Viconia DeVir/combat

Viconia DeVir
Viconia DeVir
Medium Humanoid
Level 11 Lolth-sworn drow
Stats
Armour Class	20
Hit points	124 (Balanced); 161 (Tactician);
Movement speed	9 m (30 ft)
Weight	75 kg (150 lb)
Initiative	+4
Ability scores
STR
STR	STR
Proficiency bonus	+4
Saving throws	Str +2; Dex +4; Con 0; Int +3; Wis +4; Cha +3;
Conditions
Shield of Faith;	+2 to armour class.
Sanctuary;	Cannot be targeted by enemy attacks or spells.
Radiant Retort;	Reflect Radiant damage back at your attacker twofold as Force damage.
Veil of Shar;	Shield of Faith also grants +2 to saving throws.
Nightbringer's Beloved;	Regain 7~76 HP when using Channel Divinity.
Features
Born into Darkness;	Can see through any darkness, cannot be Blinded.
Darkvision;	Can see in the dark up to 12m.
Fey Ancestry;	Immunity to sleep and advantage on saves against Charmed.
Magic Resistance;	Advantage on Saving Throws against Spells and other magical effects.
Mortal Reminder;	The target of a critical hit, and nearby enemies, might become Frightened.
Opportunity Attack;	Automatically attack an enemy moving out of your reach.
Protection; Tactician	While you have a shield, use a reaction to give an enemy attacking an ally Disadvantage. Only within 1.5m (5ft) and that you can see.
Rebuke of the Mighty;	Strike back at an enemy that hits you, dealing Force damage and knocking them Prone.
Sentinel: Opportunity Advantage; Tactician	Advantage on Opportunity Attacks.
Sentinel: Snare; Tactician	When you hit a creature with an Opportunity Attack, it cannot move for the rest of its turn.
Sentinel: Vengeance; Tactician	Using a reaction, attack an enemy who attacks an ally within your melee range.
Shadow Ambush;	Deal +4d8 Necrotic damage when attacking from the shadows.
Shar's Umbrae;	While obscured, the wearer has advantage on Stealth Checks.
Sharran Veil;	Shield of Faith also grants you a +2 to all saving throws.
Spellguard;	Advantage on saving throws against spells. Spell attack rolls against you have Disadvantage.
Sunlight Sensitivity;	While in sunlight, disadvantage on attack rolls and some Perception checks.
Tenacity;	When you miss an attack, deal Bludgeoning damage anyway.
Impenetrable Shadow; Honour	If ending your turn in darkness, receive Sanctuary of Loss.
Legendary Action: Heartwrench; Honour	Heartwrench a Heartform Mapped creature after it strikes an ally.
Legendary Action: Sanctuary of Loss; Honour	Cast Sanctuary of Loss when an ally is struck.

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[edit | edit source]

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

Mapping of the Heart spells[edit | edit source]

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:

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

Honour Mode[edit | edit source]

(Replaces Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical)

Passives[edit | edit source]

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[edit | edit source]

Viconia DeVir can be fought in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace. She is joined by 21 other Sharrans:

Two Justiciar Crusaders; Owltalon and Nightmist
Four Sharran Sentrys; Sentry Fredrichk, Hendly, Baxta, and Imwise.
Five Sharran Fidelians; Gloommask, Lamona, Hyrald, Uttermmask, and Gydd
Ten Sharran Novices

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

Tactics[edit | edit source]

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, 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, or don't take the mapped character into battle. Avoiding the Mapping can be done by leaving Shadowheart at camp and passing a DC 20 Investigation 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 critical hits from Castigate Heartform. Disarming her can be useful for reducing her damage output, but she will still have many powerful spells to fall back on.

Allies[edit | edit source]

The Sharrans possess overwhelming strength in numbers. She is supported by over twenty allies including two powerful Justiciar Crusaders and five 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 extra necrotic damage to the party on attacks; they also liberally use Bone Chill to prevent healing.

Necrotic resistance and crowd control are the surest ways to increase survivability against the Sharrans' overwhelming numbers. Sources of Darkvision and/or immunity to Blind are necessary for melee strikers to wade through the clouds of darkness. The Justiciar 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-prevention effects like Death Ward. 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 Viconia's Radiant Retort with a small source of Radiant damage, such as Sacred Flame or Callous Glow Ring, can prematurely block her Sanctuary and allow her to be targeted before she gets a turn.