Viconia DeVir/Combat

Overview

Combat

This page focuses on Viconia DeVir's behaviour during her combat encounter. Viconia DeVir can be fought in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace, under the House of Grief in the Lower City. She is joined by the members of her flock.

Attacks and abilities

Viconia fights like a level 11 Cleric, capable of casting spells up to level 6 and possessing two Channel Divinity Charges.

 Blight ( + )

Damage: 8~64

8d8⁠Necrotic

Deals 8d8⁠⁠Necrotic damage to a target. Plants take maximum damage from this spell, and have  Disadvantage on the  Saving throw against it.

 CON Save

 Range: 9 m / 30 ft

 Bone Chill ()

Damage: 1~8

1d8⁠Necrotic

Prevent the target from healing until your next turn. The target cannot help  Downed characters. An undead target receives  Disadvantage on ⁠Attack rolls.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Channel Divinity: Cloak of Shadows ( + )

Wrap yourself in shadows to become  Invisible if you are obscured.^{[See: Bugs]}

 Range: Self

 Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical ()

Damage: 8~80

8d10⁠Radiant

Call upon the Nightbringer to deliver a divine reckoning unto your foes. Only faithful Sharrans will be spared.

 WIS Save

 Range: Self

 Recharge: Per combat

 Divine Strike: Poison (Melee) ()

Damage: 1~8

Normal weapon damage

+ 1d8⁠Poison

Once per turn deal 1d8Poison in addition to your weapon's damage when you make a melee attack.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5 ft

 Recharge: Per turn

 Inflict Wounds ( + )

Damage: 3~30

3d10⁠Necrotic

Putrefy a creature with Necrotic energy filling your hands.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5 ft

 Shadow Step ()

Teleport from shadow to shadow. Afterwards, you have Advantage on your next melee Attack roll.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Spirit Guardians: Necrotic ( + )

Damage: 3~24

3d8⁠Necrotic

Call forth spirits to protect the area around you.

Nearby enemies take 3d8Necrotic damage per turn, and their Movement Speed is halved. Lasts for 10 turns.

 WIS Save

 Range: Self

Mapping of the Heart spells

Main article: Mapping of the Heart

 Castigate Heartform ()

Curse a creature whose heart you have mapped until they act against their nature.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Recharge: Per combat

Mapped Terror applies  Frightened and an additional condition depending on the character's response to "What is your greatest fear?" during the Mapping of the Heart. Cast against the same target as  Castigate Heartform. Two variations have additional effects which buff the Sharrans:

 Mapped Terror: Betrayal ( + )

Exploit the target's mapped fear to  Frighten it and  Dominate one of its allies.

 WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Recharge: Per turn

 Mapped Terror: Darkness ( + )

Exploit the target's mapped fear to  Frighten it and inflict  Blinding Sickness upon it.

 WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Recharge: Per turn

 Mapped Terror: Disease ( + )

Exploit the target's mapped fear to  Frighten it and inflict  Flesh Rot upon it.

 WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Recharge: Per turn

 Mapped Terror: Ceremorphosis ( + )

Exploit the target's mapped fear to make it believe it has undergone ceremorphosis.

 WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Mapped Terror: Powerlessness ( + )

Exploit the target's mapped fear to  Frighten it and  Rot its flesh.

 WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Recharge: Per turn

 Mapped Terror: Spiders ( + )

Exploit one of the target's deepest fears by transforming your followers into spiders.

 WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Recharge: Per combat

 Mapped Terror: Wolves ( + )

Exploit one of the target's deepest fears by transforming your followers into a pack of wolves.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Recharge: Per combat

Uniquely cast against  Shadowheart if she sits on the bench in the House of Grief, this ability polymorphs Viconia and two allies into wolves.

Honour Mode

 Dark Deliverance ()

Damage: 8~80

8d10⁠Necrotic

Summon the Nightbringer's unholy wrath as roiling and acrid clouds of darkness that spare only the faithful of Shar.

