Monster Champion

Burning crown identifies a monster champion; the color of that crown signifies how dangerous they are.

Introduced in Update 24 and reworked in Update 34, some enemies gain randomized buffs on Hard, Elite, and Reaper difficulties in quests with an effective level of 5 or higher (i.e. starting with level 4 quests on Hard difficulty, and level 3 quests on Elite or Reaper). These enemies are called Champions, and they have a visible crown above their head to mark them.

Monster Champions do not directly spawn in any raid (the champions in Legendary Shroud's Part 5 are granted champion buffs but cannot drop Remnants), nor do they appear at all in any wilderness area (with the singular exception of Balthan Korl, who again cannot drop Remnants) or quest on Solo, Casual, and Normal difficulty. Furthermore, Reapers and red-named and purple-named enemies cannot spawn as Champions.

Tiers

Not all champions are alike - some are tougher, some are a lot tougher, and any can have different abilities (see below). The more dangerous champions are only encountered in the higher difficulty settings, and low difficulty will have no champions.

• Casual/Normal - no champions
• Hard - Tier 1 only
• Elite - Tier 1 and 2
• Reaper - Tier 1, 2 or 3

The color and size of a champion's crown designate whether the Champion is Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3:

• A small yellow crown indicates it is Tier 1
• A medium orange crown indicates it is Tier 2
• A large red crown indicates it is Tier 3

All Champions have a set of basic abilities and/or elemental resistances, and most have an extra vulnerability to a certain type of elemental damage. Tier 2 and 3 Champions gain extra abilities on top of these.

Spawn rate

Hard

• Normal monsters: 6%
• Orange-named monsters (mini-bosses): 33%

Elite & Reaper

• Normal monsters: 9%
• Orange-named monsters (mini-bosses): 66% (DDO Forums)

Rewards

When defeated, champions have a chance to drop Mysterious Remnants

• Regular (yellow) champions have a chance to drop Mysterious Remnants, which will appear at the feet* of the character that delivered the killing blow. Similar to treasure bags, any and all characters can "use" these remnants to collect them, even characters entering a quest after that champion is killed. These remnants only last in place for a minute or so, then disappear.

  * This includes if the character is in mid-jump or mid-fall. In these situations, remnants will be suspended mid-air, occasionally making them challenging to collect.

• Mini-boss (orange) champions have a chance to drop a chest when defeated, which will always include Mysterious Remnants along with randomly generated treasure appropriate to the modified level of the quest. These chests remain for the duration of the quest, and, similar to any other chest, are only collectable by characters that are in the quest when the chest is first opened.
  • These chests are all considered unique, so are not subject to the chest ransack mechanic.
• Drop rates:
  • 33% chance to drop chest or remnants (and 66% during Double Remnant events) (Vargouille)
  • Player data (older)

Buffs

Champions come in 20 different varieties, and it's random which type will be applied to any one champion. Each variety will have their own template of abilities based on a theme (inspired by the Outer and Inner Planes where they get these powers). Players can see the kind of Champion they are facing by looking at the creature's title, and additional detail can be found in the examination window.

All champions receive the basic champion buff, Damage Boost - "I deal extra damage".

Many* have True Sight, making such common tactics as Invisibility ineffective against them.

(* 7-8/20 of yellow-crown champions, 10-11/20 of orange-crown, and 15-16/20 of red-crown; note that Mark of Chaos champions are largely randomly generated, and it is unknown what percentage chance they have for this ability, potentially adding a full +1 to the minimum listed values.)

