D&D 5E (2014) How viable is 5E to play at high levels?

[Thakazum]

The party just became a party of 5, so that may change things. I still feel like I need to up my game.

 

[CapnZapp]

So far I have not found that to be a problem. High level tanks can take the pain even from the CR + 5 monsters I've thrown at them at times. This is of course assuming access to healing. If your party doesn't have that then its a different story.

If you mean access to a dedicated combat medic focused just on you, then you're right, I'm not assuming that. None of my players want to play someone whose purpose is only to allow someone else the glory and spotlight.

And a CR of APL+5 is hardly high (for a solo opponent). I was more thinking APL+10 when I said the tank role breaks apart.

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[Helldritch]

Which character is out?

 

[Stalker0]

If you mean access to a dedicated combat medic focused just on you, then you're right, I'm not assuming that.

Oh no, nothing that extreme. Just a cleric with the occasional good healing spell, but you certainly don't need dedicated healing.

 

[CapnZapp]

Oh no, nothing that extreme. Just a cleric with the occasional good healing spell, but you certainly don't need dedicated healing.

Okay, then, no, using too-high CR monsters give unsatisfying results since players complain tanking strategies does not work.

If you can't withstand the monster for more than a round even when optimizing for sturdiness, you choose other strategies, such as battlefield denial.

While there's nothing wrong with such strategies it tells me monsters don't work as solos straight out the box.

They need more actions and more hp but not higher damage, to summarize it crudely.

In short, and going straight to the point; what solos need is nothing less than being able to play by different rules than regular creatures.

They need more attacks and hit points than possible for a regular creature of a certain capacity.

It's like a Commoner with 30 hit points and two attacks, yet it still has no higher proficiency bonus, skills or stats.

The game puts requirements on a Solo combat that can't be met as long as you insist they play by the same generation/build rules as other monsters.

As long as WotC hesitates to give us such Solo rules they cannot succeed.

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