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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MwaO" data-source="post: 9373526" data-attributes="member: 12749">VI. Dealing with Enemies by Monster RoleYou can find an introduction to monster roles in the DMG p. 54. The roles ordered by priority: If it's high on the list, it's a monster you will want to concentrate on in most combats.SolosIf you face a strong solo, immediately mark it and get adjacent. Check your daily and encounter powers for status effects and other debuffs, self-buffs, party buffs, and effects that last a whole encounter. Make sure you get an attack bonus from items, flanking or the leader, and hit it with the big guns. If this is a boss fight for the adventure, don't hesitate to throw action points to fire several dailies at once.Lower-level solos are less of a threat, but still require you to stay adjacent all the time to limit its mobility and ranged options and draw its attacks.ElitesElites have higher damage and disruption potential than standard monsters, so always concentrate on them. Keep them busy so the rest of your party can clear the cannon fodder, than bring them down as a group.Melee LeadersThese will usually be beefed up brutes and soldiers with effects that boost their allies. Identify and engage them quickly and take them down first to make all other opponents easier targets.SoldiersSoldiers are in many ways the mirror of defenders on the monster side. Many soldier monsters even have marks. If your party outnumbers the opposition, head up to the soldier and keep them occupied until they goes down, while your allies take down their friends.If the party is outnumbered, think twice: If you occupy the soldier, the soldier also occupies you, and soldiers can be hard to take down. One way to deal with this is to engage the soldier and take them down quickly with the help of a striker, then you're free to go after squishier targets.A second method is to push the soldier or shift around them so you can get both them and other enemies with multi-attack and burst powers.BrutesBrutes have a lot of hp, and can deal a lot of damage in melee, even though they don't hit very well. In short, brutes are very dangerous to the party wizard, but if the defender blocks them in melee they can take them down quickly, possibly with some help of the striker.Ranged LeadersThese can be especially nasty, as they can hit fairly high every round, boost their allies, and are hard to reach. Your best chance is to keep all other monsters occupied with yourself to allow your strikers to get him.Artillery & ControllersIf the enemy defense line has been taken care of, focus on ranged combatants like artillery and controllers next. With marks and opportunity attacks, you can disturb them very effectively. With their weak melee abilities, they won't have much chance to fight back. As a bonus, artillery and controllers are usually less mobile than strikers or lurkers, so they can't flee as easily once you've nailed them down. If the enemy has a strong back line and a weak front line, and you feel like taking risks, you can try to carve an opening early and engage both the ranged combatants and the front line from behind.SkirmishersThese are nasty as they have means to evade your mark and your opportunity attacks, and they hit well and high. If you face one, try to block their routes, delay actions if necessary, and hit with attacks that immobilize or stun. Be careful because often their attacks are more dangerous if they have combat advantage.LurkersThese are annoying as they deal a good amount of damage and status effects, but are hard to nail down. They'll make it hard for you to attack them with nasty tricks like invisibility, teleports, or stances where they can't attack but also take no damage.Don't become too entagled with a soldier that a lurker can sneak through. Usually, you will lack the mobility to chase them down. If a lurker is a problem, stay close to your allies, especially the leader, and try to keep it off as good as possible. Try to get your mark on it. If your party has a ranged striker, let them take it down.MinionsMost defenders are melee types and don't have much in the way of area damage. If your party has a controller, it is best to let them deal with them and concentrate on tougher targets like a brute. Even squishies like a sorcerer can survive it if a minion comes to close, so don't worry unless they gang up in big numbers.Only if you're dealing with a really large amount of minions, charge right into the fray to keep them in one handy block for the controller to blast. It's also fun time for all those close burst.</blockquote>

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