Pathfinder 2e: COMBAT & TACTICS Vol. 1 - Tips and Tricks to WIN your next PF2 battle! 

Coming from 5e and learning PF2e, this level of tactical play just sounds incredible.

Look at the Slow spell. Action economy, precise targeting, no ongoing saves, pump able to level 6, NOT incapacitation, NOT mental, NOT illusion, a save success still has an effect and it has a duration WITHOUT sustain

One of my favorite ways to use tactics is to constantly find ways to use the environment around me to my advantage. Finding a tactical advantage from something in the room (like taking cover behind a box after attacking) is a great way to spend an action over a 3rd attack.

The idea of the Flanking is not about distraction, it's about the fact that you can't fight 2 people on OPPOSITE sides because if you turn to one then you expose your back to another and can't effectively defend. If someone is just 90 degrees to the side then you still have them in your field of view and can react.

Stacking flanking along with the frightened condition is probably the easiest way to get a large debuff on an enemy in my experience. If you throw in buff spells like Heroism, Bless or Inspire courage then you could be looking at a +3 to +5 math advantage which is HUGE. I love how much teamwork really matters in PF2

Good advice, but remember a well run game will also see the monsters employing similar strategies to deny the party actions and avoid their attacks.

As the permanent DM for my D&D 5e group trying to convert everyone towards PF 2e, I can't express just how invaluable all of the videos on this channel are. I feel like you guys bring up cool things about the game system that my brain picks up on but I fail to accurately describe when I try to tell my friends about why PF 2e is cool.

Tactics are always key. Good tactics can increase the difficulty of an encounter. Effectively the party and the monster can raise or lower their CR with good or bad tactical manuvering.

Great tips boys. I think the important thing to drive home is that tactics and liberal use of bonuses and conditions is what wins the day in PF2e, not dog-piling raw damage. I've really tried to drive that home with my dudes, some of them get it while others are still incredibly stubborn and just try to go for the old 'hit em hard' strategy.

Man, I never realized how large creatures didn't just got flanked easyer, but also can flank easyer, thank you guys for the awesome tips!

Another thing to keep in mind while flanking for Crit farming is that some characters have Critical specialiizatiom effects on their weapons. So that's Xtra Crit might mean making the enemy flat footed to all other character's, fall prone (wasting another action to stand back up), take persistent bleed damage, etc.

Looking forward to more in this series! This is a great way to present strategies using a visual example. One thing to mention too about having a single strong attack that might be crit... is CRITICAL SPECIALIZATION EFFECTS! After a few levels, martial characters can start to get add-on effects in addition to their double damage. A fighter critting with a longsword knocks an enemy prone, which can prompt an Attack of Opportunity when that creature tries to stand on their turn! Crits are even more valuable in 2E =D

After watching this I have observed that LIMITING Attach of Opportunity will make attack and then retreat non threatening in MOST instances. This MAY diminish the power of a melee based big bad "boss" as their multiple attacks are, most often, what keeps them in the battle and what makes them dangerous. Interesting dynamics. The PF2 combat is so tactically rich that, I think, you can just use it for setting up and playing up battles.

Great video! PF2e is an amazing system. I love the added element of positioning and eating up enemy actions. Everything is more dynamic and active.

I’m new to rpg in general. I have played all the Diablo games but never table top. This is my first attempt so I’m going at it solo but I love how you break everything down into simple terms. I’m currently reading the core Rulebook and even though it is pretty intimidating I know I’m learning something because I was able to keep up with what you were talking about. This channel has helped me a lot. Thank you so much

I m liking the idea about the dmg or halelf dmg on miss for attacks that you mentioned in the vid I think on three action economy

Great video, gentlemen! Thanks for doing this. I was thinking about the action balance between party and characters, and I think part of the decision process involves your party members. For sure, if my fighter is one-on-one with a monster, backing up robs them of more than it robs me. But if my fighter jumps into combat, I want to stay there so that the rogue can flank and get his sneak attack (yes, he could feint instead, but then he needs four actions - move in, feint, attack, move out). If, then, we are both in combat with one monster, we are actually using 2 actions (my movement and the rogue's movement) to attack and go, while the target is only using one action to close with *someone.* Of course, the next round, I could delay until after the rogue, so that he can come in for the flank, but again, to get out, we are using two actions to deny the monster one of his. And if I move back, the monster now has the option of moving up to the rogue or the cleric instead of me, which can be suboptimal with their much much lower hp.

