Slip Slidin Away

So I like playing in the morning most of the time and always pop on around 10am UK time which is 5am on the East Coast so not going to be many players on and I have just reincarnated Grousemerlin for his 12th life and 3rd as a Warlock. Cool it is all good until I need to do Misery Peak and I am protecting a Bravery Bonus. So apart from a first level cleric hireling I go to the DDO store and decide to be very safe by getting some extra hirelings to make sure I don't lose the bonus.

Who made a big mess?

So 2 clerics, a barbarian, a paladin and a sorcerer and myself. I have had some bad experiences with a certain low level Wizard hireling so chose the golfing Sorcerer Parfour and set off to run across Kothos to do that well paying quest (picked up 7k on it). And I ran into the exact same problem that I got with Rita. Now I am certain there are some Developers sitting there laughing their heads off knowing exactly what I am referring to. But to those who haven't got it yet I am talking about the Spell Grease.

Stop laying down on the job

Believe the spell wording is:- Covers the ground with a layer of slippery grease, forcing targets to make a Reflex save or fall. Grease slicks will sometimes be set ablaze by area of effect fire effects, dealing 2 to 12 damage per two caster levels fire damage to all enemies of the caster in the slick every few seconds, as well as the caster of the grease spell. A successful (DC 10+spell level+ability modifier+items+feats) Reflex save will reduce this damage by half. Slicks that have been set ablaze will quickly burn away.

So we have a spell that can send creatures flying but what the description neglects to inform us that everyone can be affected including the caster and allies. And there in lies the problem especially in Misery's Peak where you have objectives that are quite high up following narrow rising paths and drops from a great height. The whole thing turns farcical when everyone in the party is falling over along the opposition. Why oh why Devs? Not one caster I have ever come across uses Grease so why do the low level caster hirelings use it?

Made it no thanks to a certain caster

So pro tip for anyone thinking of getting a caster at low level DONT, get an extra cleric. After almost losing the whole party off a ledge while disputing a route with some Ice Spiders I disabled the hireling and just dragged him round as an extra target.

And yes I did think of several of the songs from Grease but this title seemed oh so much more appropriate.

A slightly miffed Grousemerlin