Rattler

"Trauma and torment return for an encore performance."

Fears, regrets, delusions, and the hope of redemption are driving forces that brings these poor wandering souls to our Estate. However in this remote place, where many evils roam the land and corruption plagues the countryside, where something far worse sleeps in the depths of the Darkest Dungeon, where the boundaries between our world and the unseen realms from beyond has withered down to a thin veil, it becomes harder to separate what is real and what is not, what are creatures of flesh and blood or figments and delusions of a mad mind. Sometimes the fears, regrets and delusions your employees brought with them take on a life of their own and have potential to become something deadly.

Ever since the arrival of Shieldbreaker something else also has come the Estate. She may have found something when she was lost in that accursed desert and unknowingly brought it with her to the estate, or she is trying to run away from it despite its relentless pursuit. Whatever it may be, only thing that is clear is that it has slithered its way into the Estate, lurking just out of sight, hiding in the underbrush, behind rocks and in the twisted shadows, waiting to strike at your heroes in the night.

It seem to be an illusion given power and form by the Shieldbreaker’s fears and delusions, or some otherworldly creature that feeds on the dread of the Shieldbreaker manifesting themselves as the thing she fears the most. The Estate is already so drenched in the darkest depths of your heroes' minds that it could have become the new feeding grounds of this thing.

The Rattler is an rattlesnake of unusual size, fast and vicious, this serpent is ready to strike anyone with its fangs who dare to harm its brood brethren and only fool would be willing to put his hand into this den of Vipers.

Behavior and Strategy
The Rattler is a beast enemy that appears exclusively in the Shieldbreaker DLC. It only appears in nighttime ambushes when the Shieldbreaker is present. They will disappear after a while, and seem to be an illusion given power by the Shieldbreaker.

At the start of the fight, the Rattler will use Warning Rattle to guard one of its allies, and this move can be used once in 3 rounds. Its basic attack, Snakebite, deals fair amount of damage with bleed, and the Rattler prioritizes targets with lower bleed resistance, as well as marked targets.

Defeating the group of snakes brings great rewards, as they may drop a Aegis Scale when they die, as well as a diary entry for the Shieldbreaker. The entire party also receives a quest buff for -15% stress except for the Shieldbreaker who receives -33% stress and +3% CRIT. However, the battle will end if the Shieldbreaker reaches death's door, and failing to disperse the illusion will cause a terrible quest debuff on the party instead, causing the same amount of stress to be increased with the Shiledbreaker losing 3 ACC.

Abilities
Apprentice =

Veteran =

Champion =

Related Enemies
Pliskin Adder