The Sharduk are a savage, cruel, and opportunistic people who are notorious for raiding all the more civilized lands bordering their vast, barren territory, the Great Eastern Desert. When designing these tribal marauders, we went for a versatile damage-dealer enemy type that - when left unchecked - can work itself up to a huge threat.

Assassins (and Handjari Assassin variants) in Vagrus are lethal enemies from a Tarkian background or training. Since their stealthy abilities do not translate well to the direct combat in-game, we opted to arm them with skills that emphasize their deadly techniques, use of poisons and battle drugs, as well as their flashy, acrobatic fighting style.

Wraiths are a race of subterranean humanoids who have adapted to the utter darkness and cramped spaces of caverns. Hairless, pale, and small of stature, they do not seem much of a threat but underestimating them often proves lethal. In-game, you can come across their enemy version in cities as well as members of an outlaw group. Sometimes you can even encounter enemy groups made up solely of Wraiths.

This week's enemy breakdown post takes a look at he Dark Elf Marauder/Mercenary, one of the newer enemies added to the game. Let's dive in!

As we have previously discussed, these Dark Elven warriors either fight in lockstep formations in their Prince's armies, maraud on the surface at their lord's behest, or serve as mercenaries in the Riven Realms (mercenary variant).

Specters are malevolent ghosts of the dead that often haunt the forsaken, magically-warped places of the Riven Realms. They are dreaded by most denizens of Xeryn because their ethereal forms are impervious to most damage types and though magic is more abundant than in other settings, it is still beyond the reach of most.

Many Orcs wander the reaches of the Riven Realms and you can come across them in all kinds of encounters, some of them being violent - as expected. There are several Orc enemy variants and the Juggernaut - as the name suggests - is the 'big guy' of the bunch, the one that takes the punches and gives back a lot in return.

The murmillo is a heavily armored gladiator with a large scutum (shield) and a gladius (short sword). Modeled after the ancient Roman arena fighters of the same name, these enemies are among the strongest specialized encounters.

Sturdy and resilient with a high Block value, these guys can tough it out in the front lines for long unless you find a way to break their defenses. They are also great at defending their fellow fighters standing next to them due to their Defender combat trait (which provides armor to these allies). The Murmillo combat Skills are as follows:

Stinger Scorpions are true terrors of the forsaken wastelands of the Riven Realms. You will need a good team of powerful Companions to down one of these skittering beasts. Their high Vitality along with their Armor makes them very tough to beat, and a great Block stat further enhances that Armor. Additionally, some of the creature's Resistances (like Bleed or Impediment) are also exceptionally high - though in turn some others are fairly low (like Fire or Poison). To top it off, Stinger Scorpions are Terrifying, which means most of its enemies will suffer Accuracy penalties when attacking it.

Dragon Mages are spellcasters who specialize in Draconic magic, especially in manifesting their arcane powers as destructive spells. They are typically attached to Dragon Army or Dragonguard contingents, which is where you will encounter most of them in Vagrus. Dragon Mages are armored, sturdy, have amazing resistances, and regenerate Power that is used to fuel their magical attacks.

Ashmen, or Ashlanders, are the tribesmen of the Forsaken Waste, an endless desert of grey sand and little else. Yet these nomads make a harsh living off the Qurus, gigantic snail-like creatures, as well as other critters that roam the monotonous wasteland.

When coming face to face with an Ashlander in the game, you can expect a tough huntsman, though by themselves these enemies provide little challenge. In greater numbers they can make use of their supplementary ability, bleed inducing attacks, and ranged capabilities. Their combat skills are: