Am I reading the Erlking right?

[pennywit]

I'm thinking of introducing an Erlking a long-term adversary (and top lieutenant to the BBEG) in my current campaign.

Glancing through the statblock, I see:

Quote:

Melee +3 cold iron keen longsword +20/+20/+15 (1d8+12/17–20 plus bleed)

Ranged +3 ironwood longbow +20/+20/+15 (1d8+3/×3 plus bleed)

and

Quote:

Special Attacks bleed (1d6), favored enemy (all humanoids +10), ironwood mastery

So that means he's getting +30 to hit against most PCs (who are humans, elves, etc.)? That's really, really dangerous.

[Divinitus]

It's nowhere near as dangerous as it could be. I have seen PCs with upwards of 50 AC, so I don't think it's quite as gamebreaking.

[QuidEst]

But not against summons, companions/eidolons/phantoms, planar ally buddies, any Outsider(Native) PCs, PCs possessing non-humanoid bodies, constructs they've made, and so on. He is CR 18, though, and +30/+30/+25 is a lot better than the melee on a comparable dragon. Miss chance is the PCs' friend, along with sneaky tactics to avoid presenting humanoid targets.

[Weirdo]

He's also not doing a whole lot of damage per hit for that CR. Even with the favoured enemy bonus, his average damage on a normal hit is 26.5. I have a 10th level bloodrager who does 27.5 with no buffs other than rage.