Defeating a Balor

[pawsplay]

Implosion lasts 1/rnd per level, allowing you to implode somebody 1/round.

But requires concentration to do so.

 

[Infiniti2000]

They are not +3 and +3. They are +1 and +1, and the ammo has the properties of both the arrow and bow, which both have bane. Each bane effect increases the effective enhancement bonus (from +1 to +3, then to +5).

No. The rule on enhancement bonuses with ranged weapons and ammo is:

The enhancement bonus from a ranged weapon does not stack with the enhancement bonus from ammunition. Only the higher of the two enhancement bonuses applies.

You do not suddenly treat the enhancement bonus as a special ability. There is only one enhancement bonus on the weapon. The arrow's enhancement bonus is not co-mingled with the bow's in order to count as a single weapon's enhancement bonus. Thus, the total is +3. But, at least I understand where you went wrong with that.

 

[pawsplay]

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the bane quality upon their ammunition.

So by the RAW, the ammo has both bane properties.

 

[Aloïsius]

Legend Lore to know the True Name of the Balor.
Then, buy a 20 000 GP. Cast "trap the soul". No need to worry about things like SR if you know the name of the beast, and a nice +2 save DC.


If you are for some real fun, however, then I think that Irresistible Dance is your best friend. And spell penetration, and greater spell penetration, too.

 

[Andras]

That only works against the 3.0 Balor, which can be defeated by a 4th-level Fighter who wins initiative and crits.

Is there some reason 3.5 Balors cannot be killed with a single attack that does 290 or more HP (post DR)?

 

[Rystil Arden]

Is there some reason 3.5 Balors cannot be killed with a single attack that does 290 or more HP (post DR)?

Because you aren't going to do that much damage in one attack unless you are seriously twinked out, whereas the 3.0 Balor could be killed by accident when casually buffed by a 7th-level Wizard.

 

[Shadeus]

But requires concentration to do so.

That's right, up to 4 rounds....not quite a round per level. But still, in a 5 person party, I would hate to be the last man standing alone against the balor. Oh, and the balor's concentration skill? +33

 

[Hypersmurf]

Bows, crossbows, and slings so crafted bestow the bane quality upon their ammunition.

So by the RAW, the ammo has both bane properties.

Chiming in with a "What pawsplay said".

A +1 X-Bane Bow shooting +1 Y-Bane arrows is essentially identical to a +1 X-Bane Y-Bane bow shooting +1 arrows, or a +1 Bow shooting +1 X-Bane Y-Bane arrows.

Now, the question arises - if I have a +4 X-Bane Bow and a +1 arrow, what's the effective enhancement bonus against X? It depends on whether the Bow bestows the Bane quality on the ammunition instead of benefiting from it itself, or as well as.

In the instead-of case, we have a Bow with a +4 enhancement bonus, and an Arrow with an effective +3 enhancement bonus (+1 increased by 2), only the best of which applies - the +4. In this case, the Bane is effectively useless, because the bow's enhancement bonus outweighs the arrow's, even once Bane is taken into account.

In the as-well-as case, we have a Bow with an effective +6 enhancement bonus (+4 increased by 2), and an Arrow with an effective +3 enhancement bonus (+1 increased by 2), only the best of which applies - the +6. The Bane applies to the arrow, but again is essentially ignored; the Bane also applies to the bow, which means that this shot could bypass DR X/Epic.

It's not clear from the description whether the bow continues to benefit from Bane even while bestowing the property on the arrow.

However, I agree with pawsplay's original proposition - that a +1 X-Bane bow shooting a +1 Y-Bane arrow gives you an effective +1 X-Bane Y-Bane arrow... which is effectively +5 against creatures which are both X and Y.

(There's room for argument, I suppose, that a +1 Chaotic-Outsider Bane, Evil-Outsider-Bane sword would only be +3 and not +5 against a demon - both abilities allow its enhancement bonus to be treated as +2 higher "than normal", where "normal" is arguably +1. But I suspect most people would consider the enhancement bonus effective increases to stack.)

-Hyp.

 

[Victim]

That's right, up to 4 rounds....not quite a round per level. But still, in a 5 person party, I would hate to be the last man standing alone against the balor. Oh, and the balor's concentration skill? +33

So? The DC for the concentration check is 19+damage. You only need to put 25 damage past its defenses to force a 50/50 check. If the party can't do at least that much, then they're not going to win anyway.

 

[pawsplay]

So? The DC for the concentration check is 19+damage. You only need to put 25 damage past its defenses to force a 50/50 check. If the party can't do at least that much, then they're not going to win anyway.

And in fact, that is the very purpose I was envisioning for the "special love to Balor" bow and arrow set.