 WIS Save

 Range: Self

 Heartwrench

Damage: 10~120

10d12⁠Psychic

Rend a target with a psychic barrage after you or an ally is struck by a  Heartform Mapped creature.

 WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Sanctuary of Loss

Shield yourself or an ally from harm after they are attacked. This protection will wane when the protected creature attacks. Viconia can still use  Heartwrench and keep this protection.

(Replaces Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical)

Passives

Viconia's armour and weapons grant her a few passives and boosts:

•  Handmaiden's Mace
  • Sets the wearer's Strength score to 18
•  Viconia's Walking Fortress
  •  Rebuke of the Mighty
  • Spellguard
•  Viconia's Priestess Robe
  • Shar's Umbrae
  • Sharran Veil

Allies

Viconia DeVir can be fought in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace. She is joined by 19 other Sharrans:

• Two Justiciar Crusaders:
  •  Nightmist and  Owltalon
• Four Sharran Sentrys:
  •  Baxta,  Fredrichk,  Hendly, and  Imwise
• Five Sharran Fidelians:
  •  Gloommask,  Gydd,  Hyrald,  Lamona, and  Uttermask
• Eight Sharran Novices:
  •  Bluenail,  Dohna,  Dollay,  Garrigan,  Greymask,  Humboldt,  Monteith, and  Tylda

Defection

If Shadowheart has become a Dark Justiciar in Act Two, the party can choose certain dialogue options and pass several Ability Checks to convince many of the Sharrans to defect from Viconia's side and ally with the party.

1st Dialogue option

•  DC 20 Persuasion check or  DC 20 Performance check (with  Disadvantage You are an outsider)
• Causes Nightmist to defect.

2nd Dialogue option

• A passive  DC 7 Perception check to realize Shadowheart is attempting a coup. Must succeed the check and then select "Connect with her mind. Suggest she talk about the power Shar granted her."
• Causes 7 Sharran Novices (all except Greymask) to defect.

3rd Dialogue option

• Must select either:
  • "Give Shadowheart a chance to sway more of Viconia's followers."
  • "Wait- I have to know before it's too late. Why did you want the Astral Prism?" and then select either "Shar bid you do all of this?" or else "I've heard enough. Deal with this lot how you wish, Shadowheart."
• Causes Owltalon, Gloommask, Gydd, Uttermask, and Greymask to defect.

Notes:

• Hyrald, Lamona, and the four Sharran Sentrys (Baxta, Fredrichk, Hendly, and Imwise) will never defect.
• Failing the ability checks on the earlier dialogue options does not prevent the party from selecting the later ones.

Encounter details

Viconia is arguably one of the more difficult opponents in the game. She is continuously affected by the conditions  Nightbringer's Beloved and  Radiant Retort and begins the battle under the effect of  Sanctuary. She has a high initiative bonus and begins her first turn using  Castigate Heartform on the character who underwent the Mapping of the Heart, followed by Mapped Terror on the same target, crippling one character with a series of debuffs. Of the several variations of Mapped Terror,  Mapped Terror: Ceremorphosis is potentially the worst, fully locking down one character for at least two turns with a  stun-like effect.

Viconia herself is a capable melee attacker thanks to the strength bonus from her  Handmaiden's Mace, application of  Divine Strike: Poison, and potential guaranteed critical hits from  Castigate Heartform. Disarming her can be useful for reducing her damage output, but she retains many powerful spells to fall back on.

Allies

The Sharrans possess overwhelming strength in numbers. Viconia is supported by nineteen allies including two powerful Justiciar Crusaders, four Sharran Sentrys, five Sharran Fidelian mages, and 8 Sharran Novices. All of her allies possess the passive feature  Born into Darkness which grants them the unusual ability to see through  Darkness and take advantage of many spells and passives like  Overwhelming Grief and  Shadow Ambush. The Sharran Fidelians cast  Darkness to set up these effects and also frequently attack with  Bone Chill to prevent the party from healing.

