Alright, so... I'm currently running a completely scratch-made Adventure path for my players, of whom there are 4. All of them recently hit level 7, and, for the most part, they've pretty much breezed through everything I've thrown at them to date.
Prior to "The Tower of Law" which is going to be an important learning curve for them, there was a character that the PC's met. It was a Divine Guardian of a Lawful Neutral Deity, whom happens to be a paragon of all law.
Anyways, they entered, she said they couldn't pass deeper into the tomb, and, being the neutral/good party they were, they rolled their sense motives and all that, and she checked out, so they left. Kudos to them, they stopped themselves from being cursed.
On another note, they came back to the village, whom told them of an eerie tower in the distance that's clouded in a raging sandstorm.
Aaaand here's what's at the top of that tower, waiting for them.
Aiur CR 7+2
XP 3200
Female Windigian Fighter (Archer) 8
N Medium Monstrous Humanoid (air)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +9
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 20, touch 16, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +5 Dex, +1 deflection)
hp 67 (8d10+8)
Fort +7, Ref +7, Will +1
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft., flight (40 feet, poor)
Melee Javelin of lightning +5/+5/+0 (1d6+10/x2) and
Unarmed strike +9/+4 (1d3+3/x2)
Ranged +2 Composite longbow (Str +3) +13/+13/+8 (1d8+13/x3)
Special Attacks sky sentinel (1/day)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 21, Con 12, Int 8, Wis 8, Cha 13
Base Atk +8; CMB +11; CMD 27
Feats Combat Reflexes (6 AoO/round), Deadly Aim -3/+6, Improved Initiative, Manyshot, Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Skill Focus (Fly), Snap Shot, Weapon Focus (Longbow)
Skills Fly +15, Perception +9
Languages Common, Windigian
SQ trick shots (trick shot: disarm, trick shot: feint)
Other Gear +1 Studded leather armor, +2 Composite longbow (Str +3), Javelin of lightning (3), Belt of incredible dexterity +2, Bracers of armor +2, Efficient quiver (empty), Ring of feather falling, Ring of protection +1, You have no money!
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Combat Reflexes (6 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Deadly Aim -3/+6 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Flight (40 feet, Poor) You can fly!
Manyshot You can shoot two arrows as the first attack of a full attack action.
Point Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Rapid Shot You get an extra attack with ranged weapons. Each attack is at -2.
Ring of feather falling Feather fall activates if you fall more than 5 ft.
Sky Sentinel +1 to attack/+2 to AC (1/day) (Ex) Gain bonus to att/AC vs flying foes. Foes gain no bonus for high ground, +2 Perception vs flying.
Snap Shot Threaten squares within 5 feet of you when wielding a ranged weapon
Trick Shot: Disarm Disarm with a bow at 30' and -4 CMB.
Trick Shot: Feint Feint with a bow at 30' and -4 CMB.
Bardin CR 7+2
XP 3200
Male Belian Fighter 8
CN Medium Monstrous Humanoid
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception -1
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 26, touch 10, flat-footed 26 (+10 armor, +4 shield, +2 natural)
hp 99 (8d10+40)
Fort +9, Ref +2, Will +1 (+4 vs. fear)
Defensive Abilities bravery +4, fortification 25%
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Heavy Shield Bash +13/+8 (1d4+5/x2) and
+2 Cold Iron Bastard sword +17/+12 (1d10+10/19-20/x2) and
Claw x2 (Claws) +8 x2 (1d4+2/x2) and
Gauntlet (from Armor) +13/+8 (1d3+5/x2) and
Unarmed strike +13/+8 (1d3+5/x2)
Special Attacks weapon training abilities (heavy blades +1)
Spell-Like Abilities Spell-Like Ability, Lesser (Fire Breath) (1/day)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 20, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 12
Base Atk +8; CMB +13 (+17 Bull Rushing); CMD 24 (26 vs. Bull Rush)
Feats Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard sword), Furious Focus, Greater Bull Rush, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack -3/+6, Step Up, Toughness +8, Weapon Focus (Bastard sword), Weapon Specialization (Bastard sword)
Skills Acrobatics -3, Climb +9, Escape Artist -3, Fly -3, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +8, Knowledge (engineering) +8, Ride -3, Stealth -3, Swim +9, Use Magic Device +5
Languages Belian, Common, Windigian
SQ fortification (light)
Combat Gear Scroll of Feather Fall (CL 12); Other Gear +1 Fortification (light) Full plate, +2 Heavy steel shield, +2 Cold Iron Bastard sword, Amulet of natural armor +2, Minotaur belt, Sash of the war champion, You have no money!
