

Pray. Buy extra food to heal people between fights.

Cry. And run away after losing your best character.

Bring multiple healers or one healer with +heal trinkets. The +33% heal one for the vestral has saved my bacon quite a few times.

i bring lvl 4's all the time with me, no bigger issues for me (though i only take them on "90% clear rooms" and "clear all fight rooms" (or however they are called).

and i dont use lvl 6's most of the time to pick those lvl 4's with me on champion dungeons.

Its all about having the right setup and a deeper understanding of the game (and area)

once you get some great trinkets, its going to get easier

[Gamefever]

The game provides you so many differrent ways to skin the cat.

Sometimes I'll read some non-sence about "It doesnt matter what you bring."

It does matter what you bring, it always matters that your party has synergy...Its also important to observe that the trinkets, skills, and quirks all mesh well for not just the individual but also for the group you deploy.

Also not upgrading your Blacksmith was well a mistake that you now clearly know put you into a bad spot...But thats all part of the fun of learning the game.

________________
Methods
Kill first, damage heavy dealing party.
-Speed and plus damage are your friends

Control
-Stuns, Buffs, Debuffs, and Move spells
-You can just stun lock them with the right kit but it loses effectiveness as you know
-You can just buff your guys to the point they will dodge or absorb the damage
-Can make the enemy miss by lowering the accuracy...Combines well with buff dodge
-Move opponents out of key positions doesnt always prevent crits though.

Tanky Spounge
-MAA and Hound Master
>can stack Prot and then use Guard Move

Can Stack Deaths Door, Resistance

Could probably go on and on there are just so many options, its just a matter of figuring out what you want to run with really.

[Enhas]

Buff and debuff skills are so important late game. Like, the difference between life and death.

It's really easy to just plow through things on level 1 and 3, but once you get to 5 it's almost an entirely different game. And those skills you ignored suddenly become extremely useful.

Suppressing Fire on the Arbalest is very underrated, but it lowers both accuracy and crit on up to three enemies at a time. And Weakening Curse on the Occultist neuters heavy-hitters like the Giants in the Weald if you apply it (and especially if you stack it).

And yes, you need level 5 versions of all your skills and need to get up to level 5 weapon/armor ASAP (but don't even go into them without less than level 4).