First Appearance: 2-129 Between a Ball and a Hot Place
Armor Class 17
Lesser Guardian Armor Class 14
Speed 50 ft
Resistant to nonmagical weapon damage
See AlsoWhat We Know about Halas and the Heirloom Sphere — CritRoleStatsCritical Recap: Critical Role C2E131 “Into the Eye” | Critical RoleCritical Recap: Critical Role C2E138 “Where There is a Will…” | Critical RoleCritical Recap: Critical Role Mighty Nein Reunited Part 1 – “Unfinished Business” | Critical RoleImmune to fire and poison damage
Immune to exhaustion, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, poisoned, prone, restrained, and sleep
Total Damage Taken 319
Great Guardian: 132 damage taken before splitting
Lesser Guardian 1: 52 damage taken, 52 killing blow by Veth
Lesser Guardian 2: 78 damage taken, 37 killing blow by Veth
Lesser Guardian 3: 57 damage taken, 15 HDYWTDT by Caduceus
The phrase “out of the frying pan and into the fire” entered many viewers’ minds as the Mighty Nein fled the pursuing Cerberus Assembly with the only means they had at hand, with a much more literal interpretation of that phrase than they probably would have liked. The scroll used was a gift to Yussa from fellow Arcana Pansophical member Planerider Ryn (an expert in what her title boasts) to take the user directly to her lab on the Elemental Plane of Fire.
It’s not uncommon for archmages to summon or bind elementals to locations as protectors, especially since the don’t need sleep The sanctum guardian shared many attributes of a common, summoned fire elemental, including its speed, basic multi-attacks, and commitment to its directive. Its size, intelligence, fluent Common, and enhanced offensive capabilities, however, speak to the skill of the planerider who bound it.
The guardian’s DC 19 Inferno ability supported its directive to keep the sanctum “cleansed,” sending out what appeared to be a very potent fireball in a much wider 50-foot radius. By splitting its essence from a single entity to three, the guardian sacrificed speed, damage, and evasiveness for an improved action economy (as well as the massive area-of-effect damage).
Even though its strikes in its lesser form didn’t burn as hot and its health was split from one single large pool to three much smaller pools, this still increased the number of attacks it could make from two to six, increased the places and people it could set on fire each turn, and forced the party to choose a target instead of focusing fire (pun not intended) on a single enemy. (From a meta standpoint, the lesser guardians share the same attributes as the textbook Fire Elemental, with one extra point to armor class and half the hit points.)
The Encounter
Going in with very little available resources, the Nein were caught off guard by what initially appeared to be a quiet and desolate landscape. With the creature’s directive active, Caleb and Jester spent their last remaining big spells up front, attempting to contain the damage the guardian could deal them. Caleb’s Cone of Cold set a good starting momentum for the rest of the Nein, while Jester’s Guiding Bolts provided the party an important advantage in hitting the creature.
As stressful as this fight would have been had it just been the Nein in their current state, ultimately the Nein only lost . With the presence of Marion, Yeza, and Luc, however, the tension only skyrocketed. Had the guardian only resorted to dancing from party member to party member, the damage would have hurt, but would have been ultimately negligible. It’s Inferno not only put all of the experienced adventurers in dangerous territory, but also added a terror and despair that previous fights hadn’t brought (and that’s saying something). Veth’s rage fueled her lead in pure damage, putting down two of the three lesser guardians in the two rounds after her family’s fall.
Caduceus, meanwhile, carried both the party and their unfortunate guests in his supporting abilities. His Sentinel at Death’s Door kept Caleb from taking a truly massive strike from the greater guardian, while his Circle of Mortality ensured that Yeza and Caleb both benefited the maximum amount from his Mass Cure Wounds. The Cure Wounds also gave a little extra security to Veth and Marion, as well as gave the party important information about Yeza and Luc’s states (the latter of which would have to be addressed later). His Spirit Guardians helped chisel away at the guardians’ health, and ultimately was responsible for finishing the fight.
Oh, and he saved Luc’s life. That was probably important, too.
It should be noted that while the Folding Halls was much less of an adventure, the three members there still took a decent amount of fire damage just trying to get through the door, fairly easily managed to avoid a summoned construct, and just barely managed to not get lost in the cosmos thanks to their experience and abilities when the door’s connection was severed. Even in hindsight, it is entirely inconclusive whether the civilians would have been safer in one realm over another.
