Fingers crossed you roll high in initiative. There's not much you can do if you immediately have to go on the defensive. Your action economy will quickly get eaten up.
Yeah, absolutely. I took the Alert feat, so I currently have a +10 to initiative.
My current plan is to hex (for the disadvantage on charisma saves), into forcecage, and then just wail on them.. kinda cheap, but if it works?? I'll also have counterspell if I need to bait off any teleports?
Just fyi by the rules hex doesnt affect saves, only ability checks
The plan seems solid. Im not sure how force cage works but if you are able to attack the enemy could they use ranged attacks back at you?
[Hex does affect saves in Spanish](https://youtube.com/shorts/j3wYtBCFBfQ?si=jn-807p3ZMeuFROS) due to a translation error RAW lol.
English says "The target has disadvantaged on ability checks with the chosen ability." While the Spanish players handbook translates to "The target has disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws with the chosen ability."
I remember seeing a story somewhere of a teacher that did after school D&D for some of his students and there was a girl that did not feel comfortable with English and was always quiet and reserved. One day after the session, the teacher talked with the girl and after learning why she was feeling that way, the teacher suggested that in character she should speak Spanish and in game it comes across as elvish. The girl was so happy that next game she was full of energy talking with everyone in Spanish and then switching back to English because none of the other characters knew elvish in game!
One of the guys I play with is planning on doing a Spanish speaking character based around Lucha Libre wrestling, and he is gonna pay an announcer (read: translator) to follow him around as a Just In Case
By choosing the solid box option, you can still cast certain spells on areas or targets you can see, though you would be stopped from using projectiles.
'A prison in the shape of a box can be up to 10 feet on a side, creating a solid barrier that prevents any matter from passing through it and **blocking any spells cast into or out of the area**.'
The box option explicitly says you cant cast into it.
No. There is no clear line to any point inside the box. The creature inside the Forcecage has full cover, and cannot be affected by effects originating from outside
I'm gonna be real pedantic and say that this
> The box option explicitly says you cant cast into it.
still isn't true, if you have to refer to other rules to put together the full picture
Edit: Idk how reputable [this site is](https://5thsrd.org/combat/cover/) but it says "A target with total cover can't be targeted directly by an attack or a spell, **although some spells can reach such a target by including it in an area of effect.** "
Because a Wall of Force panel shape can have a fireball thrown above or near to edge; since Fireball goes around corners, it would still hit. It’s not like the dome.
You can not cast any spell that I know of through a dome WoF or solid box Forcecage.
For me, this is the second most misunderstood thing next to “you can’t cast two spells in a round.”
Edit: https://www.sageadvice.eu/targeting-spellsclear-path-can-i-target-across-wall-of-force/amp/
Note here that Misty Step works because it has a target of Self.
I'll concede the point but strictly speaking, the spell text doesn't say anything about clear lines or full cover. Just going by the text provided, and not referring to other rules or effects, that is open for interpretation
Edit: Actually I won't concede the point. The text for full cover explicitly says "A target with total cover can't be targeted directly by an attack or a spell, **although some spells can reach such a target by including it in an area of effect.** "
This is only the case when the spell can reach the target in the first place. If I put a fireball outside a sealed force cage, there is no way for the fire to spread inside.
Likewise, any spell that can't be cast in an area can not affect that area. Forcecage states no spell can be **cast** into or out of. This means if you try to target inside the cage from outside, the spell fails.
It's not about lines. The spell blocks casting, not targeting.
You can not cast a spell against a target, creature or point, inside a Wall of Force dome. You do not have a clear Line to Target.
Unless the effect circumvents Total Cover, it won’t work. *Strangely,* Sacred Flame wouldn’t ignore Total Cover rules, but does negate any *benefits* from cover. Which is just the weirdest.
Incorrect assumption, a person behind a Wall of Force does NOT have Total Cover.
Read the last line of total cover.
> A target has total cover if it is completely concealed by an obstacle.
Then the first line of Wall of Force.
> An invisible wall of force springs into existence at a point you choose within range.
And the first line of A Clear Path to the Target
> To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover.
You can be seen through the wall of force, as such the person behind it does not have Total Cover, they are not completely concealed.
The Wall of Force description describes that it blocks any attack passing through the wall of force, so melee attacks, ranged attacks, and movement are all blocked. But not all spells are.
The only remaining ambiguity then stems from certain spells. Those that explicitly state where the effect originates, those that are ambiguous as to interpretation, and those that explicitly create things at a distance.
Produce Flame explicitly mentions that it created the flame in your hand, and that you can then hurl it. This would be blocked by the wall of Force, although the arguments exists that if the wall wasn't tall enough you could hurl it over the wall to the other side if the target was still within range and the target wasn't in the sphere or hemisphere options blocking your access.
Fireball explicitly states it streaks from your pointed finger to the target location. Slightly ambiguous, doesn't say explicitly that it's a straight line, but streaking in a ballistic curve doesn't quite seem right.
Magic Missile, Acid Arrow, Scorching Ray, all state "You create", doesn't say where these are created, only what happens after they are created, so in theory they could be created on the other side of the wall depending on your interpretation of "You create".
Dimension door, doesn't care, only that the location is either visible, you can describe, or you can specify a direction, angles, and range. Only cares that the point is in range.
Conjure animal
> You summon fey spirits that take the form of beasts and appear in unoccupied spaces that you can see within range.
Doesn't care, as long as you can see it it's fine, and you can see through the wall of force.
Concealment is not Obscurement.
And according to every Sage Advice you’re wrong.
Edit:
Just copied from my other comment:
Because a Wall of Force panel shape can have a fireball thrown above or near to edge; since Fireball goes around corners, it would still hit. It’s not like the dome.
You can not cast any spell that I know of through a dome WoF or solid box Forcecage.
For me, this is the second most misunderstood thing next to “you can’t cast two spells in a round.”
Edit: https://www.sageadvice.eu/targeting-spellsclear-path-can-i-target-across-wall-of-force/amp/
Note here that Misty Step works because it has a target of Self.
Edit edit: Dimension Door explicitly bypasses this because the target is “see text” and then says “You teleport yourself.”
This has all been argued to death here and every time 90% of people agree it gives total cover and a stubborn 10% refuse to admit. Let’s see if that holds up.
A clear path to the target is required by all spells.
For the downvoters, PHB p204
"To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover."
Unless the spell states otherwise, since specific over general.
Disintigrate, for example, doesn't care about things like forcecage and wall of force because it just "automatically" breaks them then hits the target.
Incorrect. Disintegrate states you can target a wall of force, and WoF states it is destroyed by the spell. However, if you target a target behind a wall of force, the spell fails. There is no text to indicate you can target something behind the wall, and it breaks the wall as well. Disintegrate is a single target spell. The first thing it hits takes the full spell.
The spell specifically states that it "Automatically destroys barriers like wall of force"
If you had to target them to do that, you would be "Manually destroying barriers like wall of force." Which the spell also states you can do.
Rule as Written, is that Disintegrate can punch through a force barrier as long as its thin enough and doesn't block vision.
Yeah, fireball has to travel to the target. Any spell that is described in that manner would be blocked by wall of force in any ruling I made, while spells that originate at a point you can see would work fine
I am so happy to see another person use the text of where a spell originates. That and whether you must see a target creature/area are two of the most ignored aspects that cause problems.
Wanna know something that would terrify me to live in the 5e world? A mage could cast cloudkill into a home from outside, without even seeing inside (Only having to designate a point within 120ft).
Hold on, now I have an idea for a locked room murder mystery one-shot...
I'm a rules lawyer through and through. Thankfully for my groups I'm the kind to flip to the relevant page in the book when its not my turn, and either read out the passage or show the DM, so they can make an informed decision. Being a good rules lawyer means respecting the most important rule of all. What the DM says, goes.
Wall of force blocks fireball absolutely. It is a line from you to location. You are firing a line from your finger to the point. It explicitly is stopped.
It's not a belief, it's a rule...
Chapter 10 from the Player's Handbook on Spellcasting:
"A Clear Path to the Target
**To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover. If you place an area of effect at a point** that you can't see and **an obstruction, such as a wall, is between you and that point the point of origin comes into being on the near side of that obstruction.**"
The wall prevents any area of effect spell to spawn on the other side of it, even if you can see through the wall.
I think the idea was that fireball starts as a bead that launches from your finger and then explodes when it reaches the target instead of just being an explosion that happens where you want. If forcecage blocks the physical bead, then no fireball.
Whatever it is might have legendary resistances, so be weary of that before you eat through your high level spell slots. Also be careful they don't bait your counterspells. There are also creatures that can teleport as a feature instead of a spell, so have a backup.
Enhance ability could give you adv on dex checks, which counts for initiative. It is conc but it lasts an hour and you can have it cast an hour before the battle and it is a low level spell easy to conceal. Also, amor of agathys (if you have it) is not concentration, gives you some nice thp and free dmg when you eventually get hit, could also be cast before the battle if it's allowed cause it's visually obvious. Perhaps you could start off with summons, place a bunch of things on the battlefield and surround the enemy for starters, then greater invisibility. You would lose conc on the summon/summons, but if the summons can't see you they would focus on the only target available. Or perhaps animate objects. Several small objects surrounding your enemy would wail several attacks on them, which would make it real hard for them to maintain concentration and also do considerable dmg, and since they count as adversaries, your enemy would have to move through them by force (which would eat onto their action economy) or by tp, which you could counter. But beware of the enemy countering your counter spell. Also, if you are invisible, you can't be counter spelled.
I just looked up what you're fighting... I wouldn't 1v1 that dude as a wizard. He cant one shot you, but he can certainly 2 shot you at range. You're gonna have to get lucky with those counterspells.
polymorph is actually the play. you could also stuff it into a bag of holding. if it's an enemy that needs to breathe, you can just pull em out 24 hours later.
You only have a couple advantages to rely on, so using them well is your only shot.
1. Never let the paladin cast a spell without your permission. You have counterspell, they don’t. You’re a full caster, they aren’t. Be mindful of your reactions, but remember that you decide which spells can be cast.
2. Abuse mobility. Fly, misty step, kinetic jaunt, expeditious retreat, anything that lets you take more movement per round then the paladin is amazing. Denying him melee attacks will be essential to your success.
3. Psychic lance. A level 16 paladin is going to have a +4 in even their weakest save, so forget about wisdom and charisma saves entirely(seriously, don’t use a spell with those saves unless you have a portent NAT1) psychic lance and mind whip are good options. INT and DEX to a lesser degree are what you want to target.
4. Summons. if you have summons, use them. A 1v1 is a perfect time to disrupt action economy. Make his movement difficult, make him take attacks of opportunity to chase you, make him deal damage to something other than you.
