Tier-1 demon

Tier-1 demons (also known as Greater Demons) include many of the deadliest opponents in Dungeon Crawl. They are the highest level of demon.

They are often found in the following locations:

• The Abyss
• Pandemonium
• Hell's four branches, whether as wandering monsters or the product of Hell's mystical force

Additionally, a worshipper of Makhleb may summon some of them using the Greater Servant ability. Note that all tier-1 demons can see invisible.

Executioner

The Executioner is just about the fastest monster in the game. Not only does it have a speed of 20 (i.e. twice as fast as a normal player) and three melee attacks (1d30, 1d10, 1d10), but it knows the Haste spell and uses it at the slightest provocation. You can't simply run away from an Executioner; you'll need to resort to blink, teleport, or exploit their main weakness, the inability to cross lava or deep water. The Executioner resists fire, poison, cold, (all at level 1) and electricity (level 2). Terminate with extreme prejudice before it does the same to you. It is sometimes accompanied by 1d3 mixed abominations.

Hell sentinel

The Hell sentinel is the most durable greater demon in the game. While fiends will average 100 HP, Hell sentinels will typically have around 140. They are immune to all the elements, have very good AC (25), but terrible EV (3). They can dish out damage very quickly at distance thanks to hellfire and iron shot, and also in melee range. They can't fly.

The Fiends

All of the Fiends can inflict Torment. Being in sight of multiple Fiends is a dire situation!

Brimstone fiend

The Brimstone fiend has the special ability (not implemented using the spellcaster flag!) to hurl hellfire. It flies, resists poison and hellfire, takes extra damage from cold, and has an AC of 15. It also has three melee attacks - 1d25, 1d15, and 1d15; whenever it uses them you should be grateful.

Ice fiend

The Ice fiend is a spellcaster who uses the Bolt of Cold. It flies, resists cold (level 3) and poison, takes extra damage from fire, and has an AC of 15. Its two melee attacks (both 1d25) are rather more respectable than the Brimstone fiend's, as they are cold-branded, doing an extra 18-53 cold damage each, bypassing AC.

Shadow fiend

The Shadow fiend is a spellcaster who uses the Bolt of Cold and Bolt of Draining spells in combat. It resists cold (level 2), poison, and electricity (level 2), and has the same number of melee attacks and damage dice as an ordinary Brimstone fiend - but the Shadow fiend's melee attacks drain XP.

If your character is undead or in lichform, the Shadow fiend will use Dispel Undead instead of Bolt of Draining.

History

In 0.11 Pit fiends were replaced with Hell sentinels. In 0.10, a number of previously tier-1 demons were downgraded to tier-2: green deaths, cacodemons, and balrugs were all directly downgraded, while blue deaths were reworked to become blizzard demons.