#Estimated Overall CR: 20.

To calculate the CR, I used the reference on pages 273-279 in the DMG.

Defensive Challenge Rating: Because it has 437hp, the CR starts at 21. Because the AC is three points lower than the average for CR 21 (which is 19), we subtract 1 point from the CR for every two points of AC difference. This brings the defensive CR to 20. The Cloud Ray Elder's defense would be more effective against a party that relied on lightning or thunder damage, but generally a party is diverse enough that immunities are not considered in the CR.

Offensive Challenge Rating: The offensive CR is much more difficult to calculate because of the number of different attacks, AOE options, extended effects, and mixed attacks and saves. In 5e, saves are generally about 50% certain in balanced encounters, and common practice is to assume the AOEs hit two creatures each. With these assumptions, I calculate the average DPR of each trait as:

Undulating Winds: 20

Sting: 29 (Assuming an average of 1 turn of the additional damage)

Thunderlash: 66 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Scooping Bite: 23 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Crush: 58

Dream Flight: 38

Choosing the best option for each action/bonus action yields a DPR of 173 with a +12 to hit. This equates to an offensive CR of 22. However, this combination is unlikely to occur in actual combat. Instead, if we assume the Cloud Ray Elder only uses its Multiattack, the DPR is 95. This equates to an initial CR of 15. The attack bonus is 6 points higher than the average for a CR 15, so the offensive CR is adjusted to 18. Most situations will be somewhere between these two extremes, so I will average these two values to get an offensive CR of 20.

Overall CR: Averaging the offensive and defensive challenge ratings of the Cloud Ray Elder yields an overall CR of 20*.

To reduce the CR, I would recommend decreasing Cloud Ray Elder's hp and decreasing the number or damage of its attacks and traits.

*Using the more conservative estimations for the Cloud Ray Elder's offensive abilities, the CR averages to 19. In the best case scenario for the Cloud Ray Elder (using the offensive CR of 22), the overall CR is 21.

Estimated Overall CR: 20.

To calculate the CR, I used the reference on pages 273-279 in the DMG.

Defensive Challenge Rating: Because it has 437hp, the CR starts at 21. Because the AC is three points lower than the average for CR 21 (which is 19), we subtract 1 point from the CR for every two points of AC difference. This brings the defensive CR to 20. The Cloud Ray Elder's defense would be more effective against a party that relied on lightning or thunder damage, but generally a party is diverse enough that immunities are not considered in the CR.

Offensive Challenge Rating: The offensive CR is much more difficult to calculate because of the number of different attacks, AOE options, extended effects, and mixed attacks and saves. In 5e, saves are generally about 50% certain in balanced encounters, and common practice is to assume the AOEs hit two creatures each. With these assumptions, I calculate the average DPR of each trait as:

Undulating Winds: 20

Sting: 29 (Assuming an average of 1 turn of the additional damage)

Thunderlash: 66 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Scooping Bite: 23 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Crush: 58

Dream Flight: 38

Choosing the best option for each action/bonus action yields a DPR of 173 with a +12 to hit. This equates to an offensive CR of 22. However, this combination is unlikely to occur in actual combat. Instead, if we assume the Cloud Ray Elder only uses its Multiattack, the DPR is 95. This equates to an initial CR of 15. The attack bonus is 6 points higher than the average for a CR 15, so the offensive CR is adjusted to 18. Most situations will be somewhere between these two extremes, so I will average these two values to get an offensive CR of 20.

Overall CR: Averaging the offensive and defensive challenge ratings of the Cloud Ray Elder yields an overall CR of 20*.

To reduce the CR, I would recommend decreasing Cloud Ray Elder's hp and decreasing the number or damage of its attacks and traits.

*Using the more conservative estimations for the Cloud Ray Elder's offensive abilities, the CR averages to 19. In the best case scenario for the Cloud Ray Elder (using the offensive CR of 22), the overall CR is 21.

Estimated Overall CR: 20.

