Viconia DeVir/combat

Mother Superior of Shar
Viconia DeVir
Stats
Level 11
STR 14 (+2) DEX 19 (+4) CON 10 INT 17 (+3) WIS 18 (+4) CHA 16 (+3)
Race	Lolth-Sworn Drow
Type	Humanoid
HP	124; 161Tactician
AC	20
Movement Speed	9m / 30ft
Size	Medium
Weight	75 kg / 150 lbs
Initiative	+4
Passive features
Born into Darkness  Darkvision  Fey Ancestry  Magic Resistance  Mortal Reminder  Opportunity Attack  ProtectionTactician  Rebuke of the Mighty  Sentinel: Opportunity AdvantageTactician  Sentinel: SnareTactician  Sentinel: VengeanceTactician  Shadow Ambush  Shar's Umbrae  Sharran Veil  Spellguard  Sunlight Sensitivity  TenacityTactician
Character information
Location	Cloister of Sombre Embrace
Faction	Shar
Experience on kill	800

Overview

Combat

This page focuses on Viconia DeVir's behaviour during her combat encounter. Viconia DeVir is able to be fought in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace, which is found 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
•  Cloak of Shadows using Channel Divinity
•  Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical
•  Divine Strike: Poison
•  Shadow Step
•  Spirit Guardians: Necrotic

Mapping of the Heart spells

•  Castigate Heartform - applies a specialized debuff depending on the character's responses to the Mapping of the Heart
•  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 that buff the Sharrans:
  •  Mapped Terror: Wolves - Uniquely cast against Shadowheart if she sat on the bench in the House of Grief, this ability polymorphs Viconia and two allies into wolves.
    •  Bite
    •  Sinister Howl
  •  Mapped Terror: Spiders - Polymorphs Viconia and two allies into spiders.
    •  Bite

Conditions and passives

 Radiant Retort

• Whenever you take radiant damage, reflect it back at your attacker twofold as Force damage.

 Nightbringer's Beloved

Regain 7d8 (7~56) hit points every time you use your Channel Divinity.

Passives

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

• Handmaiden's Mace
  • Set 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 eighteen other Sharrans:

• Two Justiciar Crusaders; Owltalon and Nightmist
• Five Sharran Fidelians; Gloommask, Lamnoa, Hyrald, Uttermmask and Gydd
• Ten Sharran Novices
• One Sentry Fredrichk

If Shadowheart is a Dark Justiciar, she can convince some of the Sharrans to fight alongside the party.

Tactics

If fought, Viconia is 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 will begin 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,  Ceremorphosis is potentially the worst, fully locking down one character for at least two turns with a Stun-like effect.

The easiest way around the Mapping abilities is also the most obvious: don't do the Mapping of the Heart. Avoiding the Mapping can be done by leaving Shadowheart at Camp and passing a DC Investigation 20 check to reveal a button that unlocks the entrance to the Cloister. Without the Mapping completed, Viconia cannot use  Castigate Heartform or  Mapped Terror.

Viconia herself is a capable striker thanks to the strength bonus from her Handmaiden's Mace, application of  Divine Strike: Poison, and potential guaranteed crits from  Castigate Heartform. Disarming her can be useful, but she will still have many powerful spells to fall back on.

The Sharrans possess overwhelming strength in numbers. She is supported by almost twenty allies including two powerful Justiciar Crusaders and four Sharran Fidelian mages. All of her allies are capable of controlling the arena with  Darkness and casting synergistic spells like  Overwhelming Grief. All possess the  Shadow Ambush passive, allowing them to deal massive Necrotic damage to the party; they also liberally use  Bone Chill to prevent healing.

 Necrotic Resistance and crowd control are the surest ways to increase survivability, as the lion's share of damage inflicted upon the party will come from  Shadow Ambush damage riders tagging onto every ability the Sharrans use. Sources of Darkvision and/or immunity to Blind are necessary for melee strikers to wade through the clouds of  Darkness. The Crusaders, Nightmist and Owltalon, are second only to Viconia in power and are great targets for  Crown of Madness or  Dominate Person.

Counterintuitively, this is an potentially an excellent battle to use a Cleric's  Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical, specifically in conjunction with  Death Ward, The Blood of Lathander, or a similar effect. The enormous radius and large radiant damage will wipe many weaker Novices out of the initiative order; triggering  Radiant Retort will surely kill the caster, but upon revival the cleric will have rejuvenated their actions, effectively giving them an extra turn. Triggering her Radiant Retort with a small source of Radiant damage, such as  Sacred Flame, can prematurely block her Sanctuary and allow her to be targeted before she gets a turn.

Trivia

• The bestial polymorphs from  Mapped Terror: Wolves and  Mapped Terror: Spiders are illusory, and thus not targetable with  Dominate Beast. They also function like a Druid's Wild Shape, with the polymorphed creature returning to their original form after the beast's hit points are depleted.