I really feel like the shadow should get a mention here. When compared to say, an orc (another example of CR 1/2), this creature might deal less damage, but its strength drain is insane. A level twenty barbarian can probably tank hits from 20+ orcs, but 10 hits from shadows will kill it outright - no death saves, nothing. As for non-strength based characters, they'd be just as suseptible to this creature at level 20 as they'd be at level 1.
This There's a reason why they are renowned as Party Killers as inexperienced DM will go "that's a low CR, I guess my level 5 party can handle half a dozen of them no problem" only to be horrified upon seeing the Wizard die in the first round with the warrior being surrounded and the Cleric being immediately overwhelmed between having to save people from dying or using Radiant damages to thin the herd. Honestly, I was expecting them so much in BG3 that when I got to Moonrise Towers I was completely specced towards dealing with them (my first encounter still almost ended up with Gayle being down first round and I took way too much damage for my comfort despite my prep). I always have a mini heart attack when I'm around level 5/6 and I hear that Shadows are near
Also resistance to elemental and physical damage, while vulnerable to radiant, basically doubles their survivability against a party of appropriate level to face them. Also worth noting that even if strenght drain can kill any player of any level, for their intended encounter levels they still pack a very respectable 2d6+2 necrotic damage.
I am surprised that the Gelatinous Cube got on the list, but the Intellect Devourer didn't. I get that it's a very low-CR creature, but it's dangerous for even high-level parties. After all, not only can it just instantly kill a party member who fails against it's saving throw AND that party member cannot be resurrected without high-level spells (as it eats the brain of the player), but it also now takes control of that character. That means that low to mid-level parties won't even be able to get their fallen comerade back, but also that they might now have to fight that player one man down. The fact that this low CR monster can just instantly kill even a 20th level party member makes me wonder how it didn't get on the list.
I’ve run waterdeep dragon heist 3 times, every time the campaign ended early due to an intellect devourer (even after speed levelling them to level 5). I finally gave up and decided to make the character in the most recent campaign develop a symbiotic bond with the intellect devourer, so now he’s basically brain-venom. Long story short: intellect devourer have a high kill count in my campaigns.
I have seen a lvl 16 monk strait up 1v1 tarrasque... Just punched it to death. Tarrasque is trash. It's nothing. It's not even a monster. A lvl 1 Aarakocra can murder it with a +1 bow and enough time. Some monsters in this list are just trash. They just look cool. Like Kraken. I have seen a Kraken get perma-stunned by a Divination wizard and murdered by a sharpshooter xbow expert fighter in 2 turns. 5e Monsters are joke... When a creature has somewhat of a chance to fight back, it's considered "DANGEROUS CREATURE". it's laughable. Edit: Typo
@@sanguineaurora8765 actually the aarakockra theory it's well said but it has a little flaw, that is carrying capacity. How would a lvl 1 dex-based player have enought arrows to do 35 hits and not only that, crit every turn? (because yes, even with 16 dex he would need to get a nat 20 just to be able to hit). If he goes down to get the arrows he already threw, he is dead. An opportunity attack would be totally lethal, and I don't know a lot of lvl 1 characters with an average of 29 AC
@@shaggytodopoderoso9526 besides that, only a dumb dm wouldnt just say the monster chucks a rock at the bird, even if its not in its attacks list. Its a roleplaying game, not a rigid videogame you can exploit like that
@@findalfin3243exactly, people think monsters work like videogame enemies. Krakens are extremely intelligent and can use tactics and fight when they have advantage. Improvised actions and attacks are permited for the players so a Monster can use them too, nothing stops a tarrasque from throwing rocks, debris, burrow underground or jump really high.
The Gelatinous Cube is obscenely strong - to the point it almost wiped a level 4 party of 5 I was DM'ing in a recent campaign. Yes, the stars aligned against the party - the scouting rogue rolled a natural 1 on his perception check, walked right into it, couldn't escape, two party members failed to pull him out, got sucked in themselves... But it just goes to show its scary even when its a throwaway 'flavour monster'.
The Tarrasque is basically a kaiju. It's not the Tarrasque that's the danger, it's that it's destroying the city. Sure, a level 1 aarakokra ranger can solo a Tarrasque *eventually*, the Tarrasque will have already reduced the city to a pile of rubble.
@@Kylora2112 I mean if we judge the CR 30 creatures like that, then the Rise of Tiamat version of Tiamat can technically do the same over a much larger area of effect, while also posing a massive threat to a high level party without the possibility of a level 1 aarakocra ranger solo'ing her.
@@Kylora2112 Given her higher speed and actual AoE, I'd argue that from a mechanical standpoint Tiamat can lay waste to a city much more easily than a Tarrasque can.
Tiamat technically is the Goddess of Evil Dragons and greed (and the look your mother gives you when you did something stupid). So I assume you are talking about her aspect. And they always keep reWriting her to keep her beatable but challenging. But she is very very dangerous in Fisban but technically you are seeing her at very high levels and does not bring (in the stat block) the adding that would make her an Orcus level threat.
This is why I always homebrew my Tarrasques to have a ranged Object attack or something. You mean to tell me this BEAST of a monster cant pick up a boulder or tree and chuck it at a target?
@@wwade7226 this is actually how Pathfinder 2e fixes it, it has an attack that fires spines 120 ft, as well as a short cooldown ability that fires those spines in a large AOE cone.
@wwade7226 Fun Fact: In older editions, the Tarrasque had a passive regeneration feature; this feature is akin to the regeneration feature found within the stat-block of Tiamat (as found in the 5E adventure, Tyranny of Dragons). By extension of this feature, a tarrasque - in older editions of D&D - could actually fire the spines along its tail, by quite literally hurling them in a targets direction. Hope this helps!
About the kraken: No polymorph inmunity, no legendary resistances, no magic resistance. Polymorph it into a slug. Yeet the slug into Mount Doom. Easy 50k XP
True. But it also has *very* good saving throws against almost everything: CON +14, INT +13, WIS +11. So it has a decently high chance of succeeding its save and then instantly frying the wizard that tried this little trick with electric overkill. Its DEX save is not great at only +7, but there are not a lot of good DEX-based spells that would incapacitate it in one hit. Its single best stat to target is its CHA where it only has +5. Banishment has a pretty good chance of sending it into the shadow realm
I can speak from experience as a player and a DM, flame skulls are deceptively tough when played optimally with a competent DM. And it being a pretty intelligent creature, it fighting smartly also makes sense in game as well.
They honestly don't even have to be played all that smartly to be a threat. My current party was level 11 and 6 flameskulls was easily the toughest fight they had faced in a while. They almost lost a few people.
To be fair, a lot of creatures are just really deadly if played optimally. A standard early encounter is 4 goblins against a party of 4 level 1 PCs. If played optimally the Goblins will probably win 9 out of 10 fights.
@@Schilani Even then you don't technically even need to win a fight with those goblins. All they need to do is kill 1 player and then the next encounter will do the rest. Playing optimally is not very fair until the players hit some decent powerspikes or if they are fine with a death heavy campaign.
Tiamat would eat the Tarrasque for breakfast, she can optimally use 1 bite, 2 claw and 1 tail attack alongside two breath weapons of any ancient chromatic dragon EVERY SINGLE TURN. On average, that equals 122 single target damage, and an AOE damage somewhere between 139 and 179, for a total potential 301 dpr (assuming attacks hit, and saves are failed). In comparison, the Tarrasque deals 232 damage with a full attack, and even if it swallows the target of every attack other than bite, thats still just 252 points of damage, and all of it is single target damage. Beyond that: Tiamat can fly, whilst the Tarrasque is defenceless against flying ranged opponents. The argument that the Tarrasque has more hp is not really valid, because Tiamat heals 30 hp every round, and this closes the gap between their hp in two rounds.
Monk Level 20 I played a fight against her, just because it was a boring Weekend and wanted to Entertain myself. The fight were 2 rounds long. First getting the Vibration started, second Turn end it and tiamat failed the savingthrow.
@@dirkwersonst7232 Tiamat has 5 legendary resistances a day. She can just choose to not fail the save throw, and even if she somehow runs out of all 5, she has a +10 to con saves, and quivering palm is probably only going to have a DC of about 17. That just isn't happening.
Surprised Sul Khatesh wasn’t mentioned at all, I have seen a LOT of white rooming around her, since there is not much one can do against a monster that is immune to nonmagical bps, can set up antimagic zones in places of her choice, and can cast spells in antimagic zones she creates, so she can basically only be damaged by artifacts
the tarrasque is the perfect example of a creature that needs heavy homebrew to work as intended. it needs aoe attacks and ranged attacks or itjust gets bodied by a squad of archers or a swarm of small attackers.