To calculate the CR, I used the reference on pages 273-279 in the DMG.

Defensive Challenge Rating: Because it has 437hp, the CR starts at 21. Because the AC is three points lower than the average for CR 21 (which is 19), we subtract 1 point from the CR for every two points of AC difference. This brings the defensive CR to 20. The Cloud Ray Elder's defense would be more effective against a party that relied on lightning or thunder damage, but generally a party is diverse enough that immunities are not considered in the CR.

Offensive Challenge Rating: The offensive CR is much more difficult to calculate because of the number of different attacks, AOE options, extended effects, and mixed attacks and saves. In 5e, saves are generally about 50% certain in balanced encounters, and common practice is to assume the AOEs hit two creatures each. With these assumptions, I calculate the average DPR of each trait as:

Undulating Winds: 20

Sting: 29 (Assuming an average of 1 turn of the additional damage)

Thunderlash: 66 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Scooping Bite: 23 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Crush: 58

Dream Flight: 38

Choosing the best option for each action/bonus action yields a DPR of 173 with a +12 to hit. This equates to an offensive CR of 22. However, this combination is unlikely to occur in actual combat. Instead, if we assume the Cloud Ray Elder only uses its Multiattack, the DPR is 95. This equates to an initial CR of 15. The attack bonus is 6 points higher than the average for a CR 15, so the offensive CR is adjusted to 18. Most situations will be somewhere between these two extremes, so I will average these two values to get an offensive CR of 20.

Overall CR: Averaging the offensive and defensive challenge ratings of the Cloud Ray Elder yields an overall CR of 20*.

To reduce the CR, I would recommend decreasing Cloud Ray Elder's hp and decreasing the number or damage of its attacks and traits.

*Using the more conservative estimations for the Cloud Ray Elder's offensive abilities, the CR averages to 19. In the best case scenario for the Cloud Ray Elder (using the offensive CR of 22), the overall CR is 21.

#Estimated Overall CR: 20.

To calculate the CR, I used the reference on pages 273-279 in the DMG.

Defensive Challenge Rating: Because it has 437hp, the CR starts at 21. Because the AC is three points lower than the average for CR 21 (which is 19), we subtract 1 point from the CR for every two points of AC difference. This brings the defensive CR to 20. The Cloud Ray Elder's defense would be more effective against a party that relied on lightning or thunder damage, but generally a party is diverse enough that immunities are not considered in the CR.

Offensive Challenge Rating: The offensive CR is much more difficult to calculate because of the number of different attacks, AOE options, extended effects, and mixed attacks and saves. In 5e, saves are generally about 50% certain in balanced encounters, and common practice is to assume the AOEs hit two creatures each. With these assumptions, I calculate the average DPR of each trait as:

Undulating Winds: 20

Sting: 29 (Assuming an average of 1 turn of the additional damage)

Thunderlash: 66 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Scooping Bite: 23 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Crush: 58

Dream Flight: 38

Choosing the best option for each action/bonus action yields a DPR of 173 with a +12 to hit. This equates to an offensive CR of 22. However, this combination is unlikely to occur in actual combat. Instead, if we assume the Cloud Ray Elder only uses its Multiattack, the DPR is 95. This equates to an initial CR of 15. The attack bonus is 6 points higher than the average for a CR 15, so the offensive CR is adjusted to 18. Most situations will be somewhere between these two extremes, so I will average these two values to get an offensive CR of 20.

Overall CR: Averaging the offensive and defensive challenge ratings of the Cloud Ray Elder yields an overall CR of 20*.

To reduce the CR, I would recommend decreasing Cloud Ray Elder's hp and decreasing the number or damage of its attacks and traits.

*Using the more conservative estimations for the Cloud Ray Elder's offensive abilities, the CR averages to 19. In the best case scenario for the Cloud Ray Elder (using the offensive CR of 22), the overall CR is 21.

Estimated Overall CR: 20.

