Pit fiend wielding a weapon

[ThirdWizard]

Normally, they're his primary attacks. However, because he's mixing them, they get counted as secondary natural attacks.

Ahh, thanks. These monster rules are probably my weakest point in the game.

 

[Nail]

Why don't all pit fiends use some sort of manufactured weapon most of the time?

They are about 100% scarier when they do that... yikes!

That's a full attack-o-doom for sure. Particularly the greatsword. Urgh.

Yup. It's nasty.....but only especially so at low (for this EL) ACs.

I just ran the numbers for the three possibilities:
Pit Fiend: 2 claws, 2 wings, Bite, Tail
Pit Fiend w/ longsword: longsword (4 atks), Claw, 2 Wings, Bite, Tail
Pit Fiend w/greatsword: greatsword (4 atks), 2 Wings, Bite, Tail


Let's pick two representative ACs at this challenge rating (CR 20). IME, AC 30 and AC 40 are in the ball park.

        Ave Dam/Full Attack        AC 30       AC 40
        Pit Fiend:                  105         54
        Pit Fiend w/ longsword:     118         50
        Pit Fiend w/greatsword:     145         60

(Here's hopin' th' table works....)

As you can see, at higher AC, the advantage for the weapon becomes less. Still, it's a good option, and we're not even making the weapon magical yet, or slapping a few levels of Ftr on the silly Pit Fiend.

 

[two]

Yup. It's nasty.....but only especially so at low (for this EL) ACs.

I just ran the numbers for the three possibilities:
Pit Fiend: 2 claws, 2 wings, Bite, Tail
Pit Fiend w/ longsword: longsword (4 atks), Claw, 2 Wings, Bite, Tail
Pit Fiend w/greatsword: greatsword (4 atks), 2 Wings, Bite, Tail


Let's pick two representative ACs at this challenge rating (CR 20). IME, AC 30 and AC 40 are in the ball park.

        Ave Dam/Full Attack        AC 30       AC 40
        Pit Fiend:                  105         54
        Pit Fiend w/ longsword:     118         50
        Pit Fiend w/greatsword:     145         60

(Here's hopin' th' table works....)

As you can see, at higher AC, the advantage for the weapon becomes less. Still, it's a good option, and we're not even making the weapon magical yet, or slapping a few levels of Ftr on the silly Pit Fiend.

Lesson to be learned here: AC good. Stops iterative attacks dead in their tracks.

But yeah, a magic greatsword (even something as cheap as +2) will probably result in 20-30 more points of damage per round. Make it a +1 bane (human) greatsword for truly mind-bogglingly scary damage -- to the humans in the house. And that's just a +2 weapon -- very cheap. For a pit fiend.

 

[Infiniti2000]

Does that table even account for the increased threat range on the greatsword vs. the claw? In any case, it clearly shows that greatsword-wielding pit fiends are much scarier.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Why don't all pit fiends use some sort of manufactured weapon most of the time?

Because claws are scary!

They are about 100% scarier when they do that... yikes!

Er. Yeah, that, too, I guess!

That's a full attack-o-doom for sure. Particularly the greatsword. Urgh.

No kiddin'. It gets even worse when you consider what enhancements, exactly, a Duke of Hell or the Abyss would have on its personal weapon. Flaming, Unholy, Nine-Lives Stealing craziness abounds.

 

[maggot]

Thanks for all the help. That is quite scary, especially considering that most PCs in my game don't have ACs of 40.

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

You're welcome!

As to your players' AC, they'd be in pretty big trouble anyway even without the greatsword!

 

[maggot]

As to your players' AC, they'd be in pretty big trouble anyway even without the greatsword!

They are used to taking 100 hit points a round, but 150 with a plain greatsword is a bigger issue. And if he uses a magic greatsword, and it could be very grim.

The main reason for adding the greatsword was for a single attack. He could add power attack and serious hurt on someone.

But should the pit fiend ever power attack for a full attack?

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

Well, first off, he can power attack with his claws.

Secondly, absolutely he should be power attacking! Especially if he's having no trouble at all hitting his targets.

The reason that PCs generally might want to avoid PAing for too much is that their iterative attacks are at -5 increments. Because of this, iterative attacks start missing more often than not with even small penalties.

This guy, however, gets most of his iterative attacks at -2 - and it's even better than that, actually, because they aren't at -2 when compared to the previous attack (like normal iterative attacks, at -5, -10, -15), they're at -2 compared to his *best* attack. There's practically no difference at all!

 

[maggot]

Well, first off, he can power attack with his claws.

I'm aware of that, but on a single attack like a charge, he can only power attack 1-for-1 because his claws are a natural weapon. With a greatsword, he can power attack 2-for-1.