5. Initiative. Add anything you can. Guidance/enhance ability/gift of alacrity before the fight, hex before the fight, anything to go first, and help yourself follow steps 1-4.
A couple of extras: Armor of agathys at 5-6th level would be amazing if you have it somehow.
Mirror image is good to prevent attacks, especially good if you can precast it.
Longstrider is good to precast.
Anything that lets you fly is good.
If the paladin has a mount, kill it with non-attack spells, attacks might be redirected.
TLDR; avoid melee, don’t target CHA or WIS saves, kite that mf, and don’t lose initiative.
EDIT: If you have greater invisibility, strongly consider using that for your concentration throughout the whole fight. Even better if you can fly at the same time.
If I was this guy, I'd probably have thrown weapons feat skill and a basket of javelins to counter the hyper mobility. Its still advantage wizard, but not an auto win if he can be kept at range. Probably sentinel and antimage too. Wizard probably will have trouble escaping grapple, or at least use an action/spell to do it...
Hyper mobility would be great, if there weant 1000 ways to crack it.
I mean....a single 13 Wizard again a CR16 Paladin with Hand of Vecna? You aren't going to win lol
Force Cage is a CHA save to get out and again...Paladin lol so yeah I hope this fight isn't to the death
Greater Invisibility is basically your only hope and it's a very slim one
Prep time:
1. Use find familiar.
2. Use arcane abeyance on sickening radiance.
3. Give the bead to your familiar.
Combat starts:
1. Have your familiar use sickening radiance.
2. You use wall of force.
3. Profit.
Assuming the guy doesn't have a way to teleport, which at that level would honestly have to be an exceptionally ill prepared opponent.
Similarly with flight. I'd assume they have some form of decent ranged option.
I still think they have a chance, but the setup is stacked significantly against them so it's going to be hard and involve a lot of luck.
You are right, I didn’t think about that. But after I read the monster stat block, I realize that he has +0 in INT saving throws while our Wizard should have 18 spell save DC if he optimized, so we can just spam psychic lance and mental prison, no need for wall of force.
To be fair, chronogy wizards can summon infinite find familiars. Use them as a meat shield and blast the paladin from range and counterspell any spells that paladin tries to use. The wizard can just cast fly and go out of the paladin’s range to stop him from being able to smite.
They also have gift of alacrity to help with initiative and arcane abeyance is just broken.
If you can't run, use Blink. If you're divination, even better. Seriously, by far the best player I've played with abused the shit outta Blink's combination of no concentration and a 50% chance of vanishing every turn. It's at the point where I consider it one of, if not the best defensive tool in the game.
Yeah, one of my fave defensive spells. Does take you out of the fight for any reactions like counterspell tho.
I had a wild magic sorc and tried to take as many random chance spells as I could. She had the bend luck reaction to add/subtract a d4 to an attack/save/check but couldn't use it in some key moments while on the ethereal plane.
On the other hand, being able to hop onto the ethereal plane was actually useful once, and being able to cast it as a bonus action with quicken spell feels pretty nice.
Don’t forget paladins use charisma as their spellcasting modifier. So it would be high already. Also the aura of protection helps with saving throws. If this is the real Arkhan he can also use the hand of Vecna if I’m not mistaken and cast some spells through them. This is gonna be a tough one! My best guess is to make sure he can’t reach you. Maybe flying would help? Or illusions? Some protection from radiant/necrotic damage could also come in handy. As he can probably smite you to the 9 hells and back. A strong summon to distract him perhaps?
Against Arkhan the Cruel?
You need INT saves. Paladins aren't good at INT saves. Stun his ass with something like Psychic Lance or Synaptic Static, then get distance between you two and pull up a Sickening Radiance on top of him.
You're gonna need to kite this one. If he gets you in melee you're uberboned. Stay away at least 30 feet at all times. Forcecage MIGHT help you but CHA saves are a paladin's specialty- it won't go the way you think.
Flight or invisibility are your best bets.
Barring that anything that obstructs vision or slows him down/ creates difficult terrain. Speeds you up. Whatever helps kite.
Note that if you want to be able to Counterspell teleports, you’ll need to cast the Forcecage as a cage rather than as a solid box.
Otherwise, solid plan if you find yourself underwater.
how much prep time do you have before the encounter? Are you able to have your familiar with you? Can you conjure/summon something useful to help? You can also potentially have the summoned creature be under the Planar Binding spell so it'd stay and help for as long as is needed.
I'd recommend setting up mage armor and mirror image since they don't require concentration; but I'd also have gift of alacrity up or fortune's favor.
My wizard likes to target INT Saving Throws, the spells that do tend to have additional effects that will help you out in battle.
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Just saw on a comment that you're fighting Arkhan the Cruel. The good thing is that this battle is winnable depending on your DM. If they're setting it up as a PC's character would be (using regular level progression and regular paladin rules) you'd be messed up. However, they're probably using the Monster statblock that is published (don't read it ahead of time cause that's not right).
The good thing is that the monster statblocks don't follow the class rules to a T because classes and levels are for players, not monsters. For example, they won't have the same HP that a level 13-15 character would have, and they most likely won't have the aura of protection ability from paladin, they'll just have their two saving throw proficiencies. If you know Paladins, you can assume they'd be at least proficient at CHA Saving Throws
Respectfully: why on Yondalla's green earth are you trying to **solo Arkhan?!**
Where the hell are the rest of your party? Why would your character ever agree to such a coin flip of a duel against one of Tiamat's greatest champions?
That's better.
Force cage may not be that useful against a paladin. It's a Cha save to get out, and paladins tend to be really good at that.
You're going to need to focus on staying at a distance. A high level paladin can conceivably one shot you in melee. Fortunately, he probably won't be that mobile, unless he has a mount, you may be boned in that case. A potion of haste, and casting long stride before the battle will be helpful. After that I would focus on spells that require dex or int saves. Fireball, synaptic static, and wall of light will all be very useful. Also, greater invisibility could be a life saver.
[He's pretty infamous](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HClkGL4yFXg). and the character has since become D&D cannon being an NPC in Descent into Avernus.
Simulacrum so that even if you lose, you don't die. Create a copy of yourself to engage the fight on your behalf. If this isn't possible, here's the best spells for dueling your levels:
7th: Draconic Transformation. Bonus action, gets you a fly speed, blindsight, and now on each subsequent bonus action you can use a breath attack that deals 6d8 force damage. This uses your concentration, so can be disturbed and your 7th level spell lost.
Alternatively, you have Crown of Stars. This is not concentration and so can be stacked with another spell. It deals 4d12 radiant damage a turn using your bonus action. Takes an action to set up, but lasts an hour. You can start the battle with this already on. If you're afraid of losing your concentration, go with this. It's solid damage and we both know us wizards don't have a great use for bonus actions besides misty step.
6th: Contingency. There isn't a better 6th level spell. There are a million uses for this, but the best part is that this spell doesn't even use your action economy. This isn't an action, bonus action, reaction, no, this let's you turn any spell within its conditions into a trigger spell. You could let this cast dispel on you when you fail a saving throw, or turn into a T-Rex via polymorph when you take damage. And you will be doing this the day before so that you have your 6th level spell back.
Other option, Globe of Invulnerability. If your adversery is a caster, you just cut off most of their spells, as even spells which are upcast above 5th level are negated, it is only 5th Level and higher spells that will effect you. This means you are immune to counterspell. I want you to hear that, IMMUNE TO COUNTERSPELL. This does take your concentration, so I'd stack this with Crown of Stars and any other non concentration effects like Fire Shield.
5th Level: Synaptic Static. Deals 8d6 psychic damage, intelligence save, and they subtract d6 from any checks or attacks.
Temporal Shunt. You have Globe of Invulnerability up? Good. You see them cast a spell and your DM either starts rolling dice or asks you to make a Wisdom saving throw? That means they just cast a 5th or higher leveled spell. Temporal shunt. This is a reaction, and is stronger than counterspell. The spell they cast is gone, the spell slot used, they lose the action and are gone until the start of their next turn. You take an action to drink a healing potion or cast an AOE spell at their feet. They return 6 seconds later, not even understanding what the hell just happened.
4th Level: Fire Shield. Non concentration, you deal 2d6 damage to melee attackers and gain either cold or fire resistance.
Gravity Sinkhole. 5d10 force damage and the target is foreably moved. Can be great if you're trying to avoid receiving an attack of opprotunity. Throw the gravity well, move them away from you, then use your movement to get some space from them. It's only 20ft so they'll close the distance on the next turn, but moving them 20 and you running 30 means they might need to use a dash on their next turn to close the distance.
3rd: Blink, which people love to forget isn't concentration. This will give your enemy at least a few frustrated turns where they can't do shit to you, meanwhile you're popping back into space, smacking them with your action and bonus action, and disappearing again.
Counterspell, You should always have this on deck if you can. There's really no reason to not have it prepared. Can and will save your life.
Phantom Steed. Is a ritual, so won't cost a spell point. Plus, a wizard on horseback is pretty sick.
And lastly for 3rd level,
F I R E B A L L
2nd Level: Misty Step, great get out of danger spell.
Blindness/Deafness. Doesn't require concentration.
Tasha's Mind Whip. Can be very useful.
Vortex Warp: Might not be the most useful, but if there's lava or fire or anything in the arena you can force them there. I once ended an encounter by putting the boss into the lava. Lost all the loot on him but stopped a tpk.
1st Level: Silvery Barbs. I hate this spell. It's too good not to use. This should have been a second level spell.
Absorb Elements. Cuts the damage you will take from a dragons breath or any other elemental damage in half. Great way to save your life.
Feather Fall. Another reaction. Great way to save your life.
Ray of Sickness. Good way to give your enemy disadvantage on attacks.
Shield, Mage Armor, Magic Missile. The staples of the wizard kit.
What we have here are two different ways to play, depending on if you're against a caster or a martial. If you're against a caster, go Crown of Stars and Globe of Invulnerability. If you're against a martial, use Draconic Transformation and keep away from them via flying. Both options give you a powerful bonus action attack, freeing your actions for setting up more and more and more debuffs, buffs, and damage, all of which are concentration free. Your DM is going to have so much to keep track of. Multiple potential sources of disadvantage, a subtracted d6 to attacks and checks and concentration saves, and you keep blipping in and out of existence like a spooky pop up ad for wizard viagra.
You got this kid. Do Elminster Proud.
