The Arch-Hag: The Perfect Foil For Spellcasters In D&D 2024

Curses and counterspells from this high level Fey.

They like to pretend to be all maternal (or paternal now, we’ve got male hags), but don’t be fooled; hags are completely lacking in the nurturing department! In fact, you shouldn’t trust a hag at all, ever!

And yet, undoubtedly, some desperate wretch will need something a hag has; a potion, a spell, a summon a curse… oh, wait, now I’m just singing Wish lyrics. But you get the idea. Whatever it may be, a hag will gladly give it; for a price. And usually a grave price, and one that most would be unwilling to give if they understood the full ramifications of the deal.

Manipulative, immoral and absolutely evil. There are few boundaries a hag will not cross. They’ll quite happily abduct children, maim and torture to get what they want.

The 2024 Monster Manual asks what happens if a hag becomes extremely powerful (like Baba Yaga). What kind of magic would they possess? What kind of power would they wield?

The answer to that is the arch-hag. A CR21 monster with a load of tricky abilities that make the them a powerful disruptor of spellcasters and incredibly difficult to destroy permanently.

What abilities does an arch-hag have

Tieflings dealing with a hag — An arch-hag offers a deal: Wizards of the Coast

Below I’ve outlined an arch-hag’s capabilities:

Very high initiative (+16) – Means they’re likely to be the first taking a turn in combat.
Large size – Means they can be grappled by medium creatures, but beware of that high strength (24).
Ability scores – They have a very high charisma (25) which is their spellcasting ability. While dexterity is their lowest ability score, it’s actually their 2nd best saving throw (+9) with wisdom saving throws being the ones they’re best at (+11) because of proficiency in these abilities.
Resistances and immunities – Arch-hag’s are immune to the charmed, exhaustion and frightened conditions. Don’t bother with these. They also have truesight so will see right through invisibility, illusions and even rogues that try to hide; so don’t bother. They’re also resistant to cold, fire and psychic damage.
They know all languages – So don’t bother concealing what you’re saying with another language, they know them all.
They know what you’re doing – The arch-hag has access to several information gathering spells like augury, scrying and locate object (at least when they’ve got their coven around). If they want to, they can learn all sorts of things about what you’re up to and where you are. Be aware that if an arch-hag is hunting you, you may need to be extremely discreet, even when no-one seems to be looking.
Legendary resistance – Arch-hag’s have 4-5 uses of legendary resistance each day, so you may need to whittle down their defences with many saving throws.
Magical resistance – They have advantage on saving throws against spells too so will often pass these anyway.
Lots of attacks – The arch-hag gets a couple of spectral claw attacks which can be used at 60ft range (so ranged characters are often within reach). They also get a cone attack each turn with a large area and strong damage. But it gets worse! Failing the saving throw against the cone attack will leave you cursed, opening you up to another attack from the arch-hag’s bonus action. On top of this, they can cast counterspell as a reaction which can also curses the caster for a turn allowing them to be damaged by the arch-hag’s bonus action and stops them casting verbal spells.
Legendary actions – Arch-hag’s also get 3-4 legendary actions each round. Usually these will consist of spectral claw attacks, but once per round, they can cast dimension door or hypnotic pattern. Hypnotic pattern will probably be the most frequently used and can easily knock multiple party members out of the combat.
Spellcasting – They don’t have a huge number of combat spells. You’ll mainly want to beware of hypnotic pattern and mass suggestion which can nullify multiple party members. The DC is high at 22 as well. They also have dispel magic to be aware of.
Extremely hard to permanently kill – When arch-hags drop to 0hp, they don’t actually die. Instead, they end up in a demi-plane for a few days and inflict a curse on anyone nearby allowing it to know where its killers are and gives disadvantage on saving throws and ability checks. To permanently kill an arch-hag, you must kill them near their anathema which includes such “common things” as a devil’s tear, a star pulled from the sky or a thread from the Lady of Pain’s robes. Better get remove curse ready!

Tactics for fighting an arch-hag

Arch-hags are nasty enemies with extremely disruptive traits and a lot of damage to dish out. This means you’re definitely going to need to be prepared with some tactics:

Not that resilient against weapons – The obvious approach is to use weapons and make a direct assault exclusive of magic.
Spellcasting overload – If you’re in a position where you must cast spells, overload them with spells to allow just the one counterspell attempt and better chances on subsequent spells. Spell attacks will be better than spells with saving throws but if you must target saving throws, try and get legendary resistances used up then target intelligence (with constitution your next best option).
Focus on buffs – Or other spells that don’t require a saving throw. Things like haste, bless, hunter’s mark, divine smite and healing spells won’t be as easy for an arch-hag to prevent. True, there’s always counterspell, but if multiple spells are being cast, this may be less of an issue.
Spread out – There are a few nasty AoE powers at an arch-hag’s disposal and bunching up will only serve the arch-hag’s machinations. Limit yourself to one or 2 affected creatures by splitting up and flanking.
Keep out of range – If you can fire off spells and attacks from beyond 60ft, you should be out of range of its attacks. Of course, the arch-hag can move (and has dimension door as a legendary action), but a couple of flanking martials can either keep her in place, or get opportunity attacks if she moves. This will also make it harder for the arch-hag to catch lots of you in it’s AoE attacks.
Target intelligence – Intelligence is the arch-hag’s weak link for saving throws so focus efforts on that for any effects. This includes spells like mind sliver, synaptic static and phantasmal force. Their saving throws are particularly high for dexterity and wisdom so avoid these if possible.
Load up on counterspell – If at all possible, you’ll want to stop the hag casting hypnotic pattern at least once per round as with a DC of 22, you’re bound to have some party members ensnared in the spell. Arch-hag constitution saves are only +6 giving you a decent shot of stopping the spell. Just be aware that an arch-hag isn’t using levelled spells for hypnotic pattern so can counterspell your counterspell, but not if she’s already counterspelled another spell (still with me?) so there’s some amount of resource you’ll want to be having the arch-hag expend. Dispel magic is also great for ending the arch-hag’s effects.
Find out its anathema – If you want to kill the arch-hag permanently (which I’d recommend due to their propensity for retribution), you’ll need to work out what their anathema is. This may not be easy and they tend to be quite obscure. The anathema will relate to the arch-hag’s past somehow and represents a fateful encounter or antithesis of their power, so learning about it’s history might give you a clue here, but arch-hags typically guard such knowledge aggressively!

The arch-hag is an absolutely terrifying, high level boss that wields incredible magic while largely nullifying the magical effects of others. What do you think of the arch-hag? Let me know in the comments below.