seems One sided due to the goblins, Nimble Escape. The goblin can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns. Goblins are stronger as well in every other way . the kobolds only advantage is pack tactics which gets negated a lot due to nimble escape disallowing any advantage on the OAs they would have got if not for Nimble Escape.
My original idea for this battle was a solar vs. Demogorgon. The thing is, the solar is so freakin fast. 150 ft flying speed plus can teleport 120 ft through legendary actions. Add in that it can attack with a really powerful longbow up to 600 ft away. It seems like the solar would whittle down almost any opponent from a distance. Of course, Orcus ended up utterly dominating Demogorgon, but I suppose it would feel worse against the solar? The battle would still have the same outcome, just take several rounds longer to get there. The solar would basically have to be trapped in a sealed, windowless room for Demogorgon to win. As I mentioned in this video, something I'm finding so odd about the 5e monster design is how these monsters don't completely feel like how they should actually be in-game. How in the heck has Demogorgon been the Prince of Demons for all these millennia? He can just die in a couple rounds of combat. A squad of flying, range-attacking enemies could wipe him out pretty easily. He has no way to escape a bad spot. Why does he have no items at all? Why, I say, WHY??
I expected much more from Demogorgon. I totally agree with you. Demogorgon in previous edition was a Total badass and a formidabile opponent. His two heads gave him always double round and his tentacle attack gave you rotting flesh (probably usless against orcus but still strong attack). He also had an arsenal of spellcast that gave him also mobility and great potential damage. With the double round he was a real pain in the ass, plus timestop in his grimoire... He was surely the prince of demons!
One thing is the stat blocks never account for all of the potential options. Demogorgon should in theory just be able to spin and take wide swipes with his tentacles and do an AoE that way. I would personally have both of his heads with their own turns and spell lists with separate concentration on each just as a start. I understand Demogorgon likes to fight from the back ranks, using buffs/debuffs and his gazes while letting demonic servants fight for him up close, closing once the prey is weakened. I think I heard he also feeds on evil and corruption to the point that he would actually heal damage when hitting another demon, which he could use as a final boss to consume his own adds if the party tried to focus him down quickly. Either way, he should be stronger than this on paper. I sure hope they see this and boost him up where he belongs for the 2025 monster manual.
I've noticed a trend in nerfing the difficulty out of 5E, prioritizing more rp than tactical combat and a real threat of defeat. Just like with the Tarrasque, which they've turned into a single spell kill. This is why I mod monsters as a DM, it's not that I want to kill my players, I want to give them a challenge where they can feel they really accomplished something and the creature lore actually matters. Edit: I would also imagine Demogorgon wouldn't choose an arena where he'd be at such a disadvantage. I'd imagine him having a pit lair that would give him the option to use his swim speed and mitigate flight and ranged attacks. Still a fun scenario though!
Graz'zt: "I could take both of those guys on at the same time." Iggwilv: "In a fight, right?" Graz'zt: *smiles deviously* Iggwilv: "IN A FIGHT, RIGHT?!"
@@lorekeeper685 Aside from joking, I wouldn’t say Iggwilv would ever try to seduce Demogorgon and Orcus. Would she bind them to her service? Totally. Would she seduce them? Hell no and why would she? They’re monsters that seek to destroy all of existence and would likely kill her on sight. The risk would be too much. Graz’zt was a rather unique case. Not only was he humanoid in shape and extremely handsome, he is the Prince of Pleasure. Of course seduction would be on the table. It would have been the path of least resistance. Also, it’s more than suggested that Iggwilv slept with Graz’zt not only for gain but in her own dark twisted way, she did love him. She did bear Graz’zt a son after all.
@@lorekeeper685 I'm not saying she didn't sleep with demons, but it would have been largely for practical reasons. Iggwilv would foster relationships with demons to learn their secrets and curry favor, but she wouldn't just sleep with any of them without cause. There would have to be something in it for her. Her notoriety for sleeping with demons came mainly from her relationship with Graz'zt. He was the only demon Iggwilv considered worthy of her gaze while she was the only lover Graz'zt ever grew jealous for.
Dude, I stumbled upon your Ettin vs guard video yesterday day and thought it was so cool that I watched every single one of your monster melee videos in a row. Great job, keep making more monster melee and I will watch it
You mentioned the demogorgon not having flight, I just did the math. According to probabilities, it would take a level 5 high elf sorcerer with a 16 dexterity, sharpshooter feat, and the extend metamagic on fly, approximately 18 minutes of constantly shooting one arrow each round at 160ft with a +1 longbow to kill the demogorgon with no risk.
And the sharpshooter feat is just to get rid of the long range disadvantage, I didn't calculate actually using the -5/+10, because it would reduce you to only hitting on a natural 20
No because improvised weapon. Thrown TREE. Take xDx damage from getting hit with a whole ass tree. Or huge chunk of broken off concrete. Or whole building. He's a demon lord. Not happening.
Back in the day 2nd edition rules, all these Major Demons could use the spell lists of Clerics and Mages depending on their hit die, so they weren’t walking around because they couldn’t fly.