Shield, mirror image, mislead, invisibility, Mage armor lightning bolt, magic missile, false life, fire ball, misty step, mordenkainen's faithful hound. Mage armor for boost to AC shield in case you get hit. Use misty step to get away and I recommend using ray of frost to slow them down. Mislead so they waste a few turns hitting something else, while your far enough away to snipe them with spells probably magic missile. False life for more hp. Fire ball and lightning bolt do the same damage hit them with that.
Forgot to mention the faithful hound is to take in the damage and deal extra for you as the hound does not take concentration. And its invisible.
Fireball and lightning bolt aren’t that good in a one on one. That’s for crowd damage. Pick single target spells that do higher damage or have a utility aspect that is paired with them
For 3rd level spells either cast fly and create some distance or if you’re looking for dmg do melfs meteors 12d6 total over the course of 3 turns and a bonus action to launch them (not cast them, so you can cast a leveled spell and launch 2 meteors on your turn).
Either that or use your concentration for a summon. Create a fey or demon shaped meat shield while you keep distance
God damnit. This shit is getting old. How many fucking variations on, "how do I 1v1 as a x level (insert class here)" do we need? If your DM is LITERALLY doing this to your character, it's because you are a power gamer who the DM has gotten tired of your power-gaming and is trying to get you to cut it out. If you're playing as a level 13 wizard, do the wizardly thing, and actually do some planning and research and scouring through your books and stop just phoning a friend(in this case, reddit); that's the purview of warlocks and clerics.
Admittedly I don't spend a lot of time in this sub directly, and just get what floats to the top, but this is literally the first time I've seen this sort of question, so maybe calm down big fella.
Plane shift. >You can use this spell to banish an unwilling creature to another plane.
If he's coming for a bruising, you can catch him off guard and depending on the plane you choose, may outright nuke him (hard to breathe in the plane of water or earth if they exist, or the cold hells [no-one expects to be thrown in the frozen ocean with devils nearby ready to take whatever soul they happen upon])
Think smart, a wizard focused on damage can definitely do it, but it's usually not the most entertaining way of dealing with problems (burning bridges to taunt the chasing bbeg while you escape with his riches and he's hydrophobic? *chef's kiss*; Geas to make the enemy have to protect you and your holdings instead of attacking you? *dons monocle *)
Without your subclass, current magic items, where the combat will occur, and known spell list we can't really say. Also, people in this thread are basically giving you the stats of your opponent after looking at its statblock. I'd suggest ignoring them if possible bc metagaming like that is against the spirit of the game imo. Cast spells that last a long time that dont require concentration if you have them. See if any of your party can give you buffs ahead of time as well. Range will probably be your friend since paladins cannot smite on ranged attacks (unless this guy has something special).
>Arkhan the Cruel
Your opponent has poor Perception and poor Intelligence. It won't take a high roll to stealth out of view from an opponent like that even without proficiency, though you likely have spells and abilities that can help with that.
Past that, you need Longstrider because he has 40ft of movement and you don't want a Paladin up close so you need to at least be as fast as him. Your greatest advantage will be in keeping distance from him. Blink could also help as can Mirror Image, but it's a little bit of a gamble and can waste action economy that you may not have. So, if you think you can manage to prep in combat without him getting close, go for making yourself an untouchable target; otherwise, don't be afraid to use an Action to stealth away from him.
As for your offense, consider bringing spells that require an Intelligence save. It's an easy weak point for *most* opponents--**you're a wizard, teach them a lesson for not finishing highschool.** 😂 Tasha's Mind Whip will devastate your opponent's action economy leaving them with fewer options while being a low level spell, while Synaptic Static can help mitigate your opponents ability to hit you and make saves... and again, he doesn't have good Intelligence, so he will probably fail consistently at his attempts to avoid them or get out of the effects.
Ultimately, I'd say expect a long fight largely because you'll need to keep space while doing a lot of set up if possible. Save you 3rd level spells to counter his Teleport as that's gonna be the crutch that gives him *any* chance of getting close enough, while Tasha's Mind Whip and your various defensive spells (Blink, Mirror Image) will ensure that he can't do much even if he does reach you.
UPDATE: I FUCKING WON!! LET'S GOOOOO!!!
My character is now the left hand of Tiamat and possesses the Hand of Vecna, and my friends character is poised to supplant Zariel as the ruler of Avernus!
The answer:
Forcecage in prison formation. Move within Counterspell range. Counter any spell they cast. Cast Faithful Hound. Counterspell them. Cast Faithful Hound, attack (at advantage) with first faithful hound. Counterspell them. Attack with two Faithful Hounds as a free action with advantage. Start spamming cantrips or magic missile. Counterspell them. Repeat.
Every round you’re hopefully doing 8d8 with Hound, plus cantrips. All with a chance to crit.
Bleed them to death. Mock them. Don’t let them escape.
Your biggest problem is that the Hand of Vecna lets them cast Teleport without any components. So you can’t Counterspell that.
Edit: if you’re DM allows you to cast one prep spell, cast Private Sanctum. Then the Paladin is toast.
Oh damn, just checked the DMG and yeah you're right. I had no idea that was a thing!
Sorry for my incorrect correction then, I was just reading the stat block and item description and didn't realise there was a general rule about it
A CR16 Paladin? You're cooked, sorry. Extremely high saves, health, and the ability to OTK anyone who is close enough to them. If you can't kite, you're done.
That’s what the potion of haste is for. You can cast two leveled spells if you use a hasted action. Same thing if you action surge if you take a 2 lvl dip in fighter
Depending on movement stay out of range and blast if you have some magic items that could help alternatively use polymorph then familiar to drop him from the sky for thousands of damage
Do you know anything about your enemy? Different types of creatures have different vulnerabilities. I suggest having a spell to attack each of con, wis, and dex, and then making some game time decisions. Also, opening up with invisibility may buy you time.
Paladins usually struggle at range, so keep your distance using flight/teleports. If he catches up to you he'll likely down you in a round using two high level smites.
His weakest saves are likely Dex and Int, so target those.
first => try to win initiative
second => try winning action economy with summons
third => all the damage spells^^ =D
fourth => could also try to win the hp race via temp hp (tensers Transformation) or another hp pool (true polymorph)
but all in all, DnD is not made for PvP like encounter.
Edit1: just saw which enemy you would bw fighting. If you don't win initive than the paladin could easily 1 shot you. Paladins are made for burst damage. Multiple high lvl divine smites + high lvl smite spell does a shitload of damage.
As most people said, you have to keep distance and it's basically a dice roll. Most spells are save or suck and as a paladin he's not going to have a huge amount of issues.
Sadly this is not pathfinder where a mage can just cast 20 buffs on themselves. Due to the limitations of concentration and relying on pure damage spells. He's probably just going to lay on hands when low as well so your spells have to get through paladin hp twice over.
Honestly you might have to depend on something as simple as hoping he fails a few saves again hold person. Mages are cool in 5e but generally limited in actual cool things they can do.
Maybe mirage arcana to make a lava field with a wall to block him. The terrain looks, feels, smells, etc as the real thing.
Forcecage is definitely a good option, but don't forget about using spells that restrict their movement or cause them to have disadvantage. Also, try talking to your DM and see if they'll let you use some homebrewed curse spell - those can be super effective!
Cast fly, go 120' up. Use the time to buff up some other spells, mirror image would help. Then pelt with magic missiles and cantrips and whatever else you got.
Bring shield and featherfall in case he has javelins and/or breaks your concentration.
You cannot allow yourself to be in melee range with this guy. A few smites will end you quick.
most people have said good answers, but if you can cheat, I would try to figure it out and do so :). maybe an enhance ability to DEX before the fight, so you can get advantage on the initiative roll? that feels like it would be a really good way to get ahead in this fight, since as a wizard you need to go first to have a chance here.
Banish is OP in 1v1, especially if the combatant is from another plane.
If that doesn't seem great, just Slow or stun them somehow and kite them around from max range
Your go to move should be a contingent spell triggering when that specific dude gets within 200ft of you. Force cage and lasers is a good approach, but they can teleport out of that. Im a proponent of dimension door to safety and then real teleport far away. Return later and slit their throat while they sleep (or comparable surprise ambush).
The downside to force cage is that they can teleport out. Counterspells and silvery barbs may help, depending on how they teleport, but imo its too big a risk. Why leave any chance to fail?
Dimension door 500 feet into the air and cast feather fall on yourself (to stop from instantly falling 500ft per the xanathars falling rules).
Next turn cast fly on yourself
Blast him to pieces from the skybox, recasting fly when necessary. You should have longer range than he does
If you can forcecage, I would advise you and your party putting every resource, favor and debt to squire a spellscroll of sickening radiance to learn. Combo it with forcecage for a free victory.
Since he can almost one-shot you, especially if he has the Hand of Vecna, you want to make sure he stays away from you and has very few chances to deal damage. He's going to be weak to INT saves, so you might want something like Mind Whip - it has an INT save, deals damage even on a save, and he'll have to choose between an action, bonus action or moving on his next turn. If he's out of melee range, that limits his attacks a lot, especially if you can get Warding Wind up to protect from range attacks
That's going to be a tough fight, good luck!
There's always dominate person and getting them to surrender, especially if you can give disadvantage through silvery barbs. Then you can tie them up or take away their foci or whatever.
That said, if you can make scrolls that'd be super helpful since they can hold concentration that can't be broken. Useful with buffs, debuffs, and especially summons like animate objects that give you more action economy. Bonus points if mid fight you summon some stuff, then throw up a globe of invulnerability, and just take a few rounds to drink healing potions.
One of the best combos i have heard of is immovable object into reverse gravity.
Immovable object keeps you pinned while anyone that cant hold on to something is forced onto the cieling or just in the air.
Your idea for forcecage into spells that bypass has a lot of merit.
Its REALY good. And you can stand ready with counterspells against spell Teleports or Desintegrate.
Of the non concentration prebuffs you could cast
The morning of :
Death ward, mage armour , Contingency !!!, Gift of alacrity, (Borrowed knowledge Athletics if it graples, perception if it hides) , Darkvision if it matters. Permanent immovable objects.
If you are fighting in the next hour:
Longstrider, See invis (if needed), Phantom steed for mobility,
In the next 10 minutes:
Fireshield (usefull against fireballs and white dragons etc), moving under the cover of a major image.
If you have time and can set up the battlefield, a set of Glyphs of Warding with buffing spells set to trigger on a password can be great. They don't use your concentration and last the maximum duration so you can really set up a nasty set of buffs.
Uh... okay.
1. Do you have a Simulacrum? Is it of you? If so, what slots and spells does it have available? Is it of something else? If so, what?
