My design philosophy (as much as I've had one) for Atlas Warriors is that everything has to have purpose. There is no need on having two different monsters that perform the same function and gameplay.
In order to do this, I do have different levels of some monsters - so (for instance) you can find Bandits, Experienced Bandits, Veteran Bandits and (hopefully never in a promising game) Bandit Warlords. Bandits are unique in being Melee characters who use weapons. There is no need to have another monster just to add a different letter and colour that does the exact same thing just may be a little harder.
As such, there are a small amount of monsters in Atlas Warriors - but they all provide a different experience.
We have (in order of appearance):
Critters - Cute. Furry. Fanged. Clawed. Actually - forget the Cute. They blindly move towards the player and attack them. Usually pretty weak.
Bandits - Men and woman who have dedicated themselves to causing crime for self interests sake. They seek out the player (and are clever enough to find the player rather then just wander in their direction), and attack the player with weapons. They get the same type of weapon effects that the player does.
Orcs - Archers from a foreign land. Orcs are reasonably strong, and have a melee attack but specialise in shooting you from afar.
Goliaths - Big. Gigantic. Brute. These horrors of gargantuan proportions are slow as they are dumb - but they can hit like a tonne of bricks and charge. They have no definition of friend or foe - they mercilessly kill anything in the dungeon and get stronger in the process.
Assassins - You think you see a shadow in the corner of the room. As soon as you turn to look at it, it's gone. You don't even feel the blade between your ribs until it is too late. Unless you are adjacent to them, Assassins are invisible when directly next to a wall or door. They've got low health, but a deadly strike.
Drakes - If it weren't for the stench of sulfur and smoke, you might consider that this midget dragon was almost cute. These breathe fire at you, and can set you alight.
Zombies - You smell the rotting flesh before you see a long dead corpse with the mission to kill. Zombies are fairly weak and have a weak attack. However, each adjacent Zombie reduces your defence significantly. Strength in numbers!
Necromancer - The first subboss. He may be skippable - if you're lucky. Raises Zombies. (I may also give him a bolt attack)
True Dragon - The second subboss. He may be skippable, but killing him will guarantee a very nice reward. This is almost the exception to my minimalism, as it really is a far stronger version of a drake. The True Drgaon will gratuitously provide rolling flames of swift death.
Final Boss - To be determined.