Honour Mode

Viconia gains one Legendary action per round and three new abilities on Honour Mode:  Heartwrench,  Sanctuary of Loss, and the passive  Impenetrable Shadow. Heartwrench adds a high-power targeted attack which focuses on the character whose heartform was mapped, while the latter two abilities defensively buff Viconia and her allies with additional instances of Sanctuary.

Tactics

The easiest way around the Mapping abilities is also the most obvious: either do not do the Mapping of the Heart, or do not take the mapped character into battle. Mapping can be avoided by either leaving the mapped character at camp or passing a  DC 20 Investigation check to reveal a button which unlocks the entrance to the Cloister without having to participate in the Mapping. Without the Mapping completed, Viconia cannot use Castigate Heartform or Mapped Terror.

Triggering Viconia's  Radiant Retort with a small AoE source of Radiant damage, such as  Spirit Guardians, or promoting an  Opportunity Attack preempts her  Sanctuary and allows her to be targeted as early as the first turn.

It is highly recommended to bring a dedicated caster or a large number of AoE spells to this fight, especially in Honour Mode. This allows the party to deal with the large number of enemies and potentially bypass Viconia's  Sanctuary and Legendary  Sanctuary of Loss abilities which prevent her from being targeted by single-target spells or melee attacks. This is potentially an excellent battle to use a Cleric's Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical, especially in conjunction with death-prevention effects like  Death Ward. The enormous radius and large radiant damage wipes out many weaker Novices and deals significant damage to all other Sharrans, though if it hits Viconia it triggers her  Radiant Retort to (likely) kill the caster.

Finally, the entire fight can be addressed with two very simple strategies:

• First: use the chokepoint. Retreating back up the stairs and through the door forces the entire Sharran army to follow and clump up close together. This makes them attractive targets for use of damaging terrain such as  Wall of Fire,  Wall of Ice, and  Spike Growth, as well as AoE spells such as  Fireball,  Cone of Cold, and  Sunbeam.  Blade Barrier is particularly effective, as it can be cast along the hallway, turning a significant stretch of it into difficult and damage dealing terrain. Retreating also places the party on the high ground and allows them to keep pushing enemies back onto damaging surfaces with  Thunderwave,  Smokepowder Bomb, or even  Shove.
• Second: working inwards from the peripheries, dispatch Viconia's retinue by stealthy means, working inward to her to then deal with as the party see fit; this guide provides more details.

Allies

It is also critical for the party to focus down the five Sharran Fidelians and Sentry Fredrichk. While Viconia and all her allies have many ways of benefiting from  Darkness, only these six characters can cast it. If they are  Dead or crowd controlled then the other Sharrans lose access to many powerful synergies and abilities, making them much less threatening.

The Sharran Fidelians also make liberal use of  Bone Chill cantrips during the fight. Be sure to prepare the party with additional HP, temporary HP, or a way of preventing damage to one or more characters (invisibility, sanctuary, etc.) to avoid a situation where much of the party requires healing it cannot obtain.

In the event the Sharrans fill the battlefield with  Darkness, the party can rely on certain items and spells to counter it. Sources of immunity to  Blinded such as  Eversight Ring or  Shar's Spear of Evening can be be used by melee characters to wade through the darkness. The party can also cast  Daylight to dispel the Darkness, but they should keep in mind that the most recently cast instance of Sunlight or Darkness will override the other; Sharran Fidelians can summon more Darkness to extinguish it. However, should the caster drop concentration on Darkness, any overridden Daylight returns.

The Justiciar Crusaders, Nightmist and Owltalon, are second only to Viconia in power and are also significant threats to the party. However, they have very low Wisdom saving throws and thus make attractive targets for crowd control like  Command or  Hold Person, as well as mind-control effects like  Confusion or  Dominate Person.