Fire Giant 5e: Stats, Damage Math and the 2024 Hammer

A fire giant is a CR 9 Huge giant with AC 18, 162 hit points, immunity to fire, and two weapon attacks a turn at +11 to hit. It is the armored brute of the giant family: the highest AC of the SRD giants, slow at 30 feet, and dealing over 55 damage a round when both swings land. The 2024 rules keep its numbers but rebuild its attacks. The greatsword becomes a Flame Sword that adds fire damage, and the rock becomes a Hammer Throw that shoves targets 15 feet and throws off their next attack. The 2024 giant can make two ranged attacks a turn instead of one.

Table of Contents

• •Fire Giant Stat Block (2014)
• •Fire Giant in the 2024 Rules
• •Fire Giant vs Hill, Frost and Storm Giants
• •How Fire Giants Fight
• •Running a Fire Giant Encounter
• •How Players Beat Fire Giants
• •Fire Giant Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Fire Giant Stat Block (2014)

The SRD 5.1 fire giant, matching the 2014 Monster Manual.

The plate armor (AC 18) is the defining number. A typical level 9 martial character attacks at +9 or +10, so it needs an 8 or 9 on the die to hit, roughly 60%. Against most CR 9 monsters that character hits 70% of the time or more.

The offense is simple and heavy: two greatsword swings at +11 with 10-foot reach, 28 (6d6 + 7) slashing each. The rock (29 damage, 60/240 feet) is a separate action in 2014, so a fire giant at range throws one rock a turn and does about half the damage it would in melee. That pushes the 2014 giant to close the distance.

Its saving throws are lopsided. It is proficient in Dexterity (+3), Constitution (+10) and Charisma (+5), but Intelligence (+0) and Wisdom (+2) are wide open. It speaks only Giant.

Fire Giant in the 2024 Rules

SRD 5.2.1 keeps the AC, hit points, ability scores, saves, skills, CR and fire immunity. The actions change.

Three things change in play:

• •Fire-resistant characters take less. About a third of a Flame Sword hit is fire. A character with fire resistance takes 21 + 5 = 26 instead of 31. Against the 2014 greatsword, fire resistance did nothing.
• •Range is no longer a weakness. The 2014 giant at range does one rock, 29 damage at best. The 2024 giant throws two hammers for 54 and knocks people around while doing it.
• •Better initiative. +3 instead of −1 means it acts before the party more often, which matters for a creature whose first turn can drop a caster.

Fire Giant vs Hill, Frost and Storm Giants

Fire giants sit between the frost giant and the storm giant in the SRD giant ladder. This table uses the stat block numbers only.

What sets the fire giant apart:

• •It is the hardest to hit. AC 18 is three points above a frost giant and five above a hill giant. Area spells and save effects are much better value against it than weapon attacks.
• •It is the slowest. At 30 feet it is the only one of the four that can't outrun a party on foot. Hill and frost giants move 40, the storm giant 50.
• •It has no spells. Unlike the storm giant, it has no innate magic, no flight and no area attack. It's a pure weapons fighter, so control spells that stop it from reaching you are worth more than against a caster.

How Fire Giants Fight

A fire giant should fight like a soldier in heavy armor: advance, hold the line with its reach, and let the party come to it.

Damage per round, with the math. Against AC 18, a +11 attack hits on a 7 or higher, 70% of the time.

Against a less armored target (AC 15, hits on 4+, 85%), two 2024 Flame Swords average about 53 damage. A level 9 wizard has around 50 to 60 hit points. That's why the giant's first target should be whoever is wearing robes.

Use the reach. The 10-foot reach lets the giant stand behind a doorway, bridge end or barricade and swing at anything that approaches. Anyone who tries to slip past to reach a caster takes an opportunity attack worth 28 to 31 damage.

Hammer Throw is a positioning tool (2024). The push is 15 feet straight away from the giant. Pick targets standing near something dangerous: a forge pit, a lava channel, the edge of a gantry, a cliff. On flat ground, use it to knock a cleric out of range of the party it was buffing, or push a melee character 15 feet back so it has to spend its movement walking in again. The Disadvantage on its next attack roll blunts the party's best archer or spell-attack caster for a turn.

Split its attacks. The 2024 Multiattack allows one Flame Sword and one Hammer Throw in the same turn. Swing at the fighter in front of it, then throw the second hammer at the archer in the back.

Rocks, 2014 style. The 2014 fire giant only gets one ranged attack per action. Use rocks during the approach, when the party is out of reach, and close to melee as soon as you can.

Fire as terrain. Its fire immunity means it can stand in burning oil, a burning building or a forge's lava trough and take nothing. Fight it where the floor is on fire and only the party suffers.

Retreat. Lawful evil and disciplined, a fire giant that drops below about a third of its hit points might surrender or bargain if it thinks it will be treated honorably. It won't flee a fight it believes it was ordered to hold.

