Viconia DeVir/Combat

Overview

Combat

This page focuses on Viconia DeVir's behaviour during her combat encounter. Viconia DeVir is able to be fought in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace, which is found under the House of Grief in the Lower City. She is joined by the members of her flock.

Attacks and abilities

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

 Channel Divinity: Cloak of Shadows ()

Wrap yourself in shadows to become  Invisible if you are obscured^{[See Notes]}.

 Range: Self

 Inflict Wounds ()

3d10 (3~30) Necrotic

Putrefy a creature with Necrotic energy filling your hands.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5  ft

 Bone Chill ()

1d8 (1~8) Necrotic

Prevent the target from healing until your next turn. An undead target receives Disadvantage on Attack rolls.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Blight ()

8d8 (8~64) Necrotic

Deals 8d8Necrotic to a target. Plants take maximum damage from this spell, and have Disadvantage on the Saving throw against it.

CON Save

 Range: 9 m / 30 ft

 Spirit Guardians: Necrotic ()

3d8 (3~24) Necrotic

Call forth spirits to protect the area around you.

Nearby enemies take 3d8Necrotic damage per turn, and their Movement Speed is halved. Lasts for 10 turns.

WIS Save

 Range: Self

AoE: 3 m / 10 ft (Radius)

 Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical ()

8d10 (8~80) Radiant

Call upon your deity in your moment of greatest need. Once they interfere, your deity will never do so again in this manner.

WIS Save

 Range: Self

AoE: 15 m / 50 ft (Radius)

 Divine Strike: Poison (Melee) ()

Normal weapon damage +

1d8 (1~8) Poison

Once per turn deal 1d8Poison in addition to your weapon's damage when you make a melee attack.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5  ft

Recharge: Per turn

 Shadow Step ()

Teleport from shadow to shadow. Afterwards, you have Advantage on your next melee Attack roll.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Mapping of the Heart spells

Main article: Mapping of the Heart

 Castigate Heartform ()

Curse a creature whose heart you have mapped until they act against their nature.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Recharge: Per combat

Mapped Terror applies  Frightened and an additional condition depending on the character's response to "What is your greatest fear?" during the Mapping of the Heart. Cast against the same target as  Castigate Heartform. Two variations have additional effects that buff the Sharrans:

 Mapped Terror: Betrayal ()

Exploit the target's mapped fear to  Frighten it and  Dominate one of its allies.

WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Recharge: Per turn

 Mapped Terror: Darkness ()

Exploit the target's mapped fear to  Frighten it and inflict  Blinding Sickness upon it.

WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Recharge: per turn

 Mapped Terror: Disease ()

Exploit the target's mapped fear to  Frighten it and inflict  Flesh Rot upon it.

WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Recharge: per turn

 Mapped Terror: Ceremorphosis ()

Exploit the target's mapped fear to make it believe it has undergone ceremorphosis.

WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Mapped Terror: Powerlessness ()

Exploit the target's mapped fear to  Frighten it and  Rot its flesh.

WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Recharge: per turn

 Mapped Terror: Spiders ()

Exploit one of the target's deepest fears by transforming yourself and some allies into spiders.

WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Recharge: Per combat

 Mapped Terror: Wolves ()

Exploit one of the target's deepest fears by transforming into a pack of wolves.

WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Recharge: Per combat

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

Honour Mode

 Heartwrench

10d12 (10~120) Psychic

Rend a target with a psychic barrage after you or an ally is struck by a  Heartform Mapped creature.

WIS Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Sanctuary of Loss

Shield yourself or an ally from harm after they are attacked. This protection will wane when the protected creature attacks. Viconia can still use  Heartwrench and keep this protection.

 Dark Deliverance ()

8d10 (8~80) Necrotic

Summon the Nightbringer's unholy wrath as roiling and acrid clouds of darkness that spare only the faithful of Shar.

