Highlights

• Gelatinous Cube: Absorb and restrain foes, perfect for early games. Challenging for players with 6d6 damage.
• Death Slaad: Resistant disguised Death Slaad wields a magic greatsword with devastating attacks, armor class of 18 and 170 hit points.
• Tarrasque: Highest challenge rating with immense size, high defense, and powerful attacks. A ferocious monster to overcome in battles.

For those who enjoy tabletop games, there's no game that is more beloved than the classic RPG Dungeons & Dragons. The ability to create characters from the ground up and have someone guide a group on an adventure of their own making is hard to top.

Of course, while D&D is about creating an adventure, there is a wide collection of monsters that the makers of the game have provided for dungeon masters to use. For the most part, these monsters are balanced and can each be used depending on circumstances. But some boss D&D monsters in the catalog are still considered stronger than others.

Updated on February 17th, 2024, by Mara Cowley: D&D is nothing without its player-characters' RP, exploration, and combat. Combat needs challenging enemies that match the party's level, which usually comes in the form of beasts or monstrosities. Wizards of the Coast have created a whole menagerie of monsters for DMs to throw at their party to challenge their team-work, tactical thinking, and their luck. With so many to choose from, it can be quite daunting to try and pick out the strongest DND monsters, which is why this article has been updated to include more powerful monsters with their challenge rating, so DMs know which one will be best for their games.

27 Gelatinous Cube

Causes Devestating Damage To Those It Engulfs

• Challenge Rating: 2

Description: One may think that a cube of jelly would be easy to fight, but not so fast. The Gelatinous Cube is self-explanatory as it is a large ooze creature. Its signature move is Engulf, which means it attempts to absorb a creature, so it can restrain it. If the creature fails a saving throw, the cube will overtake them and cause 6d6 damage to that creature each time its turn begins.

A creature can get out of the cube's grasp with a Strength check. This is the perfect monster for dungeon masters to use early. The Gelatinous Cube has an armor class of 6 and about 84 hit points.

26 Green Hag

Disguises And Invisibility Are A Few Tricks Up The Hag's Sleeve

Challenge Rating: 3

Description: These grotesque crones can disguise themselves to beguile the party, approaching them as helpless old women or beautiful young maidens.

Hags are the ideal boss monster to throw at lower-level parties, with a challenge rating as low as 3, but there are plenty of tricks they can use to challenge the group. Invisibility, disguises, and innate spell-casting can all serve to make a low-level encounter thrilling and exciting.

25 Doppelganger

Easily Beguiles Others With Its Mastery Over Disguises

Challenge Rating: 3

Description: Doppelgangers are devious shapeshifters that take on the appearance of other humanoids, throwing off pursuit or luring victims to their doom with misdirection and disguise.

Although Doppelgangers aren't outright the strongest monsters due to their low challenge rating, their ability to completely reshape their form to that to another can have devastating consequences. With the form of another, they can beguile others into believing they are an ally, and then kill them as they sleep, frame someone up for a crime they did not commit, and then slip the grasps of others by altering their form again.

Crafty DMs can make use of this seemingly weak enemy to sow terror and distrust among their party, and get the jump on them with its affinity for surprise attacks.

24 Flame Skull

Resurrects Itself Unless Properly Buried

Challenge Rating: 4

Description: A creature that may be nightmare fuel for many individuals out there, the Flame Skull is the product of dark spellcasters using the bones of dead wizards. While these creatures appear weak, they have four spells, including a fireball that they can unleash on the party that could cause massive damage.

They also have the ability to come back to life within an hour of death until it's properly buried with holy water. It can use Fire Ray twice per turn, with each ray dealing 3d6 damage. It has an armor class of 13 and around 40 hit points.

23 Banshee

Can Immediately Drop Victims To 0 HP

Challenge Rating: 4

Description: An undead evil spirit, the Banshee is a former female elf who comes out at night to haunt living creatures that dare trespass on her territory. One of her primary actions is Wail. Under the night sky, the Banshee can unleash a scarring wail that affects all living creatures within 30 feet of her.

If the creatures fail a constitution saving throw, they immediately drop to 0 hit points. Even on a success, the creature is dealt with 3d6 psychic damage. The Banshee has an armor class of 12 and about 58 hit points.

