I like two hit minions with threshold for a one hit kill. I still use one hit minions too. And I have minions with other defensive mechanisms.
I've used zombies who are knocked prone when hit. At the beginning of their turn, they make a save, if they succeed, they stand up and fight, if they fail, they make an attack from prone and die.
I've used Wraithspawn with Reactive Insubstantiality encounter power, when hit they make a saving throw, if they succeed, they don't take damage (I started all the wraithspawn with a marker for this ability, and removed the marker when it was used, makes tracking easier, I use this method when there are multiple creatures with the same encounter power, like a bunch of halflings with second chance or elves with elven accuracy).
I've used Water Sprouts (elemental) who when killed, ran off and merged into big daddy water elemental to heal him 5 hit points.
I've even gone overboard, and used wererats who were two hit minions that regenerate to full if they begin their turn bloodied. I counted them as 2 minions worth of xp per wererat, and used a whole bunch of them, creating a nice crowded sewer complex where there was a lot of running and killing. traking one condition (bloodied) on a mini is much easier for me than tracking hit points.
Sometimes in my encounter design, I might put in an enemy that can animate dead companions as minions. This is not necessarily "tough" minion per se, but minions that die and come back are basically the same thing.
I try to get creative with minion survivability, but as I said, I do this about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time minions are just one hit minions that drop easily. Sometimes I give them (or their allies) a benefit when they die. I like orc and minotaur minions who make death attacks, magma elementals that explode, cultists who inspire their allies with their sacrifice, etc.
I make up the rules, to meet the needs of the encounter, sometimes for tactical interest, sometimes for flavor, sometimes just for the challenge.
Minions used without proper thought can be entirely too easy to deal with. We were in this LFR encounter recently, and there were like 12 minions. 5 of them charged up to my cosmic sorcerer. At the beginning of my turn before I took any actions, they all died to my Phase of the Sun. Then I killed 2 more with Blazing Starfall. 7 minions is nearly as much xp in the budget as 2 standard creatures. There is no way I would have killed 2 standard creatures in one round. Minions used without tactical considerations are simply bland and too easy. Using minions is sort of like using terrain. They need a purpose, a plan, the mechanics to support it, and the right flavor of mechanics to suit the kind of minion they are.
I've used zombies who are knocked prone when hit. At the beginning of their turn, they make a save, if they succeed, they stand up and fight, if they fail, they make an attack from prone and die.
I've used Wraithspawn with Reactive Insubstantiality encounter power, when hit they make a saving throw, if they succeed, they don't take damage (I started all the wraithspawn with a marker for this ability, and removed the marker when it was used, makes tracking easier, I use this method when there are multiple creatures with the same encounter power, like a bunch of halflings with second chance or elves with elven accuracy).
I've used Water Sprouts (elemental) who when killed, ran off and merged into big daddy water elemental to heal him 5 hit points.
I've even gone overboard, and used wererats who were two hit minions that regenerate to full if they begin their turn bloodied. I counted them as 2 minions worth of xp per wererat, and used a whole bunch of them, creating a nice crowded sewer complex where there was a lot of running and killing. traking one condition (bloodied) on a mini is much easier for me than tracking hit points.
Sometimes in my encounter design, I might put in an enemy that can animate dead companions as minions. This is not necessarily "tough" minion per se, but minions that die and come back are basically the same thing.
I try to get creative with minion survivability, but as I said, I do this about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the time minions are just one hit minions that drop easily. Sometimes I give them (or their allies) a benefit when they die. I like orc and minotaur minions who make death attacks, magma elementals that explode, cultists who inspire their allies with their sacrifice, etc.
I make up the rules, to meet the needs of the encounter, sometimes for tactical interest, sometimes for flavor, sometimes just for the challenge.
Minions used without proper thought can be entirely too easy to deal with. We were in this LFR encounter recently, and there were like 12 minions. 5 of them charged up to my cosmic sorcerer. At the beginning of my turn before I took any actions, they all died to my Phase of the Sun. Then I killed 2 more with Blazing Starfall. 7 minions is nearly as much xp in the budget as 2 standard creatures. There is no way I would have killed 2 standard creatures in one round. Minions used without tactical considerations are simply bland and too easy. Using minions is sort of like using terrain. They need a purpose, a plan, the mechanics to support it, and the right flavor of mechanics to suit the kind of minion they are.
