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<blockquote data-quote="eamon" data-source="post: 5078283" data-attributes="member: 51942">The fact that their dailies were gone does definitely matter, as does the lack of a leader - did they have and use potions of healing?The warcaster looks like it'll rarely miss the PC's.&nbsp; He does quite a bit of damage too, for a controller.&nbsp; Looks like he's got PC-esque defenses and better than PC attack-bonuses (+7 vs. NAD's? ouch; +8 vs AC? also better than your typical PC), and every other turn he'll be using a 15 damage and dazing attack.&nbsp; So, that warcaster looks pretty much like a solid PC - except it has twice the hitpoints and high attacks.&nbsp; That thing alone is presumably half an encounter; 3 of them is basically a party of better-than-PC's: 'course they'll win.&nbsp; And, it so happens your 450XP encounter is theoretically equivalent to 3 of these guys.The soldier doesn't look much weaker; probably just the soldier and the warcaster would have been tricky by themselves.First level parties are particularly fragile; such parties tend to trail 2nd level parties by +2 attacks and defenses simply by virtue of not having magic armor+weaponry and by the fact that 1/2 level bonuses are rounded down (and that's not even considering the extra feat, utility power and hit points 2nd level brings).So, factors that contributed were probably&nbsp;- swinginess (small parties are more swingy, but you remember the negative outliers better...)&nbsp;- 1st level is abnormally weak&nbsp;- lack of leader&nbsp;- lack of daily powersIf you'd repeat that with, say, a cha-paladin and a cleric (instead of the other defende and controller), they might even manage (paladins, by virtue of their high defenses, healing, and marking work particularly well in such small parties).&nbsp; But in any case, 1st level small parties are going to be a minefield; them's the breaks...</blockquote>

[QUOTE="eamon, post: 5078283, member: 51942"] The fact that their dailies were gone does definitely matter, as does the lack of a leader - did they have and use potions of healing? The warcaster looks like it'll rarely miss the PC's. He does quite a bit of damage too, for a controller. Looks like he's got PC-esque defenses and better than PC attack-bonuses (+7 vs. NAD's? ouch; +8 vs AC? also better than your typical PC), and every other turn he'll be using a 15 damage and dazing attack. So, that warcaster looks pretty much like a solid PC - except it has twice the hitpoints and high attacks. That thing alone is presumably half an encounter; 3 of them is basically a party of better-than-PC's: 'course they'll win. And, it so happens your 450XP encounter is theoretically equivalent to 3 of these guys. The soldier doesn't look much weaker; probably just the soldier and the warcaster would have been tricky by themselves. First level parties are particularly fragile; such parties tend to trail 2nd level parties by +2 attacks and defenses simply by virtue of not having magic armor+weaponry and by the fact that 1/2 level bonuses are rounded down (and that's not even considering the extra feat, utility power and hit points 2nd level brings). So, factors that contributed were probably - swinginess (small parties are more swingy, but you remember the negative outliers better...) - 1st level is abnormally weak - lack of leader - lack of daily powers If you'd repeat that with, say, a cha-paladin and a cleric (instead of the other defende and controller), they might even manage (paladins, by virtue of their high defenses, healing, and marking work particularly well in such small parties). But in any case, 1st level small parties are going to be a minefield; them's the breaks... [/QUOTE]

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