Solo's & Elite's List

shadoewrayth

Not sure if anyone else posting this, but decided to go through and organize them... mainly because of ongoing discussions about 'boss' mobs... In 4th Edition, a 'boss' is labeled as a 'solo' not boss... because it is intended to be a decent challenge, by itself, for 4 characters, hence 'solo' (IE. doesn't need friends)... The way Neverwinter has done it is way more confusing (and I think might be adding to some of the unintentional problems with scaling of difficulty for adventures)... so, I went through each of the encounters looking for the magic words: 'Solo' and 'Elite'...

Some basic considerations/definitions/similes:
Solo = Challenging by itself (supposedly). Things that are typically a 'Solo' type NPC in 4th edition: Dragons, Beholders, etc... anything that is considered dangerous enough that if fought alone, provides less than a 50/50 shot for the players to survive. (usually also has 4-5 times the HP of standard enemies, in Neverwinter, these creatures tend to have the REALLY long lifebars, not sure in the Foundry yet)

Elites = the Lieutenants of the 'boss/solo'... think of the baby dragons, or Giants, or literally the guys right under the general/king... in an adventure to kill a King, the princes may very well be elites...

This is the general rule of thumb in 4th edition, but not sure if Cryptic/PWE paid any heed to that at all... but here is the list just in case it helps anyone else out (since what I have found is that people making these adventures just pick the type of enemy they want, then re-skin it with the costumes to make it fit in...)

Abolethic:
Abolethic - Melee - Hard Difficulty (Brute Solo)
Abolethic - Mixed - Hard Difficulty (Artillery Elite)

Ashmadai:
Ashmadai - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 1 (Brute Solo)
Ashmadai - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 2 (Artillery Elite)
Ashmadai - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 3 (Artillery Elite)

Cult of the Dragon:
Cult of the Dragon - Mixed - Hard Difficulty (Controller Elite)

Drow:
Drow - Melee - Hard Difficulty (Artillery Elite)
Drow - Melee - Hard Difficulty (Controller Elite)

Fire:
Fire - Melee - Hard Difficulty (Brute Solo)
Fire - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 2 (Brute Solo w/Brute Elite)
Fire - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 1 (Brute Elite)

Foulspawn:
Foulspawn - Melee - Standard Difficulty 3 (Brute Solo)
Foulspawn - Mixed - Hard Difficulty (Artillery Elite)
Foulspawn - Ranged - Hard Difficulty (Artillery Elite)

Frost Goblin:
Frost Goblin - Mixed - Hard Difficulty (Artillery Elite)

Gnoll:
Gnoll - Melee - Hard Difficulty 2 (Brute Elite)
Gnoll - Mixed - Hard Difficulty (Brute Elite)

Goblin:
Goblin - Mixed - Hard Difficulty (Artillery Elite)

Kobold:
Kobold - Mixed - Hard Difficulty (Artillery Elite)

Lizardfolk:
Lizardfolk - Mixed - Hard Difficulty (Controller Elite)
Lizardfolk - Mixed - Standard Difficulty 2 (Controller Elite)

Mind Flayer:
Mind Flayer - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 2 (Brute Solo)
Mind Flayer - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 1 (Artillery Elite)

Orc:
Orc - Melee - Hard Difficulty (Brute Solo)
Orc - Melee - Standard Difficulty 1 (Brute Solo)
Orc - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 4 (Brute Solo)
Orc - Mixed - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 2 (Brute Solo w/Controller Elite)
Orc - Mixed - Mixed Difficulty 1 (Brute Solo w/Controller Elite)
Orc - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 3 (Controller Elite)
Orc - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 5 (Controller Elite)
Orc - Mixed - Standard Difficulty 1 (Controller Elite)
Orc - Ranged - Standard Difficulty 1 (Controller Elite)
Orc - Ranged - Standard Difficulty 2 (Controller Elite)

Order of the Blue Fire:
Order of the Blue Fire - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 1 (Controller Elite)
Order of the Blue Fire - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 2 (Controller Elite)

Rebel:
Rebel - Melee - Hard Difficulty (Brute Elite x2)
Rebel - Melee - Standard Difficulty (Brute Elite)
Rebel - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 1 (Brute Elite + Controller Elite)
Rebel - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 2 (Controller Elite)
Rebel - Mixed - Standard Difficulty (Brute Elite)
Rebel - Ranged - Hard Difficulty (Controller Elite)
Rebel - Ranged - Standard Difficulty (Controller Elite)

Shadar-Kai:
Shadar-Kai - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 1 (Controller Elite)
Shadar-Kai - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 2 (Controller Elite)

Spider:
Spider - Melee - Hard Difficulty 1 (Artillery Elite)
Spider - Melee - Hard Difficulty 2 (Artillery Elite)
Spider - Melee - Hard Difficulty 3 (Controller Elite x2)
Spider - Melee - Standard Difficulty 1 (Controller Elite)

Undead:
Undead - Melee - Hard Difficulty 1 (Brute Elite)
Undead - Melee - Hard Difficulty 2 (Brute Elite)
Undead - Melee - Hard Difficulty 3 (Brute Elite x2)
Undead - Melee - Standard Difficulty 3 (Brute Elite)
Undead - Melee - Standard Difficulty 4 (Brute Elite)
Undead - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 1 (Brute Elite)
Undead - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 2 (Brute Elite)
Undead - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 3 (Brute Elite)

Undead Pirate:
Undead Pirate - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 2 (Controller Elite)
Undead Pirate - Mixed - Standard Difficulty 2 (Controller Elite)

Wererat:
Wererat - Mixed - Hard Difficulty (Brute Elite)

Werewolf:
Werewolf - Melee - Hard Difficulty (Brute Elite)
Werewolf - Mixed - Hard Difficulty (Brute Elite)

Winterforge:
Winterforge - Melee - Hard Difficulty (Brute Elite x2)
Winterforge - Mixed - Hard Difficulty 1 (Brute Elite)

shadoewrayth

I found that the developers think only Brutes can be solo's, and also that Brutes hold more threat than any other type of enemy... This makes no sense, since each dragon color is a different type of enemy, and White Dragons (the weakest) are Brutes! The most powerful, the Red Dragon, is actually a type not even listed (Soldier, basically a Defender, IIRC)... They don't seem to get that Controller and Artillery can also be Solo's, nor do they get that Skirmisher can be more than a minion or standard enemy... /smh

tilt42

This thread overlaps and expands upon my Encounters for Dummies thread. It might be a good idea for you to add your post there so we can keep it in the same place.

shadoewrayth

K, added!

tilt42

Thanks!