Drow and an Archdevil previews

[Gadget]

How soon is this thread going to be inflicted with "a 2nd level paladin can solo her and her little hellhound too"?

Pish Posh... We would send a couple of hirelings to to handle this minor inconvenience, while we argued and fought over who was going to get to use the Head of Vecna.

 

[Dausuul]

Nearly 600 hit points, and regen into the bargain... I trust people won't be complaining about this one being too fragile.

Her legendary actions are interesting. Moloch and the sibriex relied very heavily on LAs for out-of-turn shenanigans; the sibriex especially needs its LAs for action denial, otherwise it gets pounded into paste in the first round. Zariel only has two LAs: A 120-foot teleport, and an extremely weak attack that costs two LAs for a quarter her regular Multiattack damage.

Since Immolating Gaze is so weak, Zariel is probably best served by relying heavily on teleportation, with IG as a fallback if she can't think of anything creative. With her fly speed and teleport, she can cover 510 feet per round, which allows her to do bombing runs with javelins or fireballs and get out of range of most retaliation (an archer could still hit her but would be rolling at disadvantage). She could also teleport next to an archer or caster, forcing that PC to either attack with disadvantage or eat a godawful opportunity attack for breaking contact. And if she's getting low on hit points, she can teleport, move, and Dash to flee at 660 feet per round. Break contact, hide for a few minutes, and regenerate back to full, then renew the assault.

As archdevils go, Zariel seems pretty straightforward. She's a big, tough, flying beater. The Horrid Touch is a vicious debuff (would be nice to know if there's supposed to be an initial save, or if you're automatically blind/deaf for 1 round before your first saving throw; also, what kind of saving throw is it?), but other than that, she doesn't have a lot of tricks up her sleeve. Just a steady torrent of damage, round after round.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

Nearly 600 hit points, and regen into the bargain... I trust people won't be complaining about this one being too fragile.

Her legendary actions are interesting. Moloch and the sibriex relied very heavily on LAs for out-of-turn shenanigans; the sibriex especially needs its LAs for action denial, otherwise it gets pounded into paste in the first round. Zariel only has two LAs: A 120-foot teleport, and an extremely weak attack that costs two LAs for a quarter her regular Multiattack damage.

Since Immolating Gaze is so weak, Zariel is probably best served by relying heavily on teleportation, with IG as a fallback if she can't think of anything creative. With her fly speed and teleport, she can cover 510 feet per round, which allows her to do bombing runs with javelins or fireballs and get out of range of most retaliation (an archer could still hit her but would be rolling at disadvantage). She could also teleport next to an archer or caster, forcing that PC to either attack with disadvantage or eat a godawful opportunity attack for breaking contact. And if she's getting low on hit points, she can teleport, move, and Dash to flee at 660 feet per round. Break contact, hide for a few minutes, and regenerate back to full, then renew the assault.

As archdevils go, Zariel seems pretty straightforward. She's a big, tough, flying beater. The Horrid Touch is a vicious debuff (would be nice to know if there's supposed to be an initial save, or if you're automatically blind/deaf for 1 round before your first saving throw; also, what kind of saving throw is it?), but other than that, she doesn't have a lot of tricks up her sleeve. Just a steady torrent of damage, round after round.

She also has a few useful spells like Blade Barrier.

I would assume it's supposed to be a Con throw with a DC of 26 like the rest of her stuff.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Nearly 600 hit points, and regen into the bargain... I trust people won't be complaining about this one being too fragile.

She doesn't even have 3.657 x 10^12 hit points, and that's still too low for many people here.

 

[AntiStateQuixote]

Passive Perception 26 ! Should be 18 by strict math. Not that she might have some unknown kicker.

Wis (+8) plus Proficiency (+8) = Perception +16; Passive Perception 26

 

[Vymair]

Wis (+8) plus Proficiency (+8) = Perception +16; Passive Perception 26

Apparently, I can't do simple math.

 

[Dausuul]

She also has a few useful spells like Blade Barrier.

True. I guess in a confined space, or against nonflying enemies, she could do hit-and-run attacks from behind a blade barrier. Use LA teleport right before her turn to appear next to an enemy. Whale on them. Eat a round of attacks from one PC. Then use another LA teleport to cross back to the other side of the wall, and every other PC has to run through the blades or suffer 3/4 cover when attacking her.

Doesn't do much against spellcasters, though, so the effectiveness of this tactic depends heavily on initiative order.

 

[Oofta]

Nearly 600 hit points, and regen into the bargain... I trust people won't be complaining about this one being too fragile.

Bah. Our 10th level party could take her.

Pish Posh... We would send a couple of hirelings to to handle this minor inconvenience, while we argued and fought over who was going to get to use the Head of Vecna.

You only have a head? Wimpy. We have the whole "Marionette of Vecna" set, much more powerful.

 

[Oofta]

In all seriousness, I'm looking forward to the book. A DM with a group that can get resistance and immunity to fire is going to be creative and I still probably wouldn't run her as a solo, but it could be a lot of fun.

 

[pukunui]

Correct I assume it's actually supposed to be like this.

"The target can make a DC 26 Constitution saving throw at the end of each of it's turns, ending the effect on itself on a success."

That’s not the only statblock error. Her javelin entry is missing its reach. (It’s probably 10 ft., like the longsword.)