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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 4335864" data-attributes="member: 58197">&quot;Is it okay to use a higher level minion against a lower level party?&quot;Up to a point, I say yes.&nbsp; The PCs in my current campaign just hit level 2, and I've got them battling orcs.&nbsp; Now, orcs are one of the archetypal &quot;mook monsters.&quot;&nbsp; They were made to be minions.&nbsp; The lowest-level orc minion is the 4th-level Orc Drudge; but I haven't had any trouble with them.&nbsp; The PCs can still hit them pretty reliably, and they don't always hit the PCs.For me, the key is that minions must be used as minions.&nbsp; They're mooks, cannon fodder for the boss monster - or, if there is no boss monster, they're a crazed and leaderless horde swarming over the PCs.&nbsp; As long as the minions can still fit into the &quot;mook&quot; role, it's fine to use 'em, even if they're a bit higher-level than the party.&nbsp; But if a minion is so high-level that it's filling the role of a regular monster, you should swap it out for a regular monster.I extend this to other monster types as well - I'll take high-level normal monsters and adapt them for low-level play, by scaling their level down and then turning them into elites or solos.&nbsp; I recently wanted to make my party fight an angel, but even the lowest-level Angel of Valor was too high-level to make a good fight; the PCs would have spent most of their time whiffing, while the angel very very slowly ground them down.&nbsp; So I adjusted its level down by 8 (I know, I know, you're not supposed to go past 5), then solo-ized it.&nbsp; About the same XP value and overall &quot;punch&quot; as a regular Angel of Valor, but a lot more fun to fight.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 4335864, member: 58197"] "Is it okay to use a higher level minion against a lower level party?" Up to a point, I say yes. The PCs in my current campaign just hit level 2, and I've got them battling orcs. Now, orcs are one of the archetypal "mook monsters." They were made to be minions. The lowest-level orc minion is the 4th-level Orc Drudge; but I haven't had any trouble with them. The PCs can still hit them pretty reliably, and they don't always hit the PCs. For me, the key is that minions must be used as minions. They're mooks, cannon fodder for the boss monster - or, if there is no boss monster, they're a crazed and leaderless horde swarming over the PCs. As long as the minions can still fit into the "mook" role, it's fine to use 'em, even if they're a bit higher-level than the party. But if a minion is so high-level that it's filling the role of a regular monster, you should swap it out for a regular monster. I extend this to other monster types as well - I'll take high-level normal monsters and adapt them for low-level play, by scaling their level down and then turning them into elites or solos. I recently wanted to make my party fight an angel, but even the lowest-level Angel of Valor was too high-level to make a good fight; the PCs would have spent most of their time whiffing, while the angel very very slowly ground them down. So I adjusted its level down by 8 (I know, I know, you're not supposed to go past 5), then solo-ized it. About the same XP value and overall "punch" as a regular Angel of Valor, but a lot more fun to fight. [/QUOTE]

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