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:

Sand Wyrms are a race of huge, worm-like creatures that burrow in sand. Thought to have been extinct, they resurfaced a few decades ago, albeit exclusively in remote desert regions and in small numbers only, so the Empire and its allies do not need to fear another destructive war against their kind. Or do they?

In combat, Sand Wyrms try to overwhelm their opponents with their numbers, but they are not pushovers alone, either: high Vitality and Evade stats make them difficult to kill, as is their armored carapace. Their Skills are ideal to cause serious damage and weaken opponents:

Grufta are disgusting creatures that dwell in the darkest, filthiest, and most humid places, usually deep underground. Their nests are often found in city sewers and adult specimen hunt people with deadly efficiency. Their stench alone makes fighting these large worms extremely difficult - it renders the air around them poisonous. Grufta attack in numbers, are quite sturdy, and can avoid attacks with their fast movement. Their skill set includes a powerful attack and an ability to stun opponents:

We have started almost every single project update with 'A lot has happened since our last update' but now the 'lot' of the past seems kind of tiny compared to the 'LOT' of today.

The Pandemic

Corona hit hard and unexpected. What we looked at with blissful ignorance and naivety in the early days turned our lives upside down in mere weeks.  Luckily, everyone from the team is safe and sound as of now, though being in the middle of the flu season we cannot be certain whether we've been exposed to the virus already or not. Either way, we  stay home to keep everyone around us safer.