There were plenty of monsters added to Dungeons & Dragons‘ newest Monster Manual, but some stand out as particularly interesting to DM, given your players are strong enough to face the challenge they’ll pose. For DMs running longer campaigns, or ones where their players start off at a higher level, these legendary and high-CR monsters are just what you need to spice up your encounters or give your players something to chase after. Not all monsters can be measured by their CR, but that’s a good place to start when picking foes for your next high-level adventure.
CR refers to a monster’s Challenge Rating, and is DnD‘s most basic difficulty measurement. CR takes into account the monster’s attacks and potential defenses, as well as its natural resistances and bonuses. When picking monsters for your adventure, however, it’s important to remember that there is more to a monster than its CR; take into account as well that combat is a vehicle for interesting storytelling, and many high-CR monsters have excellent flavor to add to whatever story you already have planned.
10
Rakshasa
These Master Manipulators Are Challenging In And Out Of Combat
By the time your party has reached level 12, they’ve likely seen their fair share of goblins, skeletons, and other low-level monsters DMs commonly use to fill their encounters. Catch them off guard with a Rakshasa, an opponent who is both intelligent and cunning. Rakshasa take on humanoid disguises, and can only be found by the most wary adventurers, so unless your players have a particularly keen perception, placing a Rakshasa in their path can be a fun way to shake up their expectations.
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With a CR of only 13, this monster won’t pose too much of a physical challenge for most high-level players, particularly ones keen on its specific vulnerabilities and resistances. However, placing a monster like this in your players’ path presents a plethora of interesting roleplay opportunities. Use the Rakshasa’s charming nature and Lawful Evil alignment to question your party members’ morality, their convictions, and maybe even test their wit with high-stakes conversations before combat even begins. If played properly, a Rakshasa can be just as intimidating as any high-CR beastie.
9
Balor
Not Very Subtle, But A Huge Threat
Unlike Rakshasa, Balor are incredibly unsubtle enemies that your players will likely see coming from a mile away. Rather than trickery, their threat comes from their truly monstrous strength and fury. Balor are the embodiment of demons’ wrath and hatred, powered by the negative emotions of the demons under their command. They rank in at a CR of 19, making them a huge physical threat to even the strongest of parties.
When a Balor dies, it explodes in an Emanation with a DC 20 Dexterity check that deals 9d6 Fire damage and 9d6 Force damage. If it dies outside the Abyss, it re-forms a new body in the Abyss, preparing to return and seek its vengeance against those who felled it.
Balor dual-wield a sword of lightning and a whip of flames, giving them earth-shaking attack power and a huge reach. Additionally, they have both Legendary Resistance (three per day) and Magic resistance, making it harder to hit them. Your party will need to ration their resources wisely, and perhaps even retreat to fight another day if faced with such a fearsome foe. Will they choose to stand their ground, or will they collapse under the weight of this mighty Fiend?
8
Flesh Golem
One Horrifying Way For A Party Member To Meet Their Parents
Flesh Golems are pretty simple creatures, but nothing is quite as horrible as what, exactly, they’re made of. Flesh Golems are comprised of sewn-together body parts, taken pre- or post-mortem from willing and unwilling creatures alike. The Golems retain some of the memories of their comprised parts, which can turn into some grisly roleplay.
The Flesh Golem’s CR is only five, but taking them down might be easier said than done. Players might have no problem taking down one measly undead, especially at higher levels, but the emotional blow of killing a monster wearing your mother’s face might be a bit harder to stomach. Consider the emotional impact of taking down a monster that’s singing, in a PC’s parent’s voice, the song they used to hear as a child. Flesh Golems don’t pose a huge combat challenge to your godlike players, but they are a treasure-trove of emotional manipulation for the right DM.
7
Tarrasque
With The Highest CR In The Monster Manual, This Monster Has World-Shaping Power
The Tarrasque boasts a whopping 30 CR, making it the strongest-rated monster in the 2025 Monster Manual. This beast is a creature of endless anger and wrath, striking out against the constructions of sentient beings when it wakes from its slumber. Interestingly, the Tarrasque isn’t something that can ever be truly felled, as whenever a Tarrasque is defeated, another awakens somewhere on the Material Plane.
Alongside its 34d20+340 HP and sundry immunities and resistances, Tarrasques have the power to move mountains and divert rivers, often leaving no survivors in the wake of their rampages. Despite its Gargantuan size, the Tarrasque can also move incredibly quickly and to great effect, using its World-Shaking Movement legendary action to deal huge AoE effects and Swallow enemies as a bonus action. If your party is up to the challenge of taking on a Tarrasque, defeating it will be the crown jewel achievement of the campaign.
6
Colossus
A Giant Statue With Incredible Power
Let your players live out their Shadow of the Colossus and Praey for the Gods dreams fighting DnD‘s take on these giant war machines. In the 2025 Monster Manual, Colossi have over 500 HP and relatively simple attacks; the real threat comes from their sheer size. These huge beings are created in the image of gods, and the devout who craft them also imbue them with power gifted to them by their god. Crafted by acolytes and powered by the will of the chosen deity, Colossi symbolize more than just might in combat; they also represent the hope and devotion of a given god’s followers.