Tarrasque and Kraken always being memed for being too weak even for low level character not even party. Tho I can agree with most of the list. Here is my list that wan't in yor list 1. Shadow, Intelect Devourer, and Maurezhi (and basically any other stat reducing monsters). You may able to easily kill them but their lingering stat reducing effect is so harmful whether it's for your dump stat or your primary stat. And Shadow is only CR1/2 with lot of damage and condition immunity. 2. Any creature with Pack Tactic like Kobold, Wolf, ect. There SO many TPK story involving them. 3. All Wyrmling. They have high AC for their CR, have 60 ft flying speed, and unfair Breath Attack. Like how can you expect lv1 character to survive 18 acid damage from a Brass Dragon Wyrmling? 4. Quickling. Has 16AC but any attack against them made with disadvantage most of the time, has Evasion, can attack 3 times with 8 damage each, and wapping 120 ft speed! And they are CR1! How should a party of lv1 deal with them!? Oh yeah the Wizard can use Magic Missile! But wait, the Wizard is dead! Quickling has +6 on their Initiative! 5. Sul Khatesh. Probably THE strongest monster in 5e. Can cast spells within her own Antimagic Field along with immunity to non magical physical damage and other silly stuff in her arsenal.
For CR30, the Tarrasque isn't that scary. As a Wizard, you can completely eliminate it with just Maze and you'll never see it again. Maze doesn't give a saving throw (magic resistance and Legendary Resistance don't work), but to get out pf the maze, it has to beat a DC20 int Check which it will never pass as it has -4 int
Based on HP alone. The apsects of Tiamat (also actual Tiamat) and Bahamut are way more difficult than a tarrasque. The tarrasque has *nothing* against an airborne enemy
The deadliest creature for its CR is the Swarm of Rot Grubs from the Monster Manual. It is CR 1/2 and if it hits, any character of level 1 or 2 is almost guaranteed to die. On a hit the character is infected with 1d4 grubs. You have to immediately do fire damage to the infected character, and who would know to do that? If you don't do that on the 1st round, then every round the character takes 1d6 damage per rot grub infesting them. If your party lacks a paladin, the infected character WILL die, because the only cure is magic that cures disease. At level 1 or 2, the only the paladin can cure disease.
So regarding the Tarasque. It has the capability of throwing stuff at players whom are kiting it. It can pick up any object nearby; I.E. a tree, a boulder, a claw-full-of-dirt, and making an improvised attack with it. So it does have the means to deal with those pesky kiters. With enough time. Secondly, the purple worm. In its official description it is made very VERY clear that it hunts by sound and are VERY territorial. So, what cantrip do we know of that can produce sound? Minor Illusion. A caster with minor illusion can literally distract a purple worm indefinitely. They are not the smartest. And minor illusion can produce a sound which "its volume can range from a whisper to a scream.". Well, the word "scream" is relative. A scream to from an ant is quite compared to a scream from an elephant. In this case, a purple worms scream would be overwhelmingly loud. So, its simple, you cast minor illusion 30ft away from you in a direction of your choice (note, it says "within range", so it doesnt require LOS, which means you can put it behind a wall, inside a mountain, etc) and make it sound just like the purple worms scream it let out as it came to eat you. That worm is gonna be 100 percent focused on finding the "challenger" and will pay ZERO mind to you or your party, if it even sees you anymore.
It's so weird that WotC didn't give the Tarrasque a way to deal with range considering how this was always its weakness and 4e even gave it an ability to force flying units to get close to the ground. They should give it the ability to throw boulders, shoot spines, or roar to do sonic damage.
Tbh I feel like the 5e Tarrasque is more of a joke/meme monster then an actual threat. That being said, the older edition versions were scary because they were just nigh Impossible to kill. Hit point regeneration that could only be overcome by a Wish, so the Aaracocra archer thing wouldn't have worked, and even if you did manage to get its health down to red, it had earth Glide, and could go hide inside a mountain while it healed
I mean there's really nothing stopping it from throwing a boulder. Players can throw improvised weapons. No reason a tarrasque couldn't. Probably should've written it into the statblock though
I feel like the Tarrasque could just throw a house at anything it seems a nuisance in the air. Try to avoid a house being flung at you. Doesn't matter if that isn't on the stat block. The same way players are supposed to improvise and use their abilities in creative way, instead of just what is written on the card, the same way monsters should be able to improvise.
After reading so many of the comments on this video, i dont know if people are just bitching at creatures just complain. Or if they simply dont have the ability to think outside the box and can only imagine running any creature only within its stat-block.
I definitely think that an Intellect Devourer deserves a spot on this list over one of the other lower levelled monsters. Not only is it super deadly to players of its own CR, it also very easily swings up and can kill significantly higher levelled players. I have killed level 7+ players with them because they dumb INT. Not to mention it is impossible for a level 2 party to even think about saving or reviving a party member that dies to one.
IMHO low CR monsters are the best party killers because on high levels players are quite resourceful and tough. Give me an ogre chieftan with a reach weapon paired with trip ability, and there will be some dead PCs - if they're not super tactical about it. On that note, great job for including the gelationus cube, I bet that sucker killed more PCs than all dragons combined.
The Tarrasque is notoriously easy to defeat with a fourth level Sorcerer or Wizard with Levitate being able to fly out of its range and kill it with cantrips if they beat it in Initiative. All its mental stats and its Dex is either 0 or -4 (Int) and it only has immunity to fire, poison and nonmagical attacks, so Toll The Dead with a save dc of 13 would stick 36% of times and deal a d12 each time, amounting to an average damage per round of 2.34. With 676 hit points, it would take roughly 300 rounds to kill the Tarrasque, which is thrice the rounds Levitate lasts for but you have 3 2nd level spell slots. Mind Sliver might be even faster.
I feel like one of the worst creatures I ever fought at level 5 was a Deathlock of Orcus who had two Wights, two Ghouls, and two Skeleton Archers supporting him. Mixed foes in an encounter can absolutely be *way* more interesting than just a crapload of the same thing. Remember, one of the most important things D&D introduced to games was the idea of Classes, and by extension, balanced parties.
@@rubensledsens572 If you use this with a party of 4, they should probably be around level 7 or 8; it's amazing what a huge difference it can make to have multiple healers
By RAW, Orcus is significantly more dangerous with his wand just by virtue of his undead conjuration ability. If your DM really hates you, he'll summon six demiliches on the first turn of combat and set up creeping death as a legendary action, after which one might imagine even a thoroughly prepared party will be in for a very bad time.
Also, the Tarrasque does not have the Magic Weapons trait, thereby its attacks do not qualify as magical for the purposes of overcoming resistances or immunities. This allows a character with lycanthropy to be completely invulnerable to the Tarrasque's attacks, just as long as they are not swallowed. Logically, to achieve the last part, just stay between its legs. Use a rope secured to yourself attached to a piton or grappling hook that you imbed into its leg. This way even if it moves, you move with it, and its mouth shouldn't be able to reach you. All it can do is claw or stomp on you. Now hit it with Sacred Flame repeatedly until it dies (as it is a saving throw instead of an attack roll). Yeah, it would be an extremely slow process, but it is entirely possible, especially because the Tarrasque is dumber than a bag of warhammers, and its anger and frustration will not make it better at coming up with a better approach to deal with you. Edit: Also, you left out something major for the flameskull: its Rejuvenation trait. Most players would not expect it to return an hour later, nor that they would need holy water, Remove Curse or Dispel Magic to end it for good. And remember, you only get the experience when it is completely destroyed, not almost destroyed.
Surprised Troglodyte's weren't on the list. As a newbie GM I absolutely accidentally killed a PC with it, cause I only looked at the CR1/4 and thought that the level 3 party could handle a small group of them(I think there were 3. Maybe 4). But stench combined with 3xmultiattack is extremely deadly at low levels. And advantage on stealth means an ambush is much more likely
Hopefully this channel blows up Mr. Logs' fame with how popular Baldurs Gate is. Been getting more dnd related videos in my feed this included (I'm subbed to duel logs and dex logs but not this one yet)
I’d argue the worst monster or us could summon out of nowhere would be the devourer. Which he actually invented. Especially because the devourer’s soul trap ability can’t be resisted by a saving throw.
I dont play DnD but i recognize this voice. Played WoW for years and i know this is hirumaredx. Haven't seen a vid of yours in awhile and I'm not sure why this was recommended to me, but it's pretty cool.
My current games first near TPK was in Session 5 where the party ended up fighting a Necromancer and a group of undead, one of which was a Flame Skull. The Flame Skull was easily the problem with that Fireball and the party only really survived because they had an NPC who had an ability to turn one of the enemy undead against them that killed the Flame Skull for the party.
I thought your voice was familiar! I've been watching your Manalogs videos on the commander banlist, funny enough Baldurs Gate and DnD brings me to your other channels. Keep up the great content 🖤
Honestly I would put Sul Khatesh well above the Terrasque or Kraken in terms of deadly monsters. Spawns down Antimagic fields that she herself is unaffected by and is immune to non-magic weapons (which includes normally magic weapons that go through the aforementioned antimagic field). In addition to a bunch of control spells and the ability to cast fireball and lightning bolt at will, she's not deadly in the sense that she deals a bunch of damage (though she can still output a decent amount), but she is certainly deadly
Its really funny about the Tarrasque because you can beat it by simply Wild Shaping into, I believe, a Clay Golem. Basically the Clay Golem is immune to everything the Tarrasque can do including actually healing from the Acid damage. I honestly would have thought the Quickling would have been on the list. It has like 120 ft of base movement and opportunity attack against it are at disadvantage. Not entirely sure what CR it is but think its kind of low like maybe 1 or 2. Don't think it is powerful in the sense that it can do a lot of things or hit hard but its extremely difficult to deal with at almost any level.
