D&D 4E Worst Monsters in 4e

[Aegeri]

All of the worst 4E monsters IMO are solos and nearly all of them come from the first monster manual:

1) Dracolich. It's terribly designed, does no damage and has billions of stun effects. That's all it does. Awful monster in every conceivable manner.

2) Black Dragons are equally as bad. Terrible damage output and they can give themselves total concealment, makes for a long and very boring combat.

3) The MM hydra. Brutes are worthless, solo brutes with lots of hit points and incredibly attacks are even more so.

Actually I would have to throw most MM brutes into here. They don't do enough damage, are inaccurate and just aren't worth using in a wide variety of cases.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I'm going to put in a vote for gargoyles. They've got an incredibly long-ranged attack that you can't really counter, plus the ability to become almost immune to damage and regenerate at-will.

I think the thing to remember about most of these monsters is that they're fine to use as something to be ignored in pursuit of a greater goal, but if you're expected to kill them, you're probably going to be bored out of your minds.

 

[TarionzCousin]

Azers, hydras, black dragons, wraiths, and a dracolich would all fit in a single module that we could all avoid purchasing.

 

[KarinsDad]

As far as Named foes go, I can't imagine much less interesting than Doresain, King of Ghouls.

Doresain is cool.

You just have to team him up with the proper mobile allies and terrain to make an interesting encounter. And, you have to use the version of him out of E2, Kingdom of the Ghouls where he gains the Necrotic Bolts power over the MM version of him.

Ravenous Frenzy is awesome, it just recharges slowly. It isn't limited to once per PC either. Circle around the Fighter 8 squares, attack 8 times on him alone and possibly several on several other PCs. Then, Teleport away and watch the slowed melee PCs try to catch up (shy of their own longer range teleports). Against most low to mid-epic PCs, this attack should hit well over 50% of the time and he should be able to get 10 or 12 attacks in with it at the proper time.

The new version of this guy is definitely designed to be a hit and run type of guy in a large area. He can easily stay ~20 squares away and artillery, then when any PCs get close, use his close attacks, then, teleport far away again. With the proper allies providing cover and support, this guy can be pretty annoying to the players. Be sure to have some nasty terrain that the monsters are resistant or immune to, but the players are not which he can slide PCs into. Or, set him up with monsters that do extra damage with flanks. And having mobile monsters to also do hit and run tactics is good for those rounds he does manage to use Ravenous Frenzy. He RF's the melee types, the rest pound the melee types, then everyone moves far away and limits the melee PC options for at least a round.

 

[Rechan]

Any monster whose abilities can be summarized as Standard Attack, No Special Effect: XdY+Z damage and Encounter/Recharge Attack, No Special Effect, More Than One Target: AdB+C damage is a snoozefest to me.

I came to say this.

 

[Gort]

I like the flying zombie that gets -5 to its attacks whenever it flies. Did I mention it has a special flying attack? What a well-planned monster!

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Uh, everyone has forgotten the much vaunted Purple Worm? Nothing in MM1 holds a candle to that.

 

[Aegeri]

Uh, everyone has forgotten the much vaunted Purple Worm? Nothing in MM1 holds a candle to that.

I haven't forgot it, that monster is so bad that it doesn't deserve even a mention amongst monsters that are utterly terrible. The sheer well of immense suck that the purple worm emits is so much, it is actually it's own black hole that threatens to tear its own entry out of the original MM.

It is best to just ignore it.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I haven't forgot it, that monster is so bad that it doesn't deserve even a mention amongst monsters that are utterly terrible. The sheer well of immense suck that the purple worm emits is so much, it is actually it's own black hole that threatens to tear its own entry out of the original MM.

It is best to just ignore it.

Oh, don't hold back! Tell us how you really feel!

 

[unan oranis]

Personally I loathe the krenshar.

I don't really care about its stats... it's just the dumbest, lamest excuse for a monster ever.

There's a lot of silly creatures out there, but the krenshar is the perfect blend of stupid, lazy and stale monster design.

A lion that pulls its face inside out. To be freaky. Thats a monster? How about a bear that bugs its eyes out? Or a donkey thats got a really long tounge?

I was very sad panda* when it made the cut in mm2 (for 4e).


*sad panda is a much better monster