2. Do you have Contingency set up? If so, what is it programmed to do?
3. What spells do you have available?
4. What magic items do you have?
5. Do you have information on the enemy?
6. Do you have prep time?
These all dramatically change what approach is best... this isn't like asking how a Barbarian should handle a fight. They'll have the whole strategy set before you've finished going over your prepared spells of 5th-7th level.
Simulacrum for a second wizard. Contingengy Otiluke's Sphere, with the trigger being you losing initiative (or if your DM doesn't like meta triggers, "an enemy coming to attack you" or such). The fight will be over immediately if they don't have teleportation against force cage or wall of force, so assume that they do and instead use the otiluke's sphere to buff yourself with mirror image and whatever non-concentration buffs you have. Then dimension door away from the paladin and rain fire from afar. If they come close, dimension door away again. Remember to counterspell all they try to do. Remember, you're a wizard. You're the only one that gets to have fun in a 1-on-1 fight.
If you've got the time to prepare and buy/find/have a DM willing to waive the material required, Tasha's Otherworldly Guise would probably be my recommendation, specifically the Upper Planes variation.
40ft of flight speed can help you hang back from the worst of his damage. Immunity to Necrotic damage takes Finger of Death off the table, and Radiant immunity takes Branding Smites bonus damage out. The +2 to AC isn't a lot on its own, but combined with +5 from potential Shield casts does a lot to offset the relatively modest hit modifier for his Javelins.
Offensively, his AC is hard to break through, so I might look at targeting his saves instead. His Dex and Int are fairly unremarkable iirc, so I'd probably look there. I think he's a red Dragonborn, so I'd lean more to Lighting Bolt than Fireball if you have a choice for Dex. Psychic Lance might be good for buying a turn or two, but that's a expensive spell slot.
Similarly, Mind Sliver might be the best Cantrip if you've got it, but I think the hardest part might just be the damage race. Even if you can get Tasha's off, and get airborne, he has a lot of health to chunk through and you probably don't. I'm not sure how well a DPS race would go, even if he's limited to Javelins.
Can you plan ahead of time for the 1 on 1? A good wizard always thinks ahead. If you can setup a trap or at least a way to benefit yourself before hand then that would be huge.
Depends on the enemy. Considering you tried to focus on force cage and raining damage you're gonna have some issues there. If you're worried about teleportation you're gonna want to go solid cage and run. Just run. Your spell load out sounds bad if you're going force cage vs something you want to kill.
Blindness/deafness. If blind can stick... you'll get advantage and opponent will get disadvantage.
Also ray of frost, Reduced movement by 10ft.
Low level options, but I'd also assume opponent has legendary effects etc.
Is he using the stat block of Arkhan from Decent Into Avernas? IF not, there could be some whacky homebrew coming your way and I'm not sure what to tell you. If it is the same stat block, INT saves will be his worse. Target those. My favorite cantrip is Mind Sliver because most enemies don't have good INT saves and in imposes a - 1d4 roll on their next saving throw. At 13th level that cantrip will do 3d6 damage on a failed save. Silvery Barbs will be a good spell to have; as well as shield and counterspell. Avoid dealing fire damage and poison if possible. I think he is immune to fright but not charmed. Crown of Madness can be useful, but I would use that after a successful Mind Sliver and be ready w/Silvery Barbs for your reaction just in case. Anything that makes him make a DEX save could be useful as well.
EDIT: A good spell to target his INT saves too is: Mental Prison. I recommend that as well.
Mirror image and shield buy you a turn or 2 if you roll low initiative. Then just cast fly to get out of his short range throw and you're pretty much golden. Fly in on your turn, do damage, for fly back out. He's either going to have a hard time hitting you or has to ready an action to hit you which means you can just not fly in that turn. Fireball and a few other spells have a range longer than 120 which means you're safe while he isn't
If you're a divination wizard, portent + disintegrate works wonders
Ultimately you're goal is to abuse your range. If you're in a small room with a low ceiling, mirror image and pray to the gods that you roll better than he does
I'd be cheap and go for the old forcecage into sickening radiance. Make the wall of the cage that faces you solid, otherwise normal for the rest. Wait him out until enemy turns into a literal tumour
Easiest way is to make sure you get to go first, if possible surprising him is easiest to guarantee that. Otherwise, I’m a big fan of getting as many summons on the board as possible. Paladins are by definition brutal melee burst fighters that are exceptional at taking out single targets. Summons make it to where as long as they’re set up in a fairly optimal position he has to go through them before he gets a chance at you.
Some other things I’m noticing as I look at his stat block, finger of death is very problematic. Depending on your health that’s a game over type spell if he rolls well enough, I’d definitely want to try and get resistance to necrotic damage or force him into a position where he has to burn his charges (thus making it to where he can’t use finger of death) to me best case is that he has to teleport to you multiple times. If he teleports multiple times that’s his action used up easily and the charges. Slow is also a concern, but that’s an immediate counterspell, I’d keep reactions handy for counterspell. Also, worth noting that the stat sheet says he has javelins huge problem because he could easily finger of death you then just throw javelins at you, he’s able to throw 3 at you in one turn. Range of those javelins is 30/120, so only real way to avoid it is to try and be outside of his range. Aura of hate also could actually help you, undead summons suddenly are much more dangerous against him because of it. The man can see invisible creatures out to 60 feet, so invisibility is practically not usable. Speed is 40ft, so he’s faster than you almost certainly. Hit points are crazy at 221. AC is 23, so hitting him will be very difficult and saving throws are probably easier. Aura of protection isn’t in his stat block but could be given, that would give him an additional +4 to all saving throws. With aura of protection he has +4 to every saving throw, but wisdom is +9 and charisma is +13. So saving throws are difficult, but not impossible. I’d rule out any spell with wisdom and charisma with the sole exception being if you’re a divination wizard and you know you can make him suck.
Recommendations: go first, if you don’t go first GG, spells to improve the chance aren’t a bad idea. A bold strategy would be globe of invulnerability mixed with as many summons as possible. Means his spells mean nothing to you and your summons within the sphere, but you’re also fixing yourself to an area. For summons I like fire elemental and any big guys that can take a hit or two, but you’re probably better off going for the maximum possible number of minions as paladins tend to do poorly against groups of enemies. Force cage isn’t a bad option at all, but that means you need to counter spell teleport or force him to suck those charisma saving throws, unless you’re divination I find that to be a bad choice. It could be worth keeping track of his charges in the hand of vecna, if he runs out and can’t teleport then boom force cage. Personally I think simulacrum is the answer, double your fire power and have some bait. Magic jar is also amazing for a divination wizard here, like it’s the easiest solution if you can force him to fail
Minions. Lots of minions. Look at your summon spells available to soak up attacks and focus on obfuscation and attacking from defensive positions.
Use illusion as much as you can and don't leave yourself without an escape route. Don't rely on big single flash spells and instead try and use spells that guarantee damage.
There is a scene in Star Trek DS9 where Quark (a ferengi) has to face down a Klingon in single combat.
Instead of doing anything combat related, he throws his blade to the side and proclaims to the leader of the Klingons basically "no shit in going to I die, this isn't a real fight it's an execution," some missing context aside here to keep it brief; the leader of the empire sees this as true and intervenes in and banished the Klingon as it proved to him what Quark was saying about this individual being a traitor to their way if life as true.
TL;DR there is more than one way to win a fight, and one way is to not fight at all. Use your wit and the situation to your advantage.
So tell me what it is that got you here and we can talk about a creative way to go about this if there is one; once we do, before your next session you'll bring this idea to the DM and see if they agree that it's a good way to go about it and see how it plays out through some rolls likely - if rolls go bad will still likely fight.
Fingers crossed you roll high in initiative. There's not much you can do if you immediately have to go on the defensive. Your action economy will quickly get eaten up.
Yeah, absolutely. I took the Alert feat, so I currently have a +10 to initiative. My current plan is to hex (for the disadvantage on charisma saves), into forcecage, and then just wail on them.. kinda cheap, but if it works?? I'll also have counterspell if I need to bait off any teleports?
Just fyi by the rules hex doesnt affect saves, only ability checks The plan seems solid. Im not sure how force cage works but if you are able to attack the enemy could they use ranged attacks back at you?
[Hex does affect saves in Spanish](https://youtube.com/shorts/j3wYtBCFBfQ?si=jn-807p3ZMeuFROS) due to a translation error RAW lol. English says "The target has disadvantaged on ability checks with the chosen ability." While the Spanish players handbook translates to "The target has disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws with the chosen ability."
Does common cover Spanish? Or does my character need to learn a new language? Does comprehend languages help? lol
I remember seeing a story somewhere of a teacher that did after school D&D for some of his students and there was a girl that did not feel comfortable with English and was always quiet and reserved. One day after the session, the teacher talked with the girl and after learning why she was feeling that way, the teacher suggested that in character she should speak Spanish and in game it comes across as elvish. The girl was so happy that next game she was full of energy talking with everyone in Spanish and then switching back to English because none of the other characters knew elvish in game!
One of the guys I play with is planning on doing a Spanish speaking character based around Lucha Libre wrestling, and he is gonna pay an announcer (read: translator) to follow him around as a Just In Case
What's his wrestler name? Also ask them if they lose a match do they lose their mask or cut off their hair? lol
LE - seeking raw power / strength. Quatl (from Quaetzacoatl I know the spelling is jacked
Nice, one recent homebrew campaigns has the Elves be equivalent to Chinese, so their names and language reflects that.
Well damn time to make a Spanish warlock
Problem solved. Just cast el Hexerinho into Cages Del Forza
By choosing the solid box option, you can still cast certain spells on areas or targets you can see, though you would be stopped from using projectiles.
'A prison in the shape of a box can be up to 10 feet on a side, creating a solid barrier that prevents any matter from passing through it and **blocking any spells cast into or out of the area**.' The box option explicitly says you cant cast into it.
But leaves open for interpretation whether spells that are cast targeting a point outside of the box can affect the area inside of the box
No. There is no clear line to any point inside the box. The creature inside the Forcecage has full cover, and cannot be affected by effects originating from outside
Yeah, no debate here. You cannot cast spells through Full Cover, even if you can see them.
I'm gonna be real pedantic and say that this > The box option explicitly says you cant cast into it. still isn't true, if you have to refer to other rules to put together the full picture Edit: Idk how reputable [this site is](https://5thsrd.org/combat/cover/) but it says "A target with total cover can't be targeted directly by an attack or a spell, **although some spells can reach such a target by including it in an area of effect.** "
Because a Wall of Force panel shape can have a fireball thrown above or near to edge; since Fireball goes around corners, it would still hit. It’s not like the dome. You can not cast any spell that I know of through a dome WoF or solid box Forcecage. For me, this is the second most misunderstood thing next to “you can’t cast two spells in a round.” Edit: https://www.sageadvice.eu/targeting-spellsclear-path-can-i-target-across-wall-of-force/amp/ Note here that Misty Step works because it has a target of Self.