What do you mean that casters don't have a focus on Con? That's every caster secondary stat for concentration checks and for hp because they generally have lower hit dice.
No mention of the Shadow or the Ghoul? The Shadow is an insanely powerful CR 1/2 creature, which means 2 of them is meant to be a threat for a Level 1 party. This thing might only have an AC of 12 and 16 HP, but has resistance to every damage type except magic weapons, psychic, force and radiant, the latter of which it is vulerable to, and has immunity to necrotic and posion, and is immune to pretty much every condition save stunned. It has a 40ft movement speed, can Hide as a bonus action in dim-light or darkness, and has +6 to Stealth checks in this scenarions, giving it an insanely strong hit-and-run tactic, especially as it can basically move though walls (there needs to be a 1 inch gap, but that's it). It only hits once, but it doesn't just do 2d6+2 damage for an average of 9 damage hit, it also drains 1d4 strength per hit. Not only does this weaken your frontline's ability to fight it, it auto-kills if it lowers your strength to 0. No saving throws, no chance to stop it, just dead. And then, 1d4 hours later, that dead party memeber is now a new Shadow ready to kill you! The Ghoul has much less impressive numbers in paper, ac 12, 22 hp, cr 1 without the stealth or hit and run and immunities of the Shadow. Instead, anything it hits with its claw attack must make a DC10 Con save or be paraylzed for 1 minute. Sure, you can save again at the end of your turn, but that's at least one turn lost, potentially more as getting a good Con save can be tricky at level 1. And one you are paraylzed, every attack it makes against you is an auto-crit, allowing them to masacare level 1 parties by paraylzing them and murdering them. Oddly, it does have one weird weakness. Elves are completely immune to its paralyzing effect.
Gelatinous cube has a very special place in our groups history as "the jello bounces but the broccoli isnt moving" meme. It almost killed the cleric and every time the cleric tried to get out and failed the check i said: No matter how hard the cube shakes the broccoli isnt moving. This thing is brutal on lvl 2, to such a degree that i needed to nerf it a bit otherwise it had probably wiped the party.
Fizban’s adding even beefier variants of some of these creatures is fun. Ancient Dragon Turtle probably makes a decent match for the Leviathan, Aspects of Tiamat and Bahamut (and to lesser extent Greatwyrms) make the Terrasque look pathetic, Elder Brain Dragon is just the worst, etc.
Other users have mentioned the Shadow and Intellect Devourer. However, people are sleeping on the Dragon of Tyr. There's also H' Calos aka the Star Worm, which is basically a more broken version of the Purple Worm.
Fun unnecessary fact, my older family only plays 2e even to this day. But when I was little my father warned the party which included long standing friends of theirs, my uncle, and aunt about the dangers of the deep. Lo and behold, they took a boat anyways, a kraken fought them and caused a TPK. This caused issues between my uncle and father and they didn’t speak for many, many years because of it. Fun times, but as DMs they didn’t DM to kill parties but they DM’d without making many changes. If you venture into dangerous territory, it wasn’t dumbed down.
Nice mention of the Catoblepas, It is such a unique monster, and just like the Tarrasque and Kraken they are featured in Earth's myths too. Did you know that blind monks make death cheese out of Catoblepas milk?
Correct me if I'm reading Reflective Carapace wrong, but the wording RAW suggests the Tarrasque is completely immune to ranged attacks "on a 1-5 the Tarrasque is unaffected" ie. unaffected means it takes no damage. "On a 6 it reflects the attack back at the creature as if the attack originated from the Tarrasque" ie. Still takes no damage. So anyone saying a lvl 1 Aaracokra can solo with a bow is wrong BC it can't do any damage.
Great vid, just a heads up, the timestamps are slightly wrong at the end. The gelatinous cube currently marks Orcus, and the Kraken covers bith thr kraken and the cube
In regards to the other comments about why certain monsters didnt make the list, given the span, depth and history of ttrpgs(d&d specifically here)...id say we probably need a part 2 or just making this a series
Orcus' most messed up summon for 500hp imo would be 31 shadows... every time one hits you lose 1d4 str, at 0 you die. Could likely wipe a whole level 20 party in 1-2 rounds unless they're dealt with immediately. Might only be a +4 to hit, but even with like a 22AC when they have advantage from flanking on most of the attacks and it drains your stat that fast it's going to be absolutely brutal
This list bothered me so much i felt compelled to make a better one 10: The Tarrasque is the weakest CR 30 creature, and im 90% sure is only on here due to popularity, since experienced players and power gamers know theres a dozen ways to cheeze it. If you're fighting the boss alone, the Original Tiamut is the strongest, with Limited Magical Immunity, Flight, an insanely high DC frightful presence, and her breath weapons. An Aspect Of Bahamut is prolly a little easier on its own, but rockets past her if you give him any allies, since one of his breath weapons can revive dead creatures with full hp. 9. Catoblepas are an okay choice, but at CR 5 I'd go with Gnome Cenomorphs(Basically Cuter mindflayers that are just as deadly), and if we're talking low level badasses in general Shadows, Intellect Devourers & Quicklings are all far harder to deal with, and deadly way beyond their actual CR if you mix them in with other monsters or send a group of them. 8. At CR 4, the Flameskull is wayyyy less dangerous then a Metallic Peacekeeper. They're supposed to be good Aligned, but if you do fight one, the Calming Mists ability is way deadlier in the long run then fireball. 7. Even without the Sun Damage, the Solar Dragon is pretty respectable, mostly due to its high HP pool..but that lair mechanic shouldnt be a factor. You say it requires luring the dragon out of its lair, I say it requires the party to be stupid enough to think fighting inside the sun is a good idea, and if you think that you deserve a TPK. That said, it has the best survivability at its CR, with only the New Gigant, and Critical role's Oracs the enduring coming close, so its a good choice. But the Molydeus (Summoner Variant) and the Solar are more dangerous offensively, since they both have instant kill abilites they can bring into effect without requiring you to fly into the friggin sun. 6. Purple worns, again, are a valid choice at their CR, but with the release of Glory of the Giants, Formorian Nobles are deadlier. An argument also exists for Green Abishai, with their control options, and the Hundred-Handed Ones from oddysey of Theros trade slightly lower defense then the purple world for wayy higher offensive damage, which they can do at long range, up to 240 ft. away. 5. Elder Oblex has comparable HP, lower AC, and way higher DPR and Save DC's. Which is the problem with the Aboleth, it has some pretty powerful Debuff & control options, but its Save DC is only 14, and its actual damage output is cute. If you want something with comparable control options, but better damage & higher defense, Stone Giant Dreamwalkers have a DC 13 constant, passive, charm aura, and can petrity a creature charmed by them if they fail a DC 17 con save, all while hitter harder and being tougher then an aboleth. 4. Elder Brains, like liches, are only effective boss if you give them a shitload of backup. I'll take a moment to be amused that the CR 14 elder brain has significantly better hp then a CR 21 lich, along with good control options, great flavor & RP potential, but their AC is crap, and their actuall damage output is mediocre. Combine that with their extremely limited mobility, and I'd say an Adult Emerald Dragon is a much better solo encounter, with comparable Psionic abilities. Obviously, if the elder brain has Mind Flayers backing it up, it should be plenty challenging. 3. Kraken's have neither Legendary or Magic Resistance. While they do have 4 save proficiencies to make up for this, they're Always 1 bad role away from losing the fight, if you hit them with banishment, or Polymorph. Ancient Blue, Silver & Amethyst dragons are better choices at this CR for that reason alone, or am Empyrean, who has BOTH. As to the point of being hampered by fighting underwater, ya know what's worse then fighting underwater? Fighting in the Chaos of Limbo. Give Ygorl, Lord of Entropy a go, with his magic resistances, & attacks that kill you outright with no death saves. 2. 1. Orcus is a badass, both lore-wise and mechanically. He's certainly in the top 10 deadliest monsters, and ill give him the top spot for CR 26, but the #1. Spot belongs to Sul-Katesh, who's CR 28. Imagine getting hit by a meteor swarm, and then finding out you're inside a giant Antimagic field, and that you now have to fight a monster immune to nonmagical damage, while inside the antimagic field, after taking the damage from meteor swarm, AND the monster's spells work just fine inside the field, only yours don't..'she's objectively unbeatabe in a straigh fight if the DM plays her optimally. The only way to beat her is to escape the first fight and force a second encounter before her ability recharges.
