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Looks like the Monster Manual 3 is all about blurring the lines between fiends. We have a devil who became a demon lord, demons who became devils, and now a devil who behaves like a demon. I haven’t run into rage devils before. If they appeared in previous editions, it must have been in a late MM or a specialized supplement.

The Lore

A Rage Devil is what happens when you take a standard Hell Knight and inject demon ichor into it. They’re hulking brutes who are constantly angry and delight in carnage. In other words, they’re pretty much demons, or they would be if their flesh wasn’t bound with empowered Supernal sigils that keep them pointed in the right direction.

These creatures are the result of an infernal experiment to create more powerful shock troops to throw into the meatgrinder of the Blood War. They’re actually a little weaker than a standard hell knight, making them a bit of a failed experiment. Maybe they adapted the process for the mass-produced version so it works on legion devils instead.

Rage devils are used as heavy elements attached to legion devil forces, and are often placed under the command of hell knights. In their free time, these things roam Avernus in search of demon stragglers or anyone else they can get away with smashing.

The Numbers

Rage Devils are Large Immortal Humanoids (Devils), and Level 11 Brutes with 138 HP. They have Darkvision and Resist Fire 20, but they can’t fly. Their ground speed is 6.

These devils are heavily armored and fight with Disrupting Mauls whose basic attacks strip all of the target’s resistances for a turn! They have a special technique named Demonscourge Crush (recharge 4+), which deals the same damage as a basic attack, weakens, and strips all resistances (save ends both). Another maneuver is Maul Storm an at-will Close Burst 2 that deals some damage and pushes targets 3 squares. If they’re bloodied, they’re also knocked prone.

Their Blood Rage passive trait makes them deal extra damage on all attacks against bloodied opponents.

Final Impressions

Rage devils are indeed an excellent weapon both against demons and against other devils, as well as any creature type that relies on high elemental resistances. Behavior-wise they tend to be on the shallower end of the demon cliche pool, with only their binding rituals preventing them from turning on their devilish masters.

As I said above, I’d probably say most rage devils are modified legion devils, because baseline Hell Knights are both stronger and smarter than these things, so turning a Hell Knight into a Rage Devil is a bit of a waste.