Doom Musings: 5 custom monsters that helped their megawads (and 5 that hurt)

So back to the Doom musings. A lot of custom WADs I play do the simple thing, make new maps and just give a different Doom experience. Some offer weird sound effects, new music, or new textures, and some offer some sprite replacements. There is one thing I notice about some high-profile megawads, however, and that is the ones that contain custom monsters. These are more than sprite replacements of course, they have DeHacked scripting that changes the monster behavior so it is different from sprite replacements, and as such they completely change the gameplay dynamic. With all the custom WADs I have played over the years, I have found monsters I thought did a good job of making new balances, and others that have completely overblown them or just made them worse in some way.

What this Doom Musings post is for is to create a ScreenRant-style list showcasing the five best custom monsters that had helped their respective megawads, as well as five worst ones that hurt their respective megawads. Note that I do not add any sort of actual gameplay mod that changes monsters, nor do I have total conversions, since those usually change every single monster aspect along with levels, weapons, etc. These are megawads with levels that are partial conversions, meaning they will have some core Doom aspects still intact, but they have changes to the monsters.

Helped: Arachnorb (Valiant)

Valiant had plenty of custom stuff to distinguish itself as a completely dynamic partial conversion, including changes to the bullet weapon and several new enemies. The one enemy that proved the most diabolical just so happened to be the small bugger known as the Arachnorb. This puppy can be imagined as a mini-plasma-cacodemon of sorts, shooting small streams of plasma at the player while being a floating enemy. What really sells this enemy however is the potential chance it will spawn from a dying arachnotron. This, combined with the abundance of arachnotrons in Valiant as a whole, make this a fun monster at many moments and a frustrating monster at many more.

Hurt: Afrit (Various megawads)

Alright, real talk. The Afrit is overused and much less fun the more we see it. It's a floating fire baron, and assuming we're not counting the numerous ZDoom wads that use it (this includes ZPack), their method of attack will leave players hiding most of the time they're encountered. Basically, in the non-ZDoom wads it is so overly used in (Scythe 2, Resurgence, Deus Vult II, Bloodstain, Survive in Hell) its method of attack is to launch a huge flurry of mancubus fireballs along with revenant fireballs, making this attack lethal even with the highest of health and armor. Deus Vult II's textfile says it best, two of these can take out a cyberdemon without impunity. Scythe 2 popularized the heck out of it, but may have the worst iteration because its health was on par with a spider mastermind, meaning just one of these is trouble alone.

Helped: Alien Guardian (Ancient Aliens)

Alien Drone, whatever you call them, this floating cubic thingie is a great floating monster, being menacing, non-bleeding, and spitting revenant rockets to make it a viable threat. This is offset by its complete glass cannon status; it has low health. With this in mind, the fast-paced combat in Ancient Aliens is a great way to see these things fall quickly. And even better, they have a blast radius upon death, meaning they can work as mobile barrels if you're so strategic in sending them straight to alien hell.

Hurt: Holo-bot (STRAIN)

STRAIN had a very peculiar set of custom enemies to make it one of the weird classics of the 90's Doom era. These enemies may or may not hit their stride at parts, but the Holo-bot is a disappointment. These weird bots look zany as hell and could give the feel of fighting a really nasty sentry. Except they fire with revenant rockets. Revenant rockets that are insanely slow. I can't imagine anyone actually getting hit by these super slow rockets, even the guided ones. This enemy definitely had a lot of potential, even having a spectre variant, but falls short because of its pathetic attack.

Helped: Rocket trooper (Obituary)

Otherwise known as Bazooka Man, or Rocket Zombie, Obituary's rocket trooper is the original glass cannon. It's a simple case of outfitting a zombie with a rocket launcher, and the results end up outright hilarious at the right hands. Sure, they can kill an unsuspecting player easily, especially given Obituary's cramped level layouts which give the rocket trooper a lot of benefit. But that can easily be turned against his poor self if you get him to fire close to a wall, or other enemies. Old, feeble, but still loads of fun, this little guy packed the most dangerous heat any regular zombie could pack, for all around him.

Hurt: Evil Marine (Scythe 2)

Much like the Afrit, the evil marine has seen plenty of uses since its most famous iteration in Scythe 2, being used in Jenesis, Lunatic (sort of), Bloodstain, Resurgence, Mayhem 2018 Purple Edition, and several other less-known sets. But Scythe 2's version is the worst of all of them, because in this megawad the evil marine is about as fast as the players themselves, firing plasma and immediately moving, making him one hell of a howler monkey in combat. Trying to hit this guy without the BFG is one thing altogether, just try dealing with MAP31's secret exit. Bad enough just getting three keys and unlocking three bars, the marines will play the death dance to a tee to interrupt the attempts.

Helped: Annihilator (Eviternity)
With Eviternity being a uniquely-detailed gameplay experience, there were bound to be new changes to the enemy roster. All of the monsters have their respective uses, the nightmare demon being a twice-as-strong and serviceable demon, the astral cacodemon working well as a surprise attacker with mancubus fireballs, and the former captain being essentially the same as its Struggle counterpart more or less. But the crown achievement goes to the Annihilator, bringing a welcome change to the whole "rocket-shooting baron" routine by adding a hitscan attack right after the rocket. This makes it the most formidable of the Eviternity demons, keeping players consistently on their toes as they are to keep this true nasty from blowing them out of the lands and waters.

Hurt: Cybruiser (Valiant and Mayhem 2018 Orange edition)

Rather ironic to reach a custom monster that shares the same sprite as the one above it, but the Cybruiser is here for a different reason than you'd think. It's not because it lacks the hitscan attack the Annihilator had (remember Valiant came before Eviternity), nor is it the fact that it's a rocket-shooting baron. It essentially replaces the spider mastermind, and the only reason is to make it immune to splash damage. While it's okay on the onset, think of what this does to the generally underused spider mastermind. With it replacing the light visor in Valiant, it has become much easier to defeat. So the Cybruiser hurt Valiant by actually hurting another monster's niche.

Helped: Suicide Bomber (Valiant and Mayhem 2018 Purple edition)

Serious Sam is credited for completely overhauling the way an action bomb worked in video games, giving us a man who is half-naked, had bombs attached to his hands, but most hilariously, having no head but still screaming. And of course, appearing in droves every single time. While other action bombs existed in first-person shooters well before the beheaded kamikaze, it was that scream that basically sold the series. That same scream is used in Valiant's suicide bombers. They don't lack heads now, but they still are a major threat, always coming in large groups, and they are admirably volatile. The pacing of Valiant is insane and these boys make it much more insane.

Hurt: Immolator (Mayhem 2018 Purple edition)

One of my biggest issues with custom monsters is just how much it takes to bring them down. Some do well as glass cannons, but they you get this thing and Scythe 2's Afrit with their health matching or nearly matching the spiderdemon. In fact, the immolator is essentially the same thing as an afrit in practice with a spread of mancubus fireballs as its main attack along with the ability to fly. Another way to annoy savvy players is to have a monster shoot during its pain state, completely catching people off guard. Which is what this thing does with revenant rockets should you piss it off. It's one thing to make it a lethal attacker. It's another to make it have boss-like health. And as another icing, it is also immune to splash damage as it replaces the spiderdemon as well.