Gelatinous cubed, like the Kraken & Tarrasque, are here based on popularity rather then their actual stats. Intellect Devourers are the same CR..They're easier to kill but have a much higher chance of killing you, and unlike the cube are smart enough to employ ambush tactics
And she can flee and wait for the recharge, she has not one, but two planar travel spells. And she SHOULD be played optimally shes probably smarter than the whole players combined, 30 int is no joke
You make good points overall but I'm so sick of people saying how cheesable the Tarrasque is. Only a simpleton GM would not allow the Trsq to rear up and melee a flying creature, or throw a rock at a far-away ranged opponent. The rules as written are not a prison, it is Literally the DM's job to use their creativity to make the game *make sense*. Edit: not to mention that neglecting to put the players on a "timer", e.g. the Trsq is marching towards the capital city to demolish it and leave the civilized world completely vulnerable to orc hordes, is also super sub-optimal GMing
The Most Dangerous Creature for it's CR is an Enemy Human Fighter... A lvl 5 character is approximately CR 3-4 A lvl 5 fighter can solo a lvl 5 party without any fighters if it takes initiative. I have seen it happen. Just chain 5 attacks with battlemaster maneuvers and 3 PC's are already down. There is nothing more dangerous than a couple of same level fighters to put against your party. A single fighter can 1v4 a same level party. 2 battlemaster fighters can OTK a same level player party.
Solid video. I was wondering, why set up the times in the description so that they don't create chapters in the timeline? If you wanted chapters, all you would have to do is not put the parentheses around the times, so I assume that's a purposeful decision. I'm just curious what the reason is.
Hi, you missed my alltimes number one on this list, the Shadow. CR: 1/2 (100exp) ; so you might think "Oh, i send 4 of them onto my level 2-3 Party and do a TPK. Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from nonmagical attacks Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained Amorphous. The shadow can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing. Shadow Stealth. While in dim light or darkness, the shadow can take the Hide action as a bonus action. Its stealth bonus is also improved to +6. Strength Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) necrotic damage, and the target's Strength score is reduced by 1d4. The target dies if this reduces its Strength to 0. Otherwise, the reduction lasts until the target finishes a short or long rest. If a non-evil humanoid dies from this attack, a new shadow rises from the corpse 1d4 hours later. Okay, it has a sunlight (and Radiant) weakness, so if the DM places the Shadow in Sunlight (NOT just bright light) it has disadvantage to everything, but this is a CR 1/2 Monster that can (if 'propperly played') kill a level 10 party.
Dnd 5e really deopped the ball with not having DR to different levels of magic. With the ability to craft magical items a wizard could equip a thousand peasants with +1 bows and kill the tarrasque. Requiring +4 or better means only a truly powerful powerful party could rumble with it.
Orcus isn't undead, so it would hilarious if a DM had him use Conjure Undead to create a Nightwalker, and then he took damage from it Annihilating Aura.
Terrasque isn’t all that dangerous for a CR 30, most high level parties likely have a dozen tools that make the fight basically have 0 risk. The thing that makes things more dangerous than their CR is when they have features that characters of the appropriate level might not be able to deal with.
Interesting video I just started digging in the DnD universe through Baldurs gate 3, I would like to see the creatures also when you talk about them, hard to imagine not follow if all you do is Info dumb
The most destructive creature my friends and I fought against recently was a seagull enchanted with Silvery Barbs. It destroyed our friendship with our DM.
I like that you only take some radiant damage when going to the solar dragons lair. What about the crushing gravity that causes fusion in the star or the million degrees of heat? If the dragon can live inside a star, it is probably the most powerful creature in DnD.
I feel like the 10 spot should've gone to either the aspect of bahamut or tiamat. Any monster that can be defeated by something as symple as flight on that level isn't a threat. You are level 20 and had plenty of time gathering magic items spells and such, this is way too much of a weakness.
I must say the most deadly creature i have seen is the humble wolf idk how many lvl1 characters i have seen go down to it with packtactics and the ability to knock you prown and they are usualy not alone and surprisingly sneaky
Disappointed at the exclusion of quite possibly the most powerful for CR monster in the game, the humble shambling mound. CR 5 with 136 HP and AC 15, resistant to cold and fire, immune to (and healed by) electricity, blindsight, swim speed, multiattack, and an engulf which not only blinds, restrains and deals damage to the target, but prevents them from breathing, and if that wasn't enough it has no rules for escaping by dealing damage and doesn't allow a saving throw to avoid. It doesn't have snazzy legendary actions, or a deadly lair, it can't cast spells, but it has decent odds of killing a PC every turn and anyone who gets sucked up into it is essentially out of the fight. Even compared to other power hitters at its CR, it manages to combine nearly unparalleled defensive stats with lethal melee options.
Why does everyone think the terrasque is doomed vs flying? You try firing a bow when flying while trees, houses, huts, peices of brick walls, boulders, other characters etc are being thrown at you. A terrasque handful of bowling ball sized rocks would be like birdshot for Merlins sake.
The tarrasque is a pushover, litterally just fly and it cant touch you. Its only "Hard" because of its high health and damage. Or i could also bring up the fact that a CR9 clay golem could solo the tarrasque because it literally cant get hit by it.
Hoarder dragon.. Hard to identify what You even are up against. Defeating it, more like a quest, not just 1 fight. Hoarder has breath attack it had when it was a living dragon + now burst of treasure is added for extra damage. Worst is its ability to use items/weapons/armors/scrolls etc that it has in its hoard. To top it off, its incorporeal, undead, dragon and can move between plains.
Shout out to Banshee with resistance to almost all elemental damage and physical damage and immune to every status effects. Banshees can summon a Whale that is so sad it can instantly kill people from feeling sorry for it
Big disagree on the ancient solar dragon being easy to kill outside its lair. Dude has 120ft flying, ignores AoOs, and a 240ft range on the breath attack. With 17 int, there's basically no way the dragon would be stupid enough to engage in melee unless forced, it's just gonna comfortably stay at range and pelt you with breath attacks. If you've got a lot of ranged damage with long range, or somehow have better flying speed than it, then you can take it down in the open. But most groups will find the majority of the party is unable to contribute to a battle like that. The mages will tend to find the dragon is >300ft away most of the time which leaves very, very few spells that can even reach it, the archers will be rolling at disadvantage....it's a very hard opponent to face in the open.
I really feel like the shadow should get a mention here. When compared to say, an orc (another example of CR 1/2), this creature might deal less damage, but its strength drain is insane. A level twenty barbarian can probably tank hits from 20+ orcs, but 10 hits from shadows will kill it outright - no death saves, nothing. As for non-strength based characters, they'd be just as suseptible to this creature at level 20 as they'd be at level 1.
This
There's a reason why they are renowned as Party Killers as inexperienced DM will go "that's a low CR, I guess my level 5 party can handle half a dozen of them no problem" only to be horrified upon seeing the Wizard die in the first round with the warrior being surrounded and the Cleric being immediately overwhelmed between having to save people from dying or using Radiant damages to thin the herd.
Honestly, I was expecting them so much in BG3 that when I got to Moonrise Towers I was completely specced towards dealing with them (my first encounter still almost ended up with Gayle being down first round and I took way too much damage for my comfort despite my prep).
I always have a mini heart attack when I'm around level 5/6 and I hear that Shadows are near
Also resistance to elemental and physical damage, while vulnerable to radiant, basically doubles their survivability against a party of appropriate level to face them. Also worth noting that even if strenght drain can kill any player of any level, for their intended encounter levels they still pack a very respectable 2d6+2 necrotic damage.
Guess which ten creatures my group is encountering in their next dungeon?
...are you about to waste an endgame party's time with the catoblepas, or are you about to murder a level 5 party with the Tarrasque?
@@Merlewhitefirei think it's both
Nine flumphs and a bullywug!
XD well, now i am!@@NeutralDrow
I am surprised that the Gelatinous Cube got on the list, but the Intellect Devourer didn't. I get that it's a very low-CR creature, but it's dangerous for even high-level parties. After all, not only can it just instantly kill a party member who fails against it's saving throw AND that party member cannot be resurrected without high-level spells (as it eats the brain of the player), but it also now takes control of that character. That means that low to mid-level parties won't even be able to get their fallen comerade back, but also that they might now have to fight that player one man down.
The fact that this low CR monster can just instantly kill even a 20th level party member makes me wonder how it didn't get on the list.
Shadows are very much in the same boat.
I’ve run waterdeep dragon heist 3 times, every time the campaign ended early due to an intellect devourer (even after speed levelling them to level 5). I finally gave up and decided to make the character in the most recent campaign develop a symbiotic bond with the intellect devourer, so now he’s basically brain-venom.
Long story short: intellect devourer have a high kill count in my campaigns.
The elder brain is in the list whom would probably have an intellect devourer and mind flayers as minions in the fight possibly
@@aa6731you talking about the house of traps down in skullport where the mindflayer is killing off criminals from?
@@aa6731
How? unless ALL the INT fail I don't see the way hahahah
U know its about to be good when terrasque is at 10
I have seen a lvl 16 monk strait up 1v1 tarrasque... Just punched it to death.
Tarrasque is trash. It's nothing. It's not even a monster. A lvl 1 Aarakocra can murder it with a +1 bow and enough time.
Some monsters in this list are just trash. They just look cool.
