Grym

Grym is a powerful Adamantine Golem that eternally protects the Adamantine Forge. It cannot be damaged without becoming  Superheated first.

Overview

Grym is the eternal golem guardian of the Adamantine Forge hidden away in Grymforge. It is made of adamantine and defends the forge against any who might try to use it.

If the Adamantine Forge is used, Grym activates and attempts to destroy its users.

Combat

Attacks and actions

 Awaken ()

Nearby activity rouses Grym, readying it to crush any who set their eyes on its forge.

 Range: Self

 Quake ()

Damage: 3~12

3d4⁠Bludgeoning

Stomp the ground to cause a massive shockwave and knock nearby creatures  Prone.

 STR Save

 Range: Self

 Seismic Wrath ()

Grym makes the earth quake and the ground roar - anything to eliminate intruders.

 Range: Self

 Recharge: Per combat

 Slam ()

Damage: 11~39

4d8 + 7⁠Bludgeoning

Hit a target and possibly knock it  Prone.

 STR Save

 Range: 3 m (10 ft)

Honour mode

 Adamantine Reverberation

Damage: 4~32

4d8⁠Thunder

Grym's form vibrates after being struck, providing  10 temporary hit points and doubling its movement speed while the temporary hit points are present.

When the temporary hit points are removed, a shockwave pushing targets back 4 m (13 ft) and dealing 4d8⁠⁠Thunder will explode outward.

 CON Save

 Range: Self

 Recharge: Per turn

Immunities

•  Bleeding
•  Burning
•  Charmed conditions, such as  Charmed and  Dominated
•  Chest Trauma
•  Dazed
•  Difficult Terrain: Lava
•  Frightened conditions, such as  Frightened and  Phantasmal Killer
•  Gaping Wounds
•  Knocked Out
•  Melting
•  Paralysed
•  Petrified
•  Poisoned conditions, such as  Poisoned and  Nauseous
•  Stunned

Encounter details

Grym can send melee attackers  Reeling. Its  Adamantine Skin passive renders it immune to all damage until it is  Superheated by standing in lava; this also removes its  Intense Adamantine Backlash passive. Once Superheated, ⁠Bludgeoning damage is most effective against Grym. Grym cannot be  Stunned or  Dazed.

New resistances when Superheated:

Grym's  Vengeful Guardian passive causes it to gain the condition  Threat Assessment when attacked, which marks the attacker with  Prime Target. Grym chases and attacks the Prime Target, which can be utilised to lure the golem into lava – or beneath the hammer of the Adamantine Forge itself. Pulling the forge lever while Grym is Superheated and standing on the central anvil hammers it for 12d8⁠⁠Bludgeoning damage (which is doubled due to Bludgeoning vulnerability when Superheated) and knocks it  Prone. However, damaging Grym with the forge immediately removes Grym's  Superheated condition and can summon a group of  Magma Mephits, though the mephits may eventually appear regardless once Grym is sufficiently damaged. Hammering Grym when not Superheated knocks it Prone but does no damage and might still summon Magma Mephits.

Tactics

Regardless of the party's approach, some method of triggering the lava valve is required, and the lava recedes after two turns, making the golem invincible again. Some ways of triggering it are: one party member can stand near the lava valve, it can be activated with ranged attacks, a familiar can trigger the valve by attacking it, or a  Mage Hand can interact with the valve in place of a party member. However, using a familiar or Mage Hand for the initial activation of the lava valve may bug the encounter and prevent Grym from spawning.^{[See: Bugs]}

Before the fight, it may be wise to spread out the party, placing casters in the back and melee up front near the gate where Grym appears. Using elixirs, such as the  Elixir of Hill Giant Strength or  Elixir of the Colossus, noticeably boosts melee combatants. Before turning the valve, ensure all party members are standing on raised areas, and enter Turn-Based Mode to prepare additional short-duration buffs. It is advisable to hasten melee characters for the extra attack and added AC. Applying weapon oils, such as the  Oil of Accuracy, boosts attack rolls to more easily beat Grym's high AC. Lastly, have party members use weapons that deal ⁠Bludgeoning damage to exploit Grym's vulnerability.

In Honour mode,  Command: Halt can be useful because of its potential to prevent Grym from using  Legendary Action: Adamantine Reverberation and dishing out large amounts of melee damage, or providing a pause in the fight to heal the party. This can occasionally prevent the  Magma Mephits from spawning.^[verify] Also in Honour mode,  Silence prevents  Legendary Action: Adamantine Reverberation from inflicting ⁠Thunder damage, although it might not prevent the shockwave's 4 m (13 ft) knockback.

