Holy water questions


Rules Questions

Scarab Sages

This hasn't come up in a game, I just ran across the rules and wanted to know the answer.

1) demiliches say that they are immune to 'magic.' Are they then immune to holy water? (Which is created by the 'bless water' spell). Ambrosia is an alchemical item that 'acts like holy water' but is entirely mundane, would they be immune to that as well?

If they are vulnerable to holy water, what about the spell 'enhance holy water?' What happens if I enhance some holy water and throw it at a demilich?

Lastly, demiliches have a dr or 20/- does this stop damage from holy water (or ambrosia)? It seems like it wouldn't, but holy water doesn't list a damage type when effecting undead, so it isn't energy damage and thus would be stopped by the dr, is that right? Is that right for all undead with dr x/- ?

Scarab Sages

Okay, so after poking around in the rules, it says that demiliches are immune to spells that allow for sr. Things like magic stone, which enchant objects, are fair game, so it seems like holy water and enhance holy water would work, but I still don't know if it overcomes the DR of a demilich.

Shadow Lodge

Holy Water wrote:

Holy water damages undead creatures and evil outsiders almost as if it were acid. A flask of holy water can be thrown as a splash weapon.

Treat this attack as a ranged touch attack with a range increment of 10 feet. A flask breaks if thrown against the body of a corporeal creature, but to use it against an incorporeal creature, you must open the flask and pour the holy water out onto the target. Thus, you can douse an incorporeal creature with holy water only if you are adjacent to it. Doing so is a ranged touch attack that does not provoke attacks of opportunity.

A direct hit by a flask of holy water deals 2d4 points of damage to an undead creature or an evil outsider. Each such creature within 5 feet of the point where the flask hits takes 1 point of damage from the splash.

Temples to good deities sell holy water at cost (making no profit). Holy water is made using the bless water spell.

Since the object does not specify what damage type Holy Water is, it does imply that it is energy damage, as it says it damages as if it were acid. It would be kinda silly for Holy Water to do slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning damage[the three damage types that are negated by DR]. Bless Water states that it infuses the water with Positive Energy, so it can be inferred that the damage in Positive Energy damage. Or, since damage type isn't listed, it could be Untyped Energy damage and thus nothing is immune, save some specific monster. So I'd ask your GM as to what specific damage type it is [unless this is PFS].

Now, this isn't RAW, but I'm pretty sure that RAI Holy Water is supposed to be capable of getting more than 3 points of damage through the DR5 of Skeletons and Zombies and capable of dealing damage to Vampires with DR 10[3 of the most common, and Iconic undead].


DR does not apply to energy-based attacks (fire, cold, acid, positive, negative, electrical, etc.) That means the holy water does its full damage to demiliches.

Grand Lodge

Holy water is not a magic item and doesn't allow SR. It does positive energy damage, which ignores DR.


Starglim wrote:
Holy water is not a magic item and doesn't allow SR. It does positive energy damage, which ignores DR.

Not sure about this as it deals damage to evil outsiders as well and positive energy would not normally do that.

But it sure is not weapon damage and thus ignores DR.


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Pathfinder Lost Omens Subscriber

holy water, does holy water damage, to things holy water can do damage to. that's pretty much the end of it.

Grand Lodge

VampByDay wrote:
Okay, so after poking around in the rules, it says that demiliches are immune to spells that allow for sr. Things like magic stone, which enchant objects, are fair game, so it seems like holy water and enhance holy water would work, but I still don't know if it overcomes the DR of a demilich.

If you're down to the point where you're depending on holy water to save you from a demi-lich, it's a pretty moot point. As I remember their 3.X incarnations, demi-liches are immune to pretty much everything save their specific vulnerabilities. This means holy water won't do anything save give them a skull wash.

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