Monster difficulty
A monster's difficulty (also known as its MONSTR) is a number from 1 to 57 which represents the game's idea of how tough a monster is. It is based on the monster's level, then adjusted for any special properties the monster has which might make it extra-difficult. The raw values can be seen in monstr.c.
A monster is "too strong" to be randomly generated when its difficulty is greater than the average of your experience level and your dungeon level. It is "too weak" to be randomly generated when its difficulty is less than your dungeon level divided by 6, rounded down. (For this purpose, once you have the Amulet of Yendor your dungeon level is considered to be that of the Sanctum, and in the endgame to be the depth of the Sanctum plus half your experience level.)
The level of your god's appreciation of a sacrificed corpse is also dependent on the corpse's Difficulty (and not on the late monster's experience level). If your god is angry, you must sacrifice a monster corpse of difficulty 7 (11 if you are chaotic) or greater in order to mollify the god.
Most of the less common mechanisms of monster generation do not have similar limits.
Monsters
This is a list of monsters sorted by difficulty, then by experience value.
This table was generated with the use of a modified version of makedefs to calculate experience values as well, and is believed by the author to be accurate. If there are discrepancies between these and those listed in the articles, please correct the article.
This page is based on a spoiler by Dylan O'Donnell. The original license is:
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