Type	Theme	Tier 1	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 3	Vulnerability
Aboreian	Arborea - Righteous Anger and Passion	True Seeing	RageGains brief buff to damage when first reduced to 1/2 HP	Mind Block	Second WindWhen first damaged to a certain threshold (probably 1\2 HP), heals a large amount of health	Great SunderingAttacks reduce enemies' AC, similar to Sunder	None
Archeron	Acheron - Land of endless battle, pro melee/missile (misspelled)	Fortification BonusExtra Fortification.	Great SunderingAttacks reduce enemies' AC, similar to Sunder	Second WindWhen first damaged to a certain threshold (probably 1\2 HP), heals a large amount of health	Dodge BypassAttacks ignore Dodge.	Fortification Bypass BonusExtra Fortification Bypass.	None
Beast Mark	Beastlands - animal instincts make me stronger, faster.	Dodge BonusExtra dodge.	Dodge BypassAttacks ignore Dodge.	True Seeing	Second WindWhen first damaged to a certain threshold (probably 1\2 HP), heals a large amount of health	Fortification Bypass BonusExtra Fortification Bypass.	None
Cruel Soul	Gehenna - land of greed/ambition	Acid DoTAttacks deal stacking Cold damage over time.	True Seeing	Mind Block	Improved Acid DoTAttacks now deal more stacking Acid damage over time.	See Invisibility	None
Demon Soul	Abyss - chaotic demon	Demonic Energy ResistanceGains resistance to Lightning and Poison damage types.	True Seeing	Poison Damage on HitAttacks deal extra Poison damage.	Poison DoTAttacks deal stacking Poison damage over time.	Unknown	Good
Elemental Fury	Chaos Elemental - random elemental resistance and damage	Random Elemental ResistanceResists one of Fire, Cold, Acid or Electric.	Elemental Damage on HitAttacks deal extra Elemental damage. (One of Fire, Cold, Acid or Electric, determined at generation.)	Random Elemental TraitOne of Death Ward, Knockdown on contact, Freedom of Movement, or extra Fortification	True Seeing	Fire DoTAttacks deal stacking Fire damage over time.	None
Fey Touched	Feywild - blurry, nimble and immune to enchants and illusions	Blur	True Seeing	Enchantment WardImmune to Enchantment spells and effects.	Dodge BonusExtra dodge.	Save ReductionAttacks reduce enemies's saves.	None
Flame Born	Fire - Elemental Plane of Fire	Fire Damage on HitAttacks deal extra Fire damage.	Resist Fire	Deathblock	Fire DoTAttacks deal stacking Fire damage over time.	True Seeing	Cold
Hero's Soul	Ysgard - Valhalla ish - undying hero	Dodge BonusExtra dodge.	Fortification BonusExtra Fortification.	Deathblock	Unyielding SovereignityActivates first time this drops to 1\2 HP	Knockdown ImmunityImmune to Knockdown effects.	None
Infernal Pact	9 Hells - devil pact	Devilish Energy ResistanceGains resistance to Fire and Poison damage types.	True Seeing	Fortification Bypass BonusExtra Fortification Bypass.	Fire DoTAttacks deal stacking Fire damage over time.	Vulnerable on HitAttacks cause stacks of the Vulnerable condition.	Good
Light Bearer	Mount Celestia - Heavenly & lawful	True Seeing	Unyielding SovereignityActivates first time this drops to 1\2 HP	Deathblock	Uncanny AimAttacks cannot miss.	Light Damage on HitAttacks deal extra Light damage.	Negative
Mark of Chaos	Limbo - Chaos, I roll random effects	Random	Random	Random	Random	Random	Lawful
Mark of Law	Mechanus - Lawful clockworks, machine-like thinking	Force Damage on HitAttacks deal extra Force damage.	True Seeing	Mind Block	Dodge BypassAttacks ignore Dodge.	Deathblock	Chaotic
Pandemonium	Pandemonium - I'm crazy, and I make you crazy	Mind Block	Slow on HitAttacks reduce movement and attack speed.	Vulnerable on HitAttacks cause stacks of the Vulnerable condition.	Healing Debuff on HitAttacks reduce healing amplification.	Displacement	Lawful
Shadow Marked	Shadowfell....neg energy	Incorporeal	Resist Negative	Deathblock	Healing Debuff on HitAttacks reduce healing amplification.	True Seeing	Light
Skyborn	Air - lightning damage/Resist and Freedom of Movement	Electric Damage on HitAttacks deal extra Electric damage.	Resist Electric	Freedom of Movement	Electric DoTAttacks deal stacking Electric damage over time.	Deflect Arrows	Acid
Soulless	Carceri - My soul is locked in the prison plane, won’t you join me?	Slow on HitAttacks reduce movement and attack speed.	Unknown	True Seeing	Save ReductionAttacks reduce enemies's saves.	Uncanny AimAttacks cannot miss.	None
Soul of Ice	Water - Freezing	Cold Damage on HitAttacks deal extra Cold damage.	Resist Cold	Slow on HitAttacks reduce movement and attack speed.	Cold DoTAttacks deal stacking Cold damage over time.	True Seeing	Fire
Stone Guard	Earth - can't knock down and physically resistant	Resist Acid	Resist Piercing and Slashing	Knockdown ImmunityImmune to Knockdown effects.	Vulnerable on HitAttacks cause stacks of the Vulnerable condition.	True Seeing	Electric
Stygian	Hades - Death, despair, don’t look back…	Deathblock	Resist Negative	Slow on HitAttacks reduce movement and attack speed.	Save ReductionAttacks reduce enemies's saves.	Healing Debuff on HitAttacks reduce healing amplification.	None

DDO Forums

There are also four unique event champions (see the event pages for details):

• Ghost of Crystal Cove from Treasure of Crystal Cove
• Scourge of the Snowpeaks from the Snowpeaks Festival
• Shadow of Mabar from The Night Revels
• Psionic Thrall from Illithid Invasion
  • This champion is the only type that can appear in Illithid Invasion's four quests - see the page for more.

For the details of Special Champions which appear in Hardcore Server, see Monster Champion/Hardcore. (Note that as part of some events, such as 2021's Spooky Summer, Hardcore champions can appear on the main servers.)

• These champions work slightly differently - most have no elemental vulnerability, and have all of their possible buffs regardless of Tier. They are often significantly more dangerous than their main server counterparts.

Special appearance during special events

Halloween crown

• During the Night Revels, Champions' crowns show a little jack o'lantern under the usual crown of fire.
• During the Snowpeaks Festival, the crown is frosty rather than fiery.

See also

• Monster Champion Feedback (Lamannia)
• Monster Champion Feedback (live)