DDO Top 10: Best Monsters

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By Ralsu



Dungeons & Dragons Online gives players a chance to live out all of
their tabletop fantasies in a persistent online world. For me, one of
the best things about the table experience was the monsters we'd
encounter. My Dungeon Master would describe each new monster type in
exquisite detail, and our group often kept the Monster Manual propped
open to the artist rendering of whatever monster we were currently
engaging. DDO takes me beyond that. It lets me see those same monsters
in fully rendered 3-D!



Allow me to share my Top 10 favorite monsters from DDO. Some I chose
because they look cool. I mention others because they instill a sense
of fear in players when they cross our paths. The very best of the DDO
monsters are the ones that both look cool and fill us with a sense of
dread. When you've looked over my list, I'd love to hear which DDO
monsters you love best.

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10.
Kobold

They don't necessarily look super-cool, and they can't
frighten anybody, but kobolds were an important DDO monster to me in
beta. I remembered all of my tabletop encounters with kobolds, and
seeing them in early quests like href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=52">Survive
the Low Road and href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=68">Sewer
Rescue really left me with a feeling that DDO was the real deal.



Of course, I had no way of knowing how overrun Stormreach would be with
these little critters. Like everyone else, I soon became bored with
slaughtering kobolds. Nevertheless, I hold firm in my belief that
kobolds helped Turbine sell DDO as an authentic D&D product.

href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=kobold&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="kobold"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/kobold.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 148px; height: 139px;">
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(219, 201, 125);"> style="font-weight: bold;">9. Minotaur

Minotaurs get the nod from me based on how cool they look and how much
fun it is to watch them charge into the melee members of my party. DDO
minotaurs come in several different flavors from pure fighters to
berserkers and shamans. I wouldn't particularly pick one type of
minotaur as my favorite, though the berserkers are more amusing.



Regardless of flavor, minotaurs are seldom to be feared by a party of
equal level. The melee minotaurs are susceptible to just about any href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=184">enchantments
you want to throw at them. The shamans are only marginally more
difficult, and a good web will hold them in place long enough for a a
stronger melee to mow them down.
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(219, 201, 125); text-align: center; width: 25%;"> href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=minotaur&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Giant"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/minotaur.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 162px;">
8.
Fire Reaver/Ice Flenser

I count these monsters as essentially the same; the borrow similar
sprites and animations. I think the way these creatures move--with
their spiky heads and spindly limbs--is cool.



The danger posed by these creatures is highly variable. Without some
way to make yourself immune to fire or cold, respectively, fire reaver
and ice flensers can cause big problems for your group. With the proper
immunities, they are easier to handle.
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=firereaver&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="firereaver"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/firereaver.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 76px; height: 115px;"> href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=iceflenser&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="iceflenser"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/iceflenser.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 102px; height: 115px;">
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(219, 201, 125);"> style="font-weight: bold;">7.
Rust Monster

To Group Why is the warforged running away? Oh no! It's a rust
monster!



The first monster on my list to fall into the category of extremely
fearsome, rust monsters make adventurers sweat about losing some
coveted piece of gear. And the just plain make warforged worry. They
may look like big bugs, but rust monsters are one of DDO's best
monsters.
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(219, 201, 125); text-align: center; width: 25%;"> href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=rust_monster&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="rust_monster"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/rust_monster.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 115px;">
6.
Wraith

Wraiths are common to video games, so I have seen my fair share of
them. In fact, I've seen them look scarier than they do in DDO. But
they didn't make this list for their looks. DDO wraiths are dangerous!



Having your abilities drained by a wraith can doom you to failure on a
quest. Even if your party has a cleric around who can restore your
Ability scores to their original total, wraiths cause a great deal of
inconvenience for everyone. The rust monster was my first creature on
this list that elicits a groan from the party, but wraiths are the
first to that make people yell, "Oh ****!"
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=wraith&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="wraith"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/wraith.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 159px;">
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(219, 201, 125);"> style="font-weight: bold;">5. Mephit

First off, I think mephits just plain look cool. I like their movement
animations and the nice little details like the flaming "hairdo" of the
fire mephit. Like the fire reavers and ice flensers above, mephits they
difficulty of a mephit encounter can be reduced greatly with the proper
elemental immunity.



The thing that makes mephits so difficult--even with immunities--is
that they are so hard for melee characters to hit. From the Arcane
Training room at the beginning of DDO, we learn that players must use
magic to combat mephits. In the later dungeons, which sometimes teem
with mephits, the party can be hard-pressed to deal with all the
mephits and conserve spell points.
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(219, 201, 125); text-align: center; width: 25%;"> href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=Mephit&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="mephit"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/Mephit.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 139px;">
4.
Drow Scorpion

The drow scropion makes my list mostly based on looks. It's easily one
of a handful of creatures in DDO that will make any gamer's jaw drop.
Bumping into your first drow scorpion is a memorable experience for
sure. You instantly resign yourself to the fact that "This is going to
hurt." You don't even mind when you get killed by a drow scorpion since
it looks so cool as it rips into your body.
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=DrowScorpion&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="drowscorp"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/DrowScorpion.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 92px;">
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(219, 201, 125);"> style="font-weight: bold;">3. Giant

Giants in DDO are visually impressive: they take up a lot of space and
come in a number of varieties. Giants tend to hit hard and can even
cast powerful magic. DDO also features several boss monsters who are
giants.



The difficulty of giants runs the gamut from hard-hitting but mostly
harmless (mundane giants) to lethal killing machines (named giants).
It's possible that the overabundance of giants in high-level quests
diminishes their impact somewhat, but I like the giants. Towering and
fearsome, the giants give me a sense of real danger in the world.
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(219, 201, 125); text-align: center; width: 25%;"> href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=giant&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="giants"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/giant.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 158px;">
2.
Mind Flayer

Perhaps no monster is as sinister and cunning as the mind flayer, or style="font-style: italic;">illithid. Illithids wield powerful
magic and tend to surround themselves with weak-minded but strong-armed
minions. Any party that wanders into a room with an illithid had better
prepare itself for a good fight. Characters with low will saves are in
danger from enchantments spells. Those with high will saves face the
illithid's powerful lackeys.



I also think that illithids look pretty garish--even if they are
nothing more than squid heads on a bipedal body. Without a doubt, the
inclusion of illithids in DDO hearkens to the greatest of all
adventures in D&D. We tabletop veterans seldom encountered them
save int eh form of nefarious underlords who were pulling the strings
of very complicated crime organizations. Everyone in DDO can face an
illithid at some point.
href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=mind_flayer&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="illithid"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/mind_flayer.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 172px;">
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(219, 201, 125);"> style="font-weight: bold;">1. Beholder

I don't see how I could have made any other creature my #1 pick for
best DDO monster. Beholders are the epitome of D&D. They are
powerful, vicious, and just plain gruesome looking.



DDO beholders do a fine job of keeping with D&D tradition in that
they scare the daylights out of all players. In particular, their
disintegration ray is a nice instant death ability that frustrates
many. Oh an beholders are seldom alone either. Like illithids, they run
with some nasty company.
style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(219, 201, 125); text-align: center; width: 25%;"> href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=album18&id=Beholder&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="beholder"
src="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/Beholder.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 150px; height: 132px;">

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You've read Ralsu's opinion. Now
we want to hear yours!
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style="vertical-align: top; background-color: rgb(219, 201, 125);">

Is one of Ralsu's top 5 mobs in DDO the best?

• Beholder
• Mind Flayer
• Giant
• Drow Scorpion
• Mephit
• No. It's not one of those five. (tells us which monster is
  best)