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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aegeri" data-source="post: 5258603" data-attributes="member: 78116">I think since the errata there has been a lot of confusion in various threads, particularly about what has been done and needs to be done with various monsters to "update" them to the current maths. This should serve as a summary of what you need to do to take your beloved monster manual 1 creatures and update them to the current maths.Changes that affect all creatures from the first Monster Manual 1) Damage expressions are now different. <a href="http://www.wizards.com/dnd/files/UpdateJuly2010.pdf" target="_blank">See the latest errata document here</a>. As a quicker rule of thumb, you can double the static damage of MM1 creatures or triple the static damage if they are brutes. MM3 made creatures hit far harder and also, in some cases more or less often.Noting that in general, you don't need to change MM1 or MM2 or whatever creatures damage in heroic. They are relatively fine as they are and won't be too bad. The changes to damage expressions really kick in paragon tier (level 11) and above. You can leave most MM creatures in heroic tier alone for the most part damage wise.2) Brutes gain +2 to attack. This was probably because their damage wasn't great and they never hit either, a pretty terrible combination. Noting that at low levels, I don't think the +2 bonus to attack is critical. Keeping brutes at +3 vs. AC at low levels is something I would even recommend, especially with how hard they hit.3) Soliders lose -2 to attack. Probably to make them more in line with other monsters. 4) Controllers are now +3 vs. NADs (Non-AC defenses, that is they are less accurate against Fortitude, Reflex and Will) instead of +4. This isn't consistently applied though as few controllers still have +4 vs. NADs, but in general it's now +3.5) Artillery have +5 vs. AC and +3 vs. NADs, but their ranged and area powers you can decide to give them an additional +1 or +2 to accuracy. 6) Power Design:Most MM3 creatures have far better power design than those in MM1. Sadly this isn't something that can have hard and fast rules to easily turn a flailing, incompetent MM1 brute into a tactically interesting and fun creature. In general, most MM3 creatures tend to have a trait of some sort, a melee basic attack and then some kind of triggered action as a general minimum. Minions in the original MM need the most help (see upgraded minion damage in DMG2). I recommend adding the odd power to some MM creatures, but don't go particularly crazy.Personally when designing monsters now I try to avoid large amounts of immunities and resistances as well. Instead I prefer traits that trigger off different keywords, either penalizing the monster like the Fire Elemental being frozen in place by cold spells (can't use flickering flames, minor action shift) or enhancing it somehow (like making the creature move + make an attack). This isn't something you should do for every monster, but it's something to think about instead of giving a resistance.Changes that Affect Elites specifically1) Elites no longer gain bonuses to their defenses. I think it was their two highest (AC and one other) that got the bonus. So reduce their AC and one other defense (their highest usually) by 2. 2) Elites definitely need a solid double attack most of the time, some MM elites don't reliably attack twice a round so you need to address that.Changes that Affect Solos specifically1) The most notable change is that solos lose 20% of their total HP value after paragon. This is because their HP total ((level*8)+con) after paragon originally was multiplied by 5 to give them their final HP. This formulae changed to just being multiplied by 4, so effectively it results in 20% less HP.2) Solos need to do around 50% more damage when they are bloodied. Usually either from a triggered action attack when bloodied, extra attacks, extra damage, an aura being activated or any number of other relevant things.Note that with MM3 damage expressions being roughly ~40% more combined with this, that's a whopping 90% expected damage increase when bloodied over the original MM creatures. This indicates just how far behind in terms of the total maths these monsters actually are!3) Like elites, solos take a -2 penalty on three of their defenses (instead of two for elites). So their AC and two highest NADs should be decreased by 2 (as they no longer get this defensive benefit). In SummaryHopefully this is useful for anyone who wants a relatively "all in one place" look at what the errata and MM3 has generally done with creatures. Upgrading solos especially from the original MM is a total pain, because they are very far behind in "design" in powers, HP, defenses and many other aspects, which is a shame. In general with only a few simple adjustments, many MM creatures can be perfectly fine and will play pretty well - if you're willing to just put in a bit of time to upgrade them.</blockquote>

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