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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Aegeri" data-source="post: 5537100" data-attributes="member: 78116">It's one of the worst encounters written in 4E actually, with only the original Irontooth encounter from HS1 being anywhere near as bad. Silt Runners are just way above the ridiculous level for the level they are. At level 1 they do 4d6+4 damage AND inflict vulnerable 5 all with their attack. Worse, they can do this once and twice an encounter, deal 4d6+4 damage! They have normal accuracy as well.This makes them one of the most obscenely dangerous monsters in 4E, especially because they are level 1. Hell, you can take them, scale them to level 5 (HP, defenses and such), not change the damage and they are still scary as hell. That is how ridiculous they are. They even scale into paragon tier, especially with updated damage and their ability to inflict vulnerable all.For the record, a level 1 brute using a limited use power - at best - should inflict ~12 points of damage average. This is:1d8+4 (Normal damage expression) +2 (+25% damage for being a brute) +2 (+25% extra damage for a limited use power) = 12.5 average damage.The Silt Runner inflicts 18 points of damage on average when it hits.14 (dice) + 4 (static mod) = 18. So roughly another half again!It will probably be more due to the +5 damage from vulnerable all. Especially as other allies can trigger that when they hit multiple times. Not to mention their crits are insanely brutal. Now throw them onto an encounter where they keep coming and there are quite a few of them, it's no wonder most tables got trivially TPKed. If you DO use these things, you really have to use one and at most 2. PCs need to quickly identify them and kill them ASAP. Because if one of them gets a hold of a squishy character the result is horrible doom very quickly.Edit: To the OP. Don't be afraid to just take an OA from the knight to attack another PC. This gives him an extra attack, but once out of the aura the creature is free to do whatever it wants. Unless the monster is unintelligent, like a zombie you should consider this as a distinct option. No defender works very well without his allies. Taking risks with monsters is key to making exciting encounters, especially if you get to paragon and epic. You shouldn't be afraid to provoke AoOs, or mark effects and similar if you think the result will be more exciting. The fighter who needs to desperately hit on his mark enforcement attack, in order to keep the nearly unconscious leader upright is an example of when you should ignore a mark (despite the consequences). This is also much more exciting for everyone involved than flaying at said fighter ineffectively. The fighter feels important if he hits and downs the monster, the leader has a horrible feeling while waiting for the result and should the fighter miss, there is then the question of if the creature capitalizes on its luck. These sorts of decisions make a combat feel more dynamic and exciting.Edit2: I actually have an <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/5494011-post24.html" target="_blank">example from my own games I describe on the forum here</a>. In this case I had a chronically wounded phase spider and used a power that would slay it at the end of its attacks. The battlemind was targeted first, followed by the rogue and then the unconscious (and nearly dead) wizard. This was a very exciting moment in that session and the result was incredible thematic (and dramatic). Each of the players involved was hanging on every dice roll!</blockquote>

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