Summary
For those who enjoytabletop games, there’s no game that is more beloved than the classic RPGDungeons & Dragons. The ability tocreate characters from the ground upand have someone guide a group on an adventure of their own making is hard to top.
Of course, whileD&Dis 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 somebossD&Dmonstersin the catalog are still considered stronger than others.
Updated April 10th, 2025, by Mara Cowley:One D&D is out and in the hands of many D&D players and DMs who are geared up for new adventures using the new set of rules and hopefully more campaign worlds to delve into. But every campaign needs threats to contend with, from the BBEG to the many monsters between the final showdown and the very beginning of the campaign. Many monsters from 5e have already made it to the list, but with One D&D introducing brand-newDnD bosses, this list has been revisited to include more of thestrongest DnD monstersout there.
39Gelatinous Cube
Causes Devastating Damage To Those It Engulfs
Description:One may think that a cube of jelly would be easy to fight, but not so fast. TheGelatinous Cubeis 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 fordungeon mastersto use early that will still provide enough of a challenge for lower-level parties.
38Green Hag
Disguises And Invisibility Are A Few Tricks Up The Hag’s Sleeve
Description:These grotesque crones can disguise themselves to beguile the party, approaching them as helpless old women or beautiful young maidens.
Hagsare 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 alow-level encounterthrilling and exciting.
37Doppelgänger
Easily Beguiles Others With Its Mastery Over Disguises
Description:Doppelgängersare devious shapeshifters that take on the appearance of other humanoids, throwing off pursuit or luring victims to their doom with misdirection and disguise.
Although Doppelgängers aren’t outright the strongest monsters due to their low challenge rating, their ability to completely reshape their form to that of 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 grasp of others by altering their form again.
Crafty DMscan 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.
36Flame Skull
Resurrects Itself Unless Properly Buried
Description:A creature that may be nightmare fuel for many individuals out there, theFlame Skullis the product of dark spellcasters using thebones 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, which can be rather nasty damage for lower-level parties.
35Banshee
Can Immediately Drop Victims To 0 HP
Description:An undead evil spirit, theBansheeis 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, they may be sparted from death but are still dealt 3d6 psychic damage.
34Chimera
Each Part Of The Chimera Has Unique Attacks
Description:Some of the greatest monstrosities inD&Dhave qualities of specific animals without necessarily looking like those animals. Well, aChimerais 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.
33Mind Flayer
Harnesses Powerful Psionic Abilities
Description: Mind Flayersare one of the more dreaded creatures to run into, and for good reason. It is unlikely heroes will encounter them on the surface world, but should they need to venture down to the Underdark for any reason, they are as likely to run into Mind Flayers as the other dangerous creatures that call those dark caverns home.
Their off-putting alien appearance of a face full of tentacles is a prelude to the terror of their abilities, as they have powerful psionic magic at their fingertips they can use to render their foes easy prey. The most truly horrifying thing is that they devour their victims' brains right from their skulls while they are still alive, ensuring a painful death. Mind Flayer won’t be the easiest victory for adventurers, but meeting one doesn’t necessarily mean a death sentence either.
32Aboleth
Its Tentacles Can Affect Creatures It Touches
Description:Considered to be gods of the lake, theAbolethsonce 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, which could tear entire parties apart if the right player is controlled.
31Death Slaad
Maintains Its Strength Even While Disguised
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: theDeath 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.
30Roc
A High Health Pool Makes Rocs Tough to Bring Down
Description:While dragons are always going to seem like the more frightening flying monsters, theRocshould 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 meaty hit points, which will mean many exhausting rounds until the beast topples. On top of this, it has a very strong perception, so it’s very hard to get anything past this huge creature.