Running a Fire Giant Encounter

A fire giant is worth 5,000 XP. Using the 2024 SRD 5.2.1 budget for four characters:

Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines, the giant plus two hell hounds is three monsters, so the 6,400 XP doubles to 12,800. For four level 9 characters that is well past the 9,600 Deadly threshold. The two methods disagree sharply on mixed groups. Run the numbers for your party with the encounter calculator.

Practical guidance:

• •Level 8 to 10 is the sweet spot for one fire giant as a boss. Give it support with different strengths: hell hounds that move 50 feet and breathe fire, or a salamander (CR 5) whose grapple holds a character in place next to the giant.
• •Below level 7, two Flame Sword hits (62) are more than most characters' hit point maximum, and both land 70% × 70%, about half the time, against AC 18. Use it as a threat to avoid, negotiate with or sneak past.
• •Two fire giants together are a big jump in difficulty. Each has 162 hit points behind AC 18, so the party needs real damage output.

How Players Beat Fire Giants

Don't use fire. It is immune. That rules out Fireball, Burning Hands and every fire cantrip. Cold and lightning are the reliable damage types: Cone of Cold, Lightning Bolt. Remember Cone of Cold is a Constitution save, and the giant's +10 there means it will usually take half.

Target Wisdom and Intelligence. Wisdom +2 is its soft spot. Against a DC 16 save it fails 65% of the time. Dominate Monster is the dream at high level. At lower levels, Banishment targets its Charisma (+5), which still fails about half the time against DC 16 and removes it from the fight for up to a minute.

Watch the language. Fire giants speak only Giant. Under the 2014 rules, Command has no effect on a creature that doesn't understand your language, and Suggestion in both editions needs a target that can hear and understand you. Someone in the party who speaks Giant makes these options possible.

Don't trade blows with plate armor. AC 18 makes weapon attacks inefficient, and spells with saving throws skip the AC problem completely. If the party is built around weapons, fix the hit rate instead: Faerie Fire lands on a DC 16 save 60% of the time (the giant's Dexterity save is +3) and gives every attack against it Advantage, which turns a 60% hit chance into about 84%.

Use its speed against it. At 30 feet and without flight, the fire giant is easy to kite. A party with ranged attacks, Haste, or a mount can stay out of reach. Under the 2014 rules that limits it to one rock a turn. The 2024 version punishes kiting with two Hammer Throws, so get behind total cover between volleys.

Spread out against the hammer. Two characters standing on a ledge together give the 2024 giant two good push targets. Don't stand with your back to a drop.

Fire Giant Encounter Ideas

The armorer's commission. The party needs a weapon reforged and only one smith can do it: a fire giant who runs a forge in a dormant crater. It is lawful and honest, and it wants payment in something specific, like the heart-stone of a creature it's afraid to hunt itself. A fight is possible here, but the better outcome is a deal, and breaking that deal later turns it into an enemy who knows exactly what the party carries.

The toll on the causeway. A stone causeway crosses a field of cooling lava. A fire giant stands at the midpoint, demanding a toll from caravans. On the causeway there is nowhere to go but forward, back or off the edge. In the 2024 rules every Hammer Throw is a chance to push someone toward the lava. The party can pay, fight on bad ground, or find another way across.

The foundry under siege. A fire giant's foundry has been taken over by its own hell hounds after its master was poisoned. The giant is alive, chained in its own slag pit, weakened to half its hit points. Freeing it means having a dangerous, grateful ally for the rest of the dungeon. Leaving it means it gets free on its own later and remembers who walked past.

If the party ends up with a fire giant patron, a debt or a grudge, Loreify's session notes keep track of who owes whom.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a fire giant in 5e?

A fire giant is CR 9 and worth 5,000 XP in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 18, 162 hit points and a 30-foot walking speed.

How much damage does a fire giant do per turn?

In the 2014 rules it makes two greatsword attacks for 28 slashing each, up to 56 a turn. In the 2024 rules, two Flame Sword hits deal 31 each (21 slashing plus 10 fire), up to 62 a turn. At range, the 2024 giant can throw two hammers for 27 each.

Is a fire giant immune to fire?

Yes. Fire giants have immunity to fire damage in both editions, so Fireball, Burning Hands and other fire spells deal no damage to them. They have no other damage resistances or immunities.

What's the difference between a fire giant and a frost giant?

A fire giant (CR 9) has higher AC (18 vs 15), more hit points (162 vs 138 or 149) and a slower 30-foot speed. A frost giant (CR 8) is immune to cold instead of fire, moves 40 feet, and in 2024 carries a 600-foot great bow and a War Cry that buffs allies. The fire giant is a better wall; the frost giant is better at long range.

What language do fire giants speak?

Fire giants speak Giant and no other language. Under the 2014 rules this blocks Command, and in both editions Suggestion only works on a target that understands you.

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.