It’s tough to challenge Dungeons and Dragons players once their characters hit level 20. At the peak of their craft, the different classes gain access to bombastic abilities, and what little finesse the Challenge Rating system had flies out of the window. You can throw a monster several CR levels above the party into the fray, and players will likely still wipe the floor with them. So it goes with the Arch-Hag, one of the 2024 Monster Manual’s brand-new mega-monsters.
For anyone who’s yet to face this surprisingly un-fearsome DnD monster, here’s a brief summary of how my party took the Arch-Hag down.
The testing conditions
To fully understand the Arch-Hag’s strengths and weaknesses, it’s important to note the limitations of my testing environment. First, the DnD classes and DnD races of each opponent:
Each character was maxed out at level 20, and none of them had the support of DnD magic items. In theory, this should make them weaker than the average level-20 party, who will either have picked up loot during a DnD campaign or begun their one shot with the amount recommended by the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
This encounter was an isolated incident, so everyone began the fight with maximum hit points and spell slots. Generally, it’s recommended that you wear down your players with at least a few small-scale encounters before they reach the final boss stage, so my players did have an advantage here. (I tend to feel that high-level encounters over-rely on these resource drains, but that’s a thought for another day).
Additionally, the Arch-Hag was fighting alone. Theoretically, with a CR of 21, it should be able to manage just fine against four level-20 characters – but any seasoned D&D player knows just how damning the action economy imbalance is. Without any minions to do her bidding, I could judge the Arch-Hag on her fighting skills alone, but she’d be at another disadvantage against the party.
The battle took place on a generic DnD map provided by the 2024 Player’s Handbook. Players had plentiful access to cover, narrow corridors, and platforms at various heights. For the sake of this test run, we’ve assumed this is the Hag’s lair, so her legendary resistances and legendary actions are slightly more potent.
The monster’s tactics
Stats
The Arch-Hag has an armor class of 20, which sounds good until you realize that most of the party can add +11 to their attack rolls. That means the Arch-Hag shrugs off less than half of the possible results on the d20. 333 hit points can disappear fast if the Arch-Hag can’t find a way to stay out of danger.
With a speed of 40ft, our monster is fairly nimble but not overwhelmingly so. Her saving throw bonuses range between +6 and +11, and she’s especially proficient in Dexterity and Wisdom saves. That ups her chances of dodging offensive spells.
The Arch-Hag is resistant to cold, fire, and psychic damage, and she’s immune to charmed, exhaustion, and frightened. Combine this with a Passive Perception of 21 and 60 feet of Truesight, and you’ve got an old crone who’s hard to surprise and even harder to manipulate.
Traits
Coven Magic, a trait that grants the Arch-Hag a few extra spells when she’s around her hag friends, is purely a divination tool. We can disregard it in a fight.
The Arch-Hag has four or five legendary resistances to spend per day (depending on whether she’s in her lair). Combine this with Magic Resistance’s advantage on saves against spells, and she’s fairly hardy against spellcasters. Good, because at level 20, she can’t afford not to be.
Lastly, the Arch-Hag has a get-out-of-jail-free in the form of Spiteful Escape. When she drops to zero hit points, she only dies if she’s within 30 feet of a unique anathema that she hates more than anything else. If she isn’t, she retreats to a safe demiplane for 2d6 days with a single hit point restored. Anyone around her is cursed, and the Hag knows their location.
(Presumably, most parties won’t even approach an Arch-Hag until they have her anathema. Discovering and acquiring it makes for an intriguing campaign hook.)
Actions
The Arch-Hag’s signature move is her multiattack, which involves two Spectral Claw attacks and one use of Crackling Wave. The first two attacks are melee or ranged attacks with 10ft or 60ft reach and a +14 attack modifier. It deals an average of 17 force damage and knocks targets prone on a hit.
Meanwhile, Crackling Wave forces all creatures within a 60-foot cone to make a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw. It deals an average of 32 lightning damage on a failed save, and those who succeed on their save still take half damage. Pass or fail, all targets are cursed by the Arch-Hag until the end of her next turn – during that time, they can’t take reactions.
A Hag also has access to various spells she can cast as an action (spell save DC 22):
- (At Will) Detect Thoughts, Dimension Door, Dispel Magic, Hypnotic Pattern
- (Two per day each) Mass Suggestion, Modify Memory, Plane Shift
Dimension Door, Dispel Magic, and Hypnotic Pattern are the only DnD spells here with consistent combat application. Plus, the Arch-Hag should almost never cast Dimension Door or Hypnotic Pattern on her turn (I’ll explain why shortly).
Bonus actions
The Arch-Hag’s single bonus action, Witch Strike, deals an average of 14 lightning damage to targets within 60 feet that have been cursed by her. That’s an excellent reason to use Crackling Wave (and the Arch-Hag’s reaction, Tongue Twister) as often as possible.
Assuming that an Arch-Hag targets the same character with all three multiattack attacks and her Witch Strike, she can deal an average of 80 damage per turn, not accounting for resistances.
Reactions
Tongue Twister allows the Arch-Hag to cast Counterspell, with the same spell save details as her other spellcasting. If the target fails the save, they are cursed as well as nullified – providing more fodder for the Arch-Hag’s Witch Strike.
Additionally, any target cursed by Tongue Twister can’t cast spells with a verbal component until the end of its next turn. That’s a serious pain in the behind for a Wizard or Cleric.