Fantastic video as always, Esper! Here's a suggestion: A Sibriex vs an Elder Brain! A battle between two malevolent masterminds, one from the Abyss and one from the Far Realm, would be super cool! Maybe give them some minions, too, like around 2-4 Mind Flayers supporting the Elder Brain and some appropriately strong Demons backing the Sibriex (maybe some Night Hags?) Whoever could defeat the other commander first would win the bout!
For MTF version, Abyssal Wretches are sibriex' most obvious minioms. Since Abyssal Wretch isn't in MotM, I suggest rutterkins instead, since they has similar powers.
I love this high level version because after seeing the Mind Flayer vs. the Drow Mage, I immediately got inspired to do one of my own. Note that video was the first in the series I saw. I did Sul Khatesh vs. Rak Tulkhesh, two very powerful fiends from Ebberon Rising from the Last War book, both CR 28. It became very clear very quickly that Sul Khatesh was going to win as it turns out foresight is a very nice spell, giving attackers disadvantage on the their attacks and any attempts Rak Tulkhesh to dispel foresight as a legendary action could just be counterspelled by Sul Khatesh.
I think it could be interesting if you made a monster fight against multiple of a weaker variant of itself. Such as a Beholder vs a small group of Spectators or a larger group of Gazers.
Thanks for the video. You are right Demogorgon should have more options. It is essentially a huge meelee monster. A level 15 party would kill that easily
Esper, these are really fun. I also want to say ALL of your content is creative and engaging. Keep doing the variety. It will attract a novel cross-section of viewers. And I hope the algorithm is kind.
These battles also serve a great purpose, of revealing the design failures of monsters in 5E. This can lead to new videos about improving them, and then to a rematch with their more sensible version. Like here, Demogorgon should be such a powerhouse that it would be laughable to even stand in his presence without a well secured diaper.
I really love this series man. I think these would be really good matchups: demilich vs. amnizu/sibriex nabassu vs. skull lord/mummy lord retriever vs. cadaver collector steel predator vs. hellfire engine marilith vs. planetar elder brain vs. death tyrant ice devil vs. fire giant dreadnought goristro vs. androsphinx ancient gold dragon vs. yeenoghu
This is wild. I backed your last couple of kickstarters and had no idea you had a RUclips channel. This was a cool find, great content! Just like your books!
I remember watching the monster mayhem on the offical D&D stream, and i dreamed of someone made content like that - then i found your channel. This is abolutely my favorite content in the dnd sphere. gonna watch this one and every other related videos of it! This kinda a great way to create stories of your world, give some interesting moments / tiny lore/ side event happen behind the scenes of the players - that was outcome by the dice it self! Now i have some ideas to share for your monster melees! - A last stand of an army of devils and demons - the fate of Avernus and the rest of the universes is at great stake. - - Both the aspect of Bahamut and Tiamat has awaken and comes into a clash of order and chaos. Who should reign as the supreme dragon god? -
@@LikeButton7 It never being one on one is true of every edition I think. Esper probably has the issues for 3.5 where you fight Demo as the final boss and he's easily a house that wrecks people. In 4e, it was different bc Orcus as he was originally statted, could not break the stun lock and would get killed by round 3 or so. Demo COULD break the lock and was much, much nastier.
I have been a DM since first edition and have a differing view of the role of Demon Lord. My conception of a Demon Lord is different from the book and would make a couple changes. One would think when an entity assumes the role of Demon Lord that the position or title would come with a few extra abilities. I would add the ability to teleport without error anywhere in his layer 3/day, and to plane shift 1/day as long as the target plane is his own. Also the title of Demon Lord would allow him to gate 3/day 1 general, 3 officers or a larger amount of soldiers. Other tweaks could be added but the depiction of Demo Gorgon is sad in the book in my opinion.
Yay! My favorite Demon Lord won! 😈☠ But yeah I agree with you Esper, it does feel like all monsters are designed as to always be overcome by the players, usually with little difficulty. It is one of my gripes with 5e, I feel that the players are too strong and have too many easy options to solve problems with a spell slot or class ability just like that. Though of course the DM can always adjust for that and find solutions and challenge the party with a little experience and know-how, but I wish the system itself was a bit more challenging for the players. And the fact that neither of these Demon Lords have any teleport boggles my mind, it's not something I've thought about before when I've looked at their stats, but your Monster Melee videos has acutally been very insightful to watch and I've learned alot about how to approach battles more tactically, great work! I would also like to suggest a battle between a Death Knight and a Dracolich, a classic tale of a knight fighting a dragon but with a dark twist 😉
Ok NOW we are talking haha blows my mind none of these two has teleport .. It makes me wonder if they are weaker than I thought they are. "Weak" being relative, of course. Will any high level flyer just crush Demogorgon?
Right?? It blows my mind how the mighty Demogorgon, somehow considered the greatest of the demon lords, can just get obliterated like that in 2 or 3 rounds.
He can just sit in darkness forcing you to use ranged attacks at disadvantage against his 22ac while spamming you with gaze attacks... i think only creatures with true sight that can fly without using concentration work in this scenario -- a very limited group.
@TheHighestNoon You mean high tier dragons? Flying monsters don't have any less skills or abilities, they also have access to saving throws, spells and area of effect abilities. Hover also prevents a creature from falling if they would otherwise lose their fly speed. Demogorgon CAN beat anything with enough luck though. It just needs to burn LR then Feeblemind the target.
