THis monster balanced?

[Rechan]

Piranha Bird Swarm Lvl 6 Brute
Init +6
Swarm Aura 1; swarm makes a basic attack as a free action against each adjacent enemy that begins its turn in the aura.
HP: 86 Bloodied 43
AC: 18 Fort: 18 Ref: 18 Will: 15
Resist: Half damage from melee and ranged attacks, Vulnerable 10 vs. Close/Area attacks.

[Melee basic] Swarm of Bites: (Standard, At Will) +8 vs. AC; 2d8+4.

Blood in the Air
Against a bloodied enemy, +2d8 damage.

Cloud of Wings
Any opponent who begins their turn in the swarm's space is blinded until the end of their next turn.

Blinding Burst (free, when reduced to 0 HP); Close burst 3, auto-hit, creatures in the burst are blinded until the beginning of their next turn.

 

[brehobit]

Piranha Bird Swarm Lvl 6 Brute
Init +6
Swarm Aura 1; swarm makes a basic attack as a free action against each adjacent enemy that begins its turn in the aura.
HP: 86 Bloodied 43
AC: 18 Fort: 18 Ref: 18 Will: 15
Resist: Half damage from melee and ranged attacks, Vulnerable 10 vs. Close/Area attacks.

[Melee basic] Swarm of Bites: (Standard, At Will) +8 vs. AC; 2d8+4.

Blood in the Air
Against a bloodied enemy, +2d8 damage.

Cloud of Wings
Any opponent who begins their turn in the swarm's space is blinded until the end of their next turn.

Blinding Burst (free, when reduced to 0 HP); Close burst 3, auto-hit, creatures in the burst are blinded until the beginning of their next turn.

I'll go with not even close. The damage is huge and the blindness crippling.

Two attacks at 4d8+4 against a single opponent per round is crazy. If they are bloodied at this level, if both hit, they die. (22 per hit is 44 hit points. A level 6 fighter will have around 60-65 hit points.) The +8 makes it likely they will miss, but still.

Drop the attack to d8+4, move the bloodied bonus damage to d8, make the cloud of wings only last as long as they share the space with the swarm, and make the blinding burst a +10 vs reflex attack and I think you're okay. Maybe move the attack bonus to +9 or +10. Still deadly as heck, but also a paper tiger with those defenses. I might also give it a power that lets it take two basic attacks against two different targets as a standard action. Spread the love even more....

Just to be clear, the problem I have with this guy is how easily it can kill one person. No 6th level character could stand against this thing as you have written it without a fair bit of luck. And only burst attacks are going to do much here. My changes would make 5 swarms almost as deadly as 5 swarms of yours. But you really should avoid that kind of encounter in general...

 

[Rechan]

Just to be clear, the problem I have with this guy is how easily it can kill one person.

Take a look at the Needlefang swarm. I'm basing the notion off of that. Except that this thing isn't threatening until the targets are bloodied (as opposed to insisting they stay on the ground).

To compare, let's look at the Plaguechanged Gibberling Bunch (6th level Brute; FRCS 257). On a basic attack, they do 4d4+4 damage. Another at-will attack allows them to do 1d4+1 and knock prone. HOWEVER, they do an extra 2d4 to a prone target (That's 6d4+4), and can make opportunity attacks against a target who stands up.

Also, the blindness only effects a target who is in the swarm's square. Meaning the swarm has to shift into the target's square, not merely in the aura.

 

[brehobit]

Take a look at the Needlefang swarm. I'm basing the notion off of that. Except that this thing isn't threatening until the targets are bloodied (as opposed to insisting they stay on the ground).

To compare, let's look at the Plaguechanged Gibberling Bunch (6th level Brute; FRCS 257). On a basic attack, they do 4d4+4 damage. Another at-will attack allows them to do 1d4+1 and knock prone. HOWEVER, they do an extra 2d4 to a prone target (That's 6d4+4), and can make opportunity attacks against a target who stands up.