22 Chimera

Each Part Of The Chimera Has Unique Attacks

Challenge Rating: 6

Description: Some of the greatest monstrosities in D&D have qualities of specific animals without necessarily looking like those animals. Well, a Chimera is quite literally a goat, a lion, and a dragon fused into one, as created by the Prince of Demons.

While there isn't one massive attack that the creature has, it combines the power of these three creatures into one difficult creature to take down. From the lion clawing to the goat ramming to the dragon's fire breath, this monster has a plethora of choices that include these attacks alone or together. The armor class for the Chimera is 14 and its hit points are 114.

21 Aboleth

Its Tentacles Can Affect Creatures It Touches

Challenge Rating: 10

Description: Considered to be gods of the lake, the Aboleths once had control over many living creatures before the "true gods" destroyed their empire. Now, these long amphibians are looking to enact revenge.

The Aboleth has a brutal melee tentacle attack that could cause a creature to become diseased. It also can "enslave" a creature by successfully charming it on a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails, the monster gains complete control of them. The Aboleth has an armor class of 17 and about 135 hit points.

20 Death Slaad

Maintains its Strength Even While Disguised

Challenge Rating: 10

Description: The Slaadi are a race of creatures that live in Limbo. Generally, most types of Slaadi are chaotic neutral, but there is one type that is specifically on a mission to bring chaos and evil to all: the Death Slaad. These creatures hold lots of power over other Slaadi, building an army to ruin and destroy lives.

The monster has the ability to turn itself into a humanoid and disguise itself from others while still maintaining its overall strength. While it's resistant to magic, it wields a greatsword that has magic within it. It also has lots of other devastating melee attacks that may force players to be more defensive. Its armor class is 18 and its health points are 170.

19 Roc

A High Health Pool Makes Rocs Tough to Bring Down

Challenge Rating: 11

Description: While dragons are always going to seem like the more frightening flying monster, the Roc should not be overlooked by any means. This larger-than-life bird has a wingspan as big as a professional hockey rink, Rocs were created to take on dragons that are equal to their size.

The Roc's attacks are a bit simplistic, as they can attack only with their beak and talons. However, its strength is its 248 hit points, meaning it will take a while to bring down. On top of this, it has a very strong perception, meaning it's very hard to get anything past this huge creature. It has an armor class of 15.

18 Behir

Its Swallow Attack Is A Death Sentence

Challenge Rating: 11

Description: It's not fun to deal with anything that has lots of legs from a sheer creepy factor, but it's even worse when that creature can also swallow targets whole. The Behir is a cross between a crocodile and a centipede while also being a sickly blue.

When a Behir swallows a party member, that individual will be dealt massive acid damage until they have died or until enough damage is dealt to the Behir. On top of this, it has lightning breath that could deal a person up to 66 points in damage if they fail a save. It has an armor class of 17 and 168 hit points.

17 Vampire

Their Self-Healing Abilities Make Vampires Hard To Kill

Challenge Rating: 13

Description: A monster that exists far beyond the world of D&D, vampires are even more bloodthirsty in this game than in most of the media they show up in. Most times, vampires are hiding in large structures that are hard to navigate, but some may try to blend in while in a crowd.

Vampires can turn themselves into a bat to fly around or mist cloud to escape danger. It can also charm targets as well as summon creatures to attack. Even if it's low on health, it can heal 20 hit points at the start of its turn, making it very hard to kill without a massive blow. It has an armor class of 16 and 144 hit points.

16 Shadow Dragon

The Shadow Breath Is A Deadly Weapon

Challenge Rating: 13

Description: Dragons are a staple of any fantasy game, and they are a prominent part of Dungeons & Dragons. One of the toughest types of dragons to face is the Shadow Dragon. These monsters were either born in the Shadowfell or transformed after living in horrific conditions.

Either way, these creatures either become accustomed to the dark or want to spread evil energy over the Material Plane. This monster's deadly Shadow Breath could destroy the health of an entire party. Most Shadow Dragons have an armor class of 18 and about 178 hit points.

15 Beholder

Each Eye Stalk Has A Unique Ray

Challenge Rating: 13

Description: If there is one iconic monster of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise, it is the Beholder. These many-eyed aberrations reign over other beings, viewing all creatures as lesser than them. The creature only has two attacks, bite, and eye ray. However, there are 10 variants of the eye ray that can be inflicted upon creatures within 120 feet, ranging from a charm ray to a petrification ray.

