Field Marshal
by Charis

Class: Any
Tag: FLD

Introduction

Agents of law, the Marshal seeks to be prepared for a wide range of situations, and to bring mob bosses to justice. He or she prefers to travel light, and will never become a tank. The motto of the marshal is "Appropriate Force", not "Shoot first and ask questions later". Against melee monsters, he prefers melee, in a gun fight against ranged attackers, he prefers a gun. When things get ugly, and extreme danger lurks, he issues a warning, and only then is free to break out the heavy artillery.

Distinctive Features

- Strong balance between mana and hp levels
- Not many quests or training, more attitude
- Playable by all classes
- A twist when/if a 'corruption item' is found

Rules

Round Up & Arrest
When raiding a level, any bosses found are rounded up by bringing them to the stairs down (ALL bosses on level together), and arresting

Arrest! They are told they are under arrest and to enter the stairs or a portal thrown. Should they resist, they are warned or prodded to comply, and if they attack and harm the marshal, should be 'subdued' by whatever means necessary. If possible, a Deputy (Golem) is summoned to help with the arrest after handcuffing (Stone curse).

Note some bosses are particularly heinous, and you might not finish your first sentence before they open lethal fire (Plaguewrath, Blightfire...)

Either of these is strictly optional, and best not 'overdone.' Arrests should definitely be made in dots runs and when a marshal has been killed. (i.e. Whenever killed by a monster, if a boss of that type exists, arrest their boss next time he is encountered. If you die often you will have a long personal 'Most Wanted' list. :)

Felons! (Rogues, read!)
Bosses responsible for killing a marshal, or ones that are known to be particularly nasty in resisting arrest, may be taken in by an alternate method.

When a boss is sighted or expected, leave the level. Put on stealth gear, at least -40 or -50%, and equip a good bow. Return to the level, and from the boss' light, take up a sniper position, and take him out.

Rogues who which to specialize as snipers should consider this a normal mode of operation, wearing -20% lr regularly, and going to -60% or more as needed.

The "Underground Roundup"
Any bosses found in hell during an underground roundup are led to the stairs down and arrested. On 15, all are led to the Pentagram. At the time they are activated, they must be read their rights (up to the Marshal *how* this is done, and in what detail). They should be handcuffed and arrested if they fail to surrender. Likewise on 16, Gorash and Diablo must be individually escorted to jail (the maze), read their rights together, and brought to justice. As with other prisoners, they are to be taken dead or alive.

Semi-LoL Behavior
(Optional, but recommended)

Those who want a bit more challenge can restrict themselves by NOT returning to town for restock, repair or buying items, midgame. Restart after death, and coming up to drop off or swap items is ok. They may still buy from Wirt, Gris, repair, etc., at beginning and end of game, but in the dungeon, live off the land. This makes them more of a 'Field Agent' (pun intended), which further emphasizes his versatility and tones down the powerful Mage Marshal somewhat.

Items

Armor
Light gear is typical: Cape, Cloak, Robe, Quilted, Leathers.
Later Ring Mail, Breastplate and Field Plate. (Field Plate ideal!)
Never Gothic, regular Plate Mail, or Full Plate.

Helms
Any, although Great Helms are the least favorite.

Shields
Prefers lighter shields, can use any that are not more than five points higher than natural strength + str bonus of shield.
His shield is his badge and should be chosen carefully. Preference should go to uniqueness, or rarity, rather than pure AC.

Weapons
Disallowed are ones that encourage 'excessive or inappropriate force', such as Brutal, Vicious, Ruthless, Merciless, Savage, Blood, Vampire. For any other than mages, Carnage and Slaughter also disallowed.

Preferred are a Gavel (hammer with a 'good' prefix) and a Nightstick (club, cudgel, root, or blunts of darkness). Warrior Marshals prefer Strange and Weird over King or Champion.

Uniques
Consider Naj's Light Plate as Field Plate due to its AC. Some other favorite uniques are The Protector, Civerb's Cudgel, Schaefer's Hammer, Overlord's Helm, Holy Defender, Mindcry and Rod of Onan.

Ideal Gear Comments
So what is the Max AC available? Holy Field Plate is possible, but extremely rare, so let's consider Awesome Field Plate, 45/150 (112), along with Awesome Tower 20/150 (50), and Gotter, AC 60. This is a max of 222 before Dex; with 120 dex, AC max is 246, which is just a tad over useless in H/H, but helpful in NM.

For rogues, Blessed Tower of Power 20/110 (42) or Awe Kite 15/150 (37), leaving Tower Stormshield the Best Choice (40), with 250 dex, AC max 252. If a perfect Holy Field were available, add 9 more pts AC.