I’m really loving these discussion videos.

Great tips! Love this game and love your discussions, keep it up :)

Man this video was Sick! i love the vibe you guys have and i found it very informing thanks!

I love being able to share your videos with my players. I've also been playing since the game has come out, and I had not even thought about some of these things. Awesome video!

This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Great stuff.

Great tips, and presented clearly enough i could show this to any level of player experience and have them instantly get it

This was a great video and it’s simplicity and selection of five rudimentary skills to focus on. Well done my friend.

Great job guys, keep up!

I really like how the attack of opportunity works in PF2, like in real life if you are faster than your enemy then you would also use that to your advantage to outmaneuver them instead of just standing in front of them

This is a great video. I've thought about getting back into TTRPGs and was a player of D&D since 1978, then moved on to many other games ending with a long couple year run of Savage Worlds home brew campaigns. I've never looked into PF2e but I am for sure and after not playing any TTRPGs for the last 8 years or so this game looks amazing and seems complex enough and simple enough to have a fun time with friends. Thanks for the vids and I'm going to be watching a lot more.

Great video! I really liked the content. Could you guys make a specific combat tips video for spellcasting characters?

Just found this channel, really enjoying these chats.

I'm swapping to P2e soon from 5E proffessionally run ans man this podcast is EXACTLY what I need to truly understand the grit if the game not just the basic rules.

Best video ever. Subscribed

As a new viewer of your channel, I just have to say every video with Bob in it is just better. He adds an element of positive (almost innocent) excitement about the game.

Love the tactics brief. Coming from a bunch of rpgs, including pf1 and sf... its a big deal to have the core idea that the player tactics aren't always going to be revolving around "safe step" but the versatile environment and battle field excites me.

The Move tactic is very interesting because I'm just starting with P2E and running a Monk. Focusing on Intimidation as one of the actions and then move and/or attack with the remaining 2.

Ok. as very vets and old Rusty dm (from D&D1st ed passing through c&s, gurps, and many more... that reach PF1 2 years ago...) and who in 2 days will start a new campaign in PF2... Thanks a lot, Thanks thanks again. Very clear, and pointed out.

amazing video

Love the content. Disagree on the "distraction" comment on flanking... It's not wrong exactly but incomplete. You position yourself to the enemies flank, to take advantage of it not being able to watch both in front of and behind. It's about abusing visibility not increasing the complexity.

This is great video, but minor nit regarding flanking: "A line drawn between the center of your space and the center of your ally's space must pass through opposite sides or opposite corners of the foe's space. " So a large badger looking to grant flanking draws a line from the center of its space to the center of the ally's space and sees if it passes through opposite sides. *Technically* being on the diagonal won't work in your example, because the line from the center of the badger's space to the center of the ally passes through adjacent sides. I don't love this rule, and kinda wish it could take into account any square (and typically house rule it that way), but I believe strictly speaking that's the way it works (would love to be shown I'm wrong).

Flanking is not "distracting," is that you're attacking the flanks (the sides). You're on opposite flanks so it's harder to react to both attacks.

I'm beginning to get into PF2e because I'm playing WotR on pc, and I gotta say I loved this video, even though the game's rules are a bit different from the TTRPG. As a 5e player, it can be very hard not to get confused with so many different rules.

I love using Demoralize as my first action as a Barbarian. A lot of times, depending on the set up, my 1st turn is Demoralize than sudden Charge.

Thank you so much for this awesome and usefull video series! Can I ask where did you guys buy all the miniatures?

I just bought my Beadle & Grimm’s rogue journal for my first character in P2E. I told my buddy that if you played a very conscious judo player you would be of great value to your party.

Keep in mind that in order to flank you draw a line from the centers of the spaces creatures occupy. You can't pick individual squares that a creature occupies and choose that spot to see if you flank. The second honey badger example is not correct. The line from the center of the fighter (the one diagonal to the enemy) to the center of the badger doesn't pass through opposite sides, it passes through adjacent sides. "A line drawn between the center of your space and the center of your ally’s space must pass through opposite sides or opposite corners of the foe’s space."

