PEACH my end-of-tier boss fight (4e)

[Gamerlord]

While my PCs are only level 2 at the moment, I have already prepared their end-of-tier boss fight, please critique him, he is one of the weaker exarchs of Asmodues, and looks like this floating ghost spirit thing.


Motora,Exarch of Asmodues Level 10 Solo Brute
Huge immortal humanoid XP 2,500
Initiative +7 Senses Perception +12
HP 460; Bloodied 230
AC 22; Fortitude 23; Reflex 22; Will 21
Saving Throws +5
Speed 6 , Fly 6
Action Points 2
m Shadow Touch (standard; at-will) • Necrotic
+11 vs Will; 2d6 + 5 Necrotic damage and the Target is stunned(save ends)
r Shadow Bolt (standard; at-will) • Arcane, Necrotic
+11 vs Reflex; 2d6 + 5 Necrotic damage and the target is slowed(save ends)
R Infernal Blast (standard; recharge 5 6) • Fire
Ranged 10; +11 vs Reflex; 4d8 + 5 Fire damage, and the target is pushed 2 squares and knocked prone(save ends)
C Wrath of Asmodues (standard; daily) • Fire
Close Burst 3; +11 vs Will; 4d10 + 5 Fire Damage, and the target is restrained(save ends)
M Paralyzing touch (standard; recharge 5 6) • Necrotic
+13 vs AC; 2d6 + 5 Necrotic damage and the target is immobilized(save ends)
Blessing of Asmodues (standard; daily) • Healing, Radiant
Motora regains 100 Hit points, and gets a +2 AC for the remainder of the encounter.
Alignment Evil Languages Supernal, Common
Skills Arcana +15, Bluff +12, Diplomacy +12, History +15, Religion +15
Str 21 (+10) Dex 15 (+7) Wis 15 (+7)
Con 27 (+13) Int 21 (+10) Cha 15 (+7)
Equipment No Item
© 2009 Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This monster statistics block has been generated using the D&D Adventure Tools.


Sorry, this is my first 4e monster.

[Crossfiyah]

1. At-will stun? Save ends? Horrible idea. Your party will hate you.
2. No way to attack more than once per round. Give him a minor or move action that also does damage. As a solo he will get stomped.
3. Healing powers. Boring. They do nothing but draw combat out. Toss it out for something interesting, like a bonus to damage or a new attack that he can only use when bloodied.

[Shadow_Elf]

I agree with all of the above. In addition, as written, he is a Controller for sure, not a Brute. Just thought I'd mention that. Give him some leader-y powers (not heals, but bonus attacks, moves, damage, etc) so he can actually lead some mooks, too.

[Gamerlord]

He's a solo, not leading any mooks.

[ninja_penguin]

Some general DM'ing tips.

As a rule, rarely ever use stun. And never EVER use stun(save ends). You've just caused one player to shut down, and possibly get annoyed at the game due to poor saving throws. Also, as an at-will, it would be very easy to stunlock the whole group. Same thing for knocked prone (save ends)

Drop the healing power. Too much HP to elites and Solos is what caused the at-will grindfest of 4e. Giving him more AC is an iffy thing to me; it's closer to things I'd do, but I also think that it will drag combat out instead. Instead, make him go crazy when he is bloodied; gain a damaging aura, bump the damage dice up a bracket, new attacks, something.

Paralyzing touch and the daily seem fine.

Also, give him double attack (does 2 of a basic X attack), or some sort of close burst, or multiple actions kind of thing. It's very easy for a player group to overwhelm/action point nova themselves on the boss. My general strategy for that is to set up a group of low-level mooks, with maybe somebody looking threatening. And then the boss shows up two turns later. Maybe have a group of minions and a low-level priest-like guy. When the group kills the priest guy, the exarch is summoned using the priest's blood/life-force/whatever to enter the plane.

I'm away from DM's Toolbox, so I don't know how his numbers stack up; but I assume this is a C&P from their monster builder, so they're correct.

[Shadow_Elf]

He's a solo, not leading any mooks.

"Solo" =\= "Fought Entirely on its Own"

It is often a bad idea to put a solo by themselves in an encounter. Even if they just get a handful of minions of below level and one or two artillery backup pieces, its something to distract the PCs and their focus fire. By itself, the PCs can coordinate all their condition imposing powers to totally destroy it. Blinded, Stunned, Dazed, Immobilized, Restrained - these are all conditions that can knock out the DM's entire side in the encounter if its just all the PCs vs. a single Solo.