Archmage NPC Stat Block 5e: Spells, Counterspell Odds and the 2024 Archmage

This page covers the archmage NPC stat block, the creature a DM runs as the kingdom's court wizard, the master of a sealed tower or the villain one step short of becoming a lich. It is not a player class or subclass. The archmage is a CR 12 Medium Humanoid with Magic Resistance and a spell save DC of 17. The 2014 version is an 18th-level caster with 99 hit points, a full slot list up to Time Stop, and three defensive spells it casts before the fight. The 2024 version has 170 hit points and AC 17, makes four Arcane Burst attacks for 27 force damage each, and loses Time Stop, Wall of Force and Globe of Invulnerability.

Table of Contents

• •Archmage Stat Block (2014)
• •The Archmage in the 2024 Rules
• •How the Archmage Fights
• •Running an Archmage Encounter
• •How Players Beat an Archmage
• •Archmage Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Archmage Stat Block (2014)

The SRD 5.1 archmage is a wizard with every slot from 1st to 9th level. It has more options than any other humanoid NPC in the SRD, and most of the work of running it is choosing among them.

The asterisked spells (Mage Armor, Stoneskin and Mind Blank) are cast before combat. Together they set its defenses:

Stoneskin holds its Concentration. That's the hidden cost of this stat block. The moment the archmage casts Wall of Force, Banishment, Globe of Invulnerability, Fly, Invisibility or Detect Thoughts, Stoneskin ends and every sword in the room hits it at full damage. A damage hit can also break it with a failed Constitution save (+1, no proficiency).

Resistance to damage from spells is listed separately from Stoneskin and doesn't depend on it. Combined with Magic Resistance (Advantage on saves against spells), an average 8d6 Fireball deals it 14 on a failed save and 7 on a success.

Slots that matter in a fight: three 3rd (Counterspell, Fly, Lightning Bolt), three 4th (Banishment, Fire Shield, Stoneskin), three 5th (Cone of Cold, Scrying, Wall of Force), and one each of Globe of Invulnerability, Teleport, Mind Blank and Time Stop. Its cantrips scale to 18th level: Fire Bolt deals 4d10 (22) and Shocking Grasp 4d8 (18).

The Archmage in the 2024 Rules

SRD 5.2.1 rebuilds the archmage the same way it rebuilds the mage: no slots, a Multiattack, daily spells and a reaction for Counterspell or Shield.

What this does at the table:

• •Its damage output roughly triples. Four Arcane Bursts against AC 18 hit on a 9 or higher, 60% each: 4 × 27 × 0.6 = about 65 damage a round at 150 feet. The 2014 archmage's best repeatable attack is a 22-damage Fire Bolt.
• •It loses its battlefield-shaping spells. No Wall of Force domes, no Globe, no Time Stop setup turns. The 2024 archmage is a turret with an escape plan (Misty Step, Invisibility at will, Teleport).
• •It stops resisting spells' damage. A 2024 Fireball deals full damage on a failed save, though Magic Resistance still gives it Advantage on the save.
• •XP note. SRD 5.2.1 prints 8,000 XP for the archmage, not the 8,400 other CR 12 creatures carry. This page uses the printed figure.

How the Archmage Fights

An archmage has more answers than the party has questions. The DM's task is to keep it from wasting its best spells on the wrong turn.

2014 round by round.

1. •Before the party arrives: Mage Armor, Stoneskin, Mind Blank. Scrying an approaching party is in character and tells it who to fear.
2. •Round 1: Wall of Force as a 10-foot-radius dome over the party's strongest melee character. That character is out of the fight for up to 10 minutes. Stoneskin drops, which is the price.
3. •Round 2: Cone of Cold (8d8, average 36, DC 17 Constitution) into the rest of the party, or Lightning Bolt (8d6, 28) down a corridor.
4. •Round 3 onward: Fire Bolt and Shocking Grasp, with Counterspell saved for healing. Dispel Magic can't end Wall of Force (only Disintegrate destroys it), so the wall holds until the archmage casts another Concentration spell such as Banishment.

Time Stop, used well. Time Stop gives the archmage 1d4 + 1 turns in a row (3.5 on average), but it ends if anything it does affects another creature. Use those turns on itself: Fire Shield, Mirror Image, Misty Step to a better position, or Globe of Invulnerability (which blocks spells of 5th level or lower cast from outside it). Ending Time Stop by walking away with Teleport is also legal and very effective. Don't spend it on Cone of Cold; the first damaging spell ends it.

Shocking Grasp to break contact (2014). A creature hit by Shocking Grasp can't take reactions until the start of its next turn. Grasp the fighter, then walk away without an opportunity attack.

2024 turn. Four Arcane Bursts at 150 feet, then Misty Step if anyone is within 30 feet. When two characters line up, Lightning Bolt (12d6, average 42, DC 17 Dexterity, 100-foot line) is better: a character with Dex save +2 fails on 14 or lower, 70%, for about 36 expected damage each. Cone of Cold at level 9 (12d8, average 54) does about 45 to each creature with Con save +3 in a 60-foot cone, so it beats the Bursts once two targets are in the cone.