It is called kiting the goblin 🤣

Actually the party being outnumber can be even easier to make them trade on actions. Focusing on getting as many attacks in as possible is you falling back into the 3rd Strike trap since even if they are lower levels, odds are it's still swinging at the fences. Falling back still works in your advantage just like when you outnumber the monsters. If 3 of the monsters gang up on one player and that player then spends one action to move away, well the monsters need to potentially spend THREE actions, one each, to move back into range which is three attacks they won't get. This can go up to six if the player moves faster then them. And the range/caster characters should be staying back as far as they can while still being in range to attack/cast thus making it harder for the monsters to close the distance. Also if you plant your feet in the ground and got for the 3rd strike and you are outnumbered odds are if the enemy wasn't already surrounding you for that flank bonus they will be on the next turn and all those attacks against your -2 AC from flat footed means your going down FAST. If anything it's even more important to fall back when out numbered. I do agree on the it's important to change up your tactics though. Against the smaller groups debuffing the enemy and forcing them to waste actions is important as tougher creatures often have powerful 2 Action abilities. Also if it's a large creature since flanking is easier rushing the target for more attacks with lots of stacked bonuses/penalties in play can be great to end the fight fast. When it comes to facing larger groups unless you have AoE debuffs or AoE Damage abilities it's a lot harder to rush in attack like that so instead the party needs to focus on mobility and ensuring they don't get surrounded which means they end up flat footed. Using the terrain to your advantage can be helpful here as you can fall back to a doorway or narrow hallway. Anything to force a coach point and reduce the power of their numbers while protecting your flank. And it allows the range/caster to fire past you. Depending on the length of the hallway you could continue to move back 5 feet each turn. If the hallway only allows 2 characters you can do rotations which is something our group had to do. Basically one of the two frontline characters steps back at the end of their turn and lets the other guy move up for his turn. With turn order you might have the case where only 1 character is on the front line with two on the back line and an enemy slips in. This is fine because all 3 can target the enemy in that spot and dispatch them quick to allow one to move up. Or the person in front can move behind the other 2 thus making them now the front line and they don't need to move to attack that one monster which was already in their range. This bottle neck can serious reduce the enemies options while allowing the party to take advantage of the fact they they are stronger and can go toe to toe in a 1 on 1 fight. The suggestion of the barbarian wanting to hold his ground and make that 3rd attack has me cringing. The barbarian might be unique in that he can't be flank, but the rest of the party can be. In order to help him they are gonna need to stay close otherwise with him out in front and alone he'll get mobbed. And even if he doesn't suffer flat foot being surround by 4-6 enemies and taking like 12-18 attacks I don't see ending well for him. Facing weaker foes which are in larger numbers I think can be the down fall of a lot of parties if they are not careful. They can easily get over confident and think rushing in to use their better stats and steam roll the monsters is the way to go without realizes the same swarm tactics they use to take down fewer and tougher foes can be used against them. Basically I imagine the opening of Goblin Slayer as to what happens to that over confident party thinking they can rush in and take out the "weaker" monsters quickly. Those goblins were grappling, tripping, and flanking for all sorts of mad bonuses. ;)

I can see allowing 90 degree flanks, since monsters can also abuse it. But maybe they're right maybe there is some element of it that would break combat for the players, idk, except in the case of situations where to flank you would need to burn 1 extra stride to flank, I guess I can understand the concern.

This is a great video! Thanks for all the details. I've GM'ed quite a bit for my kid and his friends. One thing I'm missing and/or RPGs are missing (in general) is the group attack. If this were the movies and/or a "real-life" (HA!) situation, the fact is, all the players would attack at the same time. The ranged people would get in position, the melee characters would run in and engage at the same time...all of this would create an incredible advantage in your example fighting the Troll. However, again, maybe I'm missing something, but with everyone "taking their turn," it just seems to get a bit mundane, contrived, and frankly, boring for the players sitting around waiting. Is there a better way to actually play this out?

The 180 degree rule makes sense. Normally you protect yourself, face the enemy and put your weapon in the direction to parry. With 180 degree you cannot do that. Not even a tiny bit. The best thing you can do is putting the sword in the middle between the enemies... And the middle is at the same time the point equal away from where your weapon must be for a parry.