1-The DMG has cleaving rules, which would allow Demogorgon to take down multiple adjacent shadows, not sure if that would have changed anything. 2-Also, you can in fact dispel a summoned creature to end the affect of the entire spell as long as it's not instantaneous RAW, though sage advice might imply it would only remove one creature, since you can only dispel magic one creature being affected by Bless (though summons aren't wuite the same thing)
He didn't see it coming :) opening the battle with a Time Stop and everything, and Mariliths and a Balor and what not. That being said, I wonder how different it would've been, if 5E Orcus fought the Ascension + SCS Demogorgon.
An interesting take would be a largeish combat between Drow and Duergar or perhaps another underdark denizens. It'd be an interesting Tournament aswell trying and see which squad could win the most fights amongst each other!
Another fun potential battle suggestion: The Great Value Demogorgon Battle! This would be a three way fight between "The Demogorgon" from Infernal Machine Rebuild, the Echo of the Demogorgon from Glory of the Giants, and the Demogorgon from the Hunt for the Thessalhydra Stranger Things tie-in adventure (might need to put two of these guys in instead, since they're half the CR of the other two Great Value Demogorgons)
I'm loving this series. I like the ones where it is more than just a 1 on 1 death match. Maybe a future one could be bandits versus caravan guard and when the battle ends, the kobolds who heard the commotion and hurriedly put together a small raiding party to ambush the surviving bandits or caravan guards.
I think the shadows can't be dispelled. It's not some comjure or create spell. Its just a manifestation of the wand. They may not even be real undead but created by the wand. And any such instance the wand can manifest this power and it works with timeline and spacial convince. Except maybe in a court of Clestia
I think a free for all between some of the major denizens of the abyss. Not sure what all statblocks are available in different books, but I think this could help fix up the one-sided issues of the combatants having massive, glaring weaknesses that the other can abuse.
I am convinced that Orcus' Conjure Undead ability is one of the laziest designs in the game. It looked like WotC just shrugged and said "The DM will balance it" which is a design philosophy worthy of a slap to the face.
Flight & ranged attacks cannot be understated. Even without the time stop this was not a fair fight in the slightest even if both are CR 26. Not surprised at the outcome!
(Malcanthet) at Cr 24 would give a better go as 60feet flight is something but Orcus would likely still come out on top. demon lord and the Queen of Succubi. I think she was added to 5e officially but I honestly can't recall. Lolth was the most powerful Demon lord & until she returns Orcus likely has the number one spot.
Fraz-Urb'luu Cr 23 but with lair actions included for effectively a simulacrum he can out pace his Cr while a with 40 feet flight. Mind no lair actions then not a chance against Orcus.
I think in lore one of the biggest issues is Demogorgon can command all the lesser demons to Aid him so it would've been nice to give him a number of Demons equal to the number of undead Orcus Spawned
Ok heres a fun one , a little battle from the blood war involving all factions ..a Devil legion, a demonic hoast , a yugoloth mercenary battalion All in a classic free for all on a random lower plane of course for fairness, roll a D4 for either Gehenna, Hades, the Abyss, the nine hells
A really cool idea could be to patch together a "D&D party from wish" using monster templates. There's a type of monster (the most interesting being those of the VGM) that have the shared Humanoid (Any Race) classification, examples being the Veteran, Knight, Swashbuckler, Archer, Martial Arts Adept etc... They could be used to make a fun little party to fight a bunch of Tier-2 monsters like the Chimera, some Young Dragons, maybe even a Cloud Giant or a Clay Golem.
Niiiiice! Would love to see something slimy entering the arena. Oh, or a bunch of Quicklings vs some Red Caps (both from Volo's...). The Quicklings three attacks plus evasion make them really nasty, esp. when there's more of them.
I have never played DND, but some of these monster designs seem a bit lackluster in their variety - I mean, the most feared Prince of Demons should by standard have some variety for battle and definitely a lot of magic items or if thats not a thing, a ton of physical damage
Awesome video! I am loving the monster melee series! If we are going for epic creatures fighting it out, then maybe Juiblex VS Zuggtmoy or Juiblex VS Moander?
Used to run these scenarios with my party back during 2nd Edition... once our night was over, we'd play around with certain matchups like this. Yes, Orcus and Demogorgon were often matched, and Orcus never lost.
2 месяца назад
It would be interesting to see how many demons it took to down Asmodeus. Then maybe how many celestials he could take out too. Great Video Good Bard! Always a fantastic tale! I am betting Orcus too
Orcus, sitting on his bony throne made out of thousands of remains of those who are yet to be raised as undead: Curses, that crazy bastard keeps foiling my plans. I wonder how I may usurp the throne of the abyss Dagon, sliding into his domain uninvited: You ever tried just fighting him head on? Orcus: That would be-! Actually no, I haven't... *Proceeds to kill Demogorgon in 30 seconds* Orcus: Huh, never thought that one would work
Amazing. The Creeping Death combined with Conjure Undead is BRUTAL. Demogorgon doesn't stand a chance. I ran all the Scenarios and he can't get an up. His Feeblemind could potentially rend the Wand useless but he will never burn Orcus's Legendary Resistances to make it work before using the wand.