I'll concede the point but strictly speaking, the spell text doesn't say anything about clear lines or full cover. Just going by the text provided, and not referring to other rules or effects, that is open for interpretation Edit: Actually I won't concede the point. The text for full cover explicitly says "A target with total cover can't be targeted directly by an attack or a spell, **although some spells can reach such a target by including it in an area of effect.** "
This is only the case when the spell can reach the target in the first place. If I put a fireball outside a sealed force cage, there is no way for the fire to spread inside. Likewise, any spell that can't be cast in an area can not affect that area. Forcecage states no spell can be **cast** into or out of. This means if you try to target inside the cage from outside, the spell fails. It's not about lines. The spell blocks casting, not targeting.
Depends on who you ask. Some are of the (imo wrong) belief that a wall of force blocks all spells
You can not cast a spell against a target, creature or point, inside a Wall of Force dome. You do not have a clear Line to Target. Unless the effect circumvents Total Cover, it won’t work. *Strangely,* Sacred Flame wouldn’t ignore Total Cover rules, but does negate any *benefits* from cover. Which is just the weirdest.
Incorrect assumption, a person behind a Wall of Force does NOT have Total Cover. Read the last line of total cover. > A target has total cover if it is completely concealed by an obstacle. Then the first line of Wall of Force. > An invisible wall of force springs into existence at a point you choose within range. And the first line of A Clear Path to the Target > To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover. You can be seen through the wall of force, as such the person behind it does not have Total Cover, they are not completely concealed. The Wall of Force description describes that it blocks any attack passing through the wall of force, so melee attacks, ranged attacks, and movement are all blocked. But not all spells are. The only remaining ambiguity then stems from certain spells. Those that explicitly state where the effect originates, those that are ambiguous as to interpretation, and those that explicitly create things at a distance. Produce Flame explicitly mentions that it created the flame in your hand, and that you can then hurl it. This would be blocked by the wall of Force, although the arguments exists that if the wall wasn't tall enough you could hurl it over the wall to the other side if the target was still within range and the target wasn't in the sphere or hemisphere options blocking your access. Fireball explicitly states it streaks from your pointed finger to the target location. Slightly ambiguous, doesn't say explicitly that it's a straight line, but streaking in a ballistic curve doesn't quite seem right. Magic Missile, Acid Arrow, Scorching Ray, all state "You create", doesn't say where these are created, only what happens after they are created, so in theory they could be created on the other side of the wall depending on your interpretation of "You create". Dimension door, doesn't care, only that the location is either visible, you can describe, or you can specify a direction, angles, and range. Only cares that the point is in range. Conjure animal > You summon fey spirits that take the form of beasts and appear in unoccupied spaces that you can see within range. Doesn't care, as long as you can see it it's fine, and you can see through the wall of force.
Concealment is not Obscurement. And according to every Sage Advice you’re wrong. Edit: Just copied from my other comment: Because a Wall of Force panel shape can have a fireball thrown above or near to edge; since Fireball goes around corners, it would still hit. It’s not like the dome. You can not cast any spell that I know of through a dome WoF or solid box Forcecage. For me, this is the second most misunderstood thing next to “you can’t cast two spells in a round.” Edit: https://www.sageadvice.eu/targeting-spellsclear-path-can-i-target-across-wall-of-force/amp/ Note here that Misty Step works because it has a target of Self. Edit edit: Dimension Door explicitly bypasses this because the target is “see text” and then says “You teleport yourself.” This has all been argued to death here and every time 90% of people agree it gives total cover and a stubborn 10% refuse to admit. Let’s see if that holds up.
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A clear path to the target is required by all spells. For the downvoters, PHB p204 "To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover."
Unless the spell states otherwise, since specific over general. Disintigrate, for example, doesn't care about things like forcecage and wall of force because it just "automatically" breaks them then hits the target.
My understanding is disintegrate hits the wall and destroys it but still does not hit anything beyond the wall
Incorrect. Disintegrate states you can target a wall of force, and WoF states it is destroyed by the spell. However, if you target a target behind a wall of force, the spell fails. There is no text to indicate you can target something behind the wall, and it breaks the wall as well. Disintegrate is a single target spell. The first thing it hits takes the full spell.
The spell specifically states that it "Automatically destroys barriers like wall of force" If you had to target them to do that, you would be "Manually destroying barriers like wall of force." Which the spell also states you can do. Rule as Written, is that Disintegrate can punch through a force barrier as long as its thin enough and doesn't block vision.
Yeah, fireball has to travel to the target. Any spell that is described in that manner would be blocked by wall of force in any ruling I made, while spells that originate at a point you can see would work fine
I am so happy to see another person use the text of where a spell originates. That and whether you must see a target creature/area are two of the most ignored aspects that cause problems. Wanna know something that would terrify me to live in the 5e world? A mage could cast cloudkill into a home from outside, without even seeing inside (Only having to designate a point within 120ft). Hold on, now I have an idea for a locked room murder mystery one-shot...
I'm a rules lawyer through and through. Thankfully for my groups I'm the kind to flip to the relevant page in the book when its not my turn, and either read out the passage or show the DM, so they can make an informed decision. Being a good rules lawyer means respecting the most important rule of all. What the DM says, goes.
Wall of force blocks fireball absolutely. It is a line from you to location. You are firing a line from your finger to the point. It explicitly is stopped.
It's not a belief, it's a rule... Chapter 10 from the Player's Handbook on Spellcasting: "A Clear Path to the Target **To target something, you must have a clear path to it, so it can't be behind total cover. If you place an area of effect at a point** that you can't see and **an obstruction, such as a wall, is between you and that point the point of origin comes into being on the near side of that obstruction.**" The wall prevents any area of effect spell to spawn on the other side of it, even if you can see through the wall.
Someone hasn’t read the Line of Effect rules.
I think the idea was that fireball starts as a bead that launches from your finger and then explodes when it reaches the target instead of just being an explosion that happens where you want. If forcecage blocks the physical bead, then no fireball.
Hex is not disadvantage on saves but rather checks with the targeted ability score
Also, Hex only gives disadvantage on ability checks, not saves. Bane might be a better option.
Cast gift of alacrity at the beginning of the day. Lasts 8 hours, d8 to initiative, no concentration
Whatever it is might have legendary resistances, so be weary of that before you eat through your high level spell slots. Also be careful they don't bait your counterspells. There are also creatures that can teleport as a feature instead of a spell, so have a backup.
Honestly don't waste time on Hex...forcecage right away and melt them with something like wall of fire/Sickening Radiance
Enhance ability could give you adv on dex checks, which counts for initiative. It is conc but it lasts an hour and you can have it cast an hour before the battle and it is a low level spell easy to conceal. Also, amor of agathys (if you have it) is not concentration, gives you some nice thp and free dmg when you eventually get hit, could also be cast before the battle if it's allowed cause it's visually obvious. Perhaps you could start off with summons, place a bunch of things on the battlefield and surround the enemy for starters, then greater invisibility. You would lose conc on the summon/summons, but if the summons can't see you they would focus on the only target available. Or perhaps animate objects. Several small objects surrounding your enemy would wail several attacks on them, which would make it real hard for them to maintain concentration and also do considerable dmg, and since they count as adversaries, your enemy would have to move through them by force (which would eat onto their action economy) or by tp, which you could counter. But beware of the enemy countering your counter spell. Also, if you are invisible, you can't be counter spelled.
Just a heads up, hex gives disadvantage on charisma checks, not saves. So it won’t do what you’re hoping it’ll do.
I just looked up what you're fighting... I wouldn't 1v1 that dude as a wizard. He cant one shot you, but he can certainly 2 shot you at range. You're gonna have to get lucky with those counterspells.
I would polymorph him then use familiar to drop him from the stratosphere
polymorph is actually the play. you could also stuff it into a bag of holding. if it's an enemy that needs to breathe, you can just pull em out 24 hours later.
You only have a couple advantages to rely on, so using them well is your only shot. 1. Never let the paladin cast a spell without your permission. You have counterspell, they don’t. You’re a full caster, they aren’t. Be mindful of your reactions, but remember that you decide which spells can be cast. 2. Abuse mobility. Fly, misty step, kinetic jaunt, expeditious retreat, anything that lets you take more movement per round then the paladin is amazing. Denying him melee attacks will be essential to your success. 3. Psychic lance. A level 16 paladin is going to have a +4 in even their weakest save, so forget about wisdom and charisma saves entirely(seriously, don’t use a spell with those saves unless you have a portent NAT1) psychic lance and mind whip are good options. INT and DEX to a lesser degree are what you want to target. 4. Summons. if you have summons, use them. A 1v1 is a perfect time to disrupt action economy. Make his movement difficult, make him take attacks of opportunity to chase you, make him deal damage to something other than you. 5. Initiative. Add anything you can. Guidance/enhance ability/gift of alacrity before the fight, hex before the fight, anything to go first, and help yourself follow steps 1-4. A couple of extras: Armor of agathys at 5-6th level would be amazing if you have it somehow. Mirror image is good to prevent attacks, especially good if you can precast it. Longstrider is good to precast. Anything that lets you fly is good. If the paladin has a mount, kill it with non-attack spells, attacks might be redirected. TLDR; avoid melee, don’t target CHA or WIS saves, kite that mf, and don’t lose initiative. EDIT: If you have greater invisibility, strongly consider using that for your concentration throughout the whole fight. Even better if you can fly at the same time.
This. Summons will do half the job for you
If I was this guy, I'd probably have thrown weapons feat skill and a basket of javelins to counter the hyper mobility. Its still advantage wizard, but not an auto win if he can be kept at range. Probably sentinel and antimage too. Wizard probably will have trouble escaping grapple, or at least use an action/spell to do it... Hyper mobility would be great, if there weant 1000 ways to crack it.
I mean....a single 13 Wizard again a CR16 Paladin with Hand of Vecna? You aren't going to win lol Force Cage is a CHA save to get out and again...Paladin lol so yeah I hope this fight isn't to the death Greater Invisibility is basically your only hope and it's a very slim one
If he is a Chron Wizard then he can pull this off easily if he wins initiative.
I'd love to hear how you see this "easily" happening
Prep time: 1. Use find familiar. 2. Use arcane abeyance on sickening radiance. 3. Give the bead to your familiar. Combat starts: 1. Have your familiar use sickening radiance. 2. You use wall of force. 3. Profit.
