Shadow Vale Experience Grind
The outdoor map here offers the first real time-cost effective opportunity to safely grind for experience using ranged weapons. Generally I work my way down and then across the bottom half of the map killing Yetis, then work my way up the east side clearing Lesser Shadows, all the way to the entrance of Kresselack's Tomb (don't go inside yet). Every few minutes 2 Lesser Shadows will respawn near this entrance, each one good for 700 exp (on max difficulty). So as you then clear the rest of the map and the smaller tombs, every few minutes check back at Kresselacks Tomb and kill the respawned Shadows. This can really add up experience over time, without too much drudgery. Also, if you prefer, rest on this map and there is a good chance your sleep will be interrupted by Yetis, which are good for 650 exp each.
Sancto-Smite
This tactic starts to become effective at lvl 6+ for Clerics or lvl 9+ for Paladins: cast Sanctuary on yourself, activate your "turn undead" passive skill, and then walk into a room full of skeletons, zombies, ghouls, etc. The sanctuary spell acts like an invisibility spell: no monster will target the cleric while it remains in effect. Depending on your level, each combat round the undead nearby have a chance to either be outright destroyed by your holy aura or be struck with fear and run away. You can position your cleric to "corral" the undead in such a way that they "flee" towards the rest of your party, who can pick them off one-by-one without risk while staying safely out of harms way. In smaller spaces, the undead will cower against walls or other obstacles, allowing the rest of the party to position themselves directly behind the cleric and engage using ranged weapons without risk.
Alternatively you can use this as a way for a cleric to safely reconnoiter the dungeon ahead of the main party.
Sanctomatic-Slicer/Dicer
A variation of the Sancto-smite tactic useful against non-undead: Have a cleric cast Sanctuary on themselves, then go stand next to enemy monster(s). Cast as many Blade Barriers as it takes to bring the monsters down. If that still isn't enough, cast Recitation and Prayer and Protection from Evil 10ft Radius (none of these spells allow saving throws!) with the remaining monsters in the area of effect, then have the rest of your party join in to mop things up.
Aganazzar's Sweeping Scorcher
This low-level tactic takes advantage of the fact that the spell Aganazzars Scorcher lasts for full 2 melee rounds, and targets a specific enemy, regardless of where they move. When confronted by a horde of monsters, cast the Scorcher spell on a melee-only monster furthest in the back of the group, preferably one that won't die in round 1 and is still moving to engage your party. The spell creates a burning ray of fire between the caster and the target. As the target moves around to get within melee range, the ray will sweep around a large area and damage anything in between, often maiming whole groups of monsters. Have other party members try and lure the target monster to keep it moving and scorch as many enemies as possible by the end of round 2 for maximum carnage.
Friendly Fire/Frost Heal
The 2nd level cleric spell Resist Fire/Frost grants 50% immunity to fire and frost attacks (duh). But here is the catch: it stacks with itself, and any immunity above 100% means fire or frost attacks will heal the character instead! So buff your front-line fighters with 3 or more Resist Fire/Frost spells each and send them into battle while your wizard hangs back to cast any AoE damage spells: Fireball, Cone of Frost, Blizzard, etc. The spells will damage your enemies while they heal your fighters!
Post edited February 03, 2014 by Dreamteam67
