devil and demon weaknesses...?

[Rentirith]

Heyo peoples. so I'm starting a character in about a week or so (hopefully) and i'm going for a devil/demon hunter. He is going to be a hex-blade/warlock mainly, with a few other classes like binder thrown in later on. I know this is ambitious, especially since its my first character :smalleek: but my main question is this: what should my weapon be made of/enchanted with to be especially useful against demons/devils without sacrificing to much against other enemies?

My DM said he will let me devote one point of my trident to one material, but as far as i know devils aren't vulnerable to any material. Demons are mostly weak against cold iron(?) so what enchantment should i use for devils?

In case any of you think you have figured it out, I'm basing my character on Marvel's Daimon Hellstrom. If that is some 3.5 faux pas, then you may all collectively gasp now.

[dragonsamurai77]

Devils are weak to silver.

[Twilightwyrm]

Demons are weak to cold iron, immune to lightning, and have no resistance to sonic energy. Devils are weak to silver, immune to fire, and have no resistance to lightning or sonic energy. Both are weak to Holy energy. Therefore, you'll want to start your search for the perfect weapon with a metaline holy evil outside bane trident (since that seems to be your preferred weapon).

This is, mind you, all assuming you don't just take Eldritch Glaive and shape it in the form of a long-handled trident, which would in turn let you use your eldritch blast for melee (touch!) attacks instead of having to invest in a weapon. Helpful, as this would let you bypass both the DR and the high natural armor bonus that demons/devils tend to have. Unfortunately, many also have SR, so you'll want to invest in ways of reliably overcoming this.

[Rentirith]

thank you people for the swift replies! i do now have another question in relation to the eldritch glaive: could i use it and a melee weapon both at once? for example, if i was charging a bandit, and had my trident, but then wanted to use the eldritch blast, could i attach the blast to the weapon for that round? or would i need to do one then the other, each taking their own turn?

EDIT: never mind, when actually looking through the pdf myself i think i came across the answer, but just to be certain: the invocation that i am looking for is hideous blow, correct?

[KillianHawkeye]

thank you people for the swift replies! i do now have another question in relation to the eldritch glaive: could i use it and a melee weapon both at once? for example, if i was charging a bandit, and had my trident, but then wanted to use the eldritch blast, could i attach the blast to the weapon for that round? or would i need to do one then the other, each taking their own turn?

EDIT: never mind, when actually looking through the pdf myself i think i came across the answer, but just to be certain: the invocation that i am looking for is hideous blow, correct?

Hideous Blow does do that, but Eldritch Glaive is far superior.

[Squark]

Eldritch Glaive is from Dragon Magic, and it's what Hideous Blow should have been. Basically, you turn your eldritch blast into a weapon for a glaive for a turn, so you can full attack with it and make attacks of opportunity with it. But, it's still a magical effect, so damage reduction is bypassed. Energy Resistance if you choose the wrong blast effect can trip you up, as can spell resistance, though.

[Twilightwyrm]

thank you people for the swift replies! i do now have another question in relation to the eldritch glaive: could i use it and a melee weapon both at once? for example, if i was charging a bandit, and had my trident, but then wanted to use the eldritch blast, could i attach the blast to the weapon for that round? or would i need to do one then the other, each taking their own turn?

EDIT: never mind, when actually looking through the pdf myself i think i came across the answer, but just to be certain: the invocation that i am looking for is hideous blow, correct?

Not with Eldritch Glaive. You may be able to set an Eldritch Glaive against a charge, but the invocation literally turns your Eldritch Blast into a weapon, rather than augmenting an existing one. The advantage is that, like with an Eldritch Blast, you target touch AC instead of normal AC, you get all your iterative attacks that round, you can make attacks of opportunity with it (iirc) and it does damage in the form of eldritch blast damage, which is not reduced by DR or most types of energy resistance. Eldritch Glaive is found in the supplement Dragon Magic, rather than Complete Arcane.

Hideous Blow does augment your weapon so that it does Eldritch Blast damage on hit, but it is all one standard action and you do not target touch AC. Hence, you do not get extra attacks, you cannot make augmented AoOs, and your weapon damage is still subject to DR. In theory you might be able to set it against a charge, but that isn't enough of an advantage to justify the invocation. In (almost) all cases it is vastly inferior to Eldritch Glaive, and should be avoided (none of those exception cases apply to the kind of character you seem to want to be making).

[The Grue]

Hideous Blow does do that, but Eldritch Glaive is far superior.

Pretty much this. As has often been said, Hideous Blow blows hideously.

[Tommy2255]

By the way, there's an easy way to remember the weaknesses of Evil Outsiders:

Quicksilver is closely associated with things that are changeable, fluid, (chaotic?), so it harms Lawful Evil Outsiders.

Cold tends to make things crystallize, stop moving, fall into a low entropy state, hence it harms Chaotic Evil Outsiders.

edit: also, Vitriolic Blast essence bypasses SR, for the same reason Acid Orb does: it's a conjuration thingy. Also, it becomes acid damage and deals a bit of extra ongoing damage. A bit high level though, you'll have to wait for it.

[Rentirith]

thanks all for the info on Eldritch Glaive and Hideous Blow. Unfortunately, my dm is not using anything from the dragon magic, and has been very strict on what else he will allow. I will however remember what has been said about the disadvantages of H. Blow, and will try to work around those accordingly. One last question for now however; when applying H. Blow to my weapon, can i still make extra attacks based on my attack bonus without the H. Blow, or does that just take up all of my turn?

thanks again... whats the name for forum-ers? whatever it is, thanks!

[Kesnit]

thanks all for the info on Eldritch Glaive and Hideous Blow. Unfortunately, my dm is not using anything from the dragon magic,

Given how bad Hideous Blow is, I would ask your DM if you can use Eldritch Glaive. It is from an official source (i.e. not 3rd party) and is a lot more useful.


One last question for now however; when applying H. Blow to my weapon, can i still make extra attacks based on my attack bonus without the H. Blow, or does that just take up all of my turn?

Per the description, "you can make a single melee attack." (emphasis added).

[Sith_Happens]

If you do use an actual weapon, I suggest that it be made of cold iron. Magic Item Compendium has a pair of gauntlets that make any weapon you hold count a silver for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction, as well as a crystal you can attach to a weapon to make it count as good-aligned. Together you'll be ignoring the DR of almost every fiend that exists.