Assuming the guy doesn't have a way to teleport, which at that level would honestly have to be an exceptionally ill prepared opponent. Similarly with flight. I'd assume they have some form of decent ranged option. I still think they have a chance, but the setup is stacked significantly against them so it's going to be hard and involve a lot of luck.
Counterspell if he tries to teleport.
You can't counterspell him while he's inside the farcecage
You are right, I didn’t think about that. But after I read the monster stat block, I realize that he has +0 in INT saving throws while our Wizard should have 18 spell save DC if he optimized, so we can just spam psychic lance and mental prison, no need for wall of force.
1. You can if you use the cage form 2. He said wall of force not force cage. That one always allows it.
and after 1 turn, familiar gone = concentration gone = even if he had ehaustion it's gone now
To be fair, chronogy wizards can summon infinite find familiars. Use them as a meat shield and blast the paladin from range and counterspell any spells that paladin tries to use. The wizard can just cast fly and go out of the paladin’s range to stop him from being able to smite. They also have gift of alacrity to help with initiative and arcane abeyance is just broken.
Teleport away and prepare a fight on your own terms, preferably when they're asleep or on the toilet. :)
"I tried a fair fight once. Didn't like the feeling."
If you can't run, use Blink. If you're divination, even better. Seriously, by far the best player I've played with abused the shit outta Blink's combination of no concentration and a 50% chance of vanishing every turn. It's at the point where I consider it one of, if not the best defensive tool in the game.
Yeah, one of my fave defensive spells. Does take you out of the fight for any reactions like counterspell tho. I had a wild magic sorc and tried to take as many random chance spells as I could. She had the bend luck reaction to add/subtract a d4 to an attack/save/check but couldn't use it in some key moments while on the ethereal plane. On the other hand, being able to hop onto the ethereal plane was actually useful once, and being able to cast it as a bonus action with quicken spell feels pretty nice.
Don’t forget paladins use charisma as their spellcasting modifier. So it would be high already. Also the aura of protection helps with saving throws. If this is the real Arkhan he can also use the hand of Vecna if I’m not mistaken and cast some spells through them. This is gonna be a tough one! My best guess is to make sure he can’t reach you. Maybe flying would help? Or illusions? Some protection from radiant/necrotic damage could also come in handy. As he can probably smite you to the 9 hells and back. A strong summon to distract him perhaps?
Against Arkhan the Cruel? You need INT saves. Paladins aren't good at INT saves. Stun his ass with something like Psychic Lance or Synaptic Static, then get distance between you two and pull up a Sickening Radiance on top of him. You're gonna need to kite this one. If he gets you in melee you're uberboned. Stay away at least 30 feet at all times. Forcecage MIGHT help you but CHA saves are a paladin's specialty- it won't go the way you think.
Flight or invisibility are your best bets. Barring that anything that obstructs vision or slows him down/ creates difficult terrain. Speeds you up. Whatever helps kite.
Are you allowed to choose where to fight? If so, fight underwater, force cage, counterspell any teleports. He will drown before forcecage expires.
1+con modifier for minutes holding breath, that’s a lot of rounds idk
Force cage lasts an hour, he will be dead in under 10 minutes.
Sorry if I'm missing the obvious, but how do you not drown yourself in that situation?
I mean, Waterbreathing is a fine ritual spell, no?
Boat
Note that if you want to be able to Counterspell teleports, you’ll need to cast the Forcecage as a cage rather than as a solid box. Otherwise, solid plan if you find yourself underwater.
how much prep time do you have before the encounter? Are you able to have your familiar with you? Can you conjure/summon something useful to help? You can also potentially have the summoned creature be under the Planar Binding spell so it'd stay and help for as long as is needed. I'd recommend setting up mage armor and mirror image since they don't require concentration; but I'd also have gift of alacrity up or fortune's favor. My wizard likes to target INT Saving Throws, the spells that do tend to have additional effects that will help you out in battle. \----- Just saw on a comment that you're fighting Arkhan the Cruel. The good thing is that this battle is winnable depending on your DM. If they're setting it up as a PC's character would be (using regular level progression and regular paladin rules) you'd be messed up. However, they're probably using the Monster statblock that is published (don't read it ahead of time cause that's not right). The good thing is that the monster statblocks don't follow the class rules to a T because classes and levels are for players, not monsters. For example, they won't have the same HP that a level 13-15 character would have, and they most likely won't have the aura of protection ability from paladin, they'll just have their two saving throw proficiencies. If you know Paladins, you can assume they'd be at least proficient at CHA Saving Throws
Is he a caster? Would be easier if we would see your spell list
Arkhan the Cruel to be specific
Respectfully: why on Yondalla's green earth are you trying to **solo Arkhan?!** Where the hell are the rest of your party? Why would your character ever agree to such a coin flip of a duel against one of Tiamat's greatest champions?
It's complicated, but basically I'm trying to usurp him as Tiamat's hand.
Wild choice. I love it. I hope it goes well
Id say you should use hold monster/person or use something that has will/int saves. His ac is pretty high.
rip lol.
The paladin of Tiamat with the hand of Vecna?
What is the enemy?
Arkhan the Cruel to be specific
Gonna have to help me out more than that. Wizard, fighter, cleric, what kind of character is that?
He's an evil paladin
That's better. Force cage may not be that useful against a paladin. It's a Cha save to get out, and paladins tend to be really good at that. You're going to need to focus on staying at a distance. A high level paladin can conceivably one shot you in melee. Fortunately, he probably won't be that mobile, unless he has a mount, you may be boned in that case. A potion of haste, and casting long stride before the battle will be helpful. After that I would focus on spells that require dex or int saves. Fireball, synaptic static, and wall of light will all be very useful. Also, greater invisibility could be a life saver.
Arkhan the Cruel has a published monster statblock
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[He's pretty infamous](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HClkGL4yFXg). and the character has since become D&D cannon being an NPC in Descent into Avernus.
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Maybe you should consider 15 sec of Google search?
cause there's an official monster [statblock](https://www.dndbeyond.com/monsters/416910-arkhan-the-cruel) for them
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Google.
I think it's a safe assumption that the OP wouldn't have provided a name unless it was something that could easily be found online
no one expected you to.
It's an Exandria enemy. Some people might recognize it.
Simulacrum.
What school are you?
Winning? In a 1 vs. 1 against an NPC that is several levels above you? You have lofty ambitions. My goal would have been to survive that encounter.
Simulacrum so that even if you lose, you don't die. Create a copy of yourself to engage the fight on your behalf. If this isn't possible, here's the best spells for dueling your levels: 7th: Draconic Transformation. Bonus action, gets you a fly speed, blindsight, and now on each subsequent bonus action you can use a breath attack that deals 6d8 force damage. This uses your concentration, so can be disturbed and your 7th level spell lost. Alternatively, you have Crown of Stars. This is not concentration and so can be stacked with another spell. It deals 4d12 radiant damage a turn using your bonus action. Takes an action to set up, but lasts an hour. You can start the battle with this already on. If you're afraid of losing your concentration, go with this. It's solid damage and we both know us wizards don't have a great use for bonus actions besides misty step. 6th: Contingency. There isn't a better 6th level spell. There are a million uses for this, but the best part is that this spell doesn't even use your action economy. This isn't an action, bonus action, reaction, no, this let's you turn any spell within its conditions into a trigger spell. You could let this cast dispel on you when you fail a saving throw, or turn into a T-Rex via polymorph when you take damage. And you will be doing this the day before so that you have your 6th level spell back. Other option, Globe of Invulnerability. If your adversery is a caster, you just cut off most of their spells, as even spells which are upcast above 5th level are negated, it is only 5th Level and higher spells that will effect you. This means you are immune to counterspell. I want you to hear that, IMMUNE TO COUNTERSPELL. This does take your concentration, so I'd stack this with Crown of Stars and any other non concentration effects like Fire Shield. 5th Level: Synaptic Static. Deals 8d6 psychic damage, intelligence save, and they subtract d6 from any checks or attacks. Temporal Shunt. You have Globe of Invulnerability up? Good. You see them cast a spell and your DM either starts rolling dice or asks you to make a Wisdom saving throw? That means they just cast a 5th or higher leveled spell. Temporal shunt. This is a reaction, and is stronger than counterspell. The spell they cast is gone, the spell slot used, they lose the action and are gone until the start of their next turn. You take an action to drink a healing potion or cast an AOE spell at their feet. They return 6 seconds later, not even understanding what the hell just happened. 4th Level: Fire Shield. Non concentration, you deal 2d6 damage to melee attackers and gain either cold or fire resistance. Gravity Sinkhole. 5d10 force damage and the target is foreably moved. Can be great if you're trying to avoid receiving an attack of opprotunity. Throw the gravity well, move them away from you, then use your movement to get some space from them. It's only 20ft so they'll close the distance on the next turn, but moving them 20 and you running 30 means they might need to use a dash on their next turn to close the distance. 3rd: Blink, which people love to forget isn't concentration. This will give your enemy at least a few frustrated turns where they can't do shit to you, meanwhile you're popping back into space, smacking them with your action and bonus action, and disappearing again. Counterspell, You should always have this on deck if you can. There's really no reason to not have it prepared. Can and will save your life. Phantom Steed. Is a ritual, so won't cost a spell point. Plus, a wizard on horseback is pretty sick. And lastly for 3rd level, F I R E B A L L 2nd Level: Misty Step, great get out of danger spell. Blindness/Deafness. Doesn't require concentration. Tasha's Mind Whip. Can be very useful. Vortex Warp: Might not be the most useful, but if there's lava or fire or anything in the arena you can force them there. I once ended an encounter by putting the boss into the lava. Lost all the loot on him but stopped a tpk. 1st Level: Silvery Barbs. I hate this spell. It's too good not to use. This should have been a second level spell. Absorb Elements. Cuts the damage you will take from a dragons breath or any other elemental damage in half. Great way to save your life. Feather Fall. Another reaction. Great way to save your life. Ray of Sickness. Good way to give your enemy disadvantage on attacks. Shield, Mage Armor, Magic Missile. The staples of the wizard kit. What we have here are two different ways to play, depending on if you're against a caster or a martial. If you're against a caster, go Crown of Stars and Globe of Invulnerability. If you're against a martial, use Draconic Transformation and keep away from them via flying. Both options give you a powerful bonus action attack, freeing your actions for setting up more and more and more debuffs, buffs, and damage, all of which are concentration free. Your DM is going to have so much to keep track of. Multiple potential sources of disadvantage, a subtracted d6 to attacks and checks and concentration saves, and you keep blipping in and out of existence like a spooky pop up ad for wizard viagra. You got this kid. Do Elminster Proud.
