Water Form. The elemental can enter a hostile creature's space and stop there. It can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
Freeze. If the elemental takes cold damage, it partially freezes; its speed is reduced by 20 ft. until the end of its next turn.
Actions
Multiattack. The elemental makes two slam attacks.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage.
Whelm (Recharge 4–6). Each creature in the elemental's space must make a DC 15 Strength saving throw. On a failure, a target takes 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage. If it is Large or smaller, it is also grappled (escape DC 14). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and unable to breathe unless it can breathe water. If the saving throw is successful, the target is pushed out of the elemental's space.
The elemental can grapple one Large creature or up to two Medium or smaller creatures at one time. At the start of each of the elemental's turns, each target grappled by it takes 13 (2d8 + 4) bludgeoning damage. A creature within 5 feet of the elemental can pull a creature or object out of it by taking an action to make a DC 14 Strength and succeeding.
How many water elementals for a fight?
A water elemental is worth 1,800 XP. Using the 2024 encounter budgets (SRD 5.2), this is how many water elementals fit each difficulty for a party of four characters of the same level. A dash means even one would be over the budget.
Party level
Low
Moderate
High
4th
—
—
1
5th
1
1
2
6th
1
2
3
7th
1
2
3
8th
2
3
4
9th
2
4
5
10th
3
5
6
11th
4
6
9
12th
4
8
10
13th
5
9
12
14th
6
10
12+
15th
7
12
12+
16th
8
12+
12+
17th
10
12+
12+
18th
11
12+
12+
19th
12
12+
12+
Budgets add up every monster’s XP, so you can swap some for other creatures of the same total. Try other party sizes and mixes in the encounter calculator.
How the water elemental compares at CR 5
Against the 26 other challenge 5 monsters in the SRD 5.1, the water elemental has more hit points than 18 of them, which makes it tougher than most at its CR. See every CR 5 monster.
Statistic
Water Elemental
CR 5 average
Armor Class
14
14.6
Hit points
114
102
Best attack bonus
+7
+7
Best save DC
15
14
Water Elemental 2024 stat block
The 2024 Monster Manual revised the water elemental, and the SRD 5.2 carries the new stat block. What changed:
The numbers are the same; the text follows the 2024 rules glossary.
Freeze. If the elemental takes Cold damage, its Speed decreases by 20 feet until the end of its next turn.
Water Form. The elemental can enter an enemy’s space and stop there. It can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch without expending extra movement to do so.
Actions
Multiattack. The elemental makes two Slam attacks.
Slam. Melee Attack Roll: +7, reach 5 ft. Hit: 13 (2d8 + 4) Bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Medium or smaller creature, it has the Prone condition.
Whelm (Recharge 4–6). Strength Saving Throw: DC 15, each creature in the elemental’s space. Failure: 22 (4d8 + 4) Bludgeoning damage. If the target is a Large or smaller creature, it has the Grappled condition (escape DC 14). Until the grapple ends, the target has the Restrained condition, is suffocating unless it can breathe water, and takes 9 (2d8) Bludgeoning damage at the start of each of the elemental’s turns. The elemental can grapple one Large creature or up to two Medium or smaller creatures at a time with Whelm. As an action, a creature within 5 feet of the elemental can pull a creature out of it by succeeding on a DC 14 Strength (Athletics) check. Success: Half damage only.