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Bravery +4 (Ex) +4 to Will save vs. Fear
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Fortification (light) 25% chance to ignore critical hit/sneak attack.
Fortification 25% You have a chance to negate critical hits on attacks.
Greater Bull Rush When bull rushing, foe's movement provokes AoO from your allies.
Improved Bull Rush You don't provoke attacks of opportunity when bull rushing.
Minotaur belt Ignore difficult terrain when charging, overrunning, bull rushing, or trampling a foe.
Power Attack -3/+6 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Sash of the war champion This bright red strip of cloth, stitched with images of a cheering crowd throwing garlands toward a chariot, fits across the wearer’s shoulders and then diagonally down his chest to reach his opposite hip. The wearer treats his fighter level as 4 higher than normal for the purpose of the armor training and bravery class features.
Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, cat’s grace, remove fear; Cost 2,000 gp
Step Up When a foe makes a 5 ft step away from you, you can move 5 ft to follow them.
Weapon Training (Blades, Heavy) +1 (Ex) +1 Attack, Damage, CMB, CMD with Heavy Blades
At the top of this tower are these 2.
This is the problem I'm having. They have a Stealth rogue, a Ranger focused on a Longbow with a wolf who just hit level 4, a Monk who's unarmed, and a grappler, as well as a Sorceror/Cleric who's on his way to being a Theurge.
The Sorc has Windwall, the monk grapples the first ground target he sees, the ranger hangs back with the sorcerer and pegs things while the thief flanks.
How do you guys see this going? The enemies I've got here are the only 2 present, and neither summon things. They're part of a syndicate that wants to see the gods of the campaign back in their place on the celestial plane, as they're currently ruling their respective domains.
Anyways, this is a pretty well-kept secret, so they're on their way to that tower. The 2 Divine guardians in the tower have been detained by the time they get to the top, hence the reason both of these people are going to be at 75% of their respective hp's, as the guardians weren't pushovers. (One is actually stabilized 2 floors down and would make a great ally in the fight.)
The main person that concerns me is the ranger, as she could easily, as a full-attack, kill the sorcerer provided he doesn't cast wind wall. The other fighter is tanky enough to handle it the punishment he's going to get.
Suggestions?
Also, they'll be on a rather ornate roof, with heavy winds (moderate, nothing particularly amazing. Just enough to bother both the rangers.)
There will be no railing on any of the sides, so bull-rushing will be potentially lethal. As an escape mechanism, both of them are more than willing to jump off the tower to escape, as they had the plans to do that regardless. (Hence the featherfall ring and scroll)
Yeah, encounters like these can be problematic. Because they get few actions, these guys have the potential of just being overrun by the more numerous party. On the other hand, because they've got potent abilities they could easily single out and pick off the weaker party members. The bottom line is that an APL+2 encounter like this needs to be played intelligently, since every action matters. However, because encounters like these tend to hit hard, it's easy to go too far with that.
Given the nature of the party, it looks like the biggest tactical liabilities these two adversaries have won't be issues. Bardin has no way to fight flying enemies, but it doesn't look like anyone in the party can fly. Neither of them have a good way to deal with invisibility, but since improved invisibility isn't available there's only so much damage that can do. Both of them have pathetic will saves, but since the sorcerer is going for theurge he probably isn't focusing on save-or-suck spells, so it's entirely possible the party won't have a way to capitalize on this.
If you're really concerned about grappling, the easiest way to make matters more difficult without being unfair is to give Bardin some armor spikes and a potion of enlarge person. Nothing says intimidating like a hulking metal brute with armor spikes. That leaves him some decent options so long as he doesn't get pinned, and doesn't go so far as to single out the monk unfairly.
I'd say you've correctly identified your biggest concern: Aiur full-attacking that pesky sorcerer. Even if wind wall does go up, it's of no help against an enemy who can fly directly overhead. If Aiur takes down the sorcerer and Bardin remains a threat then this could turn pretty nasty pretty fast. However, Aiur lacks the precise shot feat which will be a pretty significant liability if she shoots into melee.
With the conceit that I really don't have a good feel for the dynamics you have with your party or the kind of tactics that get played, I'd say you're probably alright.