Kalendraf
Explorer
Last night my party encountered a Deathbringer (MM2). The party currently consists of 6 characters of 12th to 14th level. According to the Deathbringer's CR17 rating, this should have been a fairly challenging battle. It wasn't. Even though the monster went first, the party shredded this thing in less than 2 full rounds of combat while barely taking any damage themselves.
Looking thru the abilities of this creature, I'm really wondering how it even merits a CR17 rating. Its AC is a bit high, but it's far from being unhittable. Its hit points aren't bad, but at this level, those won't last long. It's own damage output isn't that high. Meanwhile, it's 2-most touted abilities - an area affect negative energy burst maxing out at 18 damage/18 heal for undead, and it's greater dispel - are not that scary.
Does the Deathbringer really merit CR17? Am I overlooking something about this monster's capabilities? Did I DM it badly? All I know is that a later battle against a CR11 monster was way harder than this...
Looking thru the abilities of this creature, I'm really wondering how it even merits a CR17 rating. Its AC is a bit high, but it's far from being unhittable. Its hit points aren't bad, but at this level, those won't last long. It's own damage output isn't that high. Meanwhile, it's 2-most touted abilities - an area affect negative energy burst maxing out at 18 damage/18 heal for undead, and it's greater dispel - are not that scary.
Does the Deathbringer really merit CR17? Am I overlooking something about this monster's capabilities? Did I DM it badly? All I know is that a later battle against a CR11 monster was way harder than this...