Large and above has damage reduction, but the small and medium ones can be hurt with normal weapons...
Ice damage is increased against them...
So yes, regular weapons can be used, though they become less effective as the elementals get bigger.
Alright, when you are checking a monster's defenses and immunities, there are two places to check. The first is the "Defense" section of the monster's stat block. You look there, and you see that smaller elementals gain the typical elemental traits, plus fire immunity.
Elemental traits include immunity to bleed, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning, critical hits or flanking, and precision damage (like sneak attack). And since elementals do not breath or eat, they can avoid effects that require inhalation or ingestion.
Older and more powerful elementals also gain DR. Damage Reduction (DR) applies generally to weapon and natural attacks, but also applies to any piercing, bludgeoning, and slashing damage. Other types of damage are not affected. Damage reduction normally has a bypass method (silver weapons, magic weapons, or the like), but more powerful fire elementals gain DR 5 or 10/-, which means there are no general means to ignore their DR.
Small and Medium fire elementals, however, do not gain this DR.
Fire elementals also gain a weakness of cold vulnerability. Unless stated otherwise in the monster description, vulnerability usually means that a monster takes 50% extra damage from cold damage.
The second place to check for monster immunities and resistances is to look up the monster's type and subtypes for details--some monster blocks forget to include information that is part of the monster's type. The fire elemental's elemental traits and fire traits are already included, so no need this time.
Rule wise, monsters are not immune to, or weak against, effects that are not explicitly mentioned in the monster's stat block or type. During the game, of course, you may want to arbitrate otherwise for inventive players--I've heard many a story where the party destroyed a massive fire elemental with a sufficiently large body of water or by depriving it of oxygen--but that is ultimately up to you and your party.
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Although i really like the idea and applaud the ingenuity of killing a fire elemental by depriving it of oxygen i don't think that would work. The stat block clearly states that elemental do not need to eat, breath,or sleep. so by that a fire elemental does not need oxygen to survive. This goes hand in hand with there being fire elemental in outer space and in areas deprived of air in either campaign settings or novels.
Otherwise your post is great and hits all points the OP needed
Although i really like the idea and applaud the ingenuity of killing a fire elemental by depriving it of oxygen i don't think that would work. The stat block clearly states that elemental do not need to eat, breath,or sleep. so by that a fire elemental does not need oxygen to survive. This goes hand in hand with there being fire elemental in outer space and in areas deprived of air in either campaign settings or novels.
Otherwise your post is great and hits all points the OP needed
In my campaigns, space still has air... just... because. :D
Oh, I probably wouldn't even let my party kill an elemental with water, myself, but it's good to dwell on these ideas a little, as the players certainly will.
Fire elementals don't need to breath so that we can have colossal+++++++++++++++++++++++++++ fire elementals as stars.
I'm GM'ing and new at it. I have a question about Fire Elementals. What all weapons can be used to attack and kill them? I know they are immune to fire (of course) but can regular weapons be used to kill them?
To directly answer your question. Yes. They have some level of corporality because they are not incorporeal. They have physical substance and aren't just "made of fire". It's "fire" that has mass and weight (though both are low). This is why their slam attacks deal damage as well as burn. They're not dealing regular bludgeoning damage with just fire for a body (because there is more to them than fire).
Fire elementals don't need to breath so that we can have colossal+++++++++++++++++++++++++++ fire elementals as stars.
So you can cast Dispel Balance and then banish someone's sun?
So you can cast Dispel Balance and then banish someone's sun?
As long as you're fine touching the sun. I've heard it's rather hot.
Elementals have bodies even if the normal element is effectively amorphous.
As long as you're fine touching the sun. I've heard it's rather hot.
So you can cast Dispel Balance and then banish someone's sun?
As long as you're fine touching the sun. I've heard it's rather hot.
So you can cast Dispel Balance and then banish someone's sun?
Half-Dragon.
No problemo.
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Hey, I didn't suggest it'd be hard. Just a warning like, "you should put on thongs, the tiles outside are hot to step on".
As long as you're fine touching the sun. I've heard it's rather hot.
So you can cast Dispel Balance and then banish someone's sun?Half-Dragon.
No problemo.
Oddly enough, Red dragon are immune to fire and could bathe in lava, but that would not stop them from getting heat stroke damage, I believe.
Oddly enough, Red dragon are immune to fire and could bathe in lava, but that would not stop them from getting heat stroke damage, I believe.As long as you're fine touching the sun. I've heard it's rather hot.
So you can cast Dispel Balance and then banish someone's sun?Half-Dragon.
No problemo.
Odd, that. ;) Also, if on the sun, the pressure/gravity would obviously render them down to their component atoms, then fusion would rip those apart, but how realistic do we want to be here?
Oddly enough, Red dragon are immune to fire and could bathe in lava, but that would not stop them from getting heat stroke damage, I believe.As long as you're fine touching the sun. I've heard it's rather hot.
So you can cast Dispel Balance and then banish someone's sun?Half-Dragon.
No problemo.
That non-lethal damage was ruled to be non-lethal fire damage.
Which their immunity protects them from. So no, it doesn't.
Oddly enough, Red dragon are immune to fire and could bathe in lava, but that would not stop them from getting heat stroke damage, I believe.As long as you're fine touching the sun. I've heard it's rather hot.
So you can cast Dispel Balance and then banish someone's sun?Half-Dragon.
No problemo.
That non-lethal damage was ruled to be non-lethal fire damage.
Which their immunity protects them from. So no, it doesn't.
So all they need to worry about is drowning, nice! I've always had a soft spot for half dragons...
Also, if on the sun, the pressure/gravity would obviously render them down to their component atoms, then fusion would rip those apart, but how realistic do we want to be here?
Pathfinders sun rules do have pressure and gravity as issues you have to contend with surprisingly.