WIS Save

 Range: Self

AoE: 15 m / 50 ft (Radius)

(Replaces Divine Intervention: Sunder the Heretical)

Passives

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

• Handmaiden's Mace
  • Set the wearer's Strength score to 18

• Viconia's Walking Fortress
  •  Rebuke of the Mighty
  • Spellguard

• Viconia's Priestess Robe
  • Shar's Umbrae
  • Sharran Veil

Allies

Viconia DeVir can be fought in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace. She is joined by 19 other Sharrans:

• Two Justiciar Crusaders; Nightmist and Owltalon
• Four Sharran Sentrys; Baxta, Fredrichk, Hendly, and Imwise.
• Five Sharran Fidelians; Gloommask, Gydd, Hyrald, Lamona, and Uttermmask
• Eight Sharran Novices; Bluenail, Dohna, Dollay, Garrigan, Greymask, Humboldt, Monteith, and Tylda

Defection

If Shadowheart became a Dark Justiciar in Act Two, the party can choose certain dialogue options and pass several Ability Checks to convince many of the Sharrans to defect from Viconia's side and ally with the party.

1st Dialogue option

• DC 20 Persuasion check or DC 20 Performance check (with Disadvantage You are an outsider)
• Causes Nightmist to defect.

2nd Dialogue option

• A passive DC 7 Perception check to realize Shadowheart is attempting a coup. Must succeed the check and then select "Connect with her mind. Suggest she talk about the power Shar granted her."
• Causes 7 Sharran Novices (all except Greymask) to defect.

3rd Dialogue option

• Must select either:
  • "Give Shadowheart a chance to sway more of Viconia's followers."
  • "Wait- I have to know before it's too late. Why did you want the Astral Prism?" and then select either "Shar bid you do all of this?" or else "I've heard enough. Deal with this lot how you wish, Shadowheart."
• Causes Owltalon, Gloommask, Gydd, Uttermask, and Greymask to defect.

Notes:

• Hyrald, Lamona, and the four Sharran Sentrys (Baxta, Fredrichk, Hendly, and Imwise) will never defect.
• Failing the ability checks on the earlier dialogue options does not prevent the party from selecting the later ones.

Tactics

If fought, Viconia is one of the more difficult opponents in the game. She is continuously affected by the conditions Nightbringer's Beloved and Radiant Retort and begins the battle under the effect of Sanctuary. She has a high initiative bonus and will begin her first turn using Castigate Heartform on the character who underwent the Mapping of the Heart, followed by Mapped Terror on the same target, crippling one character with a series of debuffs. Of the several variations of Mapped Terror, Mapped Terror: Ceremorphosis is potentially the worst, fully locking down one character for at least two turns with a stun-like effect.

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

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

Allies

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

Necrotic resistance and crowd control are the surest ways to increase survivability against the Sharrans' overwhelming numbers. Sources of Darkvision and/or immunity to Blind are necessary for melee strikers to wade through the clouds of darkness. The Justiciar Crusaders, Nightmist and Owltalon, are second only to Viconia in power and are great targets for Crown of Madness or Dominate Person.

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

Honour Mode

Viconia gains one Legendary action per round and three new abilities on Honour Mode: Heartwrench, Sanctuary of Loss, and the passive Impenetrable Shadow. Heartwrench adds a high-power targeted attack that focuses down the character whose heartform was mapped, giving the party one more reason to leave that character back at camp for the fight. The latter two abilities defensively buff Viconia and her allies with additional instances of Sanctuary.

Notes

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

• Especially in Honor Mode, it is recommended to bring a dedicated caster or a large number of AoE spells to this fight. Viconia's Sanctuary and Legendary "Sanctuary of Loss" abilities can provide her with very frequent immunity to being targeted by melee attacks or single-target spells.

• Viconia's Sharrans make liberal use of Bone Chill cantrips during the fight. Be sure to prepare your party with additional HP, temporary HP, or a way of preventing damage to one or more characters (invisibility, sanctuary, etc.) to avoid a situation where much of your party is immunized to healing effects.
• Viconia can be reanimated with Sovereign Glut's spores