User blog comment:CrimsonWarden/Nazarick's NPC Level Count/@comment-29196789-20160917041243

Thanks for this, I was thinking about some of these awhile ago.

Various notes:

-I think a good way of distinguishing whether or not an NPC is a custom NPC that counts towards the level cap is whether or not they were named by the players. Someone like Cocytus, yes. One of his minions like a Frost Virgin, no. One of Demiurge's minions, an Evil Lord like Wrath or whatever, maybe. It has a name, but maybe that's the game's name for it, and they were able to acquire it somehow. This will then exclude NPCs acquired through the cash shop (ie. carrion babies), gatchapon (ie. Mare's dragons), NPCs awarded through quests or something (Evil lords, probably - the prologue talks about them as general bosses to kill), and mercenaries (Albedo's guard, Lupu's Redcaps). Presumably mercs don't respawn, but I wonder if the rest do? Maybe something like the Evil Lords don't, which is why Demiurge only has 7, but cash shop NPCs do, because the game is pay to win and people would go insane if their $100 NPC got one shot and then had to be remade all over?

-It is confirmed that the overwhelming majority of high level NPCs cannot possibly count towards the level cap. From Volume 7: "The total number gathered easily surpassed 200 ... with the average level being over eighty." This means there are 16,000 levels of NPCs, not counting Gargantua and probably some other NPCs from the 8th floor and other restricted areas.

-There are 10 manservants.

-The Eight Edge Assassins are summoned from Yggdrasil gold, and almost certainly don't count. " '…Fifth. You might be a maid, but you are still a creation of one of my friends. Thus, you are very valuable to me.' ... Incidentally,  he did not  say the same thing to the Eight  Edge Assassins, as they were beings summoned from Yggdrasil gold. He might have felt vaguely regretful about having to sacrifice them, but they had no value to him beyond that."