The Stormtossed Isle has many biomes, including dangerous and murky swamps.
The flooded lands might be too inhospitable for civilization, but that's not preventing monsters from dwelling there; actually, it’s thanks to the absence of humans that the creatures can make these humid areas their home.
Many different aberrations can be encountered while traveling across these muddy terrains, and in today’s devlog, we will discuss them, providing information about their habits and combat skills.
Let’s take a deep dive, not in the swamp, and let’s discover who the Swamp Dwellers are in the world of Pathbreakers!
The Mawks are ravenous, man-sized froglike creatures with high hostility levels and a rapid rate of growth. Even their youngest, the tadpole-like mawkspawns, are aggressive and jump right into battle whenever any prey is encountered, and humans are absolutely not exempt from their target list.
Aside from the mawkspawns, the Mawks are comprised of mawklets (an intermediary juvenile form with an electric tongue), brood mawks (female adults that can spawn more mawkspawns), and bull mawks (male adults with fiery spines). The adults are huge, large enough to use their spring-loaded tongues to swallow a man whole!
They are only found in murky swamps. Though eyeless, they can use their “electrosense” to detect anything that is in the same body of water as them (even invisible enemies).
Their youngling mawkspawns are nowhere near as dangerous as their more developed brethren, particularly since they cannot survive outside of water puddles. However, they still can't be taken lightly; they can evolve mid-battle into bigger and stronger types, and the unwary might soon find themselves fighting a fully fledged and grown-up array of brood and bull mawks. Fighting them might soon become a DPS race not to let them evolve and generate new foes, although stuns might also do the trick to slow them down.
The Coven is the collective name civilization has given to Swamp Witches and Hags. They almost exclusively dwell in the flooded lands and are often accompanied by a small swarm of Mawks that do their bidding.
One can only guess at how they managed to control and subdue the naturally violent Mawks to their design. They may have inherited a strong affinity for magic, which could allow them to gain control over the aberrations. Perhaps mind control, or simply fear, after the creatures witnessed their arcane prowess? One thing is sure, the Coven won’t entertain discussions to satisfy our curiosity…
Their abilities range from healing their allies to conjuring deadly patches of exploding magical swamp. In addition to their propensity for witchcraft, they are unexpectedly strong and won't shy away from melee combat if it comes down to it. The swamps can be a harsh environment, and after being surrounded by monsters for decades, these malformed witches had to adapt and learn melee techniques to survive.
Druids can be found where nature is unrestrained and wild, like in swamps and dense forests. Although, unlike the Mawks, they tend to gather near the woods rather than the muddy shores nearby. They often roam the area, paired with wild beasts and sometimes even with their cousins from the Coven.
They are exceptionally versed in magic and tend to be very resilient, if not overly physically strong. Besides being in touch with nature, they are also very territorial.
Druids have a varied sorcery arsenal, but as powerful as they are, they must follow the laws of nature: meaning that their skills must follow a natural progression. Their spells embody the four seasons and can only be activated in that specific sequence. If they ever manage to cast all four of their seasonal magic abilities, they gain access to their final spell, “All Things Fade”, which is a large and devastating attack that can leave your party reeling.
Druids are reclusive, and not much is known about them and their habits, other than the fact that they will relentlessly attack anyone who trespasses on their territory.
We hope that you enjoyed the Swamp Dwellers deep dive of today’s devlog! Starting from next month, we will resume publishing articles that explore other aspects of the Pathbreakers universe. While there are many enemies to discuss, we are excited to let you discover what the development team has in store!
You will have plenty of time to discover the rest of the creatures wandering the Stormtossed Isle, and you may require more than a playthrough, considering that currently about 100 different enemy types are awaiting you to embark on your adventure!
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