I would love to see some flying fights, maybe some giants mounted on rocs fighting some adult or ancient dragons? Or maybe an airship that is being attacked by any flying monster, and the ship crew needs to man the different ship weapons to defend themselves?
I love this series! And I'm going to keep watching no matter what but I figured I'd give a suggestion. Have you considered collaborating with other creators? It would be a true... dungeon duel haha. Just a thought, like I said, love the series
As Orcus leaves, the shimmering field of magic surounding the area disapates. The group of adventures sigh in relief as they drop their anti-teleportation field. When me or my friend runs any of these demon lords we give any who can't teleport the teleport option. You should really get together with Brandon r kim. You both releas similar content in the form of monster fighting monster. YOU should try starspawn emisary v astral dreadnot.
In the lore demogogorgon as also the power of summoning any demon (which doesn't appear in it 5e stats block) so the area fill with balor t1, if orcus have initiative , it will chose lich which will gate lich filling the area of lich. in both case the fight will not look like that.
IIRC in Knight of the Black Rose(been 2 decades since i read it) , Soth smashes Strahds pet young red dragons head in and Strahd breaks and crushes Soth's arm with little to no effort. I know this isnt a stat block confrontation however....That said Wost case scenario if Soth somehow STARTS to get an upper hand ,Strahd uses his INT score and easily flees.
(Meanwhile me, taking notes on how to make Demogorgon the true prince of demons that his title implies) As for the question of who could even rival Orcus...honestly, with that wand of his, it bumps up his difficulty quite considerably. If I had to pick some canidits, maybe Zariel, or Vecna if you also alow him to have the Book of Vile Darkness, but thats the best I got.
Bring back the Book of Vile Darkness and update everything within unofficially or officially it makes the lower planes and fiends in general so much cooler
this is just a normal thursday in the abyss
lmto
(laughing my tentacles off)
Hear me out:
Goblins VS Kobalds in a deadly game of Capture-the-Flag. Give them a big arena with two forts on either side.
Oh hell yes - now I want to DM that Mutant League Football
YESSS! This!
based idea
seems One sided due to the goblins, Nimble Escape. The goblin can take the Disengage or Hide action as a bonus action on each of its turns. Goblins are stronger as well in every other way . the kobolds only advantage is pack tactics which gets negated a lot due to nimble escape disallowing any advantage on the OAs they would have got if not for Nimble Escape.
Love this!
My original idea for this battle was a solar vs. Demogorgon. The thing is, the solar is so freakin fast. 150 ft flying speed plus can teleport 120 ft through legendary actions. Add in that it can attack with a really powerful longbow up to 600 ft away. It seems like the solar would whittle down almost any opponent from a distance. Of course, Orcus ended up utterly dominating Demogorgon, but I suppose it would feel worse against the solar? The battle would still have the same outcome, just take several rounds longer to get there. The solar would basically have to be trapped in a sealed, windowless room for Demogorgon to win.
As I mentioned in this video, something I'm finding so odd about the 5e monster design is how these monsters don't completely feel like how they should actually be in-game. How in the heck has Demogorgon been the Prince of Demons for all these millennia? He can just die in a couple rounds of combat. A squad of flying, range-attacking enemies could wipe him out pretty easily. He has no way to escape a bad spot. Why does he have no items at all? Why, I say, WHY??
Maybe Demo would perform better against another non-flying melee focused Demon lord/archdevil. Like Baphomet, Yeenoghu, Moloch or Bael
I expected much more from Demogorgon. I totally agree with you. Demogorgon in previous edition was a Total badass and a formidabile opponent. His two heads gave him always double round and his tentacle attack gave you rotting flesh (probably usless against orcus but still strong attack). He also had an arsenal of spellcast that gave him also mobility and great potential damage. With the double round he was a real pain in the ass, plus timestop in his grimoire... He was surely the prince of demons!
One thing is the stat blocks never account for all of the potential options. Demogorgon should in theory just be able to spin and take wide swipes with his tentacles and do an AoE that way. I would personally have both of his heads with their own turns and spell lists with separate concentration on each just as a start. I understand Demogorgon likes to fight from the back ranks, using buffs/debuffs and his gazes while letting demonic servants fight for him up close, closing once the prey is weakened. I think I heard he also feeds on evil and corruption to the point that he would actually heal damage when hitting another demon, which he could use as a final boss to consume his own adds if the party tried to focus him down quickly. Either way, he should be stronger than this on paper. I sure hope they see this and boost him up where he belongs for the 2025 monster manual.
I've noticed a trend in nerfing the difficulty out of 5E, prioritizing more rp than tactical combat and a real threat of defeat. Just like with the Tarrasque, which they've turned into a single spell kill. This is why I mod monsters as a DM, it's not that I want to kill my players, I want to give them a challenge where they can feel they really accomplished something and the creature lore actually matters.
Edit: I would also imagine Demogorgon wouldn't choose an arena where he'd be at such a disadvantage. I'd imagine him having a pit lair that would give him the option to use his swim speed and mitigate flight and ranged attacks. Still a fun scenario though!