Its two deadliest rays, disintegration and death ray, could end a creature's life in a single hit. The Beholder has an armor class of 18 and about 180 hit points.

14 Elder Brain

Reads Thoughts And Manipulates Minds

Challenge Rating: 14

Description: Nothing screams "boss" quite like the Elder Brain, which is a giant brain surrounded by black tendrils. The monster can take up to three legendary actions, and it could only be used once after a creature's turn. Its most deadly action is Mind Blast, which could deal 5d10 + 5 psychic damage and leave a creature stunned for 1 minute.

The Elder Brain can also use its powers to read thoughts and manipulate minds. While its armor is only 10, it has the ability to turn any saving throw into success, even if it fails the role. It has 210 hit points.

13 Purple Worm

Devours Anything And Everything In Its Path

Challenge Rating: 15

Description: The biggest creatures are often the scariest, which is why the Purple Worm can be incredibly intimidating to take on. It typically resides in the Underdark, where it tends to tear down walls to seek out prey to consume. Unfortunately, it will likely eat anything it sees.

The worst part is that, as a tunneler, it can break through from beyond the Underdark, especially when it hears a loud enough noise that can attract it. The only good news for party members is that the worm is rather uncreative when it comes to its moves, as it will only bite or use its tail to sting players. It has an 18 for natural armor and 247 hit points.

12 Marilith

Has The Ability To Parry Attacks

Challenge Rating: 16

Description: Anyone holding a large knife can be terrifying, but to truly strike fear into a D&D party, pit them against a being with six arms, each wielding its own long sword. The Marilith looks human on its top half and a giant snake on the bottom half, making it reactive to nearly every move.

Along with the ability to swing around its weapons, the Marilith can use its tail to knock out enemies and also teleport around to get away or move quickly toward players. Speaking of being reactive, the Marilith can parry any melee attack that they are actively paying attention to. It has 189 hit points and an 18 armor class.

11 Dracolich

Devestating Lightning Breath

Challenge Rating: 17

Description: Dragons are a tough task to deal with, but what if they were undead? The Dracolich is the remnants of a once-living dragon, with plenty of immunities and lots of power. The monster has the ability to frighten creatures temporarily and then use Multiattack to bite them and claw them twice for a ridiculous amount of damage.

The Lich also has a powerful lightning breath that can cause up to 120 points of damage. The Dracolich has an armor class of 19 and about 225 hit points.

10 Goristro

Resistant To Magic, Rendering Casters Useless

Challenge Rating: 17

Description: A 20-foot tall Minotaur, Goristro hunts down its enemies in an intense fashion, instinctively knowing how to track anyone down even in the most confusing situations, which is called the Labyrinthine Recall.

Magic users should avoid wasting a turn using powers as the Goristro is resistant to magic. It can also tear apart the environment easily as it is a Siege Monster, allowing it to deal double damage to non-sentient objects. It has an armor class of 19 and about 310 hit points.

9 Dragon Turtle

Has Deadly Attacks Such As Steam Breath

Challenge Rating: 17

Desctiprion: Sailing the open water may seem like it can be a break from any action, but that is far from the truth when playing Dungeons & Dragons. In fact, some of the biggest creatures in the entire game can be ready to pounce from just underneath the surface. Dragon Turtles are one monster to fear.

Dragon Turtles are the oldest dragons in the lore, while also being among the smartest. They have the ability to be bribed into not bothering the party or even fighting on behalf of the party, in exchange for treasure. But as an enemy, it has many deadly moves including the Steam Breath. It has an armor class of 20 and 341 hit points.

8 Death Knight

Wields Magic While Being Resistant To It

Challenge Rating: 17

Description: Something that was once good can always turn evil. That is what happens to some paladins who don't apologize for bad behavior before their death as they quite literally turn into a Death Knight. These heavily armored skeletal creatures are some of the fiercest figures to face given their wide skill set.

After death, it retains its magic powers to wield against those it faces, and it is resistant to those who wield magic back at it. It also can swing around its longsword up to three times while also having a one-time use Hellfire Orb it can throw at party members. Worst of all, they can keep coming back from the dead if they never atone for their actions. It has a 20 armor class and 180 hit points.