TOPIC: Sat 10AM Kill a Nightmare Draccus

@ Rob F

See post right above yours.

Ok, I have 2 Fey Wands, 3 unused Wand of Tentacles and 1 Wand of Tentacles with 1 used charge.

How many times can the wand be used?

jon wrote: How many times can the wand be used?

Fey - 5
Tentacles - 4

So I guess I have a total of 10 charges on the Fey Wands and 15 on Tentacles.


You have to be careful to pull this off, but it's not that bad. The Draccus will bolt after he gets down to 400 hp. Before that the hold isn't critical. Once you get him down to 300hp, he should be as good as dead, so there's probably only one key round you have to hold him.

If you could trust the sliders, you might not need to hold him at all. The Wizard can cast Lightning Storm (use MEC to double base) and use Ring of Spell Storing to cast a second Lightning Storm. That's 60 hp of damage. If he has Relsa's Ring, Boots of Four Winds, Drake's Staff, Lenses of Focus, Shirt of Focus and Blessed Tempest Gloves that's 21hp bonus damage. Add in Earcuff on Inspiration with a Troubadour using bardsong for +6 damage. And then throw in 2 pixie dust and each spell gets a bonus 30. That's a total of 120hp of damage from the wizard.

Elf Wizard can do the same, but will need circlet of elemental mastery to convert fireball damage to cold. And that's a guaranteed 240hp of damage from the two wizards. I would hope the rest of the party combined could equal at least 1 wizard in damage.

So you see, holding the Draccus for an extended period of time may not be necessary. Makes me think about another thread that was suggesting class limitations weren't necessary. 9 wizards and a bard could 1 shot kill a nightmare Draccus.

The Fey Wand can only be used once against the draccus.

From 399 to 1000 is 601 damage. Without the hold that is ALOT of damage for 1 round.

jedibcg wrote: The Fey Wand can only be used once against the draccus.

From 399 to 1000 is 601 damage. Without the hold that is ALOT of damage for 1 round.

I knew the Fey Wand can only be used once. But you're right, I read the module chart incorrectly. It reads that the Draccus flees @400hp.

I read that as he flees when he is reduced to 400hp, but if I read the entire section, its clear that he flees after he takes 400hp of damage. So your are correct, he would need to be held at least 2 rounds, probably more in order to do 600hp of damage. Especially with a good chunk of the party busy trying to hold him.

I'm still in. I'm beefed out for the Dwarf Fighter. I'm not sure if someone beat me this year, but as of 2 years ago at WYC I had the most damage dealt in combat (124 HP) by a melee attack. That is non-Artifact buffing.

Wish I could be there for this.....could you also use lesser maze to buy another round of combat too?

Adam Guay wrote: Wish I could be there for this.....could you also use lesser maze to buy another round of combat too?

Lesser maze gets you a round of buffing for sure.

In terms of what would happen if you tried to lesser maze at the end of a round after the draccus had taken damage above what would normally make it run, then tried to maze it that would be more of a DM question.

Also, if it came back and won initiative, it would likely simply run away right then.

I'm not exactly sure of course.

Wade Schwendemann wrote:

Adam Guay wrote: Wish I could be there for this.....could you also use lesser maze to buy another round of combat too?

Lesser maze gets you a round of buffing for sure.

In terms of what would happen if you tried to lesser maze at the end of a round after the draccus had taken damage above what would normally make it run, then tried to maze it that would be more of a DM question.

Also, if it came back and won initiative, it would likely simply run away right then.

I'm not exactly sure of course.

If I remember correctly, when you come out of lesser maze you have to reroll for initiative. But if the Elf Wizard has cast alertness and everyone is wearing the charm of awakened synergy then that should guarantee we win initiative.

Dave wrote:

Wade Schwendemann wrote:

Adam Guay wrote: Wish I could be there for this.....could you also use lesser maze to buy another round of combat too?

Lesser maze gets you a round of buffing for sure.

In terms of what would happen if you tried to lesser maze at the end of a round after the draccus had taken damage above what would normally make it run, then tried to maze it that would be more of a DM question.

Also, if it came back and won initiative, it would likely simply run away right then.

I'm not exactly sure of course.

If I remember correctly, when you come out of lesser maze you have to reroll for initiative. But if the Elf Wizard has cast alertness and everyone is wearing the charm of awakened synergy then that should guarantee we win initiative.

Is it possible for everyone to attack and damage the Draccus and have the wizard wait until everyone else hits before casting his lesser maze? If it can work that way, that makes this a lot easier. Elf Wizard casts alertness before entering the room and everyone in the party is wearing charm of awakened synergy (or charm of awareness). We have +20 to our initiative role and win every roll. I think alertness lasts the entire room, but if not the elf wizard can cast it every round needed using charm of spell swapping.

If everyone takes a swipe at the Draccus and at the end of the round the wizard casts lesser maze. Everyone heals and buffs. We come out of lesser maze and roll for initiative (which we win). Everyone takes a swipe at the Draccus and at the end of our turn the wizard uses the crown of expertise to cast another lesser maze. Again, we come out lesser maze, win initiative, attack and using the Ring of Spell Storing the wizard casts a third lesser maze. Repeat the process again and this time cleric uses restore spell to let the wizard cast a 4th lesser maze.

The key to this approach is allowable timing. Are we allowed to hurt the Draccus before sending him off into the lesser maze? I'm not sure the DM Guide is clear. On one hand it has the following.

TLDR for lesser maze:
1. Spell is cast
2. All other player actions for that turn are
resolved
3. Monster goes bye-bye
4. Both monster and players get one free turn to
buff or whatever
5. Initiative is re-rolled
6. Combat resumes

The above list says nothing about the monster getting an action. I'm assuming that the Draccus has no self-heal abilities while it is in the maze. However, the DM Guide also says...
"At the very end of the current turn, a single targeted
monster is removed from combat for one round."

Does the "very end of the current turn" include the monster's action. If so, then the Draccus could flee.

On one hand it seems like the strategy could work, but personally I'm kind of hoping it doesn't because it seems potentially abusive.

Dave wrote:

Wade Schwendemann wrote:

Adam Guay wrote: Wish I could be there for this.....could you also use lesser maze to buy another round of combat too?

Lesser maze gets you a round of buffing for sure.

In terms of what would happen if you tried to lesser maze at the end of a round after the draccus had taken damage above what would normally make it run, then tried to maze it that would be more of a DM question.

Also, if it came back and won initiative, it would likely simply run away right then.

I'm not exactly sure of course.

If I remember correctly, when you come out of lesser maze you have to reroll for initiative. But if the Elf Wizard has cast alertness and everyone is wearing the charm of awakened synergy then that should guarantee we win initiative.

I did think about that too. I have heard the stats and modules may change between the cons, and I would hate to leave that to chance, even a very small one.