D&D 5E MM: How many high levels monsters have some form of magic resistance?

[mcintma]

Well, to be fair, it's probably rather campaign-dependent. One of the changes in 5E relative to 4E was that the 5E designers decided it was acceptable to have classes specialized in different "pillars"--if you're good at exploration and social encounters, it's okay if you're not as strong in combat. That will naturally have disparate impact on different campaigns.

However, if we were playing dungeon crawls dominated by straight-up brawls against big monsters, I can imagine I might feel a bit in the shade.

I'm with you on that, so much of the stuff we debate heatedly on ENWorld is so very campaign-dependent, illusions and social interaction being huge examples of DM-subjective things. BTW that sounds like a fun game you're in.

 

[MrMyth]

It's not just MR. It's MR+Save+ Energy/Condition Res/IMMUNE + Legendary auto-save + Evasion + Magic Immunity and all the other reasons a spell might not work (allies or treasure in area, concentration, etc.)

Sure, but you are rarely going to run into foes that have *all* of the above. And there is usually an answer or approach that can help with each of those abilities. Throw lesser spells at something with Legendary resistance, and see if he's willing to burn an auto-save on Tasha's Hideous Laughter, or if the might Dragon wants to lose an activation to a 1st level spell? Against an enemy with Advantage via Magic Resistance, see if you can find a weak save that will still often fail - a Balor's poor Dex save leaves him with plenty of vulnerabilities. By high levels, you should have a decent selection of spells for being able to target different saving throws, as well as inflict different types of elemental damage. Or, if specialized in a single element, it would seem likely you might have the feat to bypass resistance of that element.

Now, this might not be true for every caster in every fight. Immunity, in particular, is hard to get around, and so some specific builds might encounter some specific enemies where they have few options other than to focus on buffing the party.

Still, I think with most high-level foes, their protections against magic will be far from insurmountable, especially if you have some versatility among your spell selection.

 

[Dausuul]

Now, this might not be true for every caster in every fight. Immunity, in particular, is hard to get around, and so some specific builds might encounter some specific enemies where they have few options other than to focus on buffing the party.

Yeah, that's definitely true. Spell immunity sucks. We hates the rakshasas, precious. Hates them.

Fortunately, while rakshasas may be immune to the fireball itself, they aren't immune to all the bludgeoning and fire damage when the burning roof caves in.

 

[dwayne]

It's not just MR. It's MR+Save+ Energy/Condition Res/IMMUNE + Legendary auto-save + Evasion + Magic Immunity and all the other reasons a spell might not work (allies or treasure in area, concentration, etc.)

Ironically, the caster is probably still the best target for the BBEG because 1) he's Concentrating on the martial's Stoneskin and 2) He has low HP and can be killed rapidly, unlike the martial

Legendary auto-save, Energy/Condition Res/IMMUNE, Evasion, and Magic Immunity are thee only ones I can see that the damage of effect might be completely negated. but even on a save some times there are other effects or damage could still be dealt. But even so these creatures with such abilities should only be used sparingly if the DM is always using a creature to resist or make the PC abilities useless them the issue is the DM not the creature or the game.