Hammer tactic

One of the easiest ways to defeat Grym is by using the Adamantine Forge's hammer. The hammer used to forge the adamantine equipment is active during each turn of the fight and deals 12d8⁠⁠Bludgeoning damage. Positioning the party on each lava-free island allows them to take advantage of  Prime Target to lure Grym under the hammer. Only one leg needs to be on the pedestal for a hit to connect. As with other tactics, the party must be able to activate the lava valve and hammer lever, either with nearby party members, summons, or party members shooting at the valve and lever. Magma Mephits eventually spawn on the western island, so having a party member with some form of Fire resistance is advised when using this tactic.

Ranged bombardment tactic

One possible tactic against Grym is using an all-ranged setup that takes advantage of the terrain. Grym has no ranged attacks, so if the party shoot it from positions it cannot reach, they can slowly destroy Grym without taking damage.

Surrounding the forge, there is the central stairway and a second pathway to the right of it. When the forge is lowered, ranged characters (both spellcasters and archers) can hit nearly the entire forge floor where Grym can move from the area on the right, and characters on the entry stairway can also hit the Lava Valve.

Grym sniping positions

Characters are needed at both positions. Characters on the right are unable to reach the lava valve to Superheat Grym to make it vulnerable to damage. However, there is a section of raised floor just under the left position where Grym can stand and does not get Superheated, so party members need to keep it by the right position to keep it vulnerable to damage. From this position, there is no safe floor area for Grym.

Due to  Prime Target, Grym always follows the last character that hit it, if able. In the turn order, always make sure that the last one to hit Grym was on the right platform. It then walks to that character's position and stays there every round until it dies or is lured to a different position. Make sure the character(s) on the right side can fire multiple ranged attacks per turn to reduce the chance of them all missing and Grym moving to the left side, potentially onto a floor section safe from Superheating.

At this point, continue hitting Grym, having a character on the left side put a shot into the lava valve whenever the lava clears, and always having the characters on the right side move last. It may take a while, but you will be able to defeat Grym without getting wounded and without needing to use the forge hammer, which is needed for obtaining an Achievement.

Minor Illusion tactic

This strategy improves on the ranged bombardment tactic by using the  Minor Illusion cantrip to lure Grym onto the central anvil. Rather than using ranged attacks and spells to damage Grym, which can take some time, the party use the forge hammer to deal large amounts of damage at once, reducing combat to about five rounds. As with the ranged bombardment tactic, height advantage is used by placing characters on elevated positions to maintain a safe distance and use ranged attacks and spells to manipulate the lava valve and hammer.

1. Grym must be  Superheated by activating the lava valve. If it is not Superheated, a character can hit it or use  Minor Illusion on a lower surface to lure it to an area where it can be affected by the lava before using the lava valve.
2. Once Grym is Superheated, Minor Illusion should be used on the opposite edge of the central anvil. This causes Grym to move onto the anvil to investigate. Grym's extremely low Intelligence score means it almost always fails the Investigation check.
3. The hammer lever must be activated by hitting it with a ranged attack or spell. The first time this happens,  Magma Mephits spawn below.
4. Grym loses the Superheated condition and is knocked  Prone. It remains invulnerable until its next turn, at which point the Superheated condition must be reapplied.

These steps must be repeated until Grym is defeated.

Throwing water tactic

Similar to ranged bombardment, but exploiting Grym's weakness to Bludgeoning damage, the extra damage dealt by 'gravity' when throwing from a great height, and the easy availability of water jugs. In this version, leave three party members up on the entrance steps, supplied with lots of  Water jugs. Because thrown water does Bludgeoning damage and has a gravity bonus when thrown from up high, Grym takes 20+ damage on most hits, and even most 'misses' because of the gravity applied to the water spread.

The fourth party member remains on the platform to operate the valve and keep Grym standing in the lava, and should have access to rapid movement spells like  Misty Step. When only one party member is on the platform, Grym ignores any threat assessment and pursues the single accessible character. It is arguably most efficient to keep Grym always lured into the lava, rather than attempting to use the forge hammer, as regaining the Superheated condition can sometimes prove a challenging manoeuvre. This throwing technique can also be used while keeping all four party members "up top" as in the above method, gaining more safety but perhaps making manoeuvring Grym into the lava more challenging.