Like Kraken. I have seen a Kraken get perma-stunned by a Divination wizard and murdered by a sharpshooter xbow expert fighter in 2 turns.
5e Monsters are joke... When a creature has somewhat of a chance to fight back, it's considered "DANGEROUS CREATURE". it's laughable.
Edit: Typo
@@sanguineaurora8765 actually the aarakockra theory it's well said but it has a little flaw, that is carrying capacity. How would a lvl 1 dex-based player have enought arrows to do 35 hits and not only that, crit every turn? (because yes, even with 16 dex he would need to get a nat 20 just to be able to hit). If he goes down to get the arrows he already threw, he is dead. An opportunity attack would be totally lethal, and I don't know a lot of lvl 1 characters with an average of 29 AC
@@shaggytodopoderoso9526 besides that, only a dumb dm wouldnt just say the monster chucks a rock at the bird, even if its not in its attacks list. Its a roleplaying game, not a rigid videogame you can exploit like that
@@findalfin3243exactly, people think monsters work like videogame enemies. Krakens are extremely intelligent and can use tactics and fight when they have advantage. Improvised actions and attacks are permited for the players so a Monster can use them too, nothing stops a tarrasque from throwing rocks, debris, burrow underground or jump really high.
@@shaggytodopoderoso9526quiver of Ehlonna
The Gelatinous Cube is obscenely strong - to the point it almost wiped a level 4 party of 5 I was DM'ing in a recent campaign. Yes, the stars aligned against the party - the scouting rogue rolled a natural 1 on his perception check, walked right into it, couldn't escape, two party members failed to pull him out, got sucked in themselves... But it just goes to show its scary even when its a throwaway 'flavour monster'.
Tiamat isn't the strongest CR 30 Monster? I feel like the Rise of Tiamat version of Tiamat is wayyyy more deadly then the Tarrasque
The Tarrasque is basically a kaiju. It's not the Tarrasque that's the danger, it's that it's destroying the city. Sure, a level 1 aarakokra ranger can solo a Tarrasque *eventually*, the Tarrasque will have already reduced the city to a pile of rubble.
@@Kylora2112 I mean if we judge the CR 30 creatures like that, then the Rise of Tiamat version of Tiamat can technically do the same over a much larger area of effect, while also posing a massive threat to a high level party without the possibility of a level 1 aarakocra ranger solo'ing her.
@@Kylora2112 Given her higher speed and actual AoE, I'd argue that from a mechanical standpoint Tiamat can lay waste to a city much more easily than a Tarrasque can.
Tiamat technically is the Goddess of Evil Dragons and greed (and the look your mother gives you when you did something stupid). So I assume you are talking about her aspect. And they always keep reWriting her to keep her beatable but challenging. But she is very very dangerous in Fisban but technically you are seeing her at very high levels and does not bring (in the stat block) the adding that would make her an Orcus level threat.
@@leodouskyron5671 You're right, I meant her aspect.
This is why I always homebrew my Tarrasques to have a ranged Object attack or something. You mean to tell me this BEAST of a monster cant pick up a boulder or tree and chuck it at a target?
Or like shooting sharp, poisoned spines from its back or tail would be cool.
@@wwade7226 this is actually how Pathfinder 2e fixes it, it has an attack that fires spines 120 ft, as well as a short cooldown ability that fires those spines in a large AOE cone.
Oh it doesn't have a range attack you say? Sure it does.
"It kicks a mountain towards you roll new characters you frickin bozo."
@wwade7226 Fun Fact: In older editions, the Tarrasque had a passive regeneration feature; this feature is akin to the regeneration feature found within the stat-block of Tiamat (as found in the 5E adventure, Tyranny of Dragons).
By extension of this feature, a tarrasque - in older editions of D&D - could actually fire the spines along its tail, by quite literally hurling them in a targets direction.
Hope this helps!
About the kraken: No polymorph inmunity, no legendary resistances, no magic resistance. Polymorph it into a slug. Yeet the slug into Mount Doom. Easy 50k XP
True. But it also has *very* good saving throws against almost everything: CON +14, INT +13, WIS +11. So it has a decently high chance of succeeding its save and then instantly frying the wizard that tried this little trick with electric overkill.
Its DEX save is not great at only +7, but there are not a lot of good DEX-based spells that would incapacitate it in one hit.
Its single best stat to target is its CHA where it only has +5. Banishment has a pretty good chance of sending it into the shadow realm
@@astuteanansi4935just be divination or chronurgy and tell those saves to take a hike
@@Plamkton bold of you to assume anyone allows the chronurgy wizard at any table
@astuteanansi4935 I've had a few tables allow it, but if chronurgy is off the table then Divination is the nest best thing.
What would you put instead of Kraken at that CR range then?
I would love to hear more about creatures not mentioned in previous videos. Hearing about dnd creatures is so fascinating
I can speak from experience as a player and a DM, flame skulls are deceptively tough when played optimally with a competent DM. And it being a pretty intelligent creature, it fighting smartly also makes sense in game as well.
They honestly don't even have to be played all that smartly to be a threat. My current party was level 11 and 6 flameskulls was easily the toughest fight they had faced in a while. They almost lost a few people.
To be fair, a lot of creatures are just really deadly if played optimally. A standard early encounter is 4 goblins against a party of 4 level 1 PCs. If played optimally the Goblins will probably win 9 out of 10 fights.
@@Schilani Even then you don't technically even need to win a fight with those goblins. All they need to do is kill 1 player and then the next encounter will do the rest.
Playing optimally is not very fair until the players hit some decent powerspikes or if they are fine with a death heavy campaign.
Dude your so cool, i found this way after bindgeing your “villians corner series (at least 10 times)” and your knowledge is so amazing
Tiamat would eat the Tarrasque for breakfast, she can optimally use 1 bite, 2 claw and 1 tail attack alongside two breath weapons of any ancient chromatic dragon EVERY SINGLE TURN. On average, that equals 122 single target damage, and an AOE damage somewhere between 139 and 179, for a total potential 301 dpr (assuming attacks hit, and saves are failed). In comparison, the Tarrasque deals 232 damage with a full attack, and even if it swallows the target of every attack other than bite, thats still just 252 points of damage, and all of it is single target damage. Beyond that: Tiamat can fly, whilst the Tarrasque is defenceless against flying ranged opponents. The argument that the Tarrasque has more hp is not really valid, because Tiamat heals 30 hp every round, and this closes the gap between their hp in two rounds.
Monk Level 20
I played a fight against her, just because it was a boring Weekend and wanted to Entertain myself.
The fight were 2 rounds long.
First getting the Vibration started, second Turn end it and tiamat failed the savingthrow.
@@dirkwersonst7232 Tiamat has 5 legendary resistances a day. She can just choose to not fail the save throw, and even if she somehow runs out of all 5, she has a +10 to con saves, and quivering palm is probably only going to have a DC of about 17. That just isn't happening.
Been following your wow channel for years and only just now found out you had one for D&D as well! Loving the content so far :)
Most powerful creature is the ancient time dragon, it’s essentially unkillable and can go back in time to kick your ass over and over again
Surprised Sul Khatesh wasn’t mentioned at all, I have seen a LOT of white rooming around her, since there is not much one can do against a monster that is immune to nonmagical bps, can set up antimagic zones in places of her choice, and can cast spells in antimagic zones she creates, so she can basically only be damaged by artifacts
Yeah, this list is kinda bad. Sul Katesh is easily the most difficult enemy.
the tarrasque is the perfect example of a creature that needs heavy homebrew to work as intended. it needs aoe attacks and ranged attacks or itjust gets bodied by a squad of archers or a swarm of small attackers.
Tarrasque and Kraken always being memed for being too weak even for low level character not even party. Tho I can agree with most of the list. Here is my list that wan't in yor list
1. Shadow, Intelect Devourer, and Maurezhi (and basically any other stat reducing monsters). You may able to easily kill them but their lingering stat reducing effect is so harmful whether it's for your dump stat or your primary stat. And Shadow is only CR1/2 with lot of damage and condition immunity.
2. Any creature with Pack Tactic like Kobold, Wolf, ect. There SO many TPK story involving them.
3. All Wyrmling. They have high AC for their CR, have 60 ft flying speed, and unfair Breath Attack. Like how can you expect lv1 character to survive 18 acid damage from a Brass Dragon Wyrmling?
4. Quickling. Has 16AC but any attack against them made with disadvantage most of the time, has Evasion, can attack 3 times with 8 damage each, and wapping 120 ft speed! And they are CR1! How should a party of lv1 deal with them!? Oh yeah the Wizard can use Magic Missile! But wait, the Wizard is dead! Quickling has +6 on their Initiative!
5. Sul Khatesh. Probably THE strongest monster in 5e. Can cast spells within her own Antimagic Field along with immunity to non magical physical damage and other silly stuff in her arsenal.
Our Oath of Glory paladin soloed a purple worm at level 14 I was so hype
For CR30, the Tarrasque isn't that scary. As a Wizard, you can completely eliminate it with just Maze and you'll never see it again. Maze doesn't give a saving throw (magic resistance and Legendary Resistance don't work), but to get out pf the maze, it has to beat a DC20 int Check which it will never pass as it has -4 int
Keep it up Mr. Logs--from YGO and Magic, to WoW, now D&D!