They did him almost as dirty as Archmages and Liches.
Graz'zt: "I could take both of those guys on at the same time."
Iggwilv: "In a fight, right?"
Graz'zt: *smiles deviously*
Iggwilv: "IN A FIGHT, RIGHT?!"
Lore accurate
Both would sleep with them as their lore goes
@@lorekeeper685 Aside from joking, I wouldn’t say Iggwilv would ever try to seduce Demogorgon and Orcus. Would she bind them to her service? Totally. Would she seduce them? Hell no and why would she? They’re monsters that seek to destroy all of existence and would likely kill her on sight. The risk would be too much.
Graz’zt was a rather unique case. Not only was he humanoid in shape and extremely handsome, he is the Prince of Pleasure. Of course seduction would be on the table. It would have been the path of least resistance. Also, it’s more than suggested that Iggwilv slept with Graz’zt not only for gain but in her own dark twisted way, she did love him. She did bear Graz’zt a son after all.
@@MrDe4dGuy34 yee didnt Tasha just sleep with demons as lore?
@@lorekeeper685 I'm not saying she didn't sleep with demons, but it would have been largely for practical reasons. Iggwilv would foster relationships with demons to learn their secrets and curry favor, but she wouldn't just sleep with any of them without cause. There would have to be something in it for her. Her notoriety for sleeping with demons came mainly from her relationship with Graz'zt. He was the only demon Iggwilv considered worthy of her gaze while she was the only lover Graz'zt ever grew jealous for.
Dude, I stumbled upon your Ettin vs guard video yesterday day and thought it was so cool that I watched every single one of your monster melee videos in a row. Great job, keep making more monster melee and I will watch it
Heck yeah! Welcome!
Jesus this was like watching a main event fight that didn’t make it past the 1st min. Just dominated.
You mentioned the demogorgon not having flight, I just did the math. According to probabilities, it would take a level 5 high elf sorcerer with a 16 dexterity, sharpshooter feat, and the extend metamagic on fly, approximately 18 minutes of constantly shooting one arrow each round at 160ft with a +1 longbow to kill the demogorgon with no risk.
And the sharpshooter feat is just to get rid of the long range disadvantage, I didn't calculate actually using the -5/+10, because it would reduce you to only hitting on a natural 20
No because improvised weapon. Thrown TREE. Take xDx damage from getting hit with a whole ass tree. Or huge chunk of broken off concrete. Or whole building. He's a demon lord. Not happening.
Orcus when he summons 10 million zombies onto the field
There really is only 1 possible follow up to this battle- Orcus vs Asmodeus.
That one tree demon I forgot the name of that is basically an infinite demon summoning thing. It was in a tier list once and I can't find it again.
There aren't any stats for Asmodeus
@@jandocarrillo2731 Book of Vile Darkness from 3.0 would beg to differ
@@matthewdaley4403he was not a god back then - He smokes any demon lord individually though
@@matthewdaley4403 To be fair, it'd have to be 3E Orcus too.
This is such a nice match up. Tiamat Vs. Bahamut🤘🏻
Demogorgon is like Jason Vorhees, he has to walk you down to kill you... but then again even Jason has teleport lol.
Wasn't there a great Film Theory about how he doesn't have teleportation?
Back in the day 2nd edition rules, all these Major Demons could use the spell lists of Clerics and Mages depending on their hit die, so they weren’t walking around because they couldn’t fly.
When the tall middle schooler fights the short senior (he is the head of the wrestling club)
More like he’s fighting a veteran with a rifle lol
Fantastic video as always, Esper! Here's a suggestion: A Sibriex vs an Elder Brain! A battle between two malevolent masterminds, one from the Abyss and one from the Far Realm, would be super cool! Maybe give them some minions, too, like around 2-4 Mind Flayers supporting the Elder Brain and some appropriately strong Demons backing the Sibriex (maybe some Night Hags?)
Whoever could defeat the other commander first would win the bout!
For MTF version, Abyssal Wretches are sibriex' most obvious minioms. Since Abyssal Wretch isn't in MotM, I suggest rutterkins instead, since they has similar powers.
Baphomet vs Yeenoghu for next demon lord matchup?
I love this high level version because after seeing the Mind Flayer vs. the Drow Mage, I immediately got inspired to do one of my own. Note that video was the first in the series I saw.
I did Sul Khatesh vs. Rak Tulkhesh, two very powerful fiends from Ebberon Rising from the Last War book, both CR 28.
It became very clear very quickly that Sul Khatesh was going to win as it turns out foresight is a very nice spell, giving attackers disadvantage on the their attacks and any attempts Rak Tulkhesh to dispel foresight as a legendary action could just be counterspelled by Sul Khatesh.
She has the antimagic fields as well. Strongest monster ability in 5e
I think it could be interesting if you made a monster fight against multiple of a weaker variant of itself. Such as a Beholder vs a small group of Spectators or a larger group of Gazers.
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!"
GLORY TO KHORNE
BLOOOOOOOOD FOOOOOOR THE BLOOOOODGOD! KILL MAIM BUUUUUURN!
Battle suggestion: Archdruid vs Archmage. Masters of their respective areas of magic, battling it out.