Legendary Actions
An Arch-Hag has three legendary actions (or four in her lair), with three options to choose from:
- Make one Spectral Claw attack
- Cast Dimension Door
- Cast Hypnotic Pattern
An Arch-Hag maximizes her action economy by casting these spells outside of her turn, so she’ll often opt for that rather than taking a turn to cast the same spells. It’s important to note that, once she uses a legendary action to cast either spell, neither can be cast this way again until the start of her next turn.
How to run the Hag
Ideally, the Hag wants to use Hypnotic Pattern as soon as possible. Creatures that fail their Wisdom saves will be charmed and incapacitated by her, meaning they’re unable to move or use actions, bonus actions, or reactions. They’re knocked out of action for one minute or for as long as the Arch-Hag can concentrate – which can be a real frustration for players, but a huge advantage to the Hag.
If she’s fortunate enough to roll the highest Initiative (a mean feat, even with her incredible bonus), there’s a case to be made for spending an action to do so. However, if any player gets the chance to act first, it should absolutely be her first legendary action.
The Arch-Hag has the upper hand as long as at least two characters have fallen victim to her hypnotism. She can’t damage them during this time without breaking the spell, so she leaves them as they are, focusing all attacks on the characters who passed their save.
Afterward, the Arch-Hag uses multiattack as her action in almost all cases. If she’s within five feet of an attacker, she’ll aim both Spectral Claws at that target, as the prone condition gives her second attack advantage, and she’ll be more likely to dodge an opportunity attack as she backs up.
When attacking from a distance, it can be handy to target two separate characters with Spectral Claw. Knocking them both prone eats up half their movement speed as they go to stand up on their next turn – keeping them at arm’s length from the Hag.
However, if the Hag is confident enough that her attacks will hit (or being prone won’t be enough to slow her foes down), it can still be worth going all-in on a single target. Even with disadvantage on her ranged attacks, the Arch-Hag’s +14 attack modifier still has a decent chance of hitting squishier characters.
In all cases, the Hag should reposition so she can target as many characters as possible with her Crackling Wave. She should also Witch Strike as a bonus action wherever possible, as there are no competing bonus actions to consider.
Twisting Tongue should be saved only for the most troublesome spellcasters, unless they’re already incapacitated by Hypnotic Pattern. You’ll want to use this reaction as often as the Arch-Hag can so you can maximize the potency of Witch Strike, but tread very carefully. It only takes one misplaced reaction to let a ninth-level spell past the Hag’s defenses.
If there’s no strategic advantage to casting Hypnotic Pattern with the Hag’s legendary action, she can save the once-per-round spellcasting for Dimension Door. This helps her maneuver out of dangerous spots or target characters that have ducked into an awkward space, out of the range of her Crackling Wave.
Remember, though, that the spellcasting option can only be used once per round. Your remaining legendary actions will all be Spectral Claws – either against the most hurt character or one that needs knocking prone right before their turn is about to begin.
The only time that an Arch-Hag deviates from these tactics is when a particularly powerful magical effect is in play, at which point she’ll sacrifice an action in order to cast Dispel Magic.
Fight results
At first, the Arch-Hag appeared to pose a serious threat. The Wizard’s first spell was countered, and Hypnotic Pattern immediately incapacitated said Wizard and the party Fighter. Two full rounds would pass before the Fighter was able to join the battle.
The party (those that could move, anyway) quickly learned that spreading out and staying behind cover were solid ways to slow the Arch-Hag down. More and more often, she had to choose between teleporting to a more advantageous position and slamming down another Hypnotic Pattern in an attempt to ensnare the group.
Then, as often happens in a high-level fight, a ninth-level spell slipped past the Hag’s Tongue Twister. It was Prismatic Wall, that un-dispel-able major damage dealer that high-CR monsters still don’t have any way to deal with.
The Arch-Hag spent a turn dashing to escape the Prismatic, eating up almost all of her legendary resistances to minimize damage and conditions. The area of the spell was large enough that it gave her far less room to maneuver in, and the party began to camp inside it. Hide inside the Hag-damaging aura, pop out to sling a spell or Halberd swing, then duck back in.
By the time the Fighter had woken up (and been Haste’d by the Wizard), the Arch-Hag was toast. She lacked the speed or the breathing room to put distance between her and the martial class, and she was quickly slain by an onslaught of Halberd strikes. There’s nothing a counterspell can do about that.
At level 20, the Arch-Hag makes for a varied and fairly interesting encounter, but not a difficult one. Her tactics can be learned quickly and reacted to. Her attacks, while they can deal decent average damage when combined, barely leave a scratch when taken as individual blows. And, if she can’t keep the spellcasters pinned down with Hypnotic Pattern, a seriously devastating spell is bound to slip past her counterspells before long.
A Hag’s best chance at survival is attrition. If she can keep enough characters incapacitated, she can chip away at the health of one or perhaps two at a time, in an environment that’s more favorable to her action economy. However, the best-case scenario for the Arch-Hag could prove to be a very frustrating experience for the players.
I enjoyed running the Arch-Hag encounter, but I remain a little disappointed by the punch she packs. Part of my disappointment is definitely down to the way Wizards of the Coast marketed this monster. The Arch-Hag was one of the new high-CR creatures that D&D promised would hit like a truck.
She was angled as a Big Bad Evil boss fight, but the tabletop RPG still fails to deliver this feeling. Action economy is simply too damning for any one monster to overwhelm a party – at least without cheap, un-fun tactics. And when the Big Bad Evil has to rely on a swarm of minions to get the job done, it just doesn’t feel like the epic final battle you pictured.
For more on the latest Dungeons and Dragons rules, here’s my thoughts on the Dragonmark feats in the latest playtest document. Or, for tools you can use all the time, here’s all you need to know about DnD 2024 backgrounds.
Source: Wargamer
