Ancient Herald

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Ancient Herald
Stats
	2000
Effects
Sanity Aura	-400/min (in combat) (-300/min ) (-360/min ) (-440/min ) -100/min (outside of combat) (-75/min ) (-90/min ) (-110/min )
Combat
Damage	50 (37.5 )
Attack Period	4
Attack Range	3
Movement
Walking Speed	2
Running Speed	2
Traits
Special Ability	AoE attack. Summons Ancient Spirits, Shadow Creatures, Poison Dartfrogs and Dragoon Eggs. Cannot be put to sleep. Cannot be ignited. Cannot be frozen.
Loot	×5 ×2-3 for
Spawns from	Aporkalypse
Code
"ancient_herald"

“Metaphisical end-ity.”

–Wilson

“What's he all about.”

–Willow

“Wolfgang just let him be.”

–Wolfgang

“The end is nigh.”

–Wendy

“NEITHER A FLESHLING NOR MY BRETHREN”

–WX-78

“A harbinger of some sort.”

–Wickerbottom

“How's it goin'?”

–Woodie

“Ah. The end is nigh.”

–Maxwell

“It must be one of the ancients! I must get a closer look!”

–Wagstaff

“Signals the cöming öf Ragnarök!”

–Wigfrid

“He looks scary.”

–Webber

“That dude looks scary.”

–Walani

“Mon dieu! He is frightening.”

–Warly

“Scallywag, if'n Woodlegs e'er seen one.”

–Woodlegs

“DOST FRETTING HIS HOUR 'PON THE STAGE”

–Wilba

“Dark Floaty Man”

–Wormwood

“You must be a riot at parties.”

–Wheeler

The Ancient Herald is a pseudo-hostile Boss Monster in Don't Starve: Hamlet. It spawns indefinitely during the Aporkalypse.

Upon death, it drops 5 Dark Tatters, 2-3 Nightmare Fuel, and a Blueprint for the Vortex Cloak.

Behavior

The Ancient Herald will rise from the ground somewhere on the player's screen a short time after the Aporkalypse begins and every few days thereafter. It will slowly pursue the player, losing interest if the player gets far enough away. It is neutral after that point, not attacking the player unless provoked. If the player returns to the Ancient Herald, it will not be aggressive unless attacked.

It attacks by diving into the ground, emitting a shockwave that destroys structures and damages nearby enemies, setting them on fire similar to the Iron Hulk Head or Leg. In addition, it will periodically cast an incantation, summoning various creatures and attacks to help it. Each Ancient Herald seems to 'prefer' certain summons over others, casting them far more often than it does any other.

• 4 to 5 Ancient Spirits.
• 2 to 4 Nightmare Creatures.
• 1 to 3 Dragoon Eggs, that leave Lava Pools.
• ~9 to ~20 Poison Dartfrogs in a circle around the player.

Hunting

The various monsters it spawns, coupled with the destructive power of its attack, means that this boss is very difficult to fight.

A recommended fighting style is to invest in ranged weapons. Plunder the ruins for blow darts, or craft enough to kill it. A Blunderbuss with ammo will easily take care of the Ancient Herald. Kiting the Herald itself is easy, as its attack is very simple to dodge. Kiting the Herald and all his summons is extremely difficult, and will very quickly kill you.

When engaging the target, there are a few things to keep in mind. It always spawns near you, and other monsters do not attack it. The best place to fight the Ancient Herald is a place with many fully grown Flytrap Snaptooths, or in the pig cities. If unavailable, pick an area with a large amount of terrain where you can run away easily. It is not recommended to fight the Ancient Herald in an area that you traffic often, as there will be many summoned creatures left over.

The Poison Dartfrogs will empty your inventory and kill you in a matter of seconds. Put a stack of an easily acquirable material (Cut Grass, Twigs) in the leftmost slot of your inventory, to give yourself some insurance. It is nigh-impossible to kite them, so simply run away and let them lose interest.

The nightmare creatures will chase you down, and he will often summon multiple Nightmarebeaks. Run away from the Ancient Herald and kite the Nightmare creatures down.

The Ancient Spirits are slow, and will often die to the Herald's aoe attack. They are easily distracted by other mobs, but if not distracted, will constantly harass you.

The Dragoon Eggs are subtle, but if the Herald does his summon animation and no monsters instantly spawn, then get ready to dodge the shadows on the ground.

Trivia

• The appearance of the Ancient Herald is similar to the corrupted lightbearer from the Metheus Puzzles.
• The Ancient Herald's summons are references to some of the 10 Plagues of Egypt in the Book of Exodus; Ancient Spirits being death, Nightmare Creatures being darkness, Dragoon Eggs being a thunderstorm of hail and fire, and Poison Dartfrogs being a plague of frogs.

Gallery

The Ancient Herald's idle animation. The Ancient Herald's walking animation. The Ancient Herald's taunt animation. The Ancient Herald's summoning animation. The Ancient Herald's hit animation. The Ancient Herald's dying animation. The Ancient Herald as seen in a drawing from Art Stream # 73.

• DS
• RoG
• SW
• Ham
• DST
• All