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<blockquote data-quote="Staffan" data-source="post: 2795109" data-attributes="member: 907">Some things to note:The first monster, CR-wise, that is both incorporeal and has an energy drain attack, is the spectre, at CR 7. The spectre's attack bonus is +6. A 7th level fighter probably has a touch AC of at least 12 (+1 Dex, +1 deflection from Ring of Protection), 16 if the wizard casts mage armor on him. In addition, if he's fighting a spectre, he would probably try to increase his touch AC by fighting defensively (giving +2 AC for -4 to hit) and/or using Combat Expertise (up to +5 AC for -5 to hit). So while the spectre has a pretty good chance to hit, it's not guaranteed. Also, the spectre only has 45 hp and an AC of 15.Some examples from other CR 7 monsters, for comparison: Bulette (+16/2d8+8 attack, AC 22, 94 hp), Hellcat (2x +13/1d8+6 and +8/2d8+3 attack, AC 21, 60 hp), Huge Monstrous Scorpion (2x +11/1d8+6 and +6/2d4+3+poison to attack, AC 20, 75 hp), Red Slaad (+11/2d8+5 and 2x +9/1d4+2 to attack, AC 19, 52 hp), and Umber Hulk (2x +11/2d4+6 and +9/2d8+3 to attack, AC 18, 71 hp, confusion gaze). So the spectre is lagging behind here.Finally, energy drain itself has lost a lot of its teeth. The immediate effect is that you gain a &quot;negative level&quot;, which basically gives you -1 to everything, -5 hp, and you lose one prepared spell of your highest level. 24 hours after the attack, you get a save (DC 15 for a spectre) to restore your levels, before they turn into actual level loss. During this 24-hour grace period, you have plenty of opportunity to either find some way of boosting your Fort save before the critical time, or for the party cleric to prepare and cast restoration (which is a 4th level spell now - conveniently castable by a 7th level cleric), which either restores all negative levels or one level that has actually been lost.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Staffan, post: 2795109, member: 907"] Some things to note: The first monster, CR-wise, that is both incorporeal and has an energy drain attack, is the spectre, at CR 7. The spectre's attack bonus is +6. A 7th level fighter probably has a touch AC of at least 12 (+1 Dex, +1 deflection from Ring of Protection), 16 if the wizard casts [i]mage armor[/i] on him. In addition, if he's fighting a spectre, he would probably try to increase his touch AC by fighting defensively (giving +2 AC for -4 to hit) and/or using Combat Expertise (up to +5 AC for -5 to hit). So while the spectre has a pretty good chance to hit, it's not guaranteed. Also, the spectre only has 45 hp and an AC of 15. Some examples from other CR 7 monsters, for comparison: Bulette (+16/2d8+8 attack, AC 22, 94 hp), Hellcat (2x +13/1d8+6 and +8/2d8+3 attack, AC 21, 60 hp), Huge Monstrous Scorpion (2x +11/1d8+6 and +6/2d4+3+poison to attack, AC 20, 75 hp), Red Slaad (+11/2d8+5 and 2x +9/1d4+2 to attack, AC 19, 52 hp), and Umber Hulk (2x +11/2d4+6 and +9/2d8+3 to attack, AC 18, 71 hp, confusion gaze). So the spectre is lagging behind here. Finally, energy drain itself has lost a lot of its teeth. The immediate effect is that you gain a "negative level", which basically gives you -1 to everything, -5 hp, and you lose one prepared spell of your highest level. 24 hours after the attack, you get a save (DC 15 for a spectre) to restore your levels, before they turn into actual level loss. During this 24-hour grace period, you have plenty of opportunity to either find some way of boosting your Fort save before the critical time, or for the party cleric to prepare and cast [i]restoration[/i] (which is a 4th level spell now - conveniently castable by a 7th level cleric), which either restores all negative levels or one level that has actually been lost. [/QUOTE]

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