Also, the blindness only effects a target who is in the swarm's square. Meaning the swarm has to shift into the target's square, not merely in the aura.

#1 Most agree that the Needlefang swarm is way too powerful.
#2 That other brute also sounds like too much. So maybe my sense is off here.
#3 The blindness is huge. It just has to shift and you get hosed bad.

I agree I might be overreacting, but I think it's too much by quite a bit. Again, if there is _no_ 6th level party member that can stand up to this thing one-on-one then it probably isn't a 6th level monster.

Oh, I'm assuming this thing is large with a move of something like 6 (fly). Being medium or having a move like 3 would make it less crazy than I'm thinking.

 

[Roger]

Looks close enough to the Bloodweb Spider Swarm (level 7 soldier) for me to call it plausible.



Cheers,
Roger

 

[the Jester]

Piranha Bird Swarm Lvl 6 Brute
Init +6
Swarm Aura 1; swarm makes a basic attack as a free action against each adjacent enemy that begins its turn in the aura.
HP: 86 Bloodied 43
AC: 18 Fort: 18 Ref: 18 Will: 15
Resist: Half damage from melee and ranged attacks, Vulnerable 10 vs. Close/Area attacks.

[Melee basic] Swarm of Bites: (Standard, At Will) +8 vs. AC; 2d8+4.

Blood in the Air
Against a bloodied enemy, +2d8 damage.

Cloud of Wings
Any opponent who begins their turn in the swarm's space is blinded until the end of their next turn.

Blinding Burst (free, when reduced to 0 HP); Close burst 3, auto-hit, creatures in the burst are blinded until the beginning of their next turn.

I'd get rid of Cloud of Wings entirely and reduce the Blood in the Air damage to +1d6. Do that, and I think you're fine.

Comparing to the bloodweb spider swarm, I think this guy is too tough as written. It is a level lower, and blinds at least one enemy per round (apparently- we don't actually know its speed ), has significantly better damage and more hit points. Granted, it's a brute, and it's easier to hit, but still.

 

[Rechan]

I'd get rid of Cloud of Wings entirely and reduce the Blood in the Air damage to +1d6. Do that, and I think you're fine.

Quite simply, what I wanted was to take your Bat Swarm and make it a brute that does more damage when an opponent is bloodied.
[sblock=Bat Swarm Stats]BAT SWARM--- Level 2 Skirmisher
Medium natural beast (swarm)
---
Initiative +6; Senses Perception +1, blindsight 10
Swarm Attack aura 1; the bat swarm makes a basic attack as a free action against each enemy that begins its turn in the aura.
HP 36; Bloodied 18
AC 16; Fortitude 13; Reflex 16; Will 12
Resist half damage from melee and ranged attacks; Vulnerable 10 against close and area attacks
Speed 2, fly 6 (hover)
---
[Melee basic] Battering Wings (standard; at will): +7 vs. melee; 2d4 damage, plus target is blinded until the end of its next turn.

Blinding Burst of Bats (free; when reduced to 0 hit points): Close burst 3; automatic hit; all creatures in the burst are blinded until the beginning of their next turn.[/sblock]

Your bat swarm is going to be doing a lot of blinding (anyone it hits, which considering it gets a free attack on anyone in the aura, that's a lot).

To get that proper "The Birds" feeling of not only being blinded/panicking when you're surrounded by a flock of them, but a piranha-like frenzy when there's actual blood.

The Bloodweb spider is causing ongoing to everyone it hits, in addition to attacking reflex (which is going to hit).

Although. The Gibbering Bunch does d4 damage (as does your bats), Stirges and Demonweb spiders do 2d6 (and ongoing damage), the Needlefangs d10 (doubled with prone). I only picked 2d8 because it was on the high regular damage output.

I suppose 2d6 and then +1d6 when bloodied, but that just feels... not as scary, not as piranha frenzy-like.