Cazador/combat

Cazador

Combat

Cazador Szarr
Level 12
Information
Race	Vampire
Stats
Size	Medium
Type	Undead
Armour Class	21
Hit points	208 (Balanced) 270 (Tactician)
Weight	70 kg (150 lb)
Initiative	+9
Ability scores
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA 18 (+4) 18 (+4) 18 (+4) 17 (+3) 15 (+2) 18 (+4)
Proficiency bonus	+4
Saving throws	Str +4 Dex +8 Con +4 Int +7 Wis +6 Cha +4
Resistances
Resistant	Slashing, Piercing, Bludgeoning, Necrotic
Non-Magical Resistances
Immune	Bludgeoning, Piercing, Slashing
Conditions
Ritual Sources	+1m movement, +10 temporary HP and +1d10 Necrotic damage per ritual source.
Legendary Resistance Tactician	+10 to your next 3 saving throws.
Features
Alert	+5 to Initiative and cannot be surprised.
Arcane Enchantment	+1 bonus to Spell Save DC and Spell attack rolls.
Arcane Vampirism	Regain 1d4 HP when a creature fails any saving throws against your spells.
Improved Extra Attack	Make two additional attacks after attacking with your main-hand weapon.
Opportunity Attack	Automatically attack an enemy moving out of your reach.
Sunlight Hypersensitivity	While in sunlight, take 20 Radiant damage and have disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks.
Vampire Regeneration	If not in sunlight or holy water, regains 10 HP at the start of his turn.
Legendary Action: Vampiric Swarm Honour	Spend a legendary action to conjure a Vampiric Swarm.

This page focuses on Cazador's behavior during turn-based combat gameplay.

Attacks and abilities

 Blight ()   –  Woe

8d8 (8~64) Necrotic damage

Deals 8d8Necrotic 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

 Call Lightning ()

3d10 (3~30) Lightning damage

Call down lightning to hit all targets within range and its area of effect for 3d10Lightning damage. Then for 10 turns, you can call down lightning again without expending a spell slot.

DEX Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

AoE: 2 m / 7 ft (Radius)

 Fly ()

Fly to a target position

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Misty Escape ()

Transform into a tiny mist cloud. It can't fall, and fits through small openings. It is very hard to damage.

Enough, Wretches!

When Cazador reaches low enough health, he will use Enough, Wretches!, and switch to physical attacks.

 Enough, Wretches!

Cazador switches from spells to savage melee attacks.

 Multiattack ()

2d4 (2~8) Slashing damage

+

2d4 (2~8) Slashing damage

The target must be  Blood-Sapped.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5  ft

 Claws ()

2d4 (2~8) Slashing damage

Lash out with deadly claws.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5  ft

Tactician mode

 Potent Misty Escape ()

Transform into a tiny mist cloud. It can't fall, and fits through small openings. It is very hard to damage. Foes within 4 m / 13 ft of the cloud may be  Blinded and take 3d6Necrotic at the start of Cazador's turn.

The cloud has Advantage on Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength Saving Throws.

Honour mode

 Vampiric Swarm

12d12 (12~144) Piercing damage

Call forth a swarm of vampire bats. Targets are pushed backwards 7 m / 23 ft and may become  Swarmed.

DEX Save

 Range: 10 m / 33 ft

AoE: 5 m / 16 ft (Cube)

Allies

• Chatterteeth
• 3x Fallen Gur Hunter
• 4x Predator Werewolf
• 6x Bat (6 additional bats spawn each round)

Encounter

• If Astarion is in your party when you meet Cazador, a cutscene will play out in which he becomes trapped as part of the ritual. He can be freed using the  Help action.
• Cazador will attempt to complete the ritual to become the Vampire Ascendant. If 3 turns pass without the ritual being interrupted (by freeing Astarion or killing one of the Vampire Spawn) then Cazador will consume them all to become the Vampire Ascendant.
• Cazador will be empowered by  Ritual Sources from each of the trapped vampire spawn, granting him 1m/3ft of movement speed, 10 temporary hit points, and 1~10 Necrotic damage per trapped spawn. These sources are represented by lines of red magic on the floor and can be "stolen" by the party if they stand on top of the magic circles in front of the victims. There are 7 such lines in total and 3 of them provide additional bonus effects:
  • Ritual Drain Astarion: Gain an additional bonus action
  • Ritual Drain Violet: Gain +5 AC
  • Ritual Drain Yousen: Heal for 2d8hit points each turn

Tactics

• In the lead-up to the final confrontation with Cazador, Astarion can be split-off from the party and left way back up the stairs. Then upon descending the stairs with the rest of the party, Cazador will believe Astarion didn't accompany the party and will not entrap him. However, as of Patch 6 if Asterion later joins the fight and Cazador is still alive, the fight will be interrupted by a cut scene and Asterion will be captured. This technique can nonetheless be used to delay the three turn countdown for Cazador's ascendance, and to hold off Asterion's imprisonment until a more manageable time in the battle.
• If Astarion is captured as part of the ritual, it is imperative to free him ASAP so that Cazador doesn't kill him and become the Vampire Ascendant. Using  Dash and  Misty Step can allow allies to reach him within a single turn so they can free him with  Help on the next turn.
• The narrow stairway is a fantastic choke point for crowd-controlling the mobs with spells early in the fight. Some lightning resistance for the party and there will be little Cazador can do on lower difficulty levels since Call Lightning is the only ranged attack he has. Beware of getting pushed off the edge yourself however.
• Using  Daylight or similar effects will impose  Sunlight Hypersensitivity on Cazador, reverting his mist form and causing 20Radiant at the start of his turn. Keeping Cazador close to a Daylight source will make the fight significantly easier.
• Summons are very effective in this fight since they give you more bodies to block Cazador's  Ritual Sources. Even one as simple as a  Spiritual Weapon can be used to block one of the ritual sources.
• The 10 temporary hit points provided by  Ritual Sources can be refreshed by walking off of and back onto the magic circles.
• Cazador will always upcast  Call Lightning to level 5.