I'm just imagining the queen of chaos sitting around hearing all the ruckus and thinking, "Are those two at it again?".
Thanks for the video. You are right Demogorgon should have more options. It is essentially a huge meelee monster. A level 15 party would kill that easily
Demogorgon has been done dirty. The prince of demons fights like a random meatbag. How is he so weak
Esper, these are really fun. I also want to say ALL of your content is creative and engaging. Keep doing the variety. It will attract a novel cross-section of viewers. And I hope the algorithm is kind.
I wish someone would animate this 😂
The shameless curb stomping
These battles also serve a great purpose, of revealing the design failures of monsters in 5E. This can lead to new videos about improving them, and then to a rematch with their more sensible version. Like here, Demogorgon should be such a powerhouse that it would be laughable to even stand in his presence without a well secured diaper.
I really love this series man. I think these would be really good matchups:
demilich vs. amnizu/sibriex
nabassu vs. skull lord/mummy lord
retriever vs. cadaver collector
steel predator vs. hellfire engine
marilith vs. planetar
elder brain vs. death tyrant
ice devil vs. fire giant dreadnought
goristro vs. androsphinx
ancient gold dragon vs. yeenoghu
Oh man! These guys should definitely be just throwing out minions like crazy!
maybe they know whatever minions they have arent gonna stand a chance, making that up but sounds like a decent excuse
That is how it would play out in a more traditional scenario.
The minions are all in an epic battle off-screen.
Lore wise, Demogorgon is supposed to be able to control any non-demon lord demons in a giant radius as a passive. Doesn't help too much in a 1v1 but
It could be cool for demogorgon to have a feature that allows it to summon demons
That’s the least useful feature against Orcus- whose main servants aren’t demons, but undead
Love this series
This battle really should have been done using the 3.5 book of vile darkness
This is wild. I backed your last couple of kickstarters and had no idea you had a RUclips channel. This was a cool find, great content! Just like your books!
I just stumbled upon this series today. Loving the battles. And now a brand new episode! 🔥
I feel like Demogorgon would only stand a chance in some ocean where he can just out swim Orcas. I think blink dogs vs displacer beasts would be cool.
I remember watching the monster mayhem on the offical D&D stream, and i dreamed of someone made content like that - then i found your channel.
This is abolutely my favorite content in the dnd sphere. gonna watch this one and every other related videos of it!
This kinda a great way to create stories of your world, give some interesting moments / tiny lore/ side event happen behind the scenes of the players - that was outcome by the dice it self!
Now i have some ideas to share for your monster melees!
- A last stand of an army of devils and demons - the fate of Avernus and the rest of the universes is at great stake. -
- Both the aspect of Bahamut and Tiamat has awaken and comes into a clash of order and chaos. Who should reign as the supreme dragon god? -
this might be the only edition where Orcus has the advantage against Demo.
Orcus is nasty as hell. It’s never one on one. It’s an army of undead and orcus vs (insert next victim here)
@@LikeButton7 It never being one on one is true of every edition I think. Esper probably has the issues for 3.5 where you fight Demo as the final boss and he's easily a house that wrecks people.
In 4e, it was different bc Orcus as he was originally statted, could not break the stun lock and would get killed by round 3 or so. Demo COULD break the lock and was much, much nastier.
If Demogorgon was close enough to hit Orcus he was close enough to try disarming Orcus twice if you use that rule at least.
I have been a DM since first edition and have a differing view of the role of Demon Lord. My conception of a Demon Lord is different from the book and would make a couple changes. One would think when an entity assumes the role of Demon Lord that the position or title would come with a few extra abilities. I would add the ability to teleport without error anywhere in his layer 3/day, and to plane shift 1/day as long as the target plane is his own. Also the title of Demon Lord would allow him to gate 3/day 1 general, 3 officers or a larger amount of soldiers. Other tweaks could be added but the depiction of Demo Gorgon is sad in the book in my opinion.
Yay! My favorite Demon Lord won! 😈☠ But yeah I agree with you Esper, it does feel like all monsters are designed as to always be overcome by the players, usually with little difficulty. It is one of my gripes with 5e, I feel that the players are too strong and have too many easy options to solve problems with a spell slot or class ability just like that. Though of course the DM can always adjust for that and find solutions and challenge the party with a little experience and know-how, but I wish the system itself was a bit more challenging for the players.
And the fact that neither of these Demon Lords have any teleport boggles my mind, it's not something I've thought about before when I've looked at their stats, but your Monster Melee videos has acutally been very insightful to watch and I've learned alot about how to approach battles more tactically, great work!
I would also like to suggest a battle between a Death Knight and a Dracolich, a classic tale of a knight fighting a dragon but with a dark twist 😉
Ok NOW we are talking haha blows my mind none of these two has teleport .. It makes me wonder if they are weaker than I thought they are. "Weak" being relative, of course.
Will any high level flyer just crush Demogorgon?
Right?? It blows my mind how the mighty Demogorgon, somehow considered the greatest of the demon lords, can just get obliterated like that in 2 or 3 rounds.
He can just sit in darkness forcing you to use ranged attacks at disadvantage against his 22ac while spamming you with gaze attacks... i think only creatures with true sight that can fly without using concentration work in this scenario -- a very limited group.
