I did a quick search to see if I was missing something when I first did this encounter and found this thread. And while I did notice that the IDs were nerfed, and did not use their multi-attack + intellect devour, even so the claw attack never hit for less than 7 and as a result was pretty deadly. (BTW, stealth should also not be a viable tactic against IDs since they're effectively blind and can detect the location of any intelligent life 300 feet away, so this is another nerf) I feel the key to this fight is high AC, but unless people are very familiar with DnD, 3 IDs with 40 movement speed, and never seem to hit lower than 7 is going to be rough. I don't know about others but my damage across 4 re-loads averaged between 2-3 against IDs that had 12-15 HP (my eldritch blast never hit above 4, obviously not RNG carried...). Doing the math it will requires at least 12 successful hits on average, for enemies that can kill you in 2. Bottom-line this encounter is definitely do-able, but relies too much on RNG, which IMO this early in the game is just not fun...
I understand the desire for challenge, but I think encounters such as this one is what led people to complain about the DnD rules. I personally think the problem is not the DnD, but the encounter, I am curious to understand the design motivation behind it.
