Creature Special Attacks¶
Some creatures don't just trade blows — they wind up dangerous special attacks you can see coming and react to. Watch for the tell.
Impale¶
A telegraphed cone strike used by the heavier undead knights.
- When the creature is in melee, it sometimes shouts "winds up to impale" above its head, with a flash of energy and a sound. That's the tell.
- The creature stops moving for the entire 2.5-second windup — locked in place facing where you were when it told. About 2.5 seconds later it drives its blade forward, hitting only the single tile directly in front of it for its normal swing damage and opening a bleed (damage over time) on the struck target.
- The strike zone is the one tile directly in front of the creature. Take two steps in any direction during the windup and you dodge it. Don't stand still in front of it.
- Melee fighters: side-step on the tell, then re-engage. Healers and ranged: don't line up directly in front of it.
The bleed ticks for a few seconds after the hit; bandage or heal through it.
Tuning (2026-05-27)¶
The strike used to hit a 4-tile cone for double damage with a 1.5-second tell, and the creature could shuffle during the windup — that combination was hard to dodge in a tight pull. The retune makes it a clean read-and- react: longer tell, one-tile strike zone, normal damage, and the creature holds still the whole windup. Bleed-on-hit shape is unchanged but its total size scales with the (now smaller) hit damage.
Which creatures use it¶
| Creature | Notes |
|---|---|
| Barrow Knight | First tier of the knight line |
| Grave Knight | Tougher; same Impale |
| Dread Revenant | The deadliest of the three — its Impale hits hard |
More creatures will learn telegraphed specials over time. The rule is always the same: if a creature tells, you have a moment to move.