Nice idea for a series. Btw is there an idea when the RotRL campaign will continue? No pressure ofc, do it right, but I am curious :)

The amount of attacks of oppunity that happened in pathfinder 1e was so annoying for my group to the point where they rather take the hit than get a full round attack on them

Along the lines of action economy, I'm a fan of Trip. If you take Assurance on Athletics, you can ignore MAP as well. Makes for a nice 2nd or 3rd action.

I've been solo playing trying to teach myself Pathfinder but always wind up hacking and slashing. I'm aware of the flank but wasn't sure how to pull it off or just needlessly soaked damage.

11:50 in this position, the heavy armor guy does not actually have flanking. You have to draw the line between the *center* of both allies' spaces, not the center of one of each of their squares. The line drawn must go through opposite sides of the enemy's space, or it must go through opposite corners.

10:53 isn't it possible to pull off a flank by standing behind an ally and attacking with a reach weapon. sure the enemy might get soft cover, but for all purposes the enemy would be flanked. Good video overall though!

Who is Eye-O-May-Day? :-p

I'm confused by the double flanking at 9:00. My understanding of the rules is that you have to draw a straight line through the opposite square, which would mean you can only flank in pairs. The example given defies that. Can anyone explain or point me to where I can find the text they may be referencing?

Serious question… In the example that you were using with the bugbears out numbering the party you said because The barbarian has the ability where he cannot keep playing it’s OK for him to jump in the middle of the bugbear group… But don’t you consider that meta-gaming? I mean there’s no realistic way for the barbarian to know that they are lower level than he is So for him to jump in the middle of the bugbear group that’s just met a gaming

Doesn't fireball against a single target, at least at lower levels, do just as much damage as a rogue's backstabbing against a single target?

I didn't understand the part about the large creature flanking.

I come from 5e, but looks to me like you left out the most important one. Focus fire. It kinda will happen natually with flanking, but still a very important concept. Basically as soon as an enemy is down, that is -3 actions on the enemy side, for the rest of the combat, on every turn. That means even if you have to spend a few move actions to target the same guy, it is probably worth it, taking him out 1 turn quicker than otheriwise might be 1 of your actions 'wasted' but 3 of theirs. I think most people get this intutively, but where the mistake often happens is only considering where you can attack, but where your allies can as well, you might be an archer that can attack anyone, but unless you feel confident you can take down an enemy on your own, you should probably be attacking the monster your melee friends can get to with the least wasted actions. If you have 3 melee guys standing in a line to hold a chokepoint (or for some other reason), make sure you are all targeting the enemy directly in front of the center guy, that you can all reach.

9:37 That is technically ALSO incorrect! The rogue doesn't have to have a friend there they just need and ENEMY of their target to be there, the other person could even also be an enemy of the rogue! At least as the rules are written!

Against a semi-intelligent enemy, what's stopping the second enemy from then flanking the hero on the backside, creating an "ABAB" conga line? It seems silly.

Re: confusion about a 3rd character and flanking. It isn't intuitive that they would need someone opposite them to get flanking (even though that's what the rule says). The enemy already has a penalty because it is surrounded, why wouldn't a third character benefit from that as well? "Well I can't defend myself properly against these two people. But if you add another, I'm fine against that one." I've always thought that the rule should be once a creature is flanked, all surrounding opponents should get the benefit when attacking them.

to keep with a more narrative, "real" feel of battle, it still seems odd to just walk away from an enemy in your face. Sure it's great for using game mechanics to your advantage. But has anyone tried to still use PF2e for narrative play styles? To me I think this guy should still get a bonus to be attacked from a guy he left behind. Maybe not an attack of opportunity but perhaps a -1AC or something for not facing the foe. I might argue he is flat footed. Any thoughts to this home brew to make things feel more movie like or real instead of just tactical for the game sake?