No matter how you bring a Colossus to life in your campaign, they’re sure to pose a challenge for even high-level players.
There are a few ways that a Colossus makes an excellent addition to any campaign, whether narratively or in combat. In my opinion, one of the best ways to incorporate Colossi is through ruins, towering statues that no longer hum with godlike power, and instead stand in sinister reminder of some past conflict or conquest. No matter how you bring a Colossus to life in your campaign, they’re sure to pose a challenge for even high-level players.
5
Blob of Annihilation
Capable Of Encasing Towns And Forests, But Contains Treasures Of A Lifetime
The Blob of Annihiliation is a representation of chaos and the inevitable decay of all extant things which spends its time drifting through uninhabited planes, posing no threat to most creatures. However, the occasional greedy sorcerer or natural act of magic will see the Blob summoned to an inhabited plane, where it will cause mass destruction until defeated, banished, or otherwise managed. The Blob of Annihiliation will offer a momentous challenge to seasoned players, but also offers potentially reality-changing rewards.
When a Blob is defeated, it casts everything inside of it into the Abyssal plane, including any PCs or creatures, so players will need to be careful when defeating it.
The 2025 Monster Manual includes a table that DMs can use to determine what treasure lies inside the Blob’s suffocating ooze, but you can also change the treasure to better suit your party. What weapon do they seek to defeat their BBEG, or what treasure can change the course of one member’s life? The Blob offers not only a strong combat challenge with a CR of 23, but also the potential for great storytelling and sacrifice on the part of party members who seek whatever great artifact lies inside the Blob’s mass.
4
Elemental Cataclysm
How Do You Fight The Powers Of Nature?
Elemental Cataclysms, like the Blob of Annihilation, are found in far-reaching planes of elemental chaos and are rarely seen in the inhabited world. When they do arrive on inhabited planes, it’s often at the behest of world-ending cults or an anomalous planar disruption, and they leave world-changing destruction in their wake. Whether your party will send the Cataclysm back into the rift it arrived from or summon a stronger beast in hopes that the two take each other out, dealing with a foe this gargantuan will change your party forever.
3
Arch-Hag
This Tricky Foe Lives To Fight Another Day
Arch-Hags are secretive foes who make deals, like Auntie Ethel from Baldur’s Gate 3. Also like Auntie Ethel, 2025 Monster Manual Arch-Hags are selfish, fickle creatures who follow only their own directive in pursuit of whatever strikes their fancy, often at any cost. Not every Arch-Hag is immediately threatening, and you can even incorporate one into your game as a mysterious and untrustworthy vendor rather than a foe.
If your party does meet one in combat, they’ll have their work cut out for them. Every Arch-Hag has a weakness that is unique to them, a direct opposite to their magic that will render them fallible. If they’re not defeated through their weakness, they’ll regenerate and return to threaten your party once again. Arch-Hags make an excellent campaign-long enemy, as they can retreat and return many times, posing a challenge and puzzle for the party to solve.
2
Sphinx Of Secrets
They Offer Strife And Wisdom In Equal Measure
Speaking of mysterious foes, if you’ve got a puzzle-inclined party, the Sphinx of Secrets might be their new favorite monster to face. Like all Sphinx, the Sphinx of Secrets are wise and fervent collectors of the mysteries of the world, guarding their lairs as jealously as dragons. Should your players prove worthy, they will share with them the secrets they’ve learned, though the consequences should they fail will be dire.
One of the Sphinx of Secrets’ attacks is called Curse of the Riddle, which afflicts the targeted character until a riddle can be solved. This riddle can be solved through a check, although more enterprising DMs might choose a real riddle to make the challenge more interesting.
1
Haunting Revenant
What’s Cooler Than A House That Wants You Dead?
If you watched Monster House as a child, you’ll recognize the Haunting Revenant. This, simply put, is a house (or any other building, really) that wants your party dead. Rather than being inhabited by any manner of ghostie ghoulies, the house itself is the monster your party will face. This can exhibit itself in any number of ways, limited only by your imagination and how closely you want to adhere to DnD‘s actual ruleset.
As is popular in the wider Dungeons & Dragons community, written rules can be changed to fit the setting, atmosphere, and general vibe of your campaign, offering the appropriate type and challenge level for your players. As players get higher and higher in level, even CR 15 enemies can start to become less of a threat. It’s up to the DM to create engaging and interesting encounters that will make their campaign memorable and fun for everyone involved.
Dungeons & Dragons
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Dungeons and Dragons is a popular tabletop game originally invented in 1974 by Ernest Gary Gygax and David Arneson. The fantasy role-playing game brings together players for a campaign with various components, including abilities, races, character classes, monsters, and treasures. The game has drastically expanded since the ’70s, with numerous updated box sets and expansions.
- Original Release Date
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1974
- Publisher
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TSR Inc., Wizards of the Coast
- Designer
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E. Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson
- Player Count
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2-7 Players
