When it comes to a typical Dungeons & Dragons game, players tend to want to face the greatest of foes along their journey. There are some, especially those who are newer to the game, who would rather work their way up to that point. Luckily, there are monsters for all experiences.
Many monsters with challenge ratings four or lower tend to be a lot easier to deal with, but that doesn't mean these are pushovers either. In fact, a dungeon master has the ability to turn any monster they like into a powerful boss. The other side of this coin is that DMs can also put forward a laughable boss. If players in Dungeons & Dragons need a laugh, serve them one of these bosses. If they need a challenge, steer clear.
Updated on June 28th, 2022 by Hodey Johns: When this list originally debuted, it was a list of the weakest monsters in all of Dungeons & Dragons. Creatures like Wyrmlings, Ghasts, and Carrion Crawlers graced the list. These are, obviously, not bosses. The list has been modified to include only bosses. Additionally, there was preference given to creatures that were given a low creature rating. While a low creature rating generally means they aren't as good as monsters with higher creature ratings, sometimes the higher ones can be even easier for a group that has leveled up. This list is now the weakest bosses in Dungeons & Dragons, adjusting for when players would fight against them.
10 Nezznar The Black Spider
Often regarded as one of the easiest campaigns in the game, the Lost Mine Of Phandelver features a humanoid wizard at the end of the journey. Much like the rest of the campaign, Nezznar the Black Spider sounds cool but is doomed to fail. Players with less-than-ideal subclasses will still defeat Nezznar within a round or two.
His spells all have serious drawbacks, like requiring concentration of taking full turns to cast. He needs full minutes of preparation to even be average. In sunlight, he gets disadvantage on all of his attacks. And his health and armor are lower than the boss that precedes him (King Grol) despite being a full level higher.
9 King Snurre
If all the fiercest bosses in Dungeons and Dragons were to fight, King Snurre wouldn't even be invited to the party. His damage output looks high, but he probably won't get the chance to land a shot. He has no abilities other than slicing and throwing rocks.
Compare him to Jarl Grugner, a full two creature ratings lower than King Snurre from the same campaign (Against The Giants). He has equal AC, highest health, higher chance to hit, and an arrow-catching shield. And get this; Jarl Grugner is neutral and can potentially be recruited to fight King Snurre. An adventuring party wouldn't even have to fight as the final boss is defeated by an NPC.
8 Valin Sarnaster
Some bosses are so tough that they'll have players wishing that previous subclasses made it into the latest edition. The Candlekeep Mysteries have some such bosses but undead caster Valin Sarnaster isn't on that list.
Valin creates many problems for players that try to get too close to her. Unfortunately, with a speed of 20, getting close to her is unlikely. She can sometimes close the gap on one party member, but the others will blaze through her paltry 97 HP.
7 Thomas T. Toad
Sometimes, learning a boss fight is so complex that DMs and their players may consider dropping Dungeons & Dragons for another tabletop RPG. On seldom occasions, the boss is so easy that the team might consider doing the same thing.
There are fewer boss fights more boring than the one against Thomas T. Toad, whose only notable statistic is a large health pool and 40 movement. It's amazing that a world as interesting as Dungeons & Dragons Vs. Rick And Morty could feature a boss with a single, uninspired melee attack.
6 Raegrin Mau
While tabletop gamers try to figure out the most overpowered builds, it would be fascinating to see if even the worst build could lose a one-on-one with Raegrin Mau. There isn't much chance of that happening.
Some free-to-play gamers will recognize this name from the Frozen Sick campaign. They probably won't remember the fight though. With 9 HP and 12 AC, there is no way a battle made it past the first round.
5 Gar Shatterkeel
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The problem when trying to do too many things is not being able to do enough of them well. Gar Shatterkeel is the final boss in Locathah Rising, an aquatic campaign that has an initially terrifying final boss with casting abilities melee swipes, and ranged attacks.
Unberlee's Wake sounds scary, but it only works against players who are completely submerged. Even then, attacks can still attack when caught in it. The 144 HP isn't too terrible, but by this level a party can blast that down in a hurry since the Shatterkeel doesn't have any means of mitigating these blows.
4 Quenthel Baenre
After Out Of The Abyss got pummeled by labeling most of the high-level monsters as "legacy" (no longer officially recognized), the highest-level creature remaining was Quenthel Baenre. The creature level of 22 is cause for concern, but a moderately-geared group of level ten adventurers probably won't struggle to kill her.
Summoning her demon only has a 30% chance of succeeding. If she wears down a single party member, Disintegrate can kill the opponent outright, but with 132 HP and 19 AC, she's not going to live long enough to make that happen.
3 Diderius
Seeing as how Valin Sarnaster is already on this list, it shouldn't be a surprise that Diderius from Rise Of Tiamat makes the cut too. The HP, pitiful move speed, and AC are all identical. When a bad boss gets reskinned, it duplicates into another bad boss.
Diderius has multiple methods of slowing opponents down and walling them into a corner. But damage and attacks aren't threatening enough. A full complement of adventurers won't be trying to run away from Diderius anyhow, they'll just plow through him.
2 Slarkrethel
Fighting a level 25 kraken, five spots highest than a maximum-level player, should naturally be terrifying. But Slarkrethel just flatly isn't as dangerous as would be expected. It's got a lot of health and can potentially eat players, but the eaten creature can still deal substantial damage to the kraken.
It hopes to knock players off of whatever they're standing on. But, by this point in the game, adventurers playing Storm King's Thunder are well-equipped to handle these attacks. Slarkrethel then must default to casting, which it also isn't the best at doing.
1 Xipe
When trying to conjure up an incredible fantasy setting, gamers might be inspired by The Hidden Shrine Of Tamoachan. The labyrinthian rooms, the flavorful opponents, there isn't must to dislike.
However, the final boss, Xipe, is a pushover. He's a melee-first attacker that strangely has access to some spells that don't help him out much. He requires ruining player vision to survive long enough to deal damage, but these spells don't last long enough for him to get going.