Love to see it, great video per always!
Based on HP alone. The apsects of Tiamat (also actual Tiamat) and Bahamut are way more difficult than a tarrasque. The tarrasque has *nothing* against an airborne enemy
Also greatwyrms
@@emmasilver2332 yes but they're not cr 30
@@maxkogan3785 which says even more about the power of the tarrasque
Bro did not read the Tiamat stat block
The deadliest creature for its CR is the Swarm of Rot Grubs from the Monster Manual. It is CR 1/2 and if it hits, any character of level 1 or 2 is almost guaranteed to die. On a hit the character is infected with 1d4 grubs. You have to immediately do fire damage to the infected character, and who would know to do that? If you don't do that on the 1st round, then every round the character takes 1d6 damage per rot grub infesting them. If your party lacks a paladin, the infected character WILL die, because the only cure is magic that cures disease. At level 1 or 2, the only the paladin can cure disease.
So regarding the Tarasque. It has the capability of throwing stuff at players whom are kiting it. It can pick up any object nearby; I.E. a tree, a boulder, a claw-full-of-dirt, and making an improvised attack with it. So it does have the means to deal with those pesky kiters. With enough time.
Secondly, the purple worm. In its official description it is made very VERY clear that it hunts by sound and are VERY territorial. So, what cantrip do we know of that can produce sound? Minor Illusion. A caster with minor illusion can literally distract a purple worm indefinitely. They are not the smartest. And minor illusion can produce a sound which "its volume can range from a whisper to a scream.". Well, the word "scream" is relative. A scream to from an ant is quite compared to a scream from an elephant. In this case, a purple worms scream would be overwhelmingly loud.
So, its simple, you cast minor illusion 30ft away from you in a direction of your choice (note, it says "within range", so it doesnt require LOS, which means you can put it behind a wall, inside a mountain, etc) and make it sound just like the purple worms scream it let out as it came to eat you. That worm is gonna be 100 percent focused on finding the "challenger" and will pay ZERO mind to you or your party, if it even sees you anymore.
awesome
It's so weird that WotC didn't give the Tarrasque a way to deal with range considering how this was always its weakness and 4e even gave it an ability to force flying units to get close to the ground.
They should give it the ability to throw boulders, shoot spines, or roar to do sonic damage.
we have godzilla at home should have a lightning breath : )
@@dmeepEspecially since I believe that was a power that the mythological tarrasque had
Tbh I feel like the 5e Tarrasque is more of a joke/meme monster then an actual threat. That being said, the older edition versions were scary because they were just nigh Impossible to kill. Hit point regeneration that could only be overcome by a Wish, so the Aaracocra archer thing wouldn't have worked, and even if you did manage to get its health down to red, it had earth Glide, and could go hide inside a mountain while it healed
I mean there's really nothing stopping it from throwing a boulder. Players can throw improvised weapons. No reason a tarrasque couldn't. Probably should've written it into the statblock though
I feel like the Tarrasque could just throw a house at anything it seems a nuisance in the air. Try to avoid a house being flung at you. Doesn't matter if that isn't on the stat block. The same way players are supposed to improvise and use their abilities in creative way, instead of just what is written on the card, the same way monsters should be able to improvise.
would appreciate aoccasional full size pictures of the creatures as I dont know what most of these are
After reading so many of the comments on this video, i dont know if people are just bitching at creatures just complain. Or if they simply dont have the ability to think outside the box and can only imagine running any creature only within its stat-block.
I definitely think that an Intellect Devourer deserves a spot on this list over one of the other lower levelled monsters. Not only is it super deadly to players of its own CR, it also very easily swings up and can kill significantly higher levelled players. I have killed level 7+ players with them because they dumb INT. Not to mention it is impossible for a level 2 party to even think about saving or reviving a party member that dies to one.
IMHO low CR monsters are the best party killers because on high levels players are quite resourceful and tough. Give me an ogre chieftan with a reach weapon paired with trip ability, and there will be some dead PCs - if they're not super tactical about it. On that note, great job for including the gelationus cube, I bet that sucker killed more PCs than all dragons combined.
Keep finding this guy in every new content niche I get into. Started with WoW, then it was MTG, and now it's DnD
Wait is it literally the same guy? His voice sounds exactly the same, I thought it was 3 different dudes who sound like that.
The Tarrasque is notoriously easy to defeat with a fourth level Sorcerer or Wizard with Levitate being able to fly out of its range and kill it with cantrips if they beat it in Initiative. All its mental stats and its Dex is either 0 or -4 (Int) and it only has immunity to fire, poison and nonmagical attacks, so Toll The Dead with a save dc of 13 would stick 36% of times and deal a d12 each time, amounting to an average damage per round of 2.34. With 676 hit points, it would take roughly 300 rounds to kill the Tarrasque, which is thrice the rounds Levitate lasts for but you have 3 2nd level spell slots. Mind Sliver might be even faster.
I feel like one of the worst creatures I ever fought at level 5 was a Deathlock of Orcus who had two Wights, two Ghouls, and two Skeleton Archers supporting him. Mixed foes in an encounter can absolutely be *way* more interesting than just a crapload of the same thing. Remember, one of the most important things D&D introduced to games was the idea of Classes, and by extension, balanced parties.
might i ask you what level you guys were? That is a sick encounter which i might steal if that is alright
@@rubensledsens572 Level 5, but we had an overbooked party of 6 people
@@sarahfay5280 thanks! will steal this
@@rubensledsens572 If you use this with a party of 4, they should probably be around level 7 or 8; it's amazing what a huge difference it can make to have multiple healers
Sul katesh is definitelly the most dangerous creature on official content.
Not really. If you Wish-Inmune to Arcane Cataclysm, she isn't that threatening, compared to the shenanigans that Orcus can do.
@@LordofdeLoquendo"if you use wish it's fine" is not the point you think it is
@@Nyxianmeows Yeah, I know. Without preparation, she can kill adventurers really, really easily.
By RAW, Orcus is significantly more dangerous with his wand just by virtue of his undead conjuration ability. If your DM really hates you, he'll summon six demiliches on the first turn of combat and set up creeping death as a legendary action, after which one might imagine even a thoroughly prepared party will be in for a very bad time.
holy sh&t no way hiru has a D&D channel, just unlocked a hundred of yt content to watch now
Also, the Tarrasque does not have the Magic Weapons trait, thereby its attacks do not qualify as magical for the purposes of overcoming resistances or immunities. This allows a character with lycanthropy to be completely invulnerable to the Tarrasque's attacks, just as long as they are not swallowed.
Logically, to achieve the last part, just stay between its legs. Use a rope secured to yourself attached to a piton or grappling hook that you imbed into its leg. This way even if it moves, you move with it, and its mouth shouldn't be able to reach you. All it can do is claw or stomp on you. Now hit it with Sacred Flame repeatedly until it dies (as it is a saving throw instead of an attack roll). Yeah, it would be an extremely slow process, but it is entirely possible, especially because the Tarrasque is dumber than a bag of warhammers, and its anger and frustration will not make it better at coming up with a better approach to deal with you.
Edit: Also, you left out something major for the flameskull: its Rejuvenation trait. Most players would not expect it to return an hour later, nor that they would need holy water, Remove Curse or Dispel Magic to end it for good. And remember, you only get the experience when it is completely destroyed, not almost destroyed.
Surprised Troglodyte's weren't on the list. As a newbie GM I absolutely accidentally killed a PC with it, cause I only looked at the CR1/4 and thought that the level 3 party could handle a small group of them(I think there were 3. Maybe 4). But stench combined with 3xmultiattack is extremely deadly at low levels. And advantage on stealth means an ambush is much more likely
Hopefully this channel blows up Mr. Logs' fame with how popular Baldurs Gate is. Been getting more dnd related videos in my feed this included (I'm subbed to duel logs and dex logs but not this one yet)
I’d argue the worst monster or us could summon out of nowhere would be the devourer. Which he actually invented. Especially because the devourer’s soul trap ability can’t be resisted by a saving throw.
I dont play DnD but i recognize this voice. Played WoW for years and i know this is hirumaredx. Haven't seen a vid of yours in awhile and I'm not sure why this was recommended to me, but it's pretty cool.
My current games first near TPK was in Session 5 where the party ended up fighting a Necromancer and a group of undead, one of which was a Flame Skull. The Flame Skull was easily the problem with that Fireball and the party only really survived because they had an NPC who had an ability to turn one of the enemy undead against them that killed the Flame Skull for the party.
I thought your voice was familiar! I've been watching your Manalogs videos on the commander banlist, funny enough Baldurs Gate and DnD brings me to your other channels. Keep up the great content 🖤
Honestly I would put Sul Khatesh well above the Terrasque or Kraken in terms of deadly monsters. Spawns down Antimagic fields that she herself is unaffected by and is immune to non-magic weapons (which includes normally magic weapons that go through the aforementioned antimagic field). In addition to a bunch of control spells and the ability to cast fireball and lightning bolt at will, she's not deadly in the sense that she deals a bunch of damage (though she can still output a decent amount), but she is certainly deadly
Its really funny about the Tarrasque because you can beat it by simply Wild Shaping into, I believe, a Clay Golem. Basically the Clay Golem is immune to everything the Tarrasque can do including actually healing from the Acid damage.
