D&D 4E Worst Monsters in 4e

[Gradine]

In the Gargantuan thread there was a brief discussion of a city-sized Tarrasque and how to play it; someone suggested having an adventure where you climb up in, periodically fighting off giant parasites and what not, until you get to the top/core/weak point/etc. a la Shadow of the Colossus, where upon you use the powerful artifact you previously quested for to take it down. And if I can ever get a party to reach that high of a level, this is exactly what I intend on doing.

I imagine the heroes getting to the top, only to find a beefed-up, solo-ified Big Bad Mind Flayer Mastermind whispering in the giant beast's ears as it closes in on the capital city. The heroes must wade through the various thralls and minions and stop the illithid and the Tarrasque before it can demolish last great bastion of civilization.

With a little creativity, you don't really need to stat up something ginourmous in order to have your heroes "fight" it. Speculative fiction (on practically every medium) rarely have the heroes stand toe-to-toe to fight things 3-5 times their size; they generally have to be very clever in order to take down such a foe.

For that reason I'm not a big fan of any of the over-sized monsters; even those that are, for all intents and purposes, very well designed. My favorite combats (both as a player and as a DM) are with large groups of medium-sized enemies, the occasional one or two large (maybe a huge every now and then).

I too was disappointed by the hydra in particular, especially since I ran a Greek-myth campaign as my last 3.5 campaign and I got a lot of mileage out of their older counterparts.

 

[Rechan]

The Guard Drake! That's the nastiest monster that a poor 1st or 2nd level character can fight.

Take a look at the Needlefang Drake. The guard drake pales in comparison.

Hah. 4/5 of those are in P3. And 5/5 if the Shadow Dragon's globes of darkness have a similar effect to the black dragon's!

Thing is, the shadowdragon isn't just turtling in its darkness cloud. It teleports from cloud to cloud. So it can drop a cloud on the back ranks and suddenly be on top of them. That is some scarier stuff than the Black Dragon that just stands in one space cowering.

 

[Rechan]

Along with the "It has a standard attack and a standard close burst and a bloodied attack that really are just its standard attack" monsters (I'm looking at you, Behemoths, giants, Stone Titan, etc), I want to nominate another stinker.

Anything that has to make MULTIPLE attacks that HIT before it can even do what it's meant to do.

Take a look at the Geonid. Its entire premise is "It drags you under its shell and noms on you, while you are trapped in a well defended hole."

However, to do that, the monster has to:
Round 1: Make two attacks. If BOTH attacks hit, you are grabbed.
Round 2: If you're still grabbed, it has to make ANOTHER attack. If THAT hits, you're dragged into its shell.
Round 3: It attacks you in its shell.

That's three chances for it to FAIL to do what it's supposed to, dragged out over three rounds. Not only does it need to hit consecutively three times, it's: a low-hp monster exposed, a lurker with low damage output, and just standing there a round with you grabbed, at which point you likely will teleport/escape away/someone will shoot it in the face and kill it.

 

[Stalker0]

Take a look at the Needlefang Drake. The guard drake pales in comparison.

Ah, my old friend the needlefang drake swarm. Pre Errata the most powerful monster for its level in the game...by far.

I laugh everytime I look at the errata and see you brutally crippled...ahahahah!

 

[Rechan]

Ah, my old friend the needlefang drake swarm. Pre Errata the most powerful monster for its level in the game...by far.

I laugh everytime I look at the errata and see you brutally crippled...ahahahah!

"Brutally crippled"? Do you mean now post errata it's super weak, or...?

 

[keterys]

Even at 1/2 to 1/3 the damage it used to be, the needlefang drake swarm is still quite competitive for its level. One of the best options at that level in the MM1 - as long as you're not up against a close/area heavy party, it's actually the most dangerous critter at level 2 still.

Says a lot about how it used to be.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Even at 1/2 to 1/3 the damage it used to be, the needlefang drake swarm is still quite competitive for its level. One of the best options at that level in the MM1 - as long as you're not up against a close/area heavy party, it's actually the most dangerous critter at level 2 still.

Says a lot about how it used to be.

No kidding. A couple of the 'nerfed' version and a few minions can easily rip a 1st or 2nd level party apart if they aren't careful.

 

[Holy Bovine]

I haven't forgot it, that monster is so bad that it doesn't deserve even a mention amongst monsters that are utterly terrible. The sheer well of immense suck that the purple worm emits is so much, it is actually it's own black hole that threatens to tear its own entry out of the original MM.

It is best to just ignore it.

Man, I hate when people don't just post what they really mean!

 

[Jools]

I second the Gobline Hexer. Ands Orcs - bloody Orcs! Whats their schtick? They take a long time to kill. They may not kill you but they sure will stand there for a long time waiting for you to kill them. Doh!

 

[Aegeri]

Man, I hate when people don't just post what they really mean!

I do it for your safety. It's mere mention may rip open a terrible event horizon and condemn us all to a crushing amount of gravitational strength based suck. It may already be too late.