Owlbear from the top ropes tactic

A potential spot to launch Crushing Flight from and where to target Grym – right where it spawns.

It is possible to defeat Grym in a single hit. To do so, the party need:

• A level 6 druid in  Wild Shape: Owlbear (If your druid is lower than level 6, you can do this with  Wild Shape: Bear or  Wild Shape: Deep Rothé)
• A spellcaster who can  Enlarge the druid
• An  Elixir of the Colossus consumed by the druid

This tactic works because when the druid drinks an  Elixir of the Colossus, wild shapes, and then receives the Enlarge spell, their size increases to Gargantuan and their weight increases to 50,005 kg. The weight change does not always properly trigger when changing sizes (See Creature size#Bugs). The character's weight can be checked from the Examine panel or on the Character Sheet. Additionally, there is a display bug that causes a wildshaped Owlbear to appear as Gargantuan when it becomes Huge.

By having the druid remain on the stairs, rather than jumping down onto the platform, they maintain a large vertical distance from the lowered platform when Grym spawns. They can then use  Crushing Flight on Grym, negating any fall damage while dealing massive damage due to their large weight and falling distance. If the druid uses any of the other Large Wild Shape forms, they can use  Feather Fall or similar effects and perform a regular jump. Make sure to land them as close to Grym as possible without hitting him directly, and avoid landing near an ally, or they will be killed as well.

Paired with Grym's vulnerability to Bludgeoning damage while Superheated, the crushing damage should defeat it instantly, even on Tactician or Honour difficulty. In Honour Mode, the Elixir of the Colossus does not stack with Enlarge, and so only one or the other can be used. Even so, the damage of this technique is usually enough to instantly kill Grym.

This tactic can be finicky. Key tips to making this happen are:

• Crouch before jumping.
• Stand high up on the stairs while still being able to reach Grym.
• Reloading after buffing is not recommended because it may reset the weight and ruin the damage.

If there is difficulty executing this strategy, verify these steps:

1. Grym is Superheated in lava.
2. Buff order: apply Elixir of the Colossus, then Wild Shape, then Enlarge, and verify weight; if weight does not increase properly, then use random actions one at a time and keep checking until the weight is correct. Avoid reloading a save to after this point.
3. Target the ground just adjacent to Grym, not Grym's model, so that the jump path passes through it. When targeting Crushing Flight, Grym should be red-highlighted, but no percentage to hit should appear.

Loot

• Grymskull Helm

Related literature

• Scribbled Notes
• The Great Furnace of Grymforge

Related quests

• ⁠The Adamantine Forge

Quotes

“

Unstoppable juggernauts that exist only to follow their creator's orders, even if that creator has long since passed.

„

Gallery

• 
  Concept art.
• 
  Official Concept Render by Gino Luka Kölling, concept art by Jane Katsubo for Larian Studios.

Notes

• Although  Shocking Grasp cannot damage Grym, it prevents it from taking opportunity attacks (thus allowing the party to move around near it more freely), and the attack roll always has advantage as Grym's body counts as metal armour.
• As of Hotfix 6, there is no cooldown for the application of  Superheated. Thus, it is possible to reapply the effect by activating the lava valve (has a slight delay, check Grym for status effects) and consequently hitting Grym with the hammer multiple times per turn. This can be easily achieved by placing a character within shooting distance of both the lava valve and hammer lever and then shooting them both with arrows. For example, a  Hastened character with 3 levels of Thief rogue and 2 levels of fighter has essentially 5 attacks when dual wielding hand crossbows, and can kill Grym in a single turn of combat at tactician difficulty; Grym must first be lured under the hammer, and then stand with one leg in the lava and the other under the hammer.
• Grym cannot be moved by force, not even when  Reduced or  Polymorphed.
• Grym's Quake attack has no height restriction. As such, it is capable of damaging and knocking Prone a character who is high up on the ledge above the forge, if they happen to be caught in the radius.

Bugs

• Using a familiar or Mage Hand for the initial activation of the lava valve prevents Grym from spawning.
• Leaving the fight with a character on the ledge and re-entering the forge stops the ability to turn the lava back on, making the forge unusable.^[verify] However, it is still possible to kill Grym by manoeuvring a  Polymorphed  Lava Elemental next to him. The elemental creates  Lava under Grym, making him Superheated.

Achievements

A Grym Fate

Kill the Adamantine Golem without using the Forge Hammer.