Grym

Eternal Protector of the Forge
Grym
Stats
Level 8
STR 24 (+7) DEX 6 (-2) CON 24 (+7) INT 3 (-4) WIS 11 CHA 1 (-5)
Race	Golem
Type	Construct
HP	300
AC	18
Movement Speed	11m / 37ft
Size	Large
Weight	5000kg / 10,000lbs
Proficiency Bonus	+3
Initiative	-2
Passive features
Adamantine Skin  Darkvision  Intense Adamantine Backlash  Opportunity Attack  Vengeful Guardian
Resistances
Character information
Location	The Adamantine Forge
Model

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

About Grym

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

If the Adamantine Forge is used, Grym will activate and attempt to destroy its users.

Attacks and Abilities

 Awaken

• Grym spends its first turn readying for combat.

 Seismic Wrath

• Costs an Action but has no known purpose.
• Action

 Slam

• Hit a target and its small surrounding area, dealing 4d8Bludgeoning damage, possibly knocking all affected creatures  Prone.
• Action

 Quake

• Stomp the ground to cause a massive shockwave, dealing 3d4Bludgeoning damage, and knocks nearby creatures  Prone.
• Bonus action

Combat Tactics

Grym is immune to all types of damage and can send melee attackers Reeling. Its Adamantine Skin passive causes Grym to be unable to take damage until it has been Superheated by standing in lava. This will also remove its Intense Adamantine Backlash passive. Once superheated, Bludgeoning damage is most effective against Grym.

New Resistances when superheated:

Grym's Vengeful Guardian passive causes it to gain the condition Threat Assessment when attacked which will then mark the attacker with Prime Target. Grym will then chase and attack the creature, which can be utilised to lure the golem into lava - or even beneath the hammer of the The Adamantine Forge itself. Pulling the forge lever while Grym is standing on the central anvil, and is superheated, will hammer it for 2x

12d8 (12~96) Bludgeoning

and knock it Prone. However, using the forge to damage Grym immediately removes Grym's Superheated condition and can even summon a group of Magma Mephits. Hammering Grym while not superheated will knock it prone but will do no damage and might still summon the Magma Mephits. Regardless of your approach, keep at least one party member by the lava valve, since the lava will recede after two turns, making the golem invincible again. Alternatively the lava valve can also be activated by shooting an arrow at it, or some familiars, such as Mage Hand, can also interact with the lava valve in place of a party member. Note, however, that using a familiar for the initial activation of the lava valve will bug the encounter and prevent Grym from spawning.

Before the fight it is wise to spread out your party, placing your casters in the back and melee up front near the gate where Grym will appear. Using elixirs such Elixir of Hill Giant Strength and Elixir of the Colossus will give a notable boost for your melee fighters. Before turning the valve, ensure all party members are standing on raised areas and enter Turn-Based Mode to prepare additional short duration buffs. It is almost a must to give one of your melee characters Haste for the extra attack and added AC. Applying weapon oils such as the Oil of Accuracy helps boost your Attack Rolls high enough to more easily beat Grym's high AC. Lastly, ensure you use weapons that deal Bludgeoning damage to exploit Grym's vulnerability.

Ranged Bombardment Tactic

There is a rather different tactic possible against Grym using an all-Ranged setup using the terrain to your advantage. Grym has no ranged attacks of any kind, so if you can shoot it from positions it can't reach you can slowly but surely destroy Grym without even getting wounded. NOTE, to be able to use this tactic and then keep the ability to use the Forge for making equipment you will need at least one character who can cast Grant Flight; the forge cannot be raised back up again after being lowered, so a Flying character will be needed to load the mold, crucible and then activate the two levers to create Adamantine equipment after the fight.

On approach to the forge, note the stairway you are coming down on and the second pathway to the right of it. When the forge is lowered, ranged characters (both magic users and archers) can hit nearly the entire forge floor where Grym can move, and characters on the entry stairway can also hit the Lava lever.

Grym sniping positions

See the image to the right for reference.

You will need characters on both positions. Characters on the right position will not be able to reach the Lava Lever to Superheat Grym to make it vulnerable to damage. However, there is a section of raised floor just under the left position that Grym can stand on and he will not get Superheated, so you will need to keep him lured to the Right position to keep him vulnerable to damage; there is no safe floor area for Grym at that spot.

A reminder, Grym will always follow the very last character that hit it. In your character turn order, always make sure that the last person to hit Grym was on the Right platform. It will walk over to being underneath that character's position and just stay there, round after round taking shots, until it dies or gets lured by another character in a different position. Make sure the character(s) on the Right side can fire multiple ranged attacks per turn, to reduce the chance of them all missing and Grym moving to the left side and potentially onto the floor section safe from Superheating.

At this point it's a turkey-shoot; just keep hitting Grym, having a character on the left side put a shot into the lava lever whenever the lava clears, and always having the characters on the Right side move last. It may take a little while, but you will be able to drop Grym without getting wounded and without needing to use the forge hammer, which is needed for obtaining an Achievement (listed below).

Notable Loot

• Grymskull Helm

Gallery

• 

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

• 

  Concept art

Achievements

A Grym Fate
Kill the Adamantine Golem without using the Forge Hammer.

Notes and Trivia

• There is a Steam achievement (A Grym Fate) for defeating Grym without using the forge hammer. Despite its large amount of HP and high AC, proper preparation with Bludgeoning weapons on a Hastened Fighter and/or Barbarian can quickly wear it down.
• As of Hotfix 6 there is no cooldown for the application of Superheated condition. Thus, it is possible to reapply the effect by activating the lava valve (has a slight delay, check Grym for status effects) and consequently hitting Grym with the hammer multiple times per turn. This can be easily achieved by placing a character within shooting distance of; both the lava valve and hammer lever and then shooting them both with arrows. For example a Hasted lvl 3 Thief / lvl 2 Fighter has essentially 5 actions when dual wielding hand crossbows, and can kill Grym in a single turn of combat at tactician difficulty. (Grym has to be first lured under the hammer with a second character, and Grym has to stand one leg in lava one under hammer)