I remember the first ever death I received in organized play was when I built a Bear Totem Barbarian. A Mindflayer appeared around the corner, stunning me in its aura, and moved at me to suck my brain out. It was an instant kill, mostly due to rolling low initiative and failing intelligence saving throws.
I think that Strikers pose a big threat to DMs because they have a high damage output and a high wound threshold. To counter this, DMs like to spice up encounters with Mind-Affecting enemies like Mind Flayers which force them to make saving throws in underdeveloped areas like Wisdom and Intelligence. What are some counters to make Strikers less vulnerable to these affects? Buffs from spells, magical items? Are there other strategies that a Striker should employ?
I think the game is balanced around these sorts of tradeoffs. It seems from your post that you acknowledge that too. There are always spells and magic items that can help, bless and cloak of protection are the two that immediately come to mind. I also give a lot of thought with every melee character whether I need/want resilient wisdom. I think the best answer though is to rely on your party. Stay close to that paladin and/or count on the wizard to teleport you away from really dangerous stuff.
As a side note, my first AL death was also due to a mind flayer (reskinned). After checking the rules, I determined that my DM ran the encounter wrong and it seems like your DM might have made the same mistake. In order to use extract brain, a mind flayer needs to first grapple an incapacitated character. If your mind flayer used its mind blast first (I think this is what you mean when you say aura), then the next turn it would have to use its tentacles, and only then could it extract your brain. My mind flayer skipped step two there and went straight from mind blast to extract brain. Maybe you can tell, but I'm still a little bitter about that one.
I've caught my DM running vampires that go straight to biting without grappling first.
But to answer your question, there isn't really a trick you can use. You can take the resilient feat for the the saves you want. Or you could be a monk and get proficiency in all saves.
Or, consider being a gnome, yuan-ti, or vedalken Paladin, and be a striker that can laugh in the face of even those saves which you are not proficient in!
I remember the first ever death I received in organized play was when I built a Bear Totem Barbarian. A Mindflayer appeared around the corner, stunning me in its aura, and moved at me to suck my brain out. It was an instant kill, mostly due to rolling low initiative and failing intelligence saving throws.
I think that Strikers pose a big threat to DMs because they have a high damage output and a high wound threshold. To counter this, DMs like to spice up encounters with Mind-Affecting enemies like Mind Flayers which force them to make saving throws in underdeveloped areas like Wisdom and Intelligence. What are some counters to make Strikers less vulnerable to these affects? Buffs from spells, magical items? Are there other strategies that a Striker should employ?
I think the game is balanced around these sorts of tradeoffs. It seems from your post that you acknowledge that too. There are always spells and magic items that can help, bless and cloak of protection are the two that immediately come to mind. I also give a lot of thought with every melee character whether I need/want resilient wisdom. I think the best answer though is to rely on your party. Stay close to that paladin and/or count on the wizard to teleport you away from really dangerous stuff.
As a side note, my first AL death was also due to a mind flayer (reskinned). After checking the rules, I determined that my DM ran the encounter wrong and it seems like your DM might have made the same mistake. In order to use extract brain, a mind flayer needs to first grapple an incapacitated character. If your mind flayer used its mind blast first (I think this is what you mean when you say aura), then the next turn it would have to use its tentacles, and only then could it extract your brain. My mind flayer skipped step two there and went straight from mind blast to extract brain. Maybe you can tell, but I'm still a little bitter about that one.
Don't eat the mushrooms.
I've caught my DM running vampires that go straight to biting without grappling first.
But to answer your question, there isn't really a trick you can use. You can take the resilient feat for the the saves you want. Or you could be a monk and get proficiency in all saves.
Or, consider being a gnome, yuan-ti, or vedalken Paladin, and be a striker that can laugh in the face of even those saves which you are not proficient in!
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I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be.