Tactician difficulty, as a harder difficulty option, carries with it many differences gameplay. Chief among these are enhanced statistics and abilities for creatures. These can be increased ability scores, new passives, permanently applied conditions, or even new or improved actions. This is a list of all such noted differences.
Flat bonuses
These are clearly defined changes that are implemented across races of creatures, subsets within those races, or upon individual creatures. For any entity that gains a new or modified action, the game must be on Tactician difficulty before combat is initiated in order for the change to take effect.
Racial bonuses
These are bonuses implemented to every member of a specific playable or non-playable race. Some specific creatures or characters encountered within those races may gain additional bonuses, as detailed later.
| Race | Bonuses |
|---|---|
| Intellect Devourers |
|
| Phase spiders |
|
| Goblins |
|
| Ogres |
|
| Bugbears |
|
| Githyanki | |
| Minotaurs |
|
| Kobolds |
|
| Merregon |
|
| Meenlocks |
|
| Death Shepherd |
|
Creature and archetype bonuses
Some bonuses are applied to subsets of creatures within a race. This can include named NPC's, as long as the group they belong to can be easily generalized. For example, githyanki NPC's who wield a crossbow and have the "Raider" title – even if their name is Hi'so'ka or Ki'llua – in Act One can expect to get the same Tactician bonuses. These apply in addition to any other racial or individual bonuses.
| Group Bonuses on Tactician | |
|---|---|
| Group | Bonuses |
| Githyanki Raider (Level 5) |
|
| Githyanki gish (Level 5) |
|
| Githyanki warrior (Level 5) |
|
| Githyanki ardent (Level 5) |
|
| Redcap Blood Sage[note 2] |
|
| Agile Guardian |
|
| Robust Guardian |
|
| Mimic |
|
| Shadow-Cursed Vine Blight |
|
| Shadow-Cursed Raven |
|
Unique individual bonuses
For any uniquely-occurring creature or NPC that gets their own bonuses. If a named NPC doesn't neatly fit into a generic group, as described above, they'll be included here.
Act One
For any entity first encountered in Act One:
| Individual Bonuses on Tactician | |
|---|---|
| NPC | Bonuses |
| Commander Zhalk |
|
| Gandrel |
|
| Hyena[note 3] |
|
| Dror Ragzlin |
|
| Buthir |
|
| Sarth Baretha |
|
| Kith'rak Voss |
|
| Bulette |
|
| Bernard |
|
| Ancient Giant Eagle |
|
| Kith'rak Therezzyn |
|
| Ur'uth and D'hak |
|
| Varsh Ko'kuu |
|
| Sa'varsh Kethk |
|
| Ghustil Stornugoss |
|
Act Two
| Individual Bonuses on Tactician | |
|---|---|
| NPC | Bonuses |
|
| |
Act Three
| Group Bonuses on Tactician | |
|---|---|
| Group | Bonuses |
Viconia DeVir: Sentinel buffs + protector, Tenacity 5
- Houndmaster Pol, Zina, Rocky, and Gordis: Hunter's Camouflage. The dogs also get Evasion.
Exception(s)
The enemies in one specific encounter, the goblin raiding party at the Druid Grove gate, are exempt from buffs. The goblins, led by Za'Krug, and the bugbear are missing the passive bonuses that are found elsewhere on otherwise identical creatures on Tactician. They retain, however, the Tactician HP bonus.
Variable increases
These are changes that are implemented to varying degrees across creatures in the game.
Health
NPC hit points are generally increased by 30%, or close to 30%, with some exceptions. These exceptions include but are not limited to:
- Creatures with >30% hit point difference, i.e. Grym and Oathbreaker Knight.
- Creatures with unchanged hit points, i.e. Marcus.
Footnotes
- ↑ Gith that already had this ability on Balanced or Explorer, such as Kith'rak Voss, retain the ability. Playable gith such as Lae'zel do not gain this ability.
- ↑ Including BOOOAL
- ↑ Found on The Risen Road at X: 9 Y: 522