My GM said: "I was hoping you will not see this video" :)

I think that Casters should get rid of the idea, that they can't ever flank. When comparing AC to a Ranger (typical Martial Armor Progression) all Casters have the same Armor Proficiency for levels 1-10 and 13-18. This means, that as long as you manage to have Base Armor Item Bonus + Dex = 5 you will have the same AC. With a Studded Leather and 16 Dex or a Leather Armor and 18 Dex this can be accomplished rather easily. So to all of you caster players out there. As long as you know, that the enemy doesn't have Attacks of Opportunity or stuff like that, please consider maxing out your AC and help to flank :)

Just to add sth to the discussions: This week we had an fearsome enemy, thanadaemon, 3 levels above our party. Nasty Caster. high DC. Finger of death instant kill. But we were 5 people with 17 Actions (+2 through haste) and he nearly killed us if it wasnt for the crit failed Slow spell, which basicely killed him cause he had only 1 action for 1 min and coudnt cast anymore. How did we almost lose with action economy 5:1? Well our lv 10 rogue with a holy weapon decided flankin isnt important.. let me repeat our ROGUE with HOLY dmg didnt want to flank the creature, instead used 3 of his 4 actions to run away. Yeah i nearly lost my mind. He coudnt use any class feature cause rogue need flat footed opponents, coudnt inflict conditions and coudnt do dmg. this run tactic is useless if only one of your party members does it (our daemon decided to kill the rest of the party instead). With this i want to point out two things: First bosses are bosses. Dont get fooled by economy. Melee boss one shots almost all PCs. Casters can inflict horrific condition reliable. Dont ever consider them or their actions lightly. Second make sure your party know about this stuff and communicate it. We can talk about the fights. If your rogue has his brainfart moment (well mine is a hopeless case) pls try to tell him, that his whole class is better attacking an enemy. Also in summary in PF2E u cant always plan ahead and cant save every member from getting down. Its part of the system. Even a champion will get beaten down. Its important to make use of your class and just in case prepare for dying condition. As a sidenote: Statistics are nice to know, but only if u really know them. Noone sits there with a calculator. Most of the time you will decide based on feelings and experience. So in general its good to plan ahead standard actions or rotations like casters always start with fear while champion always raise a shield. There are actions which are always useful regardless of accurate statistics.

I find it humorous that these guys bad-mouth opportunity attacks and then proceed to show you how to break the game because most monsters don't have opportunity attacks.

Yes the barbarian could attack the goblin twice and then run but all the other barbarians are going to make fun of them for doing that lol lol

Egh I really don't like that 19:24 meta-game assumption that more monsters = weaker monsters individually, and less creatures = they are individually stronger. That's presuming a lot like "oh this is a game, therefore they HAVE to be balanced this way." Otherwise, really great breakdowns.

OK I’m at the part of the video where you’re talking about the barbarian moving into a position to flanked and you’re talking about how good it is… Let the other goblin or whatever the hell it is is right behind him and all he asked to do is make a 5 foot step and suddenly the barbarian is getting flanked… It’s not a good thing to do. That enemy will not move to get away from your flanking because as long as he stays worries that your barbarian is going to get flanked. The situation you’re setting up is a bad situation you don’t ever wanna be in a position where the characters going to get flanked.

10:00 Not a dnd advocate, but fighting multiple people at once should definitely impose some kind of numerical disadvantage and fighting on two fronts, realistically speaking, shouldn't just be a minor -2, it should be a devastating disadvantage. Again, this is realistically speaking and not a consideration for play patterns

9:44 You think facing two opponents in a 90 degree arc in front of you is the same situation as facing two opponents when one is directly behind you? Seriously? Abstract? Are you out of your mind? It makes no sense that if you can rotate such that you can see both enemies and neither are facing directly at your back you're in a better position? This is one of the stranger arguments I've ever heard a nerd make, and we make a lot of weird arguments.

Whose the seven deadly sins fan? Lol

Actually in a situation where you’re being faced by more opponents than what your group has… The smartest thing is for everybody to team up and attack the same guy and if you can’t treat every single person attacking one enemy there’s a good chance to kill that one enemy every round so in a case were six against four it only takes two rounds and the numbers are even three rounds and you have an advantage

Yes you can certainly move the goblin and flanks but the other goblin simply does the same thing he moves and flanks and now you’re getting the crap kicked out of you because you’re flanked… Your situation with two players and two goblins is set up in such a way that you should never ever ever flank because I just left the master flank on you and you don’t ever want that

I've been solo playing trying to teach myself Pathfinder but always wind up hacking and slashing. I'm aware of the flank but wasn't sure how to pull it off or just needlessly soaked damage.