To calculate the CR, I used the reference on pages 273-279 in the DMG.

Defensive Challenge Rating: Because it has 437hp, the CR starts at 21. Because the AC is three points lower than the average for CR 21 (which is 19), we subtract 1 point from the CR for every two points of AC difference. This brings the defensive CR to 20. The Cloud Ray Elder's defense would be more effective against a party that relied on lightning or thunder damage, but generally a party is diverse enough that immunities are not considered in the CR.

Offensive Challenge Rating: The offensive CR is much more difficult to calculate because of the number of different attacks, AOE options, extended effects, and mixed attacks and saves. In 5e, saves are generally about 50% certain in balanced encounters, and common practice is to assume the AOEs hit two creatures each. With these assumptions, I calculate the average DPR of each trait as:

Undulating Winds: 20

Sting: 29 (Assuming an average of 1 turn of the additional damage)

Thunderlash: 66 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Scooping Bite: 23 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Crush: 58

Dream Flight: 38

Choosing the best option for each action/bonus action yields a DPR of 173 with a +12 to hit. This equates to an offensive CR of 22. However, this combination is unlikely to occur in actual combat. Instead, if we assume the Cloud Ray Elder only uses its Multiattack, the DPR is 95. This equates to an initial CR of 15. The attack bonus is 6 points higher than the average for a CR 15, so the offensive CR is adjusted to 18. Most situations will be somewhere between these two extremes, so I will average these two values to get an offensive CR of 20.

Overall CR: Averaging the offensive and defensive challenge ratings of the Cloud Ray Elder yields an overall CR of 20*.

To reduce the CR, I would recommend decreasing the number of hp the Cloud Ray Elder has, and decreasing the number or damage of its attacks and traits.

*Using the more conservative estimations for the Cloud Ray Elder's offensive abilities, the CR averages to 19. In the best case scenario for the Cloud Ray Elder (using the offensive CR of 22), the overall CR is 21.

Estimated Overall CR: 20.

To calculate the CR, I used the reference on pages 273-279 in the DMG.

Defensive Challenge Rating: Because it has 437hp, the CR starts at 21. Because the AC is three points lower than the average for CR 21 (which is 19), we subtract 1 point from the CR for every two points of AC difference. This brings the defensive CR to 20. The Cloud Ray Elder's defense would be more effective against a party that relied on lightning or thunder damage, but generally a party is diverse enough that immunities are not considered in the CR.

Offensive Challenge Rating: The offensive CR is much more difficult to calculate because of the number of different attacks, AOE options, extended effects, and mixed attacks and saves. In 5e, saves are generally about 50% certain in balanced encounters, and common practice is to assume the AOEs hit two creatures each. With these assumptions, I calculate the average DPR of each trait as:

Undulating Winds: 20

Sting: 29 (Assuming an average of 1 turn of the additional damage)

Thunderlash: 66 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Scooping Bite: 23 (Assuming half of the creatures successfully save, on average)

Crush: 58

Dream Flight: 38

Choosing the best option for each action/bonus action yields a DPR of 173 with a +12 to hit. This equates to an offensive CR of 22. However, this combination is unlikely to occur in actual combat. Instead, if we assume the Cloud Ray Elder only uses its Multiattack, the DPR is 95. This equates to an initial CR of 15. The attack bonus is 6 points higher than the average for a CR 15, so the offensive CR is adjusted to 18. Most situations will be somewhere between these two extremes, so I will average these two values to get an offensive CR of 20.

Overall CR: Averaging the offensive and defensive challenge ratings of the Cloud Ray Elder yields an overall CR of 20*.

To reduce the CR, I would recommend decreasing Cloud Ray Elder's hp and decreasing the number or damage of its attacks and traits.

*Using the more conservative estimations for the Cloud Ray Elder's offensive abilities, the CR averages to 19. In the best case scenario for the Cloud Ray Elder (using the offensive CR of 22), the overall CR is 21.