A Planetar is a powerful Celestial being summoned using the High-level class ability Summon Planetar. It is the good counterpart to the Dark Planetar.
Gameplay[]
Combat[]
With 110 hitpoints, 10% physical damage resistance, immunity to cold/fire/electricity, 75% Magic Resistance, 3 Globe of Blades and 3 Heal spells memorized as well as numerous effect immunities, Planetars are quite resilient, capable of holding their ground against both hard-hitting melee enemies and high-level spellcasters.
Planetars are under a permanent normal haste effect and, in Enhanced Editions only, have an extremely fast regeneration rate of 8 HP per second (4HP/sec doubled by the haste effect). A Planetar is considered "gated" rather than "summoned", and thus cannot be banished by a Death Spell. Planetars can see invisible creatures via script and will target them even if hidden from the party.
The summoned Planetar wields a +3 magical Greatsword that deals 2D10+3 Slashing damage, with an extra +7 for the Planetar's Strength. The Sword is the item that gives the Planetar its Normal Haste effect, raising its APR to 4.
Each blow from this weapon has a 25% chance to:
- Decapitate the target unless they save versus Death at a -2 penalty
- Destroy the target if it is an illusory creature, like a Project Image clone
- Dispel effects on the target, using the Planetar's Hit Dice level, 25 (unconfirmed for basic BG2), and at level 10 for BG2EE (tested and confirmed)
These effects bypass Magic resistance.
Spellcasting[]
The Planetar's primary class is Mage (level 25), but it also has a hidden default Cleric spell casting ability, meaning all Cleric spells will be cast at level 1, not level 25. This makes Flame Strike, Symbol, Fear, Holy Word and Dispel Magic have their minimum possible effectiveness (which varies, as spells tend to scale starting from the level they're normally obtainable and others, like Holy Word, don't scale at all). This has been tested and confirmed for BG2EE.
Without player command, a Planetar's AI will only cast Lesser Restoration, Neutralize Poison, Cure Disease, Heal (including its scripted self-Heal ability) and Dispel Magic as needed; all other spells require the player to manually cast them from the Planetar's spellbook.
Notes[]
Planetars aren't encountered as enemies during normal gameplay. If, however, a player-summoned Planetar becomes hostile for some reason, Death Ward is one way to defend against the Vorpal hit effect. Spells that protect from +3 weapons (e.g. Improved Mantle) also prevent the effect from triggering. Alternatively, increasing the defender's Saving Throw vs. Death (e.g. Improved Invisibility) to -1 or below will prevent the vorpal effect from killing the defender.
The physical and magical resilience of the Planetar, combined with its vorpal attacks, makes it useful for pretty much any combat encounter. As an example, if given the appropriate pre-buffs, it is entirely feasible for a Planetar to defeat high-level enemies such as beholders, liches, or even a shadow dragon single-handedly.
Shadows of Amn was initially designed without high-level class abilities like Summon Planetar; player characters were limited to 2.95 million XP and mages could only cast a few level 9 spells through rare scrolls. It was the expansion Throne of Bhaal that retroactively unlocked the XP cap and introduced high-level abilities to Shadows of Amn, but the campaign was arguably not updated well enough to higher level parties. It can be useful for a player interested in normal to higher difficulty levels to know that using Throne of Bhaal content in Shadows of Amn can significantly scale back difficulty. Summon Planetar is one of the stronger abilities introduced by Throne of Bhaal, especially so in Enhanced Editions with their regeneration.
Mod content[]
- This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
Installation of the Spell Revisions Mod makes changes to the summoned creature from the Summon Planetar High-level class ability. It brings the creature closer to the D&D 2nd Edition ruleset.
Planetar (18 Hit Dice):
STR 19, DEX 19, CON 18, INT 18, WIS 21, CHA 22; AL Chaotic Good
HP 152, AC -7, THAC0 1, Saving Throws 3/5/4/4/6
3 Attacks Per Round, 2d6+10 Slashing Damage (Greatsword +3)
Combat Abilities:
Vorpal: 15% chance target must save vs. death at -2 or die
Special Qualities:
Immune to weapons lower than +3 enchantment
Immune to charm, confusion, feeblemindedness, level drain, death, imprisonment, maze, petrification, & poison effects
Regeneration: 2hp/round
Cold & Electrical Resistance 100%; Fire Resistance 50%; Magic Resistance 75%
Slashing, Crushing, Piercing, & Missile Resistance 20%
Memorized Divine Spells:
Level 1: Bless (x3), Resist Fear (x3)
Level 2: Aid (x3), Find Trap, Know Opponent, Draw upon Divine Might
Level 3: Cure Disease (x2), Holy Smite (x2), Break Enchantment (x2)
Level 4: Cure Critical Wounds (x2), Death Ward (x2), Neutralize Poison (x2), Magic Circle against Evil (x2)
Level 5: Chaotic Commands (x2), Raise Dead (x2), True Seeing (x2)
Level 6: Blade Barrier, Bolt of Glory, Heal
Level 7: Greater Restoration, Holy Word
This Planetar creature is now a multi classed level 18/18 Fighter-Cleric. It has no Mage spells. It is equipped with different undroppable items to change its abilities and immunities. It can see invisible creatures and can't be backstabbed. It cannot be hurt by Poison damage. It now has a casting time modifier with a +10 speed bonus, and spells will cast almost instantly. It is not under a haste effect anymore, and instead has a movement modifier bonus of +4. The Greatsword only has a vorpal effect now, with no dispelling function. It has a hidden helmet that gives it a Wings Animation and prevents critical hits. Its adjusted Effective THAC0 is now -3. The creature gets a revised and smarter AI, and aggressively uses Divine Spells while engaged in melee, automatically. The player can still control the Planetar to command his spell casting as desired. As a Cleric, the Planetar may attempt to Turn Undead using its appropriate button control.
The Planetar gets a different animation than the unmodded game, looking more like a humanoid angel with golden wings, and not the same as a Solar.
Installation of the Sword Coast Stratagems Mod with the "Smarter Mages" component will mean that the player may now face a Planetar several times in the game, depending on the difficulty setting. Good or Neutral Mages eligible to have HLA's will summon Planetars to fight against your party, and a Dark Planetar will be summoned by evil Mages, Liches and Alhoons - where in the unmodded game you may never face one, even in ToB.
Mod gallery[]
- Portraits from Portraits Portraits Everywhere