Giant Elk 5e: Stats, Charge and the 2024 Celestial Elk

A giant elk is a CR 2 Huge creature with AC 14, 42 hit points and a 60-foot speed, built around one move: run 20 feet straight at a target and ram it. In the 2014 rules it's a Beast whose Charge adds 7 damage and a DC 14 Strength save against being knocked prone, and whose Hooves then deal 22 damage to anyone lying on the ground. In the 2024 rules it's a neutral good Celestial: the ram adds radiant damage, the charge knocks targets prone with no save, the Hooves attack is gone, and it resists necrotic and radiant damage.

Table of Contents

• •Giant Elk Stat Block (2014)
• •The Giant Elk in the 2024 Rules
• •How Giant Elk Fight
• •Giant Elk as Mounts, Summons and Shapes
• •Running a Giant Elk Encounter
• •How Players Beat a Giant Elk
• •Giant Elk Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Giant Elk Stat Block (2014)

This is the giant elk from SRD 5.1, matching the 2014 Monster Manual.

The SRD's own description says the giant elk is so rare that seeing one is often taken as an omen of an important event, and that many cultures believe hunting one invites divine wrath. It understands Common, Elvish and Sylvan but can't speak them. That alone makes it more of a story creature than a random wilderness fight.

In combat it has two attacks and no Multiattack, so it uses one per turn. Ram (+6, reach 10 ft.) deals 11 bludgeoning. Hooves (+6, reach 5 ft.) deals 22 bludgeoning but only against a prone creature.

The Giant Elk in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 giant elk (SRD 5.2.1) keeps its AC, hit points, speed and CR, then changes its creature type and simplifies its attacks.

The type change has more effect than the numbers. A 2024 giant elk isn't a Beast, so it isn't a valid form for Polymorph or Wild Shape, and Beast-only spells like Animal Friendship and Speak with Animals don't work on it. As a Celestial, it shows up to Detect Evil and Good and a paladin's Divine Sense.

How Giant Elk Fight

Charge every time it can. Against AC 16, +6 hits on a 10 or higher, 55% of the time.

Make room for the next charge. The charge needs 20 feet of straight-line movement right before the hit. With a 60-foot speed and 10-foot reach, a giant elk can back off and come again, but leaving a character's reach provokes an opportunity attack. On open ground it should circle wide, out of everyone's reach, before turning in.

2014: Hooves need help. The elk can't Ram and use Hooves on the same turn, and a character it knocks down stands up on its own turn. So Hooves usually lands only when something else keeps the target prone. Two giant elk do this naturally: one charges and knocks a character down, and the other, if it acts before that character, tramples it with advantage for 22. An unconscious character is also prone, and a hit from within 5 feet against an unconscious creature is a critical hit: 4d8 doubled plus 4, about 40 damage and two failed death saves.

2024: knock down and move on. With no follow-up attack, the 2024 elk's prone effect mainly helps its allies. It works well charging ahead of other Celestials or alongside a party that has asked for its help.

It flees more often than it fights. An unaligned 2014 beast with Wisdom 14 avoids pointless fights. A neutral good 2024 elk has little reason to fight a party that isn't hunting it or doing harm.

Giant Elk as Mounts, Summons and Shapes

• •Mount. The SRD lets a willing creature at least one size larger than its rider, with suitable anatomy, serve as a mount. A Huge giant elk can carry a Large or smaller rider. Controlling a mount requires it to be trained to accept a rider. A giant elk that understands Common but chooses its own path is better run as an independent mount, keeping its own initiative.
• •Find Steed. The 2014 spell's options include an elk, not a giant elk. The 2024 spell uses its own Otherworldly Steed stat block, a Large creature that can look like an elk. Neither gives you a Huge giant elk.
• •Conjure Animals (2014). One of the spell's options is a single beast of CR 2 or lower, so a 2014 caster can summon a giant elk with Conjure Animals. The 2024 spell creates a spectral pack of animals instead of individual beast stat blocks.
• •Wild Shape and Polymorph. The 2014 giant elk is CR 2, above the CR 1 maximum for Wild Shape in the SRD druid. Polymorph can turn a level 2 or higher target into one. The 2024 giant elk is a Celestial, so neither works.

Running a Giant Elk Encounter

A giant elk is 450 XP.

Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines (which our encounter calculator uses), one giant elk is a Medium fight for four level 2 characters and Easy for level 3. Two elk come to 1,350 adjusted XP: Hard at level 3, Medium at level 4.

Giant elk are best at levels 2 to 4, and often as something other than an enemy. A fight against one should come with a reason, because the setting itself warns against hunting them.

How Players Beat a Giant Elk

• •Deny the charge. Fight in trees, rubble or narrow ground where it can't move 20 feet straight. A Huge creature also has trouble in tight spaces.
• •Stand up fast (2014). Hooves only works on prone creatures. A knocked-down character should get up on their turn, or an ally should stand between them and a second elk.
• •Use its weak saves. Intelligence 7 (−2) is its worst save in both editions, and Charisma (+0) is next. The 2024 elk is proficient in Strength and Dexterity saves (+6), so effects that push it or trip it fail more often than in 2014.
• •Don't use radiant or necrotic on the 2024 elk. It resists both.
• •Talk. It understands Common. A party that lowers weapons and explains itself may end the fight.

Giant Elk Encounter Ideas

The omen. A giant elk appears at the edge of a town on the night a child is born to the local lord. Half the town wants it captured as a symbol, half wants it left alone. Someone hires the party to bring it in alive, and the elk understands every word.

The poachers. Hunters have wounded a giant elk and are tracking it. The party finds it first, hurt and cornered. Help it, and the 2024 elk may carry one of them to safety or charge the poachers when they arrive.

The holy herd. Three 2024 giant elk guard a shrine in a forest clearing. They let good-aligned visitors through and charge anyone the shrine marks as an enemy. The party has to find out why it marks one of them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a giant elk in 5e?

A giant elk is CR 2 (450 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules, with AC 14 and 42 hit points.

Is a giant elk a beast or a celestial?

In 2014 it's a Huge Beast. In 2024 it's a Huge Celestial with a neutral good alignment, resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, and 90-foot darkvision.

Can you ride a giant elk?

Yes, if it's willing. It's Huge, so it can carry a Large or smaller rider under the SRD mounted combat rules. Because it isn't a trained mount and it understands Common, run it as an independent mount that chooses its own actions.

Can a druid Wild Shape into a giant elk?

Not with the SRD Wild Shape. The 2014 giant elk is CR 2, and the SRD druid's Wild Shape maximum is CR 1. The 2024 giant elk is a Celestial, not a Beast.

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.