D&D 4E Worst Monsters in 4e

[OchreJelly]

Another vote for wraiths. I mean, thematically, all of their abilities make sense and sound cool on paper, but in actual play they are annoying and grindy. Halving or quartering damage all the time is just more basic number crunching than I care to do on a weeknight after work.

It saddens me because wraiths were always among my favorite monsters that players feared, but now when they see one it's nothing but eye-rolls.

On a more positive note, I think the designers did a stellar job overall in MM3. No real groaners stand out, but it may be too early to tell.

 

[Zaran]

The Guard Drake! That's the nastiest monster that a poor 1st or 2nd level character can fight.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I came to say this.

Your ventriloquism powers are very impressive.

It sounds like WotC learned from the feedback about MM1 and put out better monsters in subsequent monster manuals. I predict that by MM13 every monster will be perfect.

 

[Zaran]

Oh, here is another one. The Dark Creeper. When it dies it automatically blinds you with a save ends. A handful of these guys are deadly.

 

[Obryn]

On a more positive note, I think the designers did a stellar job overall in MM3. No real groaners stand out, but it may be too early to tell.

Heck, MM2 was by and large fine, too. Most of these are - predictably - from MM1.

-O

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Yeah, there are a few monsters I don't CARE FOR in MM2 and MM3, but I don't think they're particularly poor designs. MM1 is just haphazard, the monsters are mostly interesting but they don't always have useful or fun mechanics.

Even so most of the 'problem' monsters are still usable if you have the right set up for them. One wraith is fine for instance. A dracolich can be usable if you for instance have some way the party can mitigate stun, etc. Any of them are a minor tweak away from being decent monsters. Honestly I think the Purple Worm really IS the worst of the lot, it's just plain useless and fixing it is pretty much a total rewrite.

 

[Obryn]

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

Hah. 4/5 of those are in P3. And 5/5 if the Shadow Dragon's globes of darkness have a similar effect to the black dragon's!

Even so most of the 'problem' monsters are still usable if you have the right set up for them. One wraith is fine for instance. A dracolich can be usable if you for instance have some way the party can mitigate stun, etc. Any of them are a minor tweak away from being decent monsters. Honestly I think the Purple Worm really IS the worst of the lot, it's just plain useless and fixing it is pretty much a total rewrite.

Yeah, I agree - and that's more or less what I'm doing for P3. The ones I'm having the hardest time with are the azer, because SERIOUSLY?

I'm leaving the Dracolich mostly as-is, because ideally the PCs shouldn't fight him in the first place. I'm levelling him down a bit, and changing up his Mesmerizing Gaze, though - making it single-target, and without the -2 to attacks on miss.

-O

 

[Markn]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Tarrasque. I've wanted to use one of these - mainly because I never have - and now that I am at the point of being able to use it, the Tarrasque is craptacular. Incredibly boring. I will be redesigning it from the ground up before I use it.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Tarrasque. I've wanted to use one of these - mainly because I never have - and now that I am at the point of being able to use it, the Tarrasque is craptacular. Incredibly boring. I will be redesigning it from the ground up before I use it.

It is a pretty boring monster, but look at older versions of it, they aren't really any better. Really how do you make a top level epic monster that is essentially just a giant turtle with a gland problem exciting? Its quite possible, but I think you can't do it by treating it like an ordinary monster. It should be some sort of titanic challenge or something. Just climbing up the thing's foot to where you can get to any vital part could be a real serious problem.

 

[Herschel]

The Guard Drake! That's the nastiest monster that a poor 1st or 2nd level character can fight.

That's not a bad monster design, that's just a deadly one. As for Dark Creepers, they're great for punishing melee twink bands.