Bone Bearer

"Several seasoned adventurers have whispered, gripping tankards of ale to hide shaking hands, that new horrors await in the deepest regions of the Ruins. The repulsive ranks of the malignant skeletons therein are said to rally around banner-bearers of extreme decrepitude. Theirs is a blasphemous and ensorceled flag whose presence in battle lends great strength and other unspeakable assistance to their damnable kin. These chittering fiends are even said to tap into the hoarish energies that animate the long-decayed corpses! A new threat whose grinding teeth and shuffling steps echo endlessly in the shadowy arcades of the ruined battlements…"

- Radiant Update Teasers

The Bone Bearer is an enemy that appears only in Champion-tier expeditions in the Ruins. While it remains standing, the banner it bears will inspire any nearby undead to fight with preternatural strength, and its horn may imbue individual allies, living or undead with a surge of wicked power. Should its allies fall in battle, the Bone Bearer will reanimate them, forcing the heroes to fight and kill them again and again.

Behavior
The Bone Bearer is a champion-level monster that serves as a rally-point for groups of lesser skeletons. While physically weak, the Bearer is nonetheless a formidable threat due to its ability to apply layer upon layer of buffs to other nearby enemies. The Bone Bearer's presence provides all nearby with a 25% buff to damage, with further buffs provided each turn through the use of Wicked Surge, turning any and potentially all of its allies into highly dangerous threats.

The most significant of the Bearer's abilities, however, is Unholy Rally; this ability is performed as a "free action" at the start of every turn when there are enemy corpses on the battlefield, and returns these corpses to life at full HP, forcing players to fight them all over again. Blights applied to the corpse before revival are removed as well.

If forced to the front row, he will use Defend the Icon, a middling physical attack that returns him to the back rows.

Strategy
Corpses are required for the Bearer to resurrect fallen enemies — as such, any attacks and abilities that remove or prevent the appearance of corpses is extremely useful. High crit chance, as well as blight are useful ways to guarantee that the dead stay dead. The utility of corpse clearing abilities such as the Occultist's Eldritch Pull and the Leper's Purge should also be clear.

Focusing down the Bone Bearer would be ideal, but can be difficult — it always appears in the back rows, and has enough HP and PROT that killing it with back row attacks is usually a slow prospect. While the Bearer is not immune to Shuffles, it has low speed, high Stun resistance and is guaranteed to use Defend The Icon if it is near the front, making it very likely that it will have returned to the back by the end of any turn where it has been moved to the front. Meanwhile, any turns spent attempting to deal damage to the Bearer are turns that its companions can take to use their highly boosted attacks against you.

The only continually reliable way to weaken a Bone Bearer is to irrevocably wipe out its companions — any one of its allies killed is one fewer it can hide behind, and one less source of boosted damage to your party each turn. Like the Prophet's pews, breaking down the wall it hides behind is one way to guarantee victory.

Spawning
The Bone Bearer will only spawn in Champion level dungeons in the Ruins.

Abilities
While the Bone Bearer is alive, all enemies except itself receive +25% DMG.

* Wicked Surge cannot target the Bone Bearer itself.

** Unholy Rally is an Auto-Action used at the end of every round if there is a corpse.

Trivia

 * Defend the Icon was originally called "Hide in the Ranks".
 * The eye on the Bone Bearer's Banner is very similar to the symbol on the Antiquarian's pouch.
 * The trumpet sound that plays while this unit uses abilities is the same as the Night's Watch signalling horn in the HBO TV-series "Game of Thrones".

All Areas

 * Bone Rabble

Ruins

 * Bone Soldier
 * Bone Courtier
 * Bone Arbalist
 * Bone Defender
 * Bone Captain
 * Bone Spearman

Boss

 * Necromancer