Tyler Dunn
Explorer
What can a full caster like a wizard do against a foe that has magic resistance such as a lich or a demon lord? It seems like their options would be limited against such a foe.
Casters vs Magic Resistance
- Thread starter Tyler Dunn
- Start date
The wizard has a large number of options:
1. Focus on buffing allies vs. interacting with the baddie. Spells like Haste etc. Granted, concentration makes this not as huge as in prior editions - but it's still very potent.
2. Focus on controlling the field. Baddies like liches and demon lords rarely come at the group alone. The wizard has many options to isolate the baddie's allies. From summoning walls to other monsters.
3. Cast any number of spells against the monster directly - that don't allow a save. Magic resistance is just advantage on saves not the blanket - spell doesn't work - of some prior editions.
1. Focus on buffing allies vs. interacting with the baddie. Spells like Haste etc. Granted, concentration makes this not as huge as in prior editions - but it's still very potent.
2. Focus on controlling the field. Baddies like liches and demon lords rarely come at the group alone. The wizard has many options to isolate the baddie's allies. From summoning walls to other monsters.
3. Cast any number of spells against the monster directly - that don't allow a save. Magic resistance is just advantage on saves not the blanket - spell doesn't work - of some prior editions.
MonkeezOnFire
Adventurer
I played a wizard in Out of the Abyss which features plenty of random encounters with demons, most of which have magic resistance. Here are some of the things I was able to do:
- Buffs. Help boost the party members that are most effective at contributing to the fight. Or if you're like me and you do not trust your silly party members you can always Polymorph yourself into a t-rex so that you can now contribute. Sure it's attacks aren't magical so you'll be dealing half damage, but half of a lot of damage turns out to be pretty okay damage. Also having the constitution of a dinosaur will help you on those concentration saves.
- Control without saves. They're few and far between but there are spells that don't require a saving throw that do a bang up job controlling the field. Wall of Force is the cream of the crop here.
- Play the numbers game. If you hit enough targets with a spell like Hypnotic Pattern it's likely that at least one of them is going to get a bad roll. So if the enemy is grouped up it might still be worth it to try to lock some things down.
- Just blast em. The best condition is dead, so sometimes you just need to help your martial comrades in the damage race. Try to pick up some blast spells that make spell attacks to target AC like Scorching Ray. A lot of creatures with magic resist will typically also resist energy attacks so if you know these types of creatures will be a threat picking up Magic Missile might not be a bad idea. I wrote off Magic Missile completely, but I came to appreciate how it is almost never a dead spell.
- Buffs. Help boost the party members that are most effective at contributing to the fight. Or if you're like me and you do not trust your silly party members you can always Polymorph yourself into a t-rex so that you can now contribute. Sure it's attacks aren't magical so you'll be dealing half damage, but half of a lot of damage turns out to be pretty okay damage. Also having the constitution of a dinosaur will help you on those concentration saves.
- Control without saves. They're few and far between but there are spells that don't require a saving throw that do a bang up job controlling the field. Wall of Force is the cream of the crop here.
- Play the numbers game. If you hit enough targets with a spell like Hypnotic Pattern it's likely that at least one of them is going to get a bad roll. So if the enemy is grouped up it might still be worth it to try to lock some things down.
- Just blast em. The best condition is dead, so sometimes you just need to help your martial comrades in the damage race. Try to pick up some blast spells that make spell attacks to target AC like Scorching Ray. A lot of creatures with magic resist will typically also resist energy attacks so if you know these types of creatures will be a threat picking up Magic Missile might not be a bad idea. I wrote off Magic Missile completely, but I came to appreciate how it is almost never a dead spell.
The Crimson Binome
Hero
Magic Resistance is a joke in 5E. Just target one of their bad saves, and the fact that they roll twice won't matter. If you don't have a spell that can target a weak save, then use something with an attack roll.
