Well, looks like I found my Melee Mash Party. Took a bit of time to figure it out, but it seems like the Warrior's variant of the Mage Summoner build.
I dub thee, the Shrek build.
As usual, no paladins allowed.
I am still playing with it, so we shall see where I get stuck.
Ogres, Orc Chieftains, Trolls, Rune Mages, and Black Dragons.
Unfortunately, it requires a lot of great physical resist items, including the Scale Set, Twinkling Boots, Leather Armor, and/or Crystal Ball. I also have the Belt of the Victor.
You only need Guardian Level 2, so no more mindless spamming to get the last level.
One Stone Skin on your Ogres should put you at 95% physical resist.
The new Counter Attack Warrior Ability actually works on... you guessed it. Ogres!
I can also hit nearly 100% critical after my first kill with Dagger of Judgment, Axe of Elements, Blind Rage, Prayer, etc. With counter-attack and "revenge", I have a 100% critical hit rating AFTER I score my first kill.
I have the Ogre's Club, but I cannot make use of it. No more slots left.
[edit]
I ended up using the Ogre's Club, Drill, and Dagger of Judgment. This nets more damage by far. I no longer have 100% critical on retaliation, but it is good enough since I can keep counter-attacking. This does force me to disassemble my Scale Set, but I think it is worthwhile.
Ok, I am tired for now, but I will flesh out the details later. Unfortunately, you need to run around a lot to get the items, so it isn't ideal for a 7-day run.
Highlights
- practically immune to Geyser due to high physical resists. That's partially why I loved the Mage Summoner Build, Hero fights were FAR easier. You can even use Life Light in a pinch to restore multiple high level units from requiring a resurrection.
- Level 5 enemies aren't nearly as bad
- Once you get around 9 Rune Mages and ideally Level 3 Summoning, it is far easier to resurrect.
Weaknesses
- Magic damage units. While you do have the Black Dragon to help you out, it means you have to rely on Pygmy to deal devastating damage.
- Poison/Burning - ugh, this is particularly deadly since it will bypass all of your physical resist.
Note
Incidentally, the first starting move is usually Stone Skin on the Ogres, let the Ogres Drain the most "deadly" stack. If there are two such stacks, disable one with blind, and Drain the deadly stack. It is actually a very strong opener.
Ktahu - Wow, totally manageable with the entire party.
The ranged build or basically any low level build has MUCH higher damage potential (direct point damage, not counting shoot-through or post effects) than any Level 5 in the game. However, they are more likely to lose fighting capacity since they have lower HP AND they need to have a +60 attack over the enemy defense to converge on MAXIMUM possible damage in the game.
The Ogre Melee Mash build is a hybrid of sorts. Despite not having as much high end damage, they can deal steady damage throughout the entire battle since they are so tough. This is similar to the concept I used with the Power Summoner Mage build. Ancient Phoenix and Dragon of Chaos do steady damage even as they sustain hits (imagine, 2000 peasants with 1 HP, compared to one Dragon of Chaos... the 1 HP Dragon of Chaos still does the same damage as if he had 2000 HP).
The Trolls unique ability to gain attack rating if ANY unit dies, makes him super ideal against Ktahu since the Lizardmen he summons gains NO Hero bonus from Ktahu (what a jerk!), they are simply no match for the Double Belt of the Victors.
Too bad defense is capped though. Sniffles.
Of note on Ogres
- Ogre's Rage is TOTALLY different compared to other "100% gain in Attack" abilities which increase attack on BASE attack. It does NOT double attack rating based off of BASE attack, but off of CURRENT attack. This is huge. This means if an Ogre has already killed a few units with Frenzy, Ogre's Rage gives him a WHOPPING boost.
This makes him GREAT for boss smashing since bosses are one of the few enemies that it is very difficult to converge to maximum damage. For normal enemies, it also makes it possible to skip casting Helplessness at times and go for something like Hell's Breath, Dragon Slayer, Demon Slayer.
And finally, all three of the Gigantic Friends are affected by the Warrior's new Counter-Attack skill.