Monster rarity
Monsters come in four rarities. You can tell them apart at a glance.
| Rarity | Name colour | Life | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Normal | white | baseline | Plain monsters |
| Magic | blue | more | One modifier; more loot |
| Rare | yellow, with a star | much more | Two to four modifiers and a retinue of two magic packmates |
| Boss | orange | far more | Scripted fights: act, map, pinnacle, Voruun Hale |
Visual cues. Magic monsters carry a blue rim and a cold light; rares a gold rim, a warm light and a slow pulse at their feet. Their battle list entries are coloured. When a rare uses a modifier for the first time, a text appears over it ("Orgul teleports!"), and the modifiers are listed when you look at it. The corpse of a rare monster gives off a golden flash.
Where they appear. The tutorial shore has no magic or rare monsters except its scripted rares. Levels 5 to 9 have magic monsters only. From then on, a small share of the world is magic and a smaller one rare. In maps the share is higher and rises with tier. Map modifiers can raise it (Map modifiers).
Rewards. Magic and rare monsters drop more items, more currency, more flask charges and more gold than normal ones, and a rare monster never drops items below magic quality. Experience is higher too. In effect, they pay for the extra time they take. Fighting rares is where flasks refill fastest (Flask charges and affixes).
Bosses. A boss has much more life, hits harder, drops several orbs and guaranteed items. Map bosses can have modifiers added by map affixes.
Parties. Monsters in instances gain life with each extra player (Parties in maps).
Tips. Check a rare's modifiers before engaging. Fast, ranged or shielded rares are the dangerous ones (Monster modifiers).
Related: Loot and corpses, Maps.