Rocket tag with yourself, but better

[LTwerewolf]

So I'm soon to be facing an aleax of myself, and needing a little help in beating that version of me. Most of the usual tricks I know won't work. Character is a druid/planar shepherd with two items that together increase my wild shape ability by 8. I'll be level 14 by the time I face said aleax, and will be able to swift wild shape into a solar. I need a solution that assumes that I won't have access to 8th level spells beyond the one wish from my solar transformation, and assuming that the other me can do it too. I have access to any book that isn't 3rd party.

[Fouredged Sword]

Well, you want to get allies on your side. Buffs will draw the line between winning and loosing. They can't hurt the aleax, but nothing stops them from locking it down with battlefield control and buffing you into a monster. Another note, it's an outsider, so you can send it home with banishment. Not a permanent solution, but a possible buy for time if you end up in a bad spot.

Get items and strategies to counter your own powers. Destroy his holy symbol, wish a suit of metal armor onto him (reverts him out of his wildshape and removes all spellcasting for 24 hours). Do this first, and he can't throw a wish back at you.

[Cruiser1]

Another note, it's an outsider
An Aleax is a Construct according to BoED. That means it isn't entirely "you but better", since things that adversely affect Constructs don't hurt you. If you know you'll be facing an Aleax ahead of time, you have clever options such as wear magic items that give your creature type bonuses (assuming you're natural type isn't Construct already of course), but give Constructs penalties. Then when the Aleax comes into being with copies of your equipment, it's "you but worse" and easily beatable. :smallsmile:

Also, the Aleax creature description doesn't say whether it comes into being with copies of your buffs. If it does, then prebuff with buffs that aren't good for Constructs. If it doesn't, buff as much as possible and try to attack the Aleax as soon as it comes into being, before it gets a chance to buff itself. Either way "you with buffs" beats "you without buffs".

[unseenmage]

The Rod of Construct Control from Arms and Equipment Guide = you win.

Slaying Arrows for Construct also help.

The Warforged Domain from Eberron and the Domain Drought from Magic Item Compendium might be useful.

There's a core Mace that auto slays Constructs too.

[LTwerewolf]

Slaying arrows I think will do it. As far as I am aware, it comes into being exactly how I am when I enter the area, buffs, spells prepared, etc. My plan is to have only curative spells prepared (which won't work on it) and to waste my wild shapes. It then becomes slayer arrow vs regular arrow. Does this seem like a good plan?

[Talya]

Slaying arrows I think will do it. As far as I am aware, it comes into being exactly how I am when I enter the area, buffs, spells prepared, etc. My plan is to have only curative spells prepared (which won't work on it) and to waste my wild shapes. It then becomes slayer arrow vs regular arrow. Does this seem like a good plan?

Careful, it can still convert curative spells to Summon Nature's Ally.

[LTwerewolf]

So burn through my spells as well, go in without armor, without spells, without wild shapes, equipped only with bow, arrows, and maybe a dex item that reduces dex on a construct.

[Larkas]

If it's only a copy of you and you want to keep things simple, expend all your wild shape uses beforehand, convert all your spells into SNA and cast them, and enter the arena with a lot of summoned critters. It's basically a construct expert vs. a humanoid expert with a lot of pets then.

[Fouredged Sword]

Equip metal armor if you are trying to turn off it's supernatural abilities based on the druid class. If you are carrying a metal shield, it will be as well, and that turns off wildshape and druid spells for 24 hours. That gives you plenty of time to peg it with an arrow of slaying.

[LTwerewolf]

Should mention I'm a druid of Mielikki, so the metal armor thing won't work.

[Know(Nothing)]

nothing stops them from locking it down with battlefield control

This isn't necessarily true. It depends on how your DM interprets the line in the Singular Enemy special quality, "Attacks made by other creatures are rebuffed, dealing no damage and hindering the aleax in no way."

If the emphasis is on 'attacks,' then battlefield control may still affect it. If the DM focuses on 'hindering the aleax in no way,' then better to just focus on buffing.

Personally I'd argue that while it may be hindered by natural conditions, anything that was made specifically to make things harder for the aleax can be ignored by it, unless it was made by its target.

Also, burning your wildshapes doesn't help much, as the aleax has Shapechange at will, at least for one or two favored forms.

Also it might not bother with arrows when it can Searing Light you every round.

[unseenmage]

You could also head on over to this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?338999-Mirror-Duplicate-Ring-Gate-and-You) and steal some ideas involving the Plane of Mirros from Manual of the Planes and Mirror of Opposition.

Not sure if it actually helps you defeat an Aleax, but it will sure give everyone at the table a headache and a half trying to figure out which copy of you is the real copy.

'Will the real deific copy please stand up? Please stand up?' :smallbiggrin:

[JeminiZero]

As far as I am aware, it comes into being exactly how I am when I enter the area, buffs, spells prepared, etc. My plan is to have only curative spells prepared (which won't work on it) and to waste my wild shapes. It then becomes slayer arrow vs regular arrow. Does this seem like a good plan?
This is actually a terrible idea. Aleax has CL20 Shapechange as an at will SLA. Which means that even if you reduce yourself to being a commoner, your counterpart commoner Aleax can still say:

0) Start off in dire tortoise form for automatic surprise round
1) Shapechange into a Black Ethergaunt, with a full complement of Wizard spells
2) Shapechange into a Planetar with a full complement of Cleric spells
3) Shapechange into Dragon to munch on you.

Even more troubling, Shapechange literally changes their Type as well, which means that your arsenal of construct slaying arrows suddenly won't work.

Thinking about it this way, your opponent is going to be a monster even if you intentionally weaken yourself, so it makes sense not to weaken yourself at all. It WILL have access to level 9 spells regardless of how you waste your own. It WILL be able to transform into a Dragon even if you wasted all your wildshape. So DON'T waste them since its the only fighting chance you've got.