Adder

"As the firelight fades, ghastly memories gather their strength."

Fears, regrets, delusions of grandeur, dreams of glory, the hope of redemption; these are just some of the myriad forces that bring wayward souls to the Estate. However, in this remote place, there is an evil that permeates the land; a corruption so pervasive that it blurs the boundary between life and death, the material and the invisible, and even dreams from reality. Here, it can be hard to distinguish that which is made from living flesh, blood, and bone and that which is merely a figment or manifestation of a delusional mind. In this place, it is often the latter that poses the gravest threat.

With the arrival of the Shieldbreaker in the Hamlet, a new threat has appeared in the ravenous, ever-twisting shadows: The Adder. The Adder is a wholly unnatural and abominable creature that by all logic should not exist in this world. Far larger than any known serpent, its long, scaly body is covered in bite marks and deep, hideous scars; testaments to the innumerable battles it has fought and won. The truly unnatural and abominable part of this legless reptile is that it has two heads, its jaws filled with fangs like daggers dripping deadly hallucinogenic venom, and there is a glint in its eyes that shows that this serpent is far more intelligent than any snake.

No one truly knows where the Adder came from. Some say it is an ancient creature that the Shieldbreaker found while she was lost wandering in the desert and either unknowingly brought it with her, or that it pursued her to the Hamlet. Others believe it to be her deepest fear given physical form by the creature that lies sleeping in the depths of the Darkest Dungeon. The Shieldbreaker herself is convinced that this horrible serpent is the one that caused her nightmares, but it is not the true source of her torment. Regardless of what it actually is, one thing is certain: this creature is now an ever-present threat and waits in the darkness for its chance to strike.

Behavior and Strategy
The Adder is a beast enemy that appears exclusively in the Shieldbreaker DLC. It appears in nighttime ambushes when the Shieldbreaker is present and in random encounters. In the Shieldbreaker's nightmares, they will disappear after a while, and seem to be an illusion given power by the Shieldbreaker.

The Adder prioritizes marked targets and heroes with lower stun or blight resistance. The blight effect from Adder's Fang lasts for 4 rounds on any difficulty. Its self-healing ability, Molt, has a 1-turn cooldown and has 5x more chance to be used if the Adder's health is below 50% or 20%, and 3x chance to be used if the Adder has bleed or blight on itself.

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 goes onto 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 Shieldbreaker losing 3 ACC.

Abilities
Apprentice =

Veteran =

Champion =

* Blight damage from Adder's Fang lasts for 4 rounds.

Related Enemies
Pliskin Rattler