Salamander 5e: Spear, Coils and a Body You Can't Touch

The salamander is a CR 5 Large fire Elemental that speaks Ignan, with AC 15, 90 hit points, immunity to fire and vulnerability to cold. It attacks with a burning spear and a 10-foot tail that grabs and holds a target, and it burns anyone fighting it up close: in 2014 through Heated Body (7 fire damage to anyone who hits it in melee), in 2024 through a Fire Aura that burns adjacent enemies at the end of every one of its turns. The 2024 version also loses its resistance to nonmagical weapons and gains a 30-foot climb speed.

Table of Contents

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

Salamander Stat Block (2014)

The SRD 5.1 salamander:

Each turn it makes one spear attack and one tail attack, both at +7. The spear deals 2d6 + 4 piercing (2d8 + 4 two-handed) plus 1d6 fire from Heated Weapons. The tail deals 11 bludgeoning plus 7 fire with a 10-foot reach and grapples on a hit (escape DC 14). While grappled, the target is restrained and the tail hits automatically every turn.

Its defense is twofold: resistance to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks, and Heated Body, which deals 7 (2d6) fire damage to any creature that touches it or hits it with a melee attack from within 5 feet. A fighter who hits twice in a turn takes 14 back.

The Salamander in the 2024 Rules

The SRD 5.2.1 salamander keeps the CR, AC, hit points and ability scores.

Two changes matter most. Fire Aura burns whether or not you attack. In 2014, a character could stand next to a salamander, Dodge or cast spells, and take no fire damage. In 2024, every creature it chooses within 5 feet takes 7 fire at the end of its turn. Constrict is a save, not an attack roll, so a high AC no longer protects you from being grabbed; your Strength save does.

How the Salamander Fights

Grab, then stab. The salamander's best turn is to restrain someone and then hit them with Advantage. A restrained creature has Disadvantage on attack rolls and Dexterity saves, and attacks against it have Advantage.

The 2014 math against AC 16 (hits on a 9, 60%):

The 2024 version: two Flame Spears deal 20 each, about 24 a turn against AC 16. Replacing one with Constrict deals 18 to a target that fails a DC 15 Strength save and restrains it, so the follow-up spear hits with Advantage. Add the Fire Aura's 7 to each enemy adjacent at the end of its turn.

Pick the grab target. The 2024 Constrict works only on Large or smaller creatures; the 2014 tail has no size limit. The wizard is the best target: with Strength +0 against DC 15, they fail on a 14 or lower, 70% of the time. Escaping takes an action and a DC 14 check, which costs the wizard their turn.

Use the climb (2024). A salamander on a wall or the ceiling of a forge hall is out of reach of most melee. It throws its spear (20/60 feet, it returns to its hand), then drops on someone to Constrict them.

Fight where it's hot. In lava tubes, burning buildings and smithies, the party has bigger problems than the salamander. It's immune to fire; they aren't. Fire spells and burning terrain help it.

Running a Salamander Encounter

For four level 5 characters, the 2024 SRD budget is 2,000 (Low), 3,000 (Moderate) and 4,400 (High):

Two salamanders against four level 6 characters are Moderate (2014: Hard). For a level 7 party, one salamander leading three azers (3,150 XP) is Moderate; the 2014 guidelines rate it Hard. The 2014 numbers come from the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide, which our encounter calculator uses; its group multiplier is why the magmin mix jumps to Deadly there.

The salamander fits naturally with other creatures of fire: magmins as expendable skirmishers, azers as rivals or captives, a fire elemental as the bigger threat, or an efreeti as the boss it serves.

How Players Beat a Salamander

• •Cold damage doubles. Cone of Cold deals 8d8 (36 average); against a salamander that is 72 on a failed save, most of its 90 hit points. Its Constitution save is +2. Ray of Frost and other cold cantrips also deal double.
• •Fire does nothing. Don't cast Fireball at it.
• •Fight it with reach. A glaive or whip at 10 feet avoids Heated Body (2014) and the 5-foot Fire Aura (2024). It doesn't avoid the 10-foot tail or Constrict.
• •Get it into water. Underwater, creatures and objects have resistance to fire damage in both editions, which halves its fire damage.
• •2014: bring magic weapons. Nonmagical bludgeoning, piercing and slashing are resisted, so a level 5 party without magic weapons deals half damage with them.
• •Break the grab early. A restrained ally loses half their value. Spend an action on the DC 14 escape before the auto-hits stack up.

Salamander Encounter Ideas

The forge-tenders. A dwarven foundry has had its fires burning hotter for a month, and nobody has seen the night crew. Two salamanders are working the bellows, fed by a smith who promised them metal to melt. The smith can be talked down; the salamanders want payment.

The returning spear. A wagon caravan keeps finding drivers pinned to the roadside by spears that are never there afterward. The 2024 Flame Spear returns to the thrower's hand. A salamander is hunting from the rocky cliffs above, climbing out of sight between attacks.

The furnace bargain. The party needs a salamander to tell them how to reach a fire elemental's prison. It will, if they bring it to a forge to "drink" a furnace. The forge is in a town that will not thank them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a salamander in 5e?

The salamander is CR 5 (1,800 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. It has AC 15 and 90 hit points.

Is a salamander vulnerable to cold?

Yes. In both editions the salamander is vulnerable to cold damage (it takes double) and immune to fire damage.

What does the salamander's Heated Body do?

In the 2014 rules, any creature that touches the salamander or hits it with a melee attack while within 5 feet takes 7 (2d6) fire damage. The 2024 salamander replaces it with Fire Aura, which deals 7 (2d6) fire damage to each creature of its choice within 5 feet at the end of each of its turns.

Does a salamander resist nonmagical weapons?

The 2014 salamander resists bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks. The 2024 salamander has no damage resistances, only fire immunity and cold vulnerability.

What's the difference between a salamander and a fire elemental?

Both are CR 5 fire creatures. The fire elemental is a fast, shapeless mass that sets everything it touches on fire. The salamander is a thinking, speaking creature (Ignan) with a spear and a grappling tail, and it fights more like a soldier than a wildfire.

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.