@TheHighestNoon You mean high tier dragons? Flying monsters don't have any less skills or abilities, they also have access to saving throws, spells and area of effect abilities.
Hover also prevents a creature from falling if they would otherwise lose their fly speed.
Demogorgon CAN beat anything with enough luck though. It just needs to burn LR then Feeblemind the target.
Kraken vs Ancient Gold Dragon. I'm loving this Monster Melee series.
200,000 Bullywug's vs Tarrasque
1-The DMG has cleaving rules, which would allow Demogorgon to take down multiple adjacent shadows, not sure if that would have changed anything.
2-Also, you can in fact dispel a summoned creature to end the affect of the entire spell as long as it's not instantaneous RAW, though sage advice might imply it would only remove one creature, since you can only dispel magic one creature being affected by Bless (though summons aren't wuite the same thing)
Suggestion 1: 10 Ankhegs vs a War Priest
Suggestion 2: 1 Hydra and a Green Hag controller vs a War Priest
In Out of the Abyss our DM got Players stats for Demon Princes and made us fight as them in a deathmatch XD I played Orcus and won 😁
I also killed Demogorgon with Power Word Kill XD
really cool. A tip - wait between dice rolls. you missed more than one 20 on a die
I think they should redo Demogorgon's stat block
Demogorgon really has lost some badass since he got his ass kicked in Baldur's Gate.
He didn't see it coming :) opening the battle with a Time Stop and everything, and Mariliths and a Balor and what not.
That being said, I wonder how different it would've been, if 5E Orcus fought the Ascension + SCS Demogorgon.
Monster melee is the greatest thing ever. I would love to see vampire vs lich
I can’t wait to see the devil version of this! Zarriel vs Dispader maybe??
An interesting take would be a largeish combat between Drow and Duergar or perhaps another underdark denizens.
It'd be an interesting Tournament aswell trying and see which squad could win the most fights amongst each other!
Atomic bomb versus coughing baby
Esper, you've just convinced me to go and rebuild 5e demons...this is tragic! :)
Another fun potential battle suggestion: The Great Value Demogorgon Battle!
This would be a three way fight between "The Demogorgon" from Infernal Machine Rebuild, the Echo of the Demogorgon from Glory of the Giants, and the Demogorgon from the Hunt for the Thessalhydra Stranger Things tie-in adventure (might need to put two of these guys in instead, since they're half the CR of the other two Great Value Demogorgons)
I'm loving this series. I like the ones where it is more than just a 1 on 1 death match. Maybe a future one could be bandits versus caravan guard and when the battle ends, the kobolds who heard the commotion and hurriedly put together a small raiding party to ambush the surviving bandits or caravan guards.
14:09 - Orcus---------------------------------------Vs----------------------------------------Tiamat
I think the shadows can't be dispelled. It's not some comjure or create spell. Its just a manifestation of the wand. They may not even be real undead but created by the wand. And any such instance the wand can manifest this power and it works with timeline and spacial convince. Except maybe in a court of Clestia
Demogorgon vs Asmodeus.
I was sure Orcus would win but wow, that was crazy dominant.
I think a free for all between some of the major denizens of the abyss. Not sure what all statblocks are available in different books, but I think this could help fix up the one-sided issues of the combatants having massive, glaring weaknesses that the other can abuse.
I am convinced that Orcus' Conjure Undead ability is one of the laziest designs in the game. It looked like WotC just shrugged and said "The DM will balance it" which is a design philosophy worthy of a slap to the face.
I'm really enjoying these monster mellee videos. Keep up the great work! 👍
Flight & ranged attacks cannot be understated.
Even without the time stop this was not a fair fight in the slightest even if both are CR 26.
Not surprised at the outcome!
(Malcanthet) at Cr 24 would give a better go as 60feet flight is something but Orcus would likely still come out on top.
demon lord and the Queen of Succubi. I think she was added to 5e officially but I honestly can't recall.
Lolth was the most powerful Demon lord & until she returns Orcus likely has the number one spot.
Fraz-Urb'luu Cr 23 but with lair actions included for effectively a simulacrum he can out pace his Cr while a with 40 feet flight.
Mind no lair actions then not a chance against Orcus.
Orcas vs the most OP CR 21 monster in the game, a Solar, would be rad.
5:12 I'm gonna take this as proof that Esper knows that 3.X is where it's at.
I mean, there is one other Demon Lord that can compete with these two...
Lolth? She is a full deity after all.
@@barubary436 That would be HOT
If we’re doing demon rivalries: have you done Yeenogu vs Bahamut yet?
I dove deep into the lore for both of those demons for my homebrew. Those two really hate each other.
You mean Baphomet? Bahamut is a good-aligned dragon god.
