How to Run an Arch-Hag in D&D

Using an Arch-Hag in Your Game

At CR 21, the arch-hag is a high-level threat that can hold its own against seasoned adventurers, though it won’t be able to go toe-to-toe with a party of level 20 heroes. It has an XP value of 33,000 (41,000 in its lair), which makes it a pretty good solo fight for a party of four level 16 characters (according to the XP Budget per Character guidelines in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide).

With an Armor Class of 20, a high Initiative of +16, and 333 HP, the arch-hag has some durability and speed that might surprise your party, but its true strength lies in its slippery spellcasting and debilitating curses.

How an Arch-Hag Thinks

An arch-hag is not a brute-force villain; she is a master of foresight, deception, and manipulation.

When part of a coven, she can use a variety of Divination spells, like Scrying and Augury, to gather intel and allow her to ensure she enters any battle already at an advantage. She also has access to Find Familiar to act as a reliable spy around her lair.

Rather than engaging in direct combat immediately, she might offer bargains laced with hidden consequences—binding oaths, cursed gifts, or seemingly harmless deals that place her enemies in precarious positions. She ensures that when battle comes, the party is already weakened, misled, or indebted to her in ways they don’t yet understand.

Even if she is forced into a direct confrontation, she has a plethora of abilities that allow her to escape, ensuring that she can return later—stronger and more prepared.

Fighting the Arch-Hag in Her Lair

The hag’s lair has regional effects that warp the area surrounding it. Creatures within 1 mile of her lair subtract 1d10 from Influence checks, but that’s not the worst of it. Spellcasters who take a Long Rest within 1 mile of her lair target themselves and nearby allies with the Confusion spell after the first spell they cast.

Within her lair, the arch-hag grows even more formidable, gaining an additional Legendary Resistance (totaling 5/day) and one extra Legendary Action (raising it to 4 per round), making her an even greater force to reckon with.

Beyond the pure mechanical upgrades, an arch-hag is a tenacious and paranoid planner. She will likely have traps, secret rooms, and more fun if an adventuring party snoops around uninvited.

If you’re planning a fight with an arch-hag and are looking for a lair battle map, check out our Legendary Lairs: Volume 1 supplement, which brings this cunning villain to life with a ready-to-run adventure featuring the arch-hag in her lair.

Opening Moves: Battlefield Control and Curses

As we said, the arch-hag should probably be acting first because of her +16 to Initiative, which will allow her to start combat by sowing chaos among the party. A good opener might involve using Hypnotic Pattern (which she can use at will) to punish any grouped-up party members and set them up for devastating follow-ups. Alternatively, Mass Suggestion could also be used to split the party or force them into disadvantageous positions.

She also wants to curse as many creatures as possible so she can start tacking on extra damage using her Witch Strike Bonus Action. The abilities that leave curses on characters are:

• Crackling Wave (AoE Action): Cursed and can’t take Reactions until the end of the hag’s next turn.
• Tongue Twister (Reaction): Cursed, can’t cast spells with Verbal components, and says the opposite of what they mean until the end of its next turn.
• Spiteful Escape (When Hag is Reduced to 0 Hit Points): Cursed, has Disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws, and the hag knows its location anywhere in the multiverse.

Defensive Maneuvers: Countering the Party’s Magic

The arch-hag’s defenses are way more than just her AC and Hit Points. Thanks to her magic, she is slippery to fight and a nightmare for spellcasters.

Countering Spellcasters

Tongue Twister, her Reaction, allows her to cast Counterspell while also leaving a previously mentioned curse on the caster. So, the first caster to go after the arch-hag is likely going to spend a lot of the encounter cursed if they didn’t pick up a Proficiency in Constitution checks or the Subtle Spell Metamagic option.

If that wasn’t enough, she has Advantage on saving throws against spells thanks to Magic Resistance and at least 4 Legendary Resistances a day, so she will likely be frustrating any caster that comes in spells-a-blazing.

When running an arch-hag against your character, prioritize countering high-level buffs (like Haste or Greater Invisibility) while she still has Legendary Resistances available, because any offensive spell against the hag will have a tough time sticking.

Thwarting Martials

If threatened, the hag can use Dimension Door as a Legendary Action to reposition once per round. Make sure she doesn’t pop it too early and let the group close in.

The most dangerous type of character against the arch-hag is a ranged martial, as they’re not hampered by the distance she can easily create. You can make sure to stock her lair with areas of darkness and cover to ensure she has a way to thwart these types of builds.

Daily Drivers

The arch-hag’s Multiattack lets it strike twice with Spectral Claw—a melee or ranged attack that deals 3d6 + 7 Force damage and knocks Large or smaller creatures prone. She then uses Crackling Wave which is an AoE that unleashes a 60-foot cone of lightning, forcing a DC 22 Dexterity saving throw. On a fail, enemies take 32 (5d12) Lightning damage and are cursed until the end of the hag’s next turn, preventing them from taking Reactions.

Whenever an enemy is cursed, the hag can use its Witch Strike Bonus Action to deal an additional 14 (4d6) lightning damage to all cursed foes within 60 feet. This creates a deadly synergy between Crackling Wave and Witch Strike, making it a great, consistent option if she doesn’t need to use one of her more powerful spells.

Legendary Actions

As for her Legendary Actions, she can use either Hypnotic Pattern or Dimension Door once per round, and her decision to do so will depend on whether she’s on the offensive (Hypnotic Pattern) or defensive (Dimension Door).

The Hypnotic Pattern option is incredibly powerful if the party clumps up as it Incapacitates creatures, making them lose their turn, which can be absolutely diabolical for the arch-hag to use between the party member’s turns.

The rest of her Legendary Actions will be making Spectral Claw attacks, but that’s also hampering for martial characters because it can knock them Prone, making them unable to catch up with the arch-hag as she’s zipping around with Dimension Door.

The Spiteful Escape: An Unfinished Battle

Saying the arch-hag doesn’t die easily is a complete understatement.

Having access to both Dimension Door and Plane Shift, the arch-hag is easily able to slip away from a battle she’s not winning. Even if the party somehow manages to prevent her from teleporting away, she can’t actually die unless the party has rooted out and brought her anathema.

Thanks to Spiteful Escape, if the arch-hag drops to 0 Hit Points, she instead teleports to a demiplane unless her anathema (unique weakness) is present. If she escapes, every one of her enemies within 60 feet gets a nice little parting gift: a curse that causes them to suffer Disadvantage on ability checks and saving throws AND the hag always knows their exact location.

This curse also doesn’t go away on its own. The characters will have to seek out a Remove Curse spell if they don’t have one available. And they will definitely want to get this curse removed before the arch-hag is able to return to the plane she left (which takes 2d6 days).

A Villain Worth Fighting More Than Once

Running an arch-hag is about deception, manipulation, and long-term schemes. In combat, she should be oppressive yet slippery, teleporting around the battlefield, cursing her foes at every opportunity, and shutting down offensive spellcasters. Even when defeated, she rarely stays dead, almost ensuring that the players experience just how petty and dangerous a spiteful hag can be.