DnD 5E: So it's my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) but for Armor of Agathys it's temporary HP and enemies take the damage of the Armor's HP. My question is if you cast it (like at 2nd level so 10 HP) and the enemies take multiple attacks and they are low damage (say 2 damage for one hit, 7 for the second, and 5 for the third). Would it be 10 AoA damage for each hit or only a MAX of 10 AoA damage? Really confused on the spell description wording.
Whenever you are hit by a melee attack when AoA is active they take the full damage..
Example: You cast AoA and get 10 temp HP You get hit for 5 damage -> Attacker takes 10 cold dmg. You get hit for 3 damage -> Attacker takes 10 cold dmg. You get hit for 4 damage -> Attacker takes 10 cold dmg. The temp hp from AoA is gone, and you will no longer cause dmg when you get hit until you recast AoA..
So yea.. If enemy hits low dmg, it gets a ton of value, but sometimes you get hit for more than the temp hp, or shot full of arrows and lose AoA without it doing any dmg
Whenever you are hit by a melee attack when AoA is active they take the full damage..
Example: You cast AoA and get 10 temp HP You get hit for 5 damage -> Attacker takes 10 cold dmg. You get hit for 3 damage -> Attacker takes 10 cold dmg. You get hit for 4 damage -> Attacker takes 10 cold dmg. The temp hp from AoA is gone, and you will no longer cause dmg when you get hit until you recast AoA..
So yea.. If enemy hits low dmg, it gets a ton of value, but sometimes you get hit for more than the temp hp, or shot full of arrows and lose AoA without it doing any dmg
Based on my understanding of the spell, they’d always take the damage at least once, since the hit occurs before the damage and the hitpoints are active when the hit occurs
That is correct. "If a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have these hit points, the creature takes X cold damage." No matter how much damage you take, you had the hit points at the time you were hit. Therefore, the creature takes the cold damage.
Ok cool. Thank you guys! That makes WAY more sense. Yah I knew about AoA damage being only applicable in Melee range. What I was curious about was about the damage output.
From what it sounds like if you take enough damage in one melee attack it'll only be AoA damage for that one hit since the damage went over the Armor health. But if you're resistant and/or the DM or whoever rolls low enough on damage, then that same AoA damage output carries on to multiple hits so long as the damage doesn't go over the Armor's health value. Great info!
The simplest way is to remember that the Temp HP and the cold damage rebound are definite individually, and the "At Higher Levels" wording is also distinct when it says both of them increase. The cold damage wording does NOT say "cold damage equal to the remaining Temp HP", it's set at a fixed value that just happens to be the same as the number of Temp HP you gain at the beginning of the spell.
An interesting corner case when it comes to the cold damage is Thorn Whip. It's got a 30' range, but it's a MELEE spell attack. As best I can tell from the wording of Armor Of Agathys, so a Druid could Thorn Whip you from up to 30' away and still take the cold damage.
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DnD 5E: So it's my understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) but for Armor of Agathys it's temporary HP and enemies take the damage of the Armor's HP. My question is if you cast it (like at 2nd level so 10 HP) and the enemies take multiple attacks and they are low damage (say 2 damage for one hit, 7 for the second, and 5 for the third). Would it be 10 AoA damage for each hit or only a MAX of 10 AoA damage? Really confused on the spell description wording.
Whenever you are hit by a melee attack when AoA is active they take the full damage..
Example: You cast AoA and get 10 temp HP
You get hit for 5 damage -> Attacker takes 10 cold dmg.
You get hit for 3 damage -> Attacker takes 10 cold dmg.
You get hit for 4 damage -> Attacker takes 10 cold dmg.
The temp hp from AoA is gone, and you will no longer cause dmg when you get hit until you recast AoA..
So yea.. If enemy hits low dmg, it gets a ton of value, but sometimes you get hit for more than the temp hp, or shot full of arrows and lose AoA without it doing any dmg
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ModeratorWhat Desserten said. It also gets a ton of value if you have resistance.
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AoA is amazing in the hands of an Abjurer, since your Arcane Ward will absorb most of the damage until get to your THP.
The new clock work soul can also put in work by using armor of agathys and reducing damage with d8’s.
transmute spell metamagic can be used to change the damage type too if necessary.
Based on my understanding of the spell, they’d always take the damage at least once, since the hit occurs before the damage and the hitpoints are active when the hit occurs
That is correct. "If a creature hits you with a melee attack while you have these hit points, the creature takes X cold damage." No matter how much damage you take, you had the hit points at the time you were hit. Therefore, the creature takes the cold damage.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
I like to call it "Harmer of Agathys"
They're right about the ranged damage though. If someone shoots you with an Arrow - the spell does nothing except provide you with some temp HP.
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Ok cool. Thank you guys! That makes WAY more sense. Yah I knew about AoA damage being only applicable in Melee range. What I was curious about was about the damage output.
From what it sounds like if you take enough damage in one melee attack it'll only be AoA damage for that one hit since the damage went over the Armor health. But if you're resistant and/or the DM or whoever rolls low enough on damage, then that same AoA damage output carries on to multiple hits so long as the damage doesn't go over the Armor's health value. Great info!
The simplest way is to remember that the Temp HP and the cold damage rebound are definite individually, and the "At Higher Levels" wording is also distinct when it says both of them increase. The cold damage wording does NOT say "cold damage equal to the remaining Temp HP", it's set at a fixed value that just happens to be the same as the number of Temp HP you gain at the beginning of the spell.
An interesting corner case when it comes to the cold damage is Thorn Whip. It's got a 30' range, but it's a MELEE spell attack. As best I can tell from the wording of Armor Of Agathys, so a Druid could Thorn Whip you from up to 30' away and still take the cold damage.