Azer 5e: Burning Hammers, Fire Auras and the Azer Sentinel

An azer is a CR 2 Medium fire Elemental with AC 17 (natural armor and a shield), 39 hit points, immunity to fire and poison, and a warhammer that adds fire damage to every hit. Its body burns too: in 2014, any creature that hits it in melee takes 5 (1d10) fire damage, and in 2024 (where it's called the Azer Sentinel) it burns adjacent enemies at the end of each of its turns whether they attack it or not. It always sheds light and has no darkvision, which makes it the rare monster that can't ambush in the dark.

Table of Contents

• •Azer Stat Block (2014)
• •The Azer Sentinel (2024)
• •How Azers Fight
• •How Many Azers for a Level 3 Party?
• •How Players Beat Azers
• •Azer Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Azer Stat Block (2014)

The SRD 5.1 azer:

The warhammer is +5 to hit for 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning, or 8 (1d10 + 3) two-handed, plus 3 (1d6) fire from Heated Weapons. Heated Body deals 5 (1d10) fire damage to a creature that touches the azer or hits it with a melee attack from within 5 feet. Its saving throws are average, with Constitution +4 the only proficiency.

One wrinkle the stat block leaves open: its AC 17 includes a shield, and its warhammer is versatile. DM ruling, not rules text: an azer swinging its hammer two-handed has set its shield aside, so drop its AC to 15 that turn. Or simply have it fight one-handed and keep the 17.

The Azer Sentinel (2024)

SRD 5.2.1 renames it the Azer Sentinel and keeps CR 2, AC 17, 39 hit points and its ability scores.

The Fire Aura changes how you play against it. In 2014, a character next to an azer who didn't attack it (Dodging, casting, guarding a door) never took fire damage. In 2024, everyone it chooses within 5 feet takes 1d10 every round. The aura also switches off while the azer is Incapacitated, which gives players a specific reason to stun, paralyze or otherwise incapacitate it.

How Azers Fight

Hold a line. AC 17 at CR 2 is high; a level 3 fighter with +5 to hit lands on a 12 or better, 45% of the time. Azers fight best side by side in a doorway or a forge corridor, forcing the party to trade blows with an armored, burning wall.

Damage per round against AC 16 (hits on an 11, 50%):

The 2024 aura is close to half the Azer Sentinel's damage, and it doesn't miss. Three Sentinels surrounding one fighter deal about 18 a round with hammers plus 16.5 from auras.

It can't hide. Illumination is always on: bright light 10 feet, dim light 10 more, with no option to turn it off. It also has no darkvision, so outside its own glow it needs other light. Azers don't ambush. They stand where they are and dare you to come closer.

Fire terrain is home. Immune to fire and poison, an azer can stand in burning oil, a poisoned gas cloud or a burning building while the party can't. Put azers on the far side of a fire, and make the party cross it.

How Many Azers for a Level 3 Party?

For four level 3 characters, the 2024 budget is 600 (Low), 900 (Moderate) and 1,600 (High):

The 2014 column applies the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide thresholds and group multiplier, as our encounter calculator does. The group multiplier makes three azers look much worse in 2014 math than they play, because each azer makes one attack a turn and has no ranged option.

Azers also fit as the rank-and-file under bigger fire creatures: guards for a salamander raider, or forge workers serving an efreeti.

How Players Beat Azers

• •Don't use fire or poison. It's immune to both, and to the Poisoned condition. Cold, thunder, force, radiant and plain weapon damage work normally. It has no vulnerabilities and no resistances.
• •Fight with reach or range. A 10-foot reach weapon avoids both Heated Body and Fire Aura. Archers and spellcasters take none of the burn.
• •Pick the right save. Its Dexterity and Wisdom saves are +1 and Charisma +0, while Constitution is +4, so Lightning Bolt (Dexterity) is a better area spell against a line of azers than Shatter (Constitution). Hold Person can't target it: it's an Elemental, not a Humanoid.
• •Incapacitate it (2024). Any effect that gives it the Incapacitated condition, including Paralyzed or Stunned, turns off the Fire Aura.

Azer Encounter Ideas

The bronze gate. A ruined dwarf-hold's last working forge has a gate of bronze, and two azers have been guarding it for decades on orders from someone long dead. They are lawful and still following those orders. A forged writ from the right authority would end the fight before it started, and so would a real one.

The labor dispute. Azers hired to cast a bell for a city cathedral have walked off the job because they weren't paid. The bell is half-cast and cooling. The city wants the party to "deal with" the azers. The azers just want their money.

The fire that walks. Travelers report a line of moving lights crossing the badlands at night: four azers escorting a salamander prisoner in fire-proof chains. They don't want help. Someone else wants the prisoner freed.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is an azer in 5e?

The azer is CR 2 (450 XP) in both editions. The 2024 version, the Azer Sentinel, is also CR 2 with the same AC 17 and 39 hit points.

What is the azer's AC?

AC 17. The 2014 stat block lists it as natural armor plus a shield; the 2024 Azer Sentinel lists AC 17 without a breakdown.

What does an azer's Heated Body do?

In the 2014 rules, a creature that touches the azer or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet takes 5 (1d10) fire damage. The 2024 Azer Sentinel has Fire Aura instead: at the end of each of its turns, each creature of its choice within 5 feet takes 5 (1d10) fire damage, unless the azer is Incapacitated.

Can azers see in the dark?

No. Azers have no darkvision (only passive Perception 11), but they always shed bright light in a 10-foot radius and dim light for another 10 feet.

What is an azer immune to?

Fire and poison damage and the poisoned condition, in both editions. It has no damage resistances or vulnerabilities.

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.