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"Be wary when you fight monsters, lest you become one."

(src)

Monster-D4icon

Monsters are the creatures that do not reside in towns, and basically any non-player enemy in game is a monster. They are found inside the Tristram Cathedral in Diablo I and are found almost everywhere except towns in subsequent games.

Overview[]

Monsters will attack the player on sight, as soon as they notice them (each monster has a line of sight and detection radius). With some very rare exceptions, monsters offer no interaction other than combat.

As the combat progresses, the monster's health bar goes down. If the last slice of health disappears, the player will see one or more of the following happen:

  • The monster dies and you will see its death animation. The corpse is left behind: it can be walked on freely, but will block doors.
  • Experience is rewarded to you. The tougher the monster was, the more experience you will get. If you earn more experience than there is room on the Experience bar and you are level 98 or lower, your character gains an extra character level
  • There is a chance that the monster drops items on the ground. The tougher the monster was, the better the items you might get. It is not guaranteed that there will be drops. There is also a fair chance that nothing is dropped. The loot dropped has nothing to do with the weaponry an enemy is carrying: i.e. killing a Skeletal Archer does not grant any extra chance to drop a Bow compared to a regular Skeleton. There are some exceptions to it, though: some monsters, usually quest monsters (see next) may drop a guaranteed item.
  • Some tough enemies are quest monsters. Defeating them for the first time completes a quest. Killing an Act Boss grants you access to the next Act. Killing the final boss grants access to the next difficulty (in Diablo II) or Adventure Mode (in Diablo III).

Most monsters are classified as one of three major types: Animal, Undead and Demon. If the monster-type is not displayed, the monster is usually an animal. Some attacks and skills are stronger if they are directed against a specific type.

  • Animals (a.k.a. Beasts) are mostly creatures native to Sanctuary, usually non-sapient and savage.
  • Demons are hellspawned creatures, often sapient and native to Burning Hells. Most Bosses are of this type.
  • Undead are beings risen from the grave, regardless of their origin. In all three games, they are vulnerable to blunt weaponry and holy magic.

Diablo I[]

See also: Diablo I Bestiary (Hellfire Bestiary)

In Diablo I, the monster's name appear on the lower left in the status bar, written in white. If the monster is a unique monster, its name and information are written in gold. Monster type is not displayed, however, but is usually easy to guess.

Animals are more vulnerable to sharp weapons in this game, and less vulnerable to blunt weapons, while undead enemies are more vulnerable to blunt and less to sharp. Demons are equally vulnerable to both.

If the player has already encountered and killed a certain number of monsters of the same kind, more information such as resistances and immunities will be revealed in the status window.

Diablo II[]

See also: Diablo II Bestiary (Lord of Destruction Bestiary)

Monsters return in Diablo II, found in each act outside towns. In this game, monsters have 14 possible classifications of animation, from basics such as Walk, Attack 1, and Death, to the seldom-used Block, Run, and four Special modes, reserved for miscellaneous animations. Diablo is the only monster who uses every animation category available.[1]

In the middle top of the screen, one will see the monster's name and its health bar. The color of the monster name has the following meaning:

In addition to the three major types, one can also encounter construct monsters, who are usually immobile, immune to poison and are more traps than monsters. 

While animals and demons are now equally responsive to all weapons, unless specifically stated otherwise, undead enemies always take 50% extra damage from blunt weapons.

Diablo Immortal[]

See also: Horadric Bestiary

Monsters appear as antagonists in Diablo Immortal. Several return from Diablo II[2]. Many features of monsters from Diablo III are used.

The monsters health bar is displayed at the top-center of the screen. The monster's name is written above its health, with its title (if it has one) below the health bar. The monster level is displayed to the left of its health, while an icon identifying the type of monster (a paw print for beast, an amputated fist for undead, a horned skull for demon, and a face for human). Below the title any traits the monster has is shown.

DI Monster Health

The colour of the monster's name stands for;

Diablo III[]

Monsters

The Diablo III monster roster

See also: Diablo III Bestiary

Monsters appear in Diablo III, much the same as in Diablo II. However, they may attack towns in Campaign Mode as per key events in the storyline.

In the middle top of the screen, the player will see the monster's name and its health bar. The color of the monster name has the following meaning:

In addition to the three major types, one may also encounter human enemies, as well as Reapers and some minor types, often unique to a specific quest-related enemy. It is the first game in which players may fight angels, some of them corrupted, and some insane.

Diablo IV[]

Monsters appear in Diablo IV. The game employs a concept called "monster families," which groups the game's enemies into "disparate, yet thematically linked creatures."[3] Each of these families are further divided into archetypes.[4] The appearance of monsters shifts in accordance with their environment.[5]

Various zones in the world have "monster levels" associated with them.[6] Monster level scales with player level, however, there are situations where the monster level is higher (e.g. Helltide events).[7]

Players can gain extra experience by killing monsters through the proximity of others. If one kills a monster in the presence of another player, the slayer gains a 5% experience bonus. If in the presence of a party member, a 10% bonus applies.[8]

Monsters appear to have monikers associated with them, corresponding to variants ("snowy," "nightmare", etc.).

List of Archetypes[]

List of Families[]

Trivia[]

WikiLogoSmall
This section contains facts and trivia relevant to this article.
  • While developers and fans often use the word "monsters" to address to enemies in Diablo games, only a few game characters call them so, including Covetous Shen (when he is rescued from the barrel) and Larzuk (regarding Shenk). Other characters prefer calling them demons, creatures, fiends etc.

Development[]

  • Some monsters are designed to be grotesque, others elegant. Fair demons are meant to represent the idea that they tempt mankind, but beneath the surface, they're monsters all the same.[9]
  • When designing monsters, one thing the developers keep in mind is the games' isometric perspective. Readability is a key factor in monster design.[9]
  • Most monsters are conceptualized in 2D before being given 3D models.[9]
  • Each monster has about twenty different animations in Diablo III.[10]

References[]

  1. 2000-10-25, Postmortem: Blizzard's Diablo II. Gamastura, accessed on 2015-07-05
  2. Diablo Immortal, Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed on 2018-11-05
  3. 2019-11-01, BlizzCon 2019: Diablo IV Announced. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2019-11-10
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 2020-02-26, DIABLO IV QUARTERLY UPDATE—FEBRUARY 2020. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2020-02-28
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 2023-02-22, Diablo IV | Inside the Game - The World of Sanctuary. YouTube, accessed on 2023-02-23
  6. 2019-11-02, BlizzCon 2019: Diablo IV Gameplay Videos by Livestreamers. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2019-11-20
  7. 2023-02-28, DIABLO 4 DEV UPDATE LIVESTREAM (FEB 28) RECAP. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2023-02-03
  8. 2023-03-13, YOUR GUIDE TO THE DIABLO IV OPEN BETA. Blizzard Entertainment, accessed on 2023-03-15
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Forging Worlds: Stories Behind the Art of Blizzard Entertainment
  10. 2016-12-19, Animation Support ft. Non Thareechit. YouTube, accessed on 2016-12-21
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