I honestly would have thought the Quickling would have been on the list. It has like 120 ft of base movement and opportunity attack against it are at disadvantage. Not entirely sure what CR it is but think its kind of low like maybe 1 or 2. Don't think it is powerful in the sense that it can do a lot of things or hit hard but its extremely difficult to deal with at almost any level.
Whaaaattt? Someone on the internet disagreeing with a list? You are the first ever!
@@ryandavid1277 Lighten up, Francis.
True polymorph, not wild shaping. But yes, the terrasque is helpless against clay golems.
What do you mean that casters don't have a focus on Con? That's every caster secondary stat for concentration checks and for hp because they generally have lower hit dice.
No mention of the Shadow or the Ghoul? The Shadow is an insanely powerful CR 1/2 creature, which means 2 of them is meant to be a threat for a Level 1 party. This thing might only have an AC of 12 and 16 HP, but has resistance to every damage type except magic weapons, psychic, force and radiant, the latter of which it is vulerable to, and has immunity to necrotic and posion, and is immune to pretty much every condition save stunned. It has a 40ft movement speed, can Hide as a bonus action in dim-light or darkness, and has +6 to Stealth checks in this scenarions, giving it an insanely strong hit-and-run tactic, especially as it can basically move though walls (there needs to be a 1 inch gap, but that's it).
It only hits once, but it doesn't just do 2d6+2 damage for an average of 9 damage hit, it also drains 1d4 strength per hit. Not only does this weaken your frontline's ability to fight it, it auto-kills if it lowers your strength to 0. No saving throws, no chance to stop it, just dead. And then, 1d4 hours later, that dead party memeber is now a new Shadow ready to kill you!
The Ghoul has much less impressive numbers in paper, ac 12, 22 hp, cr 1 without the stealth or hit and run and immunities of the Shadow. Instead, anything it hits with its claw attack must make a DC10 Con save or be paraylzed for 1 minute. Sure, you can save again at the end of your turn, but that's at least one turn lost, potentially more as getting a good Con save can be tricky at level 1. And one you are paraylzed, every attack it makes against you is an auto-crit, allowing them to masacare level 1 parties by paraylzing them and murdering them. Oddly, it does have one weird weakness. Elves are completely immune to its paralyzing effect.
Gelatinous cube has a very special place in our groups history as "the jello bounces but the broccoli isnt moving" meme. It almost killed the cleric and every time the cleric tried to get out and failed the check i said: No matter how hard the cube shakes the broccoli isnt moving. This thing is brutal on lvl 2, to such a degree that i needed to nerf it a bit otherwise it had probably wiped the party.
Fizban’s adding even beefier variants of some of these creatures is fun. Ancient Dragon Turtle probably makes a decent match for the Leviathan, Aspects of Tiamat and Bahamut (and to lesser extent Greatwyrms) make the Terrasque look pathetic, Elder Brain Dragon is just the worst, etc.
Other users have mentioned the Shadow and Intellect Devourer. However, people are sleeping on the Dragon of Tyr. There's also H' Calos aka the Star Worm, which is basically a more broken version of the Purple Worm.
Fun unnecessary fact, my older family only plays 2e even to this day. But when I was little my father warned the party which included long standing friends of theirs, my uncle, and aunt about the dangers of the deep. Lo and behold, they took a boat anyways, a kraken fought them and caused a TPK. This caused issues between my uncle and father and they didn’t speak for many, many years because of it.
Fun times, but as DMs they didn’t DM to kill parties but they DM’d without making many changes. If you venture into dangerous territory, it wasn’t dumbed down.
:O I've followed your Warcraft lore channel for a very long time now... I had no idea you had a D&D channel! XD
Nice mention of the Catoblepas, It is such a unique monster, and just like the Tarrasque and Kraken they are featured in Earth's myths too. Did you know that blind monks make death cheese out of Catoblepas milk?
Didn't know about this channel... oh my God I'm so happy, thought I ran out with the yugioh stuff
Is this hirumaredx? Voice and style are spot on.
Tarrasque is the weakest cr30 monster the aspect of Timat or Bhaumt are way stronger
Also greatwyrms are stronger than tarrasque imo
Didn’t know you had this channel. Only seen your yugioh videos. Will probably have a fun Time going through to see what you’ve done
Damn, you did wow Videos, or still do? I‘m amazed, gonna have a lot to Watch now
Correct me if I'm reading Reflective Carapace wrong, but the wording RAW suggests the Tarrasque is completely immune to ranged attacks "on a 1-5 the Tarrasque is unaffected" ie. unaffected means it takes no damage. "On a 6 it reflects the attack back at the creature as if the attack originated from the Tarrasque" ie. Still takes no damage. So anyone saying a lvl 1 Aaracokra can solo with a bow is wrong BC it can't do any damage.
Great vid, just a heads up, the timestamps are slightly wrong at the end. The gelatinous cube currently marks Orcus, and the Kraken covers bith thr kraken and the cube
All the Tarrasque stans make me smile :)
everytime I find a new topic to get into I find a video and....oh shit it's this guy !
Roper can be interesting in a small space. Grab your players as they attempt to flee, drag them back.
Everytime I turn around you have a channel I just didn't know you had.
In regards to the other comments about why certain monsters didnt make the list, given the span, depth and history of ttrpgs(d&d specifically here)...id say we probably need a part 2 or just making this a series
Orcus' most messed up summon for 500hp imo would be 31 shadows... every time one hits you lose 1d4 str, at 0 you die. Could likely wipe a whole level 20 party in 1-2 rounds unless they're dealt with immediately. Might only be a +4 to hit, but even with like a 22AC when they have advantage from flanking on most of the attacks and it drains your stat that fast it's going to be absolutely brutal
when he said orcus could summon 38 skeletons at once, i heard it in the tone of "500 cigarettes"
Surprised Sul Khatesh didn't make the list.
Same
This list bothered me so much i felt compelled to make a better one
10: The Tarrasque is the weakest CR 30 creature, and im 90% sure is only on here due to popularity, since experienced players and power gamers know theres a dozen ways to cheeze it. If you're fighting the boss alone, the Original Tiamut is the strongest, with Limited Magical Immunity, Flight, an insanely high DC frightful presence, and her breath weapons. An Aspect Of Bahamut is prolly a little easier on its own, but rockets past her if you give him any allies, since one of his breath weapons can revive dead creatures with full hp.
9. Catoblepas are an okay choice, but at CR 5 I'd go with Gnome Cenomorphs(Basically Cuter mindflayers that are just as deadly), and if we're talking low level badasses in general Shadows, Intellect Devourers & Quicklings are all far harder to deal with, and deadly way beyond their actual CR if you mix them in with other monsters or send a group of them.
8. At CR 4, the Flameskull is wayyyy less dangerous then a Metallic Peacekeeper. They're supposed to be good Aligned, but if you do fight one, the Calming Mists ability is way deadlier in the long run then fireball.
7. Even without the Sun Damage, the Solar Dragon is pretty respectable, mostly due to its high HP pool..but that lair mechanic shouldnt be a factor. You say it requires luring the dragon out of its lair, I say it requires the party to be stupid enough to think fighting inside the sun is a good idea, and if you think that you deserve a TPK. That said, it has the best survivability at its CR, with only the New Gigant, and Critical role's Oracs the enduring coming close, so its a good choice. But the Molydeus (Summoner Variant) and the Solar are more dangerous offensively, since they both have instant kill abilites they can bring into effect without requiring you to fly into the friggin sun.
6. Purple worns, again, are a valid choice at their CR, but with the release of Glory of the Giants, Formorian Nobles are deadlier. An argument also exists for Green Abishai, with their control options, and the Hundred-Handed Ones from oddysey of Theros trade slightly lower defense then the purple world for wayy higher offensive damage, which they can do at long range, up to 240 ft. away.
5. Elder Oblex has comparable HP, lower AC, and way higher DPR and Save DC's. Which is the problem with the Aboleth, it has some pretty powerful Debuff & control options, but its Save DC is only 14, and its actual damage output is cute. If you want something with comparable control options, but better damage & higher defense, Stone Giant Dreamwalkers have a DC 13 constant, passive, charm aura, and can petrity a creature charmed by them if they fail a DC 17 con save, all while hitter harder and being tougher then an aboleth.
4. Elder Brains, like liches, are only effective boss if you give them a shitload of backup. I'll take a moment to be amused that the CR 14 elder brain has significantly better hp then a CR 21 lich, along with good control options, great flavor & RP potential, but their AC is crap, and their actuall damage output is mediocre. Combine that with their extremely limited mobility, and I'd say an Adult Emerald Dragon is a much better solo encounter, with comparable Psionic abilities. Obviously, if the elder brain has Mind Flayers backing it up, it should be plenty challenging.