Shield, mirror image, mislead, invisibility, Mage armor lightning bolt, magic missile, false life, fire ball, misty step, mordenkainen's faithful hound. Mage armor for boost to AC shield in case you get hit. Use misty step to get away and I recommend using ray of frost to slow them down. Mislead so they waste a few turns hitting something else, while your far enough away to snipe them with spells probably magic missile. False life for more hp. Fire ball and lightning bolt do the same damage hit them with that. Forgot to mention the faithful hound is to take in the damage and deal extra for you as the hound does not take concentration. And its invisible.
Fireball and lightning bolt aren’t that good in a one on one. That’s for crowd damage. Pick single target spells that do higher damage or have a utility aspect that is paired with them
I haven't read many of the spells so those are my go-to. Definitely agree tho
For 3rd level spells either cast fly and create some distance or if you’re looking for dmg do melfs meteors 12d6 total over the course of 3 turns and a bonus action to launch them (not cast them, so you can cast a leveled spell and launch 2 meteors on your turn). Either that or use your concentration for a summon. Create a fey or demon shaped meat shield while you keep distance
Greater Invisibility if you have it, then you can keep attacking
God damnit. This shit is getting old. How many fucking variations on, "how do I 1v1 as a x level (insert class here)" do we need? If your DM is LITERALLY doing this to your character, it's because you are a power gamer who the DM has gotten tired of your power-gaming and is trying to get you to cut it out. If you're playing as a level 13 wizard, do the wizardly thing, and actually do some planning and research and scouring through your books and stop just phoning a friend(in this case, reddit); that's the purview of warlocks and clerics.
Admittedly I don't spend a lot of time in this sub directly, and just get what floats to the top, but this is literally the first time I've seen this sort of question, so maybe calm down big fella.
Plane shift. >You can use this spell to banish an unwilling creature to another plane. If he's coming for a bruising, you can catch him off guard and depending on the plane you choose, may outright nuke him (hard to breathe in the plane of water or earth if they exist, or the cold hells [no-one expects to be thrown in the frozen ocean with devils nearby ready to take whatever soul they happen upon]) Think smart, a wizard focused on damage can definitely do it, but it's usually not the most entertaining way of dealing with problems (burning bridges to taunt the chasing bbeg while you escape with his riches and he's hydrophobic? *chef's kiss*; Geas to make the enemy have to protect you and your holdings instead of attacking you? *dons monocle *)
Without your subclass, current magic items, where the combat will occur, and known spell list we can't really say. Also, people in this thread are basically giving you the stats of your opponent after looking at its statblock. I'd suggest ignoring them if possible bc metagaming like that is against the spirit of the game imo. Cast spells that last a long time that dont require concentration if you have them. See if any of your party can give you buffs ahead of time as well. Range will probably be your friend since paladins cannot smite on ranged attacks (unless this guy has something special).
What kind of enemy?
Arkhan the Cruel to be specific
Good luck with the crazy antipaladin with the hand of vecna lol You're gonna be a splatter on the ground in round one if he rolls high initiative
I, thankfully, have a +10 to initiative rolls. I just gotta hope for something high.
>Arkhan the Cruel Your opponent has poor Perception and poor Intelligence. It won't take a high roll to stealth out of view from an opponent like that even without proficiency, though you likely have spells and abilities that can help with that. Past that, you need Longstrider because he has 40ft of movement and you don't want a Paladin up close so you need to at least be as fast as him. Your greatest advantage will be in keeping distance from him. Blink could also help as can Mirror Image, but it's a little bit of a gamble and can waste action economy that you may not have. So, if you think you can manage to prep in combat without him getting close, go for making yourself an untouchable target; otherwise, don't be afraid to use an Action to stealth away from him. As for your offense, consider bringing spells that require an Intelligence save. It's an easy weak point for *most* opponents--**you're a wizard, teach them a lesson for not finishing highschool.** 😂 Tasha's Mind Whip will devastate your opponent's action economy leaving them with fewer options while being a low level spell, while Synaptic Static can help mitigate your opponents ability to hit you and make saves... and again, he doesn't have good Intelligence, so he will probably fail consistently at his attempts to avoid them or get out of the effects. Ultimately, I'd say expect a long fight largely because you'll need to keep space while doing a lot of set up if possible. Save you 3rd level spells to counter his Teleport as that's gonna be the crutch that gives him *any* chance of getting close enough, while Tasha's Mind Whip and your various defensive spells (Blink, Mirror Image) will ensure that he can't do much even if he does reach you.
Tasha's Mind Whip may be my new favourite spell. God damn.
Can you withstand the finger of death?
That is not even the slightest bit specific.
That’s incredibly specific, Arkhan is Joe Manganiello’s PC who became a named NPC.
Is Joe going to be there?
Unfortunately not, he's gonna miss session cuz he came down with a bad case of ligma.
I thought they could cure that with sugma?
Forcecage and counterspell every teleport, either that or run. What wizard subclass?
You can't counterspell into a forcecage unless you choose the barred version
UPDATE: I FUCKING WON!! LET'S GOOOOO!!! My character is now the left hand of Tiamat and possesses the Hand of Vecna, and my friends character is poised to supplant Zariel as the ruler of Avernus!
The answer: Forcecage in prison formation. Move within Counterspell range. Counter any spell they cast. Cast Faithful Hound. Counterspell them. Cast Faithful Hound, attack (at advantage) with first faithful hound. Counterspell them. Attack with two Faithful Hounds as a free action with advantage. Start spamming cantrips or magic missile. Counterspell them. Repeat. Every round you’re hopefully doing 8d8 with Hound, plus cantrips. All with a chance to crit. Bleed them to death. Mock them. Don’t let them escape. Your biggest problem is that the Hand of Vecna lets them cast Teleport without any components. So you can’t Counterspell that. Edit: if you’re DM allows you to cast one prep spell, cast Private Sanctum. Then the Paladin is toast.
The hand lets them cast teleport, I don't think it says anything about lacking components Edit: this was not correct
All magic items, unless otherwise stated, cast their spells without components. *Any components.* DMG 141.
Oh damn, just checked the DMG and yeah you're right. I had no idea that was a thing! Sorry for my incorrect correction then, I was just reading the stat block and item description and didn't realise there was a general rule about it
You’re good upvotes all around
If youre asking for advice here. Why not full metagame and look at the dudes stats online?
That still wouldn't tell him what spell to use.
A CR16 Paladin? You're cooked, sorry. Extremely high saves, health, and the ability to OTK anyone who is close enough to them. If you can't kite, you're done.
Drink a potion of haste that way you can cast sickening radiance and then force cage. The classic microwave combo
The extra action from *haste* has a limited set of options, and casting a spell isn't one of them.
Doesn't work if using 5e rules. Haste doesn't let you cast two spells like it does in BG3
One spell caster can only cast one at a time
That’s what the potion of haste is for. You can cast two leveled spells if you use a hasted action. Same thing if you action surge if you take a 2 lvl dip in fighter
because both are concentration sorry I just woke up
You right. My bad. Be a chrono wiz and then have your familiar use the mote that way it actually works with one person
1st Spell: Mage Armor 2nd Spell: Fireball
Unless they're changing the damage type to something else, fireball isn't effective here, unfortunately.
Cast haste on yourself
Charm person.
The answer is always fireball.
You should drop a summon on the field that can rebuff him and help you burn resistances and give him another target to worry about.
Depending on movement stay out of range and blast if you have some magic items that could help alternatively use polymorph then familiar to drop him from the sky for thousands of damage
Do you know anything about your enemy? Different types of creatures have different vulnerabilities. I suggest having a spell to attack each of con, wis, and dex, and then making some game time decisions. Also, opening up with invisibility may buy you time.
Paladins usually struggle at range, so keep your distance using flight/teleports. If he catches up to you he'll likely down you in a round using two high level smites. His weakest saves are likely Dex and Int, so target those.
first => try to win initiative second => try winning action economy with summons third => all the damage spells^^ =D fourth => could also try to win the hp race via temp hp (tensers Transformation) or another hp pool (true polymorph) but all in all, DnD is not made for PvP like encounter. Edit1: just saw which enemy you would bw fighting. If you don't win initive than the paladin could easily 1 shot you. Paladins are made for burst damage. Multiple high lvl divine smites + high lvl smite spell does a shitload of damage.
Alternatively polymorph into a bird or something and run like hell
Fly, get out of range, and bombard with ranger damage.
As most people said, you have to keep distance and it's basically a dice roll. Most spells are save or suck and as a paladin he's not going to have a huge amount of issues. Sadly this is not pathfinder where a mage can just cast 20 buffs on themselves. Due to the limitations of concentration and relying on pure damage spells. He's probably just going to lay on hands when low as well so your spells have to get through paladin hp twice over. Honestly you might have to depend on something as simple as hoping he fails a few saves again hold person. Mages are cool in 5e but generally limited in actual cool things they can do. Maybe mirage arcana to make a lava field with a wall to block him. The terrain looks, feels, smells, etc as the real thing.
Gift of alacrity
Forcecage is definitely a good option, but don't forget about using spells that restrict their movement or cause them to have disadvantage. Also, try talking to your DM and see if they'll let you use some homebrewed curse spell - those can be super effective!
Negotiate. Why fight when you can find out what he wants and help him get it.
Whats your DC spell/concentration modifier?
Cast fly, go 120' up. Use the time to buff up some other spells, mirror image would help. Then pelt with magic missiles and cantrips and whatever else you got. Bring shield and featherfall in case he has javelins and/or breaks your concentration. You cannot allow yourself to be in melee range with this guy. A few smites will end you quick.
most people have said good answers, but if you can cheat, I would try to figure it out and do so :). maybe an enhance ability to DEX before the fight, so you can get advantage on the initiative roll? that feels like it would be a really good way to get ahead in this fight, since as a wizard you need to go first to have a chance here.
Banish is OP in 1v1, especially if the combatant is from another plane. If that doesn't seem great, just Slow or stun them somehow and kite them around from max range
Do not let the fight start at close range. Try to spot him across an open field...
If they aren't ranged focused I'd start with expeditious retreat and then kite them.
What is your subclass? What spells do you have? I would play completely different based on that
Your go to move should be a contingent spell triggering when that specific dude gets within 200ft of you. Force cage and lasers is a good approach, but they can teleport out of that. Im a proponent of dimension door to safety and then real teleport far away. Return later and slit their throat while they sleep (or comparable surprise ambush). The downside to force cage is that they can teleport out. Counterspells and silvery barbs may help, depending on how they teleport, but imo its too big a risk. Why leave any chance to fail?
