Agreed; might as well make our plan here in the Q/A.
I fully agree about getting the captives out; Silence would be excellent to do this while someone creates a distraction to keep their eyes off the captives too. But we should definitely get them out before combat starts; I imagine they'd be used as human shields or for bargaining at swordpoint if the enemy has time to react.
Ideas on said distraction, anyone?
Once we hammer out that part, when we're ready to attack, my intention is to rain some death with a few arrows, then draw the long sword and enter melee range. When the melee gets up close and personal, I'll switch to short sword and shield. Good ol' hunting knife if it gets any closer up than that. As for contingencies, if anyone starts getting hammered too hard, I will make every effort to switch to their target to give them breathing room. I'm doing basic tanking here; switching to the aid of anyone who starts getting pounded too badly. Any buffs and heals that can be provided will be appreciated.
So, weapon progresion at a glance: Longbow-->Long sword-->Short sword + shield-->Hunting knife
That's the meat of my strategy for Bailox. Any refinements or suggestions are welcome. Let's do this. Rawr.