3. Kraken's have neither Legendary or Magic Resistance. While they do have 4 save proficiencies to make up for this, they're Always 1 bad role away from losing the fight, if you hit them with banishment, or Polymorph. Ancient Blue, Silver & Amethyst dragons are better choices at this CR for that reason alone, or am Empyrean, who has BOTH. As to the point of being hampered by fighting underwater, ya know what's worse then fighting underwater? Fighting in the Chaos of Limbo. Give Ygorl, Lord of Entropy a go, with his magic resistances, & attacks that kill you outright with no death saves.
2.
1. Orcus is a badass, both lore-wise and mechanically. He's certainly in the top 10 deadliest monsters, and ill give him the top spot for CR 26, but the #1. Spot belongs to Sul-Katesh, who's CR 28. Imagine getting hit by a meteor swarm, and then finding out you're inside a giant Antimagic field, and that you now have to fight a monster immune to nonmagical damage, while inside the antimagic field, after taking the damage from meteor swarm, AND the monster's spells work just fine inside the field, only yours don't..'she's objectively unbeatabe in a straigh fight if the DM plays her optimally. The only way to beat her is to escape the first fight and force a second encounter before her ability recharges.
Gelatinous cubed, like the Kraken & Tarrasque, are here based on popularity rather then their actual stats. Intellect Devourers are the same CR..They're easier to kill but have a much higher chance of killing you, and unlike the cube are smart enough to employ ambush tactics
And she can flee and wait for the recharge, she has not one, but two planar travel spells.
And she SHOULD be played optimally shes probably smarter than the whole players combined, 30 int is no joke
You make good points overall but I'm so sick of people saying how cheesable the Tarrasque is. Only a simpleton GM would not allow the Trsq to rear up and melee a flying creature, or throw a rock at a far-away ranged opponent. The rules as written are not a prison, it is Literally the DM's job to use their creativity to make the game *make sense*.
Edit: not to mention that neglecting to put the players on a "timer", e.g. the Trsq is marching towards the capital city to demolish it and leave the civilized world completely vulnerable to orc hordes, is also super sub-optimal GMing
Tarasque in my books always has the disintegrate spell as a breath weapon at 5/6. Then, it is truly a formidable creature.
The Most Dangerous Creature for it's CR is an Enemy Human Fighter...
A lvl 5 character is approximately CR 3-4
A lvl 5 fighter can solo a lvl 5 party without any fighters if it takes initiative. I have seen it happen.
Just chain 5 attacks with battlemaster maneuvers and 3 PC's are already down.
There is nothing more dangerous than a couple of same level fighters to put against your party.
A single fighter can 1v4 a same level party.
2 battlemaster fighters can OTK a same level player party.
Solid video. I was wondering, why set up the times in the description so that they don't create chapters in the timeline? If you wanted chapters, all you would have to do is not put the parentheses around the times, so I assume that's a purposeful decision. I'm just curious what the reason is.
Hi,
you missed my alltimes number one on this list, the Shadow.
CR: 1/2 (100exp) ; so you might think "Oh, i send 4 of them onto my level 2-3 Party and do a TPK.
Resistances: Acid, Cold, Fire, Lightning, Thunder; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from nonmagical attacks
Immunities: Necrotic, Poison; Exhaustion, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained
Amorphous. The shadow can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch wide without squeezing.
Shadow Stealth. While in dim light or darkness, the shadow can take the Hide action as a bonus action. Its stealth bonus is also improved to +6.
Strength Drain. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) necrotic damage, and the target's Strength score is reduced by 1d4. The target dies if this reduces its Strength to 0. Otherwise, the reduction lasts until the target finishes a short or long rest.
If a non-evil humanoid dies from this attack, a new shadow rises from the corpse 1d4 hours later.
Okay, it has a sunlight (and Radiant) weakness, so if the DM places the Shadow in Sunlight (NOT just bright light) it has disadvantage to everything, but this is a CR 1/2 Monster that can (if 'propperly played') kill a level 10 party.
Dnd 5e really deopped the ball with not having DR to different levels of magic. With the ability to craft magical items a wizard could equip a thousand peasants with +1 bows and kill the tarrasque. Requiring +4 or better means only a truly powerful powerful party could rumble with it.
Orcus isn't undead, so it would hilarious if a DM had him use Conjure Undead to create a Nightwalker, and then he took damage from it Annihilating Aura.
Why did you choose the weakest CR 30 creature?
I’m Convinced this guy has a RUclips for everything 😅
Whole hell I didn’t know you have an D&D channel TheDuelingLog
Dont know much about D&D, but i tought tiamat was the top dog???
Terrasque isn’t all that dangerous for a CR 30, most high level parties likely have a dozen tools that make the fight basically have 0 risk. The thing that makes things more dangerous than their CR is when they have features that characters of the appropriate level might not be able to deal with.
So does the krakens fling or lair actions allow attacks of opportunity?
Interesting video I just started digging in the DnD universe through Baldurs gate 3, I would like to see the creatures also when you talk about them, hard to imagine not follow if all you do is Info dumb
The most destructive creature my friends and I fought against recently was a seagull enchanted with Silvery Barbs. It destroyed our friendship with our DM.
What site do you use for the statblocks? Thanks in advance!
Would you consider doing similar videos for Pathfinder 2e?
I like that you only take some radiant damage when going to the solar dragons lair. What about the crushing gravity that causes fusion in the star or the million degrees of heat? If the dragon can live inside a star, it is probably the most powerful creature in DnD.
I feel like the 10 spot should've gone to either the aspect of bahamut or tiamat. Any monster that can be defeated by something as symple as flight on that level isn't a threat. You are level 20 and had plenty of time gathering magic items spells and such, this is way too much of a weakness.
DUEL LOGS IS THAT YOU??? Damn this is gold 😵💫
I must say the most deadly creature i have seen is the humble wolf idk how many lvl1 characters i have seen go down to it with packtactics and the ability to knock you prown and they are usualy not alone and surprisingly sneaky
I was fully expecting to see the Nabassu on this list. Even much more powerful creatures are horrified by that thing lol.
dude how many channels do you run?
Disappointed at the exclusion of quite possibly the most powerful for CR monster in the game, the humble shambling mound. CR 5 with 136 HP and AC 15, resistant to cold and fire, immune to (and healed by) electricity, blindsight, swim speed, multiattack, and an engulf which not only blinds, restrains and deals damage to the target, but prevents them from breathing, and if that wasn't enough it has no rules for escaping by dealing damage and doesn't allow a saving throw to avoid.
It doesn't have snazzy legendary actions, or a deadly lair, it can't cast spells, but it has decent odds of killing a PC every turn and anyone who gets sucked up into it is essentially out of the fight. Even compared to other power hitters at its CR, it manages to combine nearly unparalleled defensive stats with lethal melee options.
I was eaten by a purple wurm once. Nat 20d way out on my next turn. One of the closest calls ive ever had in DND.
Why does everyone think the terrasque is doomed vs flying? You try firing a bow when flying while trees, houses, huts, peices of brick walls, boulders, other characters etc are being thrown at you. A terrasque handful of bowling ball sized rocks would be like birdshot for Merlins sake.
just had a "throwing boulder/rock" attack or a "godzilla plasma breath" to the tarrasque would make here soooo fucking dangerous
The tarrasque is a pushover, litterally just fly and it cant touch you. Its only "Hard" because of its high health and damage.
Or i could also bring up the fact that a CR9 clay golem could solo the tarrasque because it literally cant get hit by it.
Since the Banshee one-shot a Party of mine once... why is it not on the list?
It´s even in the Discription.
Hoarder dragon.. Hard to identify what You even are up against. Defeating it, more like a quest, not just 1 fight. Hoarder has breath attack it had when it was a living dragon + now burst of treasure is added for extra damage. Worst is its ability to use items/weapons/armors/scrolls etc that it has in its hoard. To top it off, its incorporeal, undead, dragon and can move between plains.
Thought the Tarrasque was Colossal. Huh
Shout out to Banshee with resistance to almost all elemental damage and physical damage and immune to every status effects. Banshees can summon a Whale that is so sad it can instantly kill people from feeling sorry for it
Because of that wording I just imagined the party being flattened by a depressed whale that fell out of the sky.
Interestingly getting swallowed by the purple worm is safer than fighting it outright.
if 6d6 hurts a lot less than getting stung and bit.
Big disagree on the ancient solar dragon being easy to kill outside its lair. Dude has 120ft flying, ignores AoOs, and a 240ft range on the breath attack. With 17 int, there's basically no way the dragon would be stupid enough to engage in melee unless forced, it's just gonna comfortably stay at range and pelt you with breath attacks.
If you've got a lot of ranged damage with long range, or somehow have better flying speed than it, then you can take it down in the open. But most groups will find the majority of the party is unable to contribute to a battle like that. The mages will tend to find the dragon is >300ft away most of the time which leaves very, very few spells that can even reach it, the archers will be rolling at disadvantage....it's a very hard opponent to face in the open.