All You Should Know About Elemental Adept 5e Feat & Immunity

Elemental Adept 5e Feat & Immunity

Dungeons & Dragons (commonly abbreviated as D&D or DnD) is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It is published by Wizards of the Coast and owned by Hasbro, Inc. The concept of D&D is to immerse players in a fictional setting based on rules and game mechanics that allow player characters to explore a medieval-like world using swords, sorcery, and other fantastical abilities.

A Fifth Edition Player’s Handbook was released in September 2016 while the game gears up for its upcoming Platinum release, elemental adept 5e (EA5e), which will be available in October 2017. EA5e has an entirely innovative new design philosophy with three major modifications designed to reduce player confusion in combat. These changes are not just cosmetic but affect how gameplay is played at its most fundamental level.

 Is elemental adept 5e (EA5e) able to ignore Immunity in DnD? Is EA5e capable of being an adequate substitute for a Fifth Edition set, or can it distract players from the benefits of a 5th Edition set? Finally, are these changes substantial enough to warrant a re-evaluation of current playstyles?

How has Elemental Adept been designed?

Elemental Adept 5e has been designed with three primary modifiers in mind:

1. Elemental Immunity is the negation of elemental damage and effects.
2. Elemental Adept grants limited resistance to elemental damage and effects.
3. Elemental Overload, which deals extra elemental damage and effects.

 The first two modifiers have been closely integrated, while the third modifier works as a separate entity due to its randomness. However, as much as possible, the three modifiers have been created to work alongside one another because of their shared nature. As such, the Elemental Adept modifier will influence what elemental damage and effects a player has resistance to but not the Elemental Immunity modifier.

What is Elemental Immunity?

Elemental Immunity is a passive ability of some creatures that grant Immunity to elemental damage and effects. Monsters with such an ability may become immune to all forms of elemental damage, or they may become immune only to specific types of elemental damage, such as cold or electricity (e.g., griffons naturally resistant to cold are also resistant to lightning). 

For example, a gryphon is vulnerable to fire-based attacks but immune to acid damage. The exception to this rule is monsters with unique weapon proficiencies, immune to the very attacks they are proficient in. So, for example, a gryphon will have resistance against cold damage, but it won’t have resistance against a lightning bolt spell.

The first time players encounter an enemy with Immunity, and they may feel confused about how to overcome their opponent. They will no longer be able to rely on their usual tactics and may begin to question why any cleric would ever want to cast a spell against such an opponent.

 It is because the dogma of having characters who can somehow resist elemental damage and effects still exists in elemental adept 5e; the user must discard this dogma for the system to work effectively, even though hundreds of thousands of greater and lesser elementals in the world have proven to be much stronger than most characters.

Why Elemental Immunity is included?

Elemental Adept 5e was designed as a system for 1st-level PCs and high-level characters. Therefore, when a character first plays EA5e, they will be dealt elemental damage. Even though this damage does not affect the game mechanics, it will not generate any experience points. Everyone will forget it until the next game session, when it may appear again. Elemental Immunity provides an easy way to resolve this type of problem quickly.

What should players do instead?

If anyone is still confused about why Elemental Immunity exists, they should not be in EA5e and would be better off with a different system. However, if they are determined to play EA5e, they should remember this philosophy and act accordingly. For example, when the first PCs come across a superior elemental, such as a greater elemental (greater elementals will appear in the higher levels), then players should decide that it is too decisive for their character and make the appropriate choice to take its level or lower it somehow using looting or gifted spells.

Elemental Adept 5e vs. Absorb element

EA5e differs from the absorb element spell available in the Fifth Edition set because EA5e is passive and not a spell. Absorb element has a lot of restrictions and limitations, so any character with access to this spell would be much better off using it against nearly anything they can use it against. 

The main drawback of Absorb element is that it requires concentration (as well as some other requirements) which doesn’t make any sense for a player who already has access to EA5e. Elemental adept 5e has no restrictions and can be used anytime, even during combat. If a character has access to Absorb element, then they will still be able to use it against enemies with Elemental Immunity.

All fire-using and electricity-using creatures resist lightning but are vulnerable to cold damage and vice versa. Absorb Elemental’s main drawback is that it requires concentration (as well as some other requirements) which doesn’t make any sense for a player who already has access to EA5e. Elemental Adept 5e has no restrictions and can be used anytime, even during combat. If a character has access to Absorb Elemental, they will still be able to use it against enemies with Elemental Immunity.

For example, if a character uses Absorb element and successfully absorbs 10 points of acid damage from a goblin warrior monster, then the character would gain 10 points of resistance against acid damage. However, they would still be vulnerable to cold damage because that’s what the creature is most resistant to. On the other hand, if the same character used Elemental Adept 5e and absorbed 20 points of acid damage from a goblin warrior monster for 1 point of elemental damage, they would only take 1 point of elemental damage (i.e., one-tenth as much).

 If the same character used Absorb element and absorbed 20 points of acid damage from a goblin warrior monster for 1 point of elemental damage, they would only take 1 point of elemental damage (i.e., one-tenth as much). Likewise, if the same character used Elemental Adept 5e and absorbed 20 points of acid damage from a goblin warrior monster for 1 point of elemental damage, then they would only take 1 point of elemental damage (i.e., one-tenth as much).

What are Elemental Immunity modifiers?

Elemental Immunity has two modifiers: one works against all elemental attacks, and another works against specific forms of attack.

These two modifiers are designed to work together and should never be taken by the user separately. For example, when a creature has Elemental Immunity, it should be treated by people as resistant to the specific element for which it has Immunity. It would still take damage from other elements based on the standard rules for damage resistance.

This spell reduces damage by giving you resistance:

Elemental Adept 5e has no spells that reduce damage in any way. Furthermore, EA5e is a passive system and has no active abilities. It would be similar to having a spell that gives you resistance against acid damage because you are wearing a robe of resistance. This spell increases your elemental resistance by the level of the spell:

Elemental Adept 5e has no spells that increase elemental resistance in any way. Furthermore, EA5e is a passive system and has no active abilities.

According to the rules for 0-level spells, if a wizard casts detect magic at level 1, then their adequate level for all purposes is 2. It means that the wizard can cast detect magic at level 2 and that they can cast cure wounds at level 1, which does not usually require a higher level than 0.

EA5e or elemental adept 5e does not overrule these rules for 0-level spells. Therefore, if a wizard casts detect magic at level 1, then their adequate level for all purposes is 2. It means that the wizard can cast detect magic at level 2, and it also means that they can cast cure wounds at level 1, which does not usually require a higher level than 0.