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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cadfan" data-source="post: 4372119" data-attributes="member: 40961">Here's the issue with solos.Suppose we have a 10 round fight against a bunch of enemies, and a 10 round fight against a solo.Against the group, the pcs will be rewarded with a sense of accomplishment each time a foe drops.  Further, the combat will start out particularly dangerous, then reduce in threat as foes are eliminated.  This will take place concurrent with the PCs losing hit points, becoming closer to death.  This creates an "almost there, just gotta kill the last skeleton before Joe bites it!" feeling.  Also, as each monster is killed, even the most immobile PCs will want to move to better attack the next monster, giving you more stuff to do.  Finally, all your encounter and daily abilities will work well, because you can use both multi-target effects and single-target effects.Against a solo monster, the threat doesn't typically change as the monster loses hit points.  There are no periodic rewards, except for the point where the monster reaches "bloodied" status.  Certain daily and encounter abilities won't work right, because they only work well against multiple foes.  No movement is necessary between kills, so unless the monster moves (which isn't always a good idea for it), the PCs won't move much either.This is basically intrinsic to the system.  Even if a solo can match a group of enemies in terms of multiple attacks, it can't match a group in terms of small rewards over time, or maneuverability.  The only ways to fix it are to 1) reduce solo hp so killing them doesn't take as long, or 2) add other aspects to the encounter to make it interesting, or 3) don't use higher level solos, or 4) some combination thereof.Mearls likes option 2.  I'd combine it with option 3, myself.  If the other aspects added to the encounter make it more challenging, you'll want a lower level monster anyways.I don't like option 1, for aesthetic reasons.  Dragons should be tough foes.  Reduced hit points makes them go down too fast versus a party who fights well.</blockquote>

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