[Heroic Solos] Lividius, Tiefling Murderer

[Kurtomatic]

I really enjoyed the previous discussion of the Black Dragon, Jr from D&D Comic #0. Like skill challenges and class powers, I find the evolution of the Solo state of the art an interesting measuring stick of 4E design progress. In this same vein, I thought I'd try opening the floor for the monster gurus to discuss the latest low-heroic solo from WotC; introducing Lividius, Tiefling Murderer.


DISCLAIMER
This guy is an ***ADVENTURE SPOILER*** and property of WotC, so please keep your seats and tray tables in the upright position. He is paraphrased here for exhibition only -- please, no wagering (/letterman).

[sblock]Lividius, Tiefling Murderer
Level 4 Solo Brute

HP 240; Bloodied 120
AC 18, Fortitude 17, Reflex 15, Will 15
Speed 5
Resist 7 fire
Saving Throws +5; Action Points 2

TRAITS
Hell's Embrace (cold) Aura 1
Any creature that exits the aura on its turn takes 5 cold damage

STANDARD ACTIONS
[melee basic] Greatsword (weapon) At-Will
Attack: +9 vs AC, +10 if target is bloodied
Hit: 2d10 + 4 damage

Blade of Avernus (fire, weapon) At-Will
Attack: Close burst 1 (all creatures); +9 vs AC, +10 if target bloodied
Hit: 2d10 + 4 fire damage
Miss: Half damage

MOVE ACTIONS
Fire Step (fire, teleportation) At-Will
Effect: Lividius teleports 5 squares. Each creature adjacent to the square he teleports from or appears in takes 5 fire damage, or 10 fire damage if Lividius is bloodied.

TRIGGERED ACTIONS
Heart of Nessus (fire, polymorph) At-Will
Trigger: Lividius is dazed or stunned by an attack.
Effect (No Action): Lividius and all of his gear transforms into living flame and remains in this form until he no longer dazed or stunned. While in this form, he takes half damage from all attacks, his aura deals fire damage instead of cold, and any enemy that hits him with an attack takes fire damage equal to half the damage dealt.

Infernal Wrath (fire) Encounter[/sblock]I wish my 10th-level swordmage could do half this shtick. Slasher FTW!

 

[Camelot]

Looks awesome! I don't pretend to know the math, but it looks like this guy will be doing a lot of damage. I guess that's okay since he's a brute, but his defenses seem a bit high. I'd probably lower them a tad if I used him, maybe having them go back to normal when he's bloodied.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Where did you get this information?

I really like that triggered action. I wish my PC had something like that. It seems every monster he has faced has stunned or dazed almost at-will. Then my guy just stands there and gets pummeled until he saves.

 

[Pseudonym]

Where did you get this information?

The final, optional encounter in the Essentials DM box.

 

[Thanlis]

Looks awesome! I don't pretend to know the math, but it looks like this guy will be doing a lot of damage. I guess that's okay since he's a brute, but his defenses seem a bit high. I'd probably lower them a tad if I used him, maybe having them go back to normal when he's bloodied.

Hm, they seem OK to me. Let's see -- his AC is 2 points high for a level 4 Brute, his Fortitude is 1 point high, and his Reflex and Will are both 1 point low. So a little bit hard on melee characters. On the other hand, a level 4 Soldier would have a 20 AC.

Coming at it the other way: if you have an 18 in your primary stat, by level 4 you've got at least a +6 to hit. Assume a +1 magic weapon/implement, and you're at +7. +2 proficiency bonus puts you at a +9, and you're hitting 60% of the time. I think that's totally reasonable.

 

[Camelot]

Hm, they seem OK to me. Let's see -- his AC is 2 points high for a level 4 Brute, his Fortitude is 1 point high, and his Reflex and Will are both 1 point low. So a little bit hard on melee characters. On the other hand, a level 4 Soldier would have a 20 AC.

Coming at it the other way: if you have an 18 in your primary stat, by level 4 you've got at least a +6 to hit. Assume a +1 magic weapon/implement, and you're at +7. +2 proficiency bonus puts you at a +9, and you're hitting 60% of the time. I think that's totally reasonable.

Sure, you're hitting most of the time, but factor in its brute HP, and it'll take longer than it should. Also, going backwards from its HP, it has a 20 Constitution. He has a lot of hit points; he should have less defenses to balance it out a tad, or do less damage, or have less HP. He seems awesome, but too awesome compared to level 4 PCs.

 

[the Jester]

Also, going backwards from its HP, it has a 20 Constitution.

10, actually- I think you forgot to add in the 10 extra points at first level.

He looks fine to me- actually for a solo, he doesn't have a lot of ways to inflict damage in the same round- but with a close burst 1 and a move action that deals damage, both of them at will, I think he'll prolly have enough output.

 

[Camelot]

Oh, right. I was using the skirmisher HP. That teaches me to do math at midnight.

 

[Mesh Hong]

He looks fine to me- actually for a solo, he doesn't have a lot of ways to inflict damage in the same round- but with a close burst 1 and a move action that deals damage, both of them at will, I think he'll prolly have enough output.

He is a little straight forward for my tastes.

He teleports into a position where he is adjacent to as many people as possible and uses his close burst 1 power. Every turn, for 2 turns he uses the close burst 1 power twice.

While that is a pretty scary amount of damage for a level 4 to take (5 fire + 2d10+4 fire + 2d10+4 fire). It is a pretty monotonous attack track.

The anti stun/daze is a nice power but is it really necessary on a level 4 creature? Maybe on stunned, but if he's dazed it means that his damage output could go up!

As for his AC does he really need a +2 AC bump? I don't really think so, let the PCs hit him, after all he will be pounding them. Keeping his AC at a more normalised level will make this a slightly quicker but still very brutal fight.

I also note that he has an encounter triggered action called Infernal Wrath that we havn't seen.

 

[Neonchameleon]

Ack! I'm not a fan of ordinary PC accessible creatures (like Tieflings) being Solos - I prefer to make the scary ones Elites and reserve Solo status for legendary or just damn big stuff (Dragons, Liches, etc.) And he's just an obnoxious feystepping scumbag with a burst 1, a slashing wake, and two action points.