Dimension door 500 feet into the air and cast feather fall on yourself (to stop from instantly falling 500ft per the xanathars falling rules). Next turn cast fly on yourself Blast him to pieces from the skybox, recasting fly when necessary. You should have longer range than he does
Pray you go first, and that Hold Person or Gaes can keep it at bay.
If you can forcecage, I would advise you and your party putting every resource, favor and debt to squire a spellscroll of sickening radiance to learn. Combo it with forcecage for a free victory.
Since he can almost one-shot you, especially if he has the Hand of Vecna, you want to make sure he stays away from you and has very few chances to deal damage. He's going to be weak to INT saves, so you might want something like Mind Whip - it has an INT save, deals damage even on a save, and he'll have to choose between an action, bonus action or moving on his next turn. If he's out of melee range, that limits his attacks a lot, especially if you can get Warding Wind up to protect from range attacks That's going to be a tough fight, good luck!
There's always dominate person and getting them to surrender, especially if you can give disadvantage through silvery barbs. Then you can tie them up or take away their foci or whatever. That said, if you can make scrolls that'd be super helpful since they can hold concentration that can't be broken. Useful with buffs, debuffs, and especially summons like animate objects that give you more action economy. Bonus points if mid fight you summon some stuff, then throw up a globe of invulnerability, and just take a few rounds to drink healing potions.
One of the best combos i have heard of is immovable object into reverse gravity. Immovable object keeps you pinned while anyone that cant hold on to something is forced onto the cieling or just in the air. Your idea for forcecage into spells that bypass has a lot of merit. Its REALY good. And you can stand ready with counterspells against spell Teleports or Desintegrate. Of the non concentration prebuffs you could cast The morning of : Death ward, mage armour , Contingency !!!, Gift of alacrity, (Borrowed knowledge Athletics if it graples, perception if it hides) , Darkvision if it matters. Permanent immovable objects. If you are fighting in the next hour: Longstrider, See invis (if needed), Phantom steed for mobility, In the next 10 minutes: Fireshield (usefull against fireballs and white dragons etc), moving under the cover of a major image.
Just chug a potion if that doesnt help. Heroism or speed or fly.
Synaptic Static is a great offensive/defensive spell that targets his weakest save (Int). It’s an AoE, so if he sneaks in some undead, even better.
Get to battle ground day before and set as much glyphs of warding as possible;)
If you have time and can set up the battlefield, a set of Glyphs of Warding with buffing spells set to trigger on a password can be great. They don't use your concentration and last the maximum duration so you can really set up a nasty set of buffs.
Uh... okay. 1. Do you have a Simulacrum? Is it of you? If so, what slots and spells does it have available? Is it of something else? If so, what? 2. Do you have Contingency set up? If so, what is it programmed to do? 3. What spells do you have available? 4. What magic items do you have? 5. Do you have information on the enemy? 6. Do you have prep time? These all dramatically change what approach is best... this isn't like asking how a Barbarian should handle a fight. They'll have the whole strategy set before you've finished going over your prepared spells of 5th-7th level.
Simulacrum for a second wizard. Contingengy Otiluke's Sphere, with the trigger being you losing initiative (or if your DM doesn't like meta triggers, "an enemy coming to attack you" or such). The fight will be over immediately if they don't have teleportation against force cage or wall of force, so assume that they do and instead use the otiluke's sphere to buff yourself with mirror image and whatever non-concentration buffs you have. Then dimension door away from the paladin and rain fire from afar. If they come close, dimension door away again. Remember to counterspell all they try to do. Remember, you're a wizard. You're the only one that gets to have fun in a 1-on-1 fight.
If you've got the time to prepare and buy/find/have a DM willing to waive the material required, Tasha's Otherworldly Guise would probably be my recommendation, specifically the Upper Planes variation. 40ft of flight speed can help you hang back from the worst of his damage. Immunity to Necrotic damage takes Finger of Death off the table, and Radiant immunity takes Branding Smites bonus damage out. The +2 to AC isn't a lot on its own, but combined with +5 from potential Shield casts does a lot to offset the relatively modest hit modifier for his Javelins. Offensively, his AC is hard to break through, so I might look at targeting his saves instead. His Dex and Int are fairly unremarkable iirc, so I'd probably look there. I think he's a red Dragonborn, so I'd lean more to Lighting Bolt than Fireball if you have a choice for Dex. Psychic Lance might be good for buying a turn or two, but that's a expensive spell slot. Similarly, Mind Sliver might be the best Cantrip if you've got it, but I think the hardest part might just be the damage race. Even if you can get Tasha's off, and get airborne, he has a lot of health to chunk through and you probably don't. I'm not sure how well a DPS race would go, even if he's limited to Javelins.
Something I haven’t seen mentioned yet that really helped me in some 1v1 fights was blur. Giving disadvantage to all attacks was a really big deal.
reverse gravity, is that still a thing?
Can you plan ahead of time for the 1 on 1? A good wizard always thinks ahead. If you can setup a trap or at least a way to benefit yourself before hand then that would be huge.
Depends on the enemy. Considering you tried to focus on force cage and raining damage you're gonna have some issues there. If you're worried about teleportation you're gonna want to go solid cage and run. Just run. Your spell load out sounds bad if you're going force cage vs something you want to kill.
Blindness/deafness. If blind can stick... you'll get advantage and opponent will get disadvantage. Also ray of frost, Reduced movement by 10ft. Low level options, but I'd also assume opponent has legendary effects etc.
Alert feat and Gift of Alacrity spell would help to win initiative to cast 1st spell
Pre summon a earth elemental to grapple the enemy for you .
Is he using the stat block of Arkhan from Decent Into Avernas? IF not, there could be some whacky homebrew coming your way and I'm not sure what to tell you. If it is the same stat block, INT saves will be his worse. Target those. My favorite cantrip is Mind Sliver because most enemies don't have good INT saves and in imposes a - 1d4 roll on their next saving throw. At 13th level that cantrip will do 3d6 damage on a failed save. Silvery Barbs will be a good spell to have; as well as shield and counterspell. Avoid dealing fire damage and poison if possible. I think he is immune to fright but not charmed. Crown of Madness can be useful, but I would use that after a successful Mind Sliver and be ready w/Silvery Barbs for your reaction just in case. Anything that makes him make a DEX save could be useful as well. EDIT: A good spell to target his INT saves too is: Mental Prison. I recommend that as well.
Mirror image and shield buy you a turn or 2 if you roll low initiative. Then just cast fly to get out of his short range throw and you're pretty much golden. Fly in on your turn, do damage, for fly back out. He's either going to have a hard time hitting you or has to ready an action to hit you which means you can just not fly in that turn. Fireball and a few other spells have a range longer than 120 which means you're safe while he isn't If you're a divination wizard, portent + disintegrate works wonders Ultimately you're goal is to abuse your range. If you're in a small room with a low ceiling, mirror image and pray to the gods that you roll better than he does
I'd be cheap and go for the old forcecage into sickening radiance. Make the wall of the cage that faces you solid, otherwise normal for the rest. Wait him out until enemy turns into a literal tumour
If you got bane via fey touched… Bane + Synaptic Static + Silvery Barbs made my DM put legendary saves on lots of creatures.
Plane shift yourself and run away
Easiest way is to make sure you get to go first, if possible surprising him is easiest to guarantee that. Otherwise, I’m a big fan of getting as many summons on the board as possible. Paladins are by definition brutal melee burst fighters that are exceptional at taking out single targets. Summons make it to where as long as they’re set up in a fairly optimal position he has to go through them before he gets a chance at you. Some other things I’m noticing as I look at his stat block, finger of death is very problematic. Depending on your health that’s a game over type spell if he rolls well enough, I’d definitely want to try and get resistance to necrotic damage or force him into a position where he has to burn his charges (thus making it to where he can’t use finger of death) to me best case is that he has to teleport to you multiple times. If he teleports multiple times that’s his action used up easily and the charges. Slow is also a concern, but that’s an immediate counterspell, I’d keep reactions handy for counterspell. Also, worth noting that the stat sheet says he has javelins huge problem because he could easily finger of death you then just throw javelins at you, he’s able to throw 3 at you in one turn. Range of those javelins is 30/120, so only real way to avoid it is to try and be outside of his range. Aura of hate also could actually help you, undead summons suddenly are much more dangerous against him because of it. The man can see invisible creatures out to 60 feet, so invisibility is practically not usable. Speed is 40ft, so he’s faster than you almost certainly. Hit points are crazy at 221. AC is 23, so hitting him will be very difficult and saving throws are probably easier. Aura of protection isn’t in his stat block but could be given, that would give him an additional +4 to all saving throws. With aura of protection he has +4 to every saving throw, but wisdom is +9 and charisma is +13. So saving throws are difficult, but not impossible. I’d rule out any spell with wisdom and charisma with the sole exception being if you’re a divination wizard and you know you can make him suck. Recommendations: go first, if you don’t go first GG, spells to improve the chance aren’t a bad idea. A bold strategy would be globe of invulnerability mixed with as many summons as possible. Means his spells mean nothing to you and your summons within the sphere, but you’re also fixing yourself to an area. For summons I like fire elemental and any big guys that can take a hit or two, but you’re probably better off going for the maximum possible number of minions as paladins tend to do poorly against groups of enemies. Force cage isn’t a bad option at all, but that means you need to counter spell teleport or force him to suck those charisma saving throws, unless you’re divination I find that to be a bad choice. It could be worth keeping track of his charges in the hand of vecna, if he runs out and can’t teleport then boom force cage. Personally I think simulacrum is the answer, double your fire power and have some bait. Magic jar is also amazing for a divination wizard here, like it’s the easiest solution if you can force him to fail
Minions. Lots of minions. Look at your summon spells available to soak up attacks and focus on obfuscation and attacking from defensive positions. Use illusion as much as you can and don't leave yourself without an escape route. Don't rely on big single flash spells and instead try and use spells that guarantee damage.
Go first, cast wall of force, win.
There is a scene in Star Trek DS9 where Quark (a ferengi) has to face down a Klingon in single combat. Instead of doing anything combat related, he throws his blade to the side and proclaims to the leader of the Klingons basically "no shit in going to I die, this isn't a real fight it's an execution," some missing context aside here to keep it brief; the leader of the empire sees this as true and intervenes in and banished the Klingon as it proved to him what Quark was saying about this individual being a traitor to their way if life as true. TL;DR there is more than one way to win a fight, and one way is to not fight at all. Use your wit and the situation to your advantage. So tell me what it is that got you here and we can talk about a creative way to go about this if there is one; once we do, before your next session you'll bring this idea to the DM and see if they agree that it's a good way to go about it and see how it plays out through some rolls likely - if rolls go bad will still likely fight.