Hey hey Prospectors!
Today is Thursday and, by now, we’re gonna go ahead and assume you already know where we might be heading with this. So, let’s check all together: why are we here right now? That’s right, today we’re gonna talk about the latest arrival in the Fortuna III monstrous roster: the infamous Howler!
(What do you mean the giant pic kinda gave it away?)
In a word, the Howler is a new big bad monster that’s set to land on Season 3, adding another layer of danger to the already hostile world of Fortuna III. It flies, it roams, and it screams so loud your ears will be ringing for a couple of days. Want to know more? Yeah sure, why not, let’s do just that!
What’s a Howler? Is it edible?
I guess so? Though chances are, you’ll be the ones ending up as a clump of delicious foam.
The Howler is this relative beauty right here.
As mentioned above, the Howler has 2 main characteristics: it’s flying and it’s roaming.
The flying part should be pretty self-explanatory: the Howler is our very first airborne creature, which means literal death from above. You’ll have to keep an eye on the skies at all times and you’ll probably have a tough time getting a melee kill.
The roaming part is a bit trickier to explain. Other creatures may walk around a bit and pursue players as they see fit, but they’ll generally stay around their designated spawn points. The Howler is not restrained by such mundanities. It goes as a free mind will, travelling around the map as it sees fit, only stopping to make itself a comfy nest or rain misery on various Prospectors.
Oh good point, how does it fight?
Fiercely, to say the least! It has its own array of attacks, some new, other more standard. Let’s start with the latter and move on from there:
- It moves around the skies in evasive maneuvers, throwing a barrage of projectiles at its opponents.
- Should Prospectors get close and personal, it won’t hesitate to swipe, lash, sting, and tear.
- It scatters special, explosive projectiles onto the ground, effectively acting as proximity mines. Don’t get close to those if you value your health!
- It lets out a deafening scream, disorienting every Prospector in the vicinity. This will directly affect your visuals.
- Once it has taken enough punishment, it will enrage and become stronger and even meaner than before. At this point, someone’s going down for sure!
Our advice for this one: bring big guns, friends with a similar loadout and get ready to dodge. The Howler is not as tough as a Crusher, but its flight capabilities will make it an interesting challenge for sure. Finally, do try to keep a second pair of eyes on the ground: the Howler may be sky-bound, but the rest of the planet are still using their legs!
Scary! What do I get for downing one?
A great sense of pride and accomplishment!
But I guess for those of you still burdened by material needs and cravings, we threw in a new batch of more traditional loot.
Like any other creature, taking down a Howler will reward you with pieces and materials unique to your prey. These can be handed out to the factions to complete new missions, used in some crafting recipes or just plain old for a fat load of cash.
As an alternative, killing a Howler is not the only way to enjoy its spoils. The sneakiest among you can try to stay on its tracks as it roams around and pick up whatever it drops, while the boldest can infiltrate their nests and grab their hoard (and you know what they say about Fortuna and the bold). Just try to avoid upsetting their eggs.
Speaking of which, what if I don’t want to face one? Are we just not safe anymore?
Okay, we’ve been trying to paint a scary picture there, but Howlers are not always in full bloodlust mode. They will usually just move around the skies of Bright Sands and Crescent Falls minding their own business. If you don’t feel ready for a big fight and happen to spot one, just keep a low profile and wait for it to move on. And if you see one randomly screaming into the sunset, don’t move an inch: that’s them trying to echolocate some prey!
Worst case scenario, you can always try to disengage should you end up in a kerfuffle with the beast. The Howler is territorial and will defend its nests to the death, but it most likely won’t chase you to the ends of the surface – assuming you didn’t already piss it off beyond redemption of course. A classic case of fiddling around and finding out.
So, I don’t have to mess with the Howler if I don’t want to?
If you’re careful, no, not necessarily. But you will probably want to at some point if you want to progress, on top of the materials mentioned above!
The factions are of course showing a particular interest in this new menace and are always looking for undaunted suckers to do their bidding. New faction campaigns and missions will require you to face Howlers head-on and will ask you to bring souvenirs from Howler nests. Some dangerous tasks ahead, but hey, don’t forget it’s literally your job!
And that will be all about the Howler for now. We are confident the inclusion of this new beast will keep players on their toes and create many new, exciting stories across the community.
If you want to know more about that flying horror, make sure to log in when Season 3 kicks in on March 29, 2023.
Until then, take care of yourselves, and see you next week, when things are gonna get a bit more technical around here.
Fortuna Favors the Bold!