What has been working so far are twin rogues, cleric and mage in extreme/HC mode.
I find cosmic prison extremely useful because it allows for stun and 1 hit kills by the
rogues [1 with coup de grace, the other with sneak attack]. Load both rogues with as much
poison as possible. The downside is that it will take a bit of item farming for the mage to
have initiative above that of the rogues. Any speed above 70 is a waste since baddies rarely
go faster than that. The cleric is pure support with purify and holy light. It is worth the
point for smite+stun with a cleric, especially against lich.
The alternative team are rogue, ranger, cleric, mage. Same setup as above, just that the
ranger starts out with pin for the rogue to assassinate. It's also easier to raise the speed
of the ranger above that of the rogue [slow down the rogue with a shield] for the 1 hit
kills. Otherwise, the alternative team has 3 stun options instead of 2 with a slight drop in
killing power.
Deadliest baddie thus far? Dwarf x-bowmen with their AP arrows. 3 in the back row groups are
to avoided unless I am confident of stun/blinding the group before the volley from hell
comes. Otherwise, this group has the capacity of killing/crippling 1 party member each
combat round from concentrated fire [which is a downside to elusiveness- the mages and
clerics get slaughtered instead]. With that said, AP attacks+poison are extremely effective
against them. Another way is to force the group to waste a turn healing themselves after an
AOE attack.
Another kill first baddie- trolls. Thick on life, massive regen and a powerful piercing
attack that is best described as anti-mage. Thankfully, they are slow and massive poison
still works.
Things that can be 1 shot killed by team without coup de grace.
Wraith by a mage [use freeze since it is the only spell that does the most single enemy
damage] with just their staves. Smite also works.
Gargoyle from an AP hit by a rogue. All armour, not much meat.
Boss fight.
Each race has 2 types of end bosses. A warrior and the caster type.
Generally the warriors are pretty similar no matter what the race with heavy armour, life
regen and cleave. All can haste their party except for the cult. The deadliest is the Dragon
for massive AOE damage followed by Cult Sacred Icon because of the void cannon. The only way
to avoid dying in the first round is a high damage resist or invisibility. Thankfully, AP
hits do very well against all of them although it's tougher going with the sacred icon
because of their poison immunity.
All the spellcaster bosses save the monsters and orcs can force their front row to become
shields. The beholder can 1 hit kill with their disintegration beam. The most annoying boss
thus far is the orc spellcaster. Imagine 1 hit killing a troll only to have it resurrected
at the end of the round with full life and violent spear death.
I usually stun or weaken the orc group in the first round without killing anyone in order
for the leader to waste a turn and enough mana that he cannot resurrect any lost allies.
Corruptor fight.
Other than a heavy poison attack, the corruptor itself isn't much of a challenge.
Unfortunately, by cloning the team he is able to get full poison resist [unless that skill
is removed from the cleric] and a lot of poison damage. I usually mitigate this with
potions. Thankfully, the AI isn't smart enough to do 1 hit kills and that is a significant
advantage.
Dreadfather.
Poison bows by your rogues is the answer. Just keep hitting with envenomed weapon till he
quits on life [2k poison stacks are so much fun]. Also helps to have a high stun resist vs
the Fearsowers. I noticed that the Dreadfather can only force a retreat on the party if they
are below 1/3rd the life bar. Regenerating above that limit will keep the party in the
fight. Kill the Dreadfather first before starting on his minions but feel free to stun them
with cosmic prison or smite before that.
Legendaries.
Hydra. This one is pretty much a pushover if the rogues keep hitting with envenomed weapon
bows. Stun the heads to keep them from being too annoying.
Minotaur. Labyrinth can be nasty if it messes up the back row. Otherwise, good armour, heal
and a high regen rate can offset the massive weapon damage before the poison kicks in.
Medusa. Toughest of the legendaries. However, if her stun and massive poison damage can be
mitigated [I tend to use potions] then she is moderately easy to kill. As always, stack
poison on this beastie till she quits.
Exploit. There is another reason why I use 2 rogues. Any attack made while the rogue is
under cover will still do 200% damage, even if it is an attack of opportunity. Imagine 420%
damage by 1 rogue just after 2 rounds of combat, one by an attack of opportunity and the
other by a sneak attack out of hiding. Useful against bosses with poison immunity [there is
only 1- the Sacred icon]. Generally, a Sacred Icon dies in 3 combat rounds if I can pull
this off. The only boss that can survive an assault like this are the orcs with healing by
the shamans, unless the mage imprisons them first.