With balanced HP and Mana, what is roughly the max? A rogue gets 1.5 from items, so for a 30th lvl rogue with max stats, base 161 hp and 133 mana. With tiger shield and whale helm, whale armor, Dreamflange, and for jewels an drag/lion, drag/wiz, drag/wiz jewels, +310 hp, +343 mana, for 471/476. (Even 50th lvl would be just shy of 500/500, at 491/496, doh!)

The 250 magic Mage is naked over 500 mana (118/556), so could whale/lion out for 548/556. The max stat 30th lvl Warrior is 276/78, so with DF and trip drag/wiz giving +305 mana, still needs RC to get 433 mana, whale/tiger armor shield is 436/433.

Spells

They think of a few spells in different terms.

- Charged Bolt = Tear Gas, great for flushing out criminals from a room.
- Lightning (not CL) = Tazer, often used to prod unwilling adversaries.
- Fireball = Smoke Canister, not uncommon to let several fly.
- Elemental = Special Deputy who serves subpoenas.
- Bone Spirit = Sleeping gas - weakens, doesn't kill foes.
- Guardian = Bloodhounds who sniff out illegal aliens.
- Golem = The Deputy. A trusty servant who makes a number of the arrests.
- Flame Wave and Chain Lightning are *not* authorized for normal use.

Quests

1) Quest of Exoneration
CORRUPTION! This is not a word that Marshals like to use, and not one they will tolerate within their own ranks. If a Marshal finds an item of corruption, it is a serious matter. He is suspended, and must turn in his badge (shield) and guns (all weapons USED by the Marshal on his person). He must exonerate (clear) himself by finding the criminal who framed him. (Another character is needed to help with this. The item of corruption is taken into the highest section the Marshal can directly enter, and must be dropped directly beside a boss found somewhere in that section). The Marshal, using partial stealth, and without returning to town, must find the item (proving his innocence) and arresting the boss. He is banned from using spells during his suspension (mages, decide for yourself if you need to break that rule to clear your good name). If successful, he is cleared and returned to duty. In the event a unique item is dropped by that guilty boss, a major plot is uncovered, and he is immediately promoted to field marshal! In subsequent games, if that boss is seen again, he must be arrested. If he fails in his attempt to exonerate himself, he is court martialed.

2) Various Titles

- Junior Marshal - New Marshal until both HP and Mana are over 100 hp, and a dozen arrests have been made.
- Marshal - Receives a new badge (right to wear unique shields) and may wear a flak jacket (Ring Mail or Breast plate).
- Field Marshal - Usually attained by rounding up Laz, having over 350 combined hp and mana, and getting their first dot with Diablo put into jail (maze). Other special circumstances can lead to early promotion. Benefit: The right to wear Field Plate Armor (through Saintly and Jade).
- Federal Marshal - NM dot, combined 450 hp+mana pts, and a normal diff roundup Field Plate can be up to Awesome and Obsidian.
- Grand Marshal - Hell dot, combined 600 hp+mana pts, and a NM diff roundup Field Plate can be Holy, if available.
- Supreme Field Marshal - H/H solo, combined 900 hp+mana pts, and hell diff complete round up.

Special Considerations for Multi-Classes

- SNOBS: These form the SWAT unit of the Marshals. They may, if the situation warrants, wear Riot Gear (DSC, Sparking Mail or Gladiator's Bane). The are issued flamethrowers (Flame Wave) and have easy access to obtain warrants for arrest (Elemental).
- Amazons: Much of this fits naturally with AMZ thinking. It would mean a restriction to field plate, but allowance of many blunts. Certain spells would be used earlier than normal (Golem, Guardian) but others must still be avoided (Bone Spirit).
- BNM/R/W: The "Undercover" Marshals. The restriction on hit point and mana equality is not applied, and life threatening situations requiring extra force (Chain Lightning) are more likely to occur. The BNM who has become a field marshal is HIGHLY encouraged to wear a titans jewel and cursed field plate.
- BAR: Hehe, possible, being restricted to field instead of full plate After dotted, I would likely wear fine, grand or valiant field plate, with no suffix (similar AC to full plate). Or if you want to stretch things and lose ability to block bloodstars, Naj's Field Plate (20% resist all).
- Avenger: A very good fit. The field plate max and the no retreat rule would combine for some real difficulty.
- Executioner: Wow, judge and jury all in one. An EXC or VIK would be the only Marshals I would see using axes.
- MM: Not a bad fit either, but lack of AC will make higher difficulty settings tough indeed. Consider also Agile Mages.

My current Marshal, Tachyon, was the first dotted, and is also a Druid, which works well.