Counterspell odds.

Going the other way, Magic Resistance makes the archmage hard to counter in 2024. Counterspell is a spell, so the archmage rolls its Constitution save (+1) with Advantage. Against DC 17 it needs a 16, which it gets on at least one of two dice about 44% of the time. A PC's Counterspell only works about 56% of the time.

Never fight to the end. An archmage who loses a third of its hit points without a way to win leaves: Invisibility, then Teleport, or Misty Step out of reach and around a corner. It will come back with a plan for each party member, because it watched them fight.

Running an Archmage Encounter

A lone archmage is a strong encounter for its CR but has only one turn a round, so it plays best with bodyguards. Using the 2024 SRD budget for four characters:

The 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (used by our encounter calculator) rate one archmage against four level 11 characters as Medium (8,400 XP against thresholds of 6,400 Medium and 9,600 Hard) and Hard against four level 9 characters. Add two mages and the ×2 group multiplier makes it 26,000 XP, well past Deadly at level 11.

Fight in its tower and it becomes much harder: it has scouted the party with Scrying, the doors are locked, and it can retreat to rooms the party hasn't seen. Price that in by building one difficulty step lower than you intend.

How Players Beat an Archmage

• •Break Stoneskin's Concentration (2014). Every damage hit forces a Constitution save. If it casts any other Concentration spell, Stoneskin ends on its own. Once it's gone, nonmagical weapons deal full damage.
• •Use weapons, not spells. The 2014 archmage resists damage from spells and has Advantage on saves against them. Martial characters do more damage to it than casters do. In 2024, weapons and spells both hit full, but weapons skip Magic Resistance.
• •Don't use psychic damage or charms. Mind Blank makes it immune to both in either edition. Detect Thoughts and divination also fail.
• •Bait Protective Magic (2024). It has three reactions' worth of Counterspell and Shield per day. Lead each round with the cheapest threatening thing. A Shield on the first attack leaves the cleric's big spell uncounterable that round.
• •Banishment is a long shot. It's a Charisma save (+3) with Advantage. Against DC 17 it saves 58% of the time. Use it when there's nothing better.
• •Grapple it. Strength 10, no Athletics. A grappled 2024 archmage can still Misty Step away, so make it spend those three uses, then pin it.
• •Antimagic Field shuts the 2014 version down, suppressing Mage Armor and Stoneskin and preventing its spells inside the field.

Archmage Encounter Ideas

The tutor's exam. A noble family hires the party to escort their heir to an archmage's tower for lessons. The archmage tests the escort first: it watches them invisibly on the stairs, greets them in Disguise Self as a servant, and asks a polite question while it casts Detect Thoughts. Nothing is lethal unless the party draws steel, and if they impress it, it's a powerful contact for the rest of the campaign.

The duel by proxy. Two archmages are forbidden by an old pact from fighting each other. They fight through hired adventurers instead. The party is hired by one and discovers mid-job that a rival group has been hired by the other, with a mage on each side counterspelling the other team. The archmages watch through Scrying.

The last lesson. An archmage on the edge of attempting lichdom wants one thing first: the party's cleric's holy symbol, or anything that would let a priest interrupt the ritual. The archmage is courteous and will pay a fortune. Refuse, and the party learns what its Teleport is for at 3 a.m. Keep a record of who promised what to whom; an archmage remembers. Loreify can record the session and track the NPCs so you remember too.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is the archmage in 5e?

The archmage is CR 12 in both editions. The 2014 version is worth 8,400 XP; the 2024 stat block in SRD 5.2.1 prints 8,000 XP.

What spells does the 2014 archmage have?

It's an 18th-level caster with cantrips Fire Bolt, Light, Mage Hand, Prestidigitation and Shocking Grasp, Disguise Self and Invisibility at will, and slots for Detect Magic, Identify, Mage Armor, Magic Missile, Detect Thoughts, Mirror Image, Misty Step, Counterspell, Fly, Lightning Bolt, Banishment, Fire Shield, Stoneskin, Cone of Cold, Scrying, Wall of Force, Globe of Invulnerability, Teleport, Mind Blank and Time Stop.

Does the 2024 archmage have Time Stop?

No. The 2024 archmage's daily spells are Fly and a level 7 Lightning Bolt (2/day each), and Cone of Cold at level 9, Mind Blank, Scrying and Teleport (1/day each). Time Stop, Wall of Force and Globe of Invulnerability are gone.

Is the archmage immune to psychic damage?

Yes, thanks to Mind Blank, which it casts before combat. The 2024 stat block lists Psychic immunity and Charmed immunity (with Mind Blank). The 2014 archmage gets the same immunities from the spell itself.

How much damage does the 2024 archmage deal per round?

Its Multiattack is four Arcane Bursts at +9 for 27 (4d10 + 5) force damage each, up to 108 if all four hit. Against AC 18 it averages about 65 damage a round.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.