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Treants are inspired by Tolkien’s ents and have been in the game since at least the days of BECMI, and likely earlier. Here, they are both in the Monster Manual and in the Vault.

The Lore

Treants are indeed very similar to the ents we see in The Lord of the Rings: they’re sapient tree-like creatures who live in primeval forests. The main difference between them (especially in 4e) is that treants are a lot quicker to arrive at decisions, and a lot angrier with trespassers.

Treants love the forests where they live, and act as their guardians. They spend much of their extremely long lives in a dormant/meditative state in which they’re pretty much indistinguishable from normal trees. In this state, they can feel the general state of the surrounding forest and its creatures, and know when it’s in distress. When that happens, they rise to defend it.

Though treants love their forest and its creatures, they hold no particular regard for any outsiders. They’ll be friendly towards those who demonstrate the proper respect for the wild, and violent towards anyone who has the temerity to chop down trees or otherwise despoil their territory.

The Monster Vault goes a little further here, saying that treants view civilization in much the same way “civilized” people view the untamed wild: a source of danger best removed. Their prefer nature in its wildest and most unspoiled state, and will work to protect their territories even from natural disasters like floods or fires caused by lightning. They’ll ally with anyone who shares their values and opposes their enemies. They’re also very easy to anger (particularly when they feel they’ve been betrayed) and very hard to placate.

A treant’s most frequent allies are dryads, who share their general disposition. Eladrin and other fey are often allies as well, though in this case both sides tend to view each other more warily. You could even have a treant protecting the lair of an orc tribe, as long as the orcs focus their destruction outside of the treant’s domain.

The Numbers

Treants are Huge Fey Magical Beasts with the Plant keyword. They have low-light vision, Forest Walk, and a Wooden Body trait that makes them take ongoing 5 fire damage (save ends) whenever an attack deals immediate fire damage to them. The trait only gets a name in the Monster Vault, but is also present in the MM versions. If the attack in question already does ongoing fire damage, I guess this trait doesn’t stack with it.

Treants fight using a combination of their great strength with primal magic that grants them a measure of control over their surroundings. They’re fairly smart at Int 14, and though grumpy and aggressive they’re Unaligned.

Bramblewood Treant (Monster Vault)

Unlike the other treants, this one is “only” Large. It could be a younger specimen, or a different species that inhabits forests with smaller trees. It’s a Level 10 Soldier with 108 HP and all common treant traits. It has speed 8 and a Bramble Branches aura (2) that turns the covered area into difficult terrain.

The bramblewood treant attacks with Reach 2 slams that mark the target for a turn, and can throw stones (Ranged 20 vs. AC) for some ranged damage. If an enemy within 2 squares moves, the treant can use Entangling Branches (melee 2 vs. Reflex) as an interrupt and grab them with an escape DC of 18.

This treant is at the right level to pal around with most dryads, some of the eladrin, or the banshrae.

Treant (Both)

The basic model is Huge, and a Level 16 Elite Controller with 316 HP and all common traits. Its land speed is 8, and it projects a Grasping Roots aura (3) that makes the covered area difficult terrain for nonflying enemies.

It fights with powerful slams, and can use an Earthshaking Stomp (close burst 2 vs. Fortitude) to do a bunch of damage and knock enemies prone. In the Monster Manual this is an encounter power, and in the Monster Vault it recharges if the attack misses every target.

The treant’s other trick is Awaken Forest (area burst 3 within 10 vs. AC), which causes the vegetation in the area (trees included) to animate and attack enemies within. In the MM this is an encounter power that creates a zone which can be sustained with minor actions, and which makes new attacks against enemies inside whenever the treant sustains it.

In the MV, it’s a simple at-will standard action attack, and it creates a zone of difficult terrain that lasts either until the end of the encounter, or until the treant uses this power again.

The Monster Vault version of the treant is by far the better one, since it has updated damage values and is also a better controller. Other than “use fire”, there isn’t much you can do to get the upper hand over it, since it can make solid attacks and impair movement both in melee and at range. Treants pair really well with other creatures that have the Forest Walk ability.

Treant Grove Guardian (Monster Vault)

I guess this is the sort of creature you can find guarding a powerful druid’s home base. It’s a Level 18 Brute with 212 HP and all common treant traits. Its speed is 8.

Grove guardians are all about physical combat. Their basic attack is a Reach 3 Sweeping Slam that can target one or two creatures, damaging and knocking them prone on a hit. Once per encounter they can perform a maneuver called Stump Stomp, in which they move their speed, can enter other creature’s spaces, and make a sweeping slam attack against each creature whose space they enter.

Blackroot Treant (Both)

This is an undead treant. You know those haunted forests where the trees seem to have evil faces? These guys are those trees. Unlike living treants they’re actively Evil, and actually a bit smarter at Int 16.

Blackroot treants are Huge Level 19 Elite Soldiers with 368 HP and all common treant traits. They have Speed 6 and the Undead keyword in addition to being Plants. They project a Killing Roots aura (2) which does 10 necrotic damage to enemies caught inside.

Their Reach 3 slams also do ongoing necrotic damage (save ends), and mark the target for a turn. They have Double Attack, and so can use two of those per action. As a minor action they can use Entangling Roots (melee 4 vs. Reflex) to knock someone prone and restrain them.

The Monster Manual version is a less powerful, since it lacks Double Attack, its slams don’t mark, and the effect of Entangling Roots ceases if the treant gets more than 4 squares away from the target. Always use the MV version if possible. Used well, they can keep most of the party locked down tight, since they can use Entangling Roots 1-3 times per turn and have no limit to the number of people they can keep restrained.

Sample Encounters and Final Impressions

The MM sample encounter is level 19 and all about that haunted forest vibe: 1 blackroot treant, 2 slaughter wights, and 2 sword wraiths.

I like treants, even though this iteration of them is a bit more aggressive than I would like. Mechanically speaking, the MV versions are clearly superior to the MM originals, and you should use them whenever possible.