I think in lore one of the biggest issues is Demogorgon can command all the lesser demons to Aid him so it would've been nice to give him a number of Demons equal to the number of undead Orcus Spawned
Ok heres a fun one , a little battle from the blood war involving all factions ..a Devil legion, a demonic hoast , a yugoloth mercenary battalion
All in a classic free for all on a random lower plane of course for fairness, roll a D4 for either Gehenna, Hades, the Abyss, the nine hells
A really cool idea could be to patch together a "D&D party from wish" using monster templates. There's a type of monster (the most interesting being those of the VGM) that have the shared Humanoid (Any Race) classification, examples being the Veteran, Knight, Swashbuckler, Archer, Martial Arts Adept etc... They could be used to make a fun little party to fight a bunch of Tier-2 monsters like the Chimera, some Young Dragons, maybe even a Cloud Giant or a Clay Golem.
Niiiiice! Would love to see something slimy entering the arena. Oh, or a bunch of Quicklings vs some Red Caps (both from Volo's...). The Quicklings three attacks plus evasion make them really nasty, esp. when there's more of them.
I love demons and am kinda A Graz'zt stan. Would love to see all the demon lords battling each other in a tourny!
Don’t know why I expected this to be longer
I have never played DND, but some of these monster designs seem a bit lackluster in their variety - I mean, the most feared Prince of Demons should by standard have some variety for battle and definitely a lot of magic items or if thats not a thing, a ton of physical damage
demon lord tournament sounds like a good idea. Maybe throw some archdevils in there too
Awesome video!
I am loving the monster melee series!
If we are going for epic creatures fighting it out, then maybe Juiblex VS Zuggtmoy or Juiblex VS Moander?
Wow. That...was far quicker than I thought! Awesome battle!
Minotaur vs Centaur, thanks for these monster battles!
Thank you for proving my point I had this discussion with a DM not long ago
the nat 20 by Orcus deals double damage......
I was waiting for this, good job. 😎🤘🍻
The creature sound effects are ON POINT!
I really look forward to these videos. Thanks.
Used to run these scenarios with my party back during 2nd Edition... once our night was over, we'd play around with certain matchups like this. Yes, Orcus and Demogorgon were often matched, and Orcus never lost.
It would be interesting to see how many demons it took to down Asmodeus. Then maybe how many celestials he could take out too. Great Video Good Bard! Always a fantastic tale! I am betting Orcus too
More of these please !!!!!
Orcus, sitting on his bony throne made out of thousands of remains of those who are yet to be raised as undead: Curses, that crazy bastard keeps foiling my plans. I wonder how I may usurp the throne of the abyss
Dagon, sliding into his domain uninvited: You ever tried just fighting him head on?
Orcus: That would be-! Actually no, I haven't...
*Proceeds to kill Demogorgon in 30 seconds*
Orcus: Huh, never thought that one would work
Amazing.
The Creeping Death combined with Conjure Undead is BRUTAL.
Demogorgon doesn't stand a chance. I ran all the Scenarios and he can't get an up. His Feeblemind could potentially rend the Wand useless but he will never burn Orcus's Legendary Resistances to make it work before using the wand.
I love these melee vids, great job bro 😎
I would love to see some flying fights, maybe some giants mounted on rocs fighting some adult or ancient dragons? Or maybe an airship that is being attacked by any flying monster, and the ship crew needs to man the different ship weapons to defend themselves?
I love this series! And I'm going to keep watching no matter what but I figured I'd give a suggestion.
Have you considered collaborating with other creators? It would be a true... dungeon duel haha. Just a thought, like I said, love the series
Orcus vs Zariel might be a cool fight.
As Orcus leaves, the shimmering field of magic surounding the area disapates. The group of adventures sigh in relief as they drop their anti-teleportation field. When me or my friend runs any of these demon lords we give any who can't teleport the teleport option. You should really get together with Brandon r kim. You both releas similar content in the form of monster fighting monster. YOU should try starspawn emisary v astral dreadnot.
Oh sweet jesus. I'm in a meeting and can't watch this for another hour.
In the lore demogogorgon as also the power of summoning any demon (which doesn't appear in it 5e stats block) so the area fill with balor t1, if orcus have initiative , it will chose lich which will gate lich filling the area of lich. in both case the fight will not look like that.
Cthulhu v s Orcus...
You should do Lord Soth vs Count Strahd and maybe Loth vs Drizzt and his companions of the hall.
IIRC in Knight of the Black Rose(been 2 decades since i read it) , Soth smashes Strahds pet young red dragons head in and Strahd breaks and crushes Soth's arm with little to no effort. I know this isnt a stat block confrontation however....That said Wost case scenario if Soth somehow STARTS to get an upper hand ,Strahd uses his INT score and easily flees.
Damn…this was basically Tyson vs Sphinx-you expected a war but it was a 91 second blowout!
Lore wise, Orcus would be stuffing himself with human flesh pies while watching a giant undead army fight Demogorgon.
(Meanwhile me, taking notes on how to make Demogorgon the true prince of demons that his title implies)
As for the question of who could even rival Orcus...honestly, with that wand of his, it bumps up his difficulty quite considerably. If I had to pick some canidits, maybe Zariel, or Vecna if you also alow him to have the Book of Vile Darkness, but thats the best I got.
Bring back the Book of Vile Darkness and update everything within unofficially or officially it makes the lower planes and fiends in general so much cooler
Orcs vs Hobgonlins horde battle
Vecna's archlich stat block could actually curb stomp a lot of stat blocks solo, his real flaw comes when he fights a party of creatures.