I ran the following last night:
Kruthik Hive Lord
Kruthik Adult x 3
Kruthik Young x2
Kruthik Hatchling x8
XP: 1523 (level+2 encounter for 6-man 4th level party)
vs
Half-elf Protecting Paladin
Human Greatweapon Fighter
Dragonborn Inspiring Warlord
Tiefling Brawny Rogue
Elf Archer Ranger
Human Staff Wizard
It was a pretty tough fight. 3 daily powers, 4 item daily powers, 2 potions, 1 lay on hands, and 5 action points were used. It was a long fight because half the party was constantly weakened, usually one or two lasting from previous round, and one or two new conditions current round.
I would recommend changing the Acid Blast to recharge 4-5-6. That should help speed things along a bit.
The Kruthik Young went down fast before they could do much. The Hatchlings were good for creating some flanks by burrowing behind, but they didn't hit much, and were cleaned out by a number of blasts, bursts, and cleaves. Once those were taken care of the Fighter kept an adult busy wile the strikers worked on the other adults, and between Enfeebling Strike and Illusory Ambush, the Hive Lord was always at some penalties. Once the adults were down, it was a simple matter of surrounding the Hive Lord to take him down.
The Ranger and Wizard managed to stay out of 90% of the acid blasts by spreading out. But the rest were hit quite a bit. Resource-wise, it was a costly fight for healing surges as well. They were fresh going into it. After the short rest to heal up at the end, the rogue had spent 4 surges out of 7, the Fighter had spent 6 out of 12, the paladin had spent 4 out of 12, the warlord had spent 4 out of 9, the wizard had spent 2 out of 8, the ranger had spent 1 out of 8. Not quite ready for an extended rest, but the Rogue will have to take it easy and hang back a bit. Not sure about other parties, but for this party, the rogue is always the one running out of surges fast. I'm thinking Durable is a good rogue feat.
Conclusion: Yes the Hive Lord is scary, but I don't think he is off the wall. I kept wishing the aura gave an attack bonus rather than damage bonus because when you miss, double damage doesn't mean much. As I mentioned, for toning him down, I'd change the Acid Blast to a recharge. Against a party of 4, I might change the Aura from double damage to +4 damage. The fight might be swingy if the Kruthiks start getting a bunch of good attack rolls, so you'll want to be careful, and spread out the attacks a bit if that seems to happen.
Kruthik Hive Lord
Kruthik Adult x 3
Kruthik Young x2
Kruthik Hatchling x8
XP: 1523 (level+2 encounter for 6-man 4th level party)
vs
Half-elf Protecting Paladin
Human Greatweapon Fighter
Dragonborn Inspiring Warlord
Tiefling Brawny Rogue
Elf Archer Ranger
Human Staff Wizard
It was a pretty tough fight. 3 daily powers, 4 item daily powers, 2 potions, 1 lay on hands, and 5 action points were used. It was a long fight because half the party was constantly weakened, usually one or two lasting from previous round, and one or two new conditions current round.
I would recommend changing the Acid Blast to recharge 4-5-6. That should help speed things along a bit.
The Kruthik Young went down fast before they could do much. The Hatchlings were good for creating some flanks by burrowing behind, but they didn't hit much, and were cleaned out by a number of blasts, bursts, and cleaves. Once those were taken care of the Fighter kept an adult busy wile the strikers worked on the other adults, and between Enfeebling Strike and Illusory Ambush, the Hive Lord was always at some penalties. Once the adults were down, it was a simple matter of surrounding the Hive Lord to take him down.
The Ranger and Wizard managed to stay out of 90% of the acid blasts by spreading out. But the rest were hit quite a bit. Resource-wise, it was a costly fight for healing surges as well. They were fresh going into it. After the short rest to heal up at the end, the rogue had spent 4 surges out of 7, the Fighter had spent 6 out of 12, the paladin had spent 4 out of 12, the warlord had spent 4 out of 9, the wizard had spent 2 out of 8, the ranger had spent 1 out of 8. Not quite ready for an extended rest, but the Rogue will have to take it easy and hang back a bit. Not sure about other parties, but for this party, the rogue is always the one running out of surges fast. I'm thinking Durable is a good rogue feat.
Conclusion: Yes the Hive Lord is scary, but I don't think he is off the wall. I kept wishing the aura gave an attack bonus rather than damage bonus because when you miss, double damage doesn't mean much. As I mentioned, for toning him down, I'd change the Acid Blast to a recharge. Against a party of 4, I might change the Aura from double damage to +4 damage. The fight might be swingy if the Kruthiks start getting a bunch of good attack rolls, so you'll want to be careful, and spread out the attacks a bit if that seems to happen.
