Ancestor

This article or section may contain spoilers about the final boss. You might want to avoid reading further if you don't want to spoil the surprise for yourself!

Ancestor (First Form)
Enemy Class	Eldritch/Human
Size	Small (1)
Actions per round
Stats
HP	5
HP (Stygian/Bloodmoon)	6
Dodge	23.75%
Protection	100% (shows 80% in game)
Speed	12
Stealth	No
Resistances
Stun	122.5%
Blight	247.5%
Bleed	247.5%
Debuff	72.5%
Move	73%

“	You still foolishly consider yourself an entity separate from the whole, I know better. And I. Will. Show you.	„
	~ The Ancestor

The Ancestor is both the narrator of Darkest Dungeon as well as one of its final bosses.

Behavior

The Ancestor has only 5 health points, but is immune to all forms of damage during this phase. He will first summon 3 Perfect Reflections which you can deal damage to. After dealing a deathblow to any one of the Perfect Reflections, the Ancestor will summon more reflections to fill in the missing positions at the start of the next round.

Sometimes the Ancestor will summon Imperfect Reflections, and when these are killed the Ancestor will take 1 damage. Be sure to kill at least one reflection every round, because if all ranks are full on the Ancestor's turn he will use Time Heals All and heal every reflection. Once 5 Imperfect Reflections have been felled to wipe out the Ancestor's health, he will move on to his second form.

To explain in detail how this phase of the Ancestor acts, here are the exact probabilities/odds:

• He will only use Perfect Replication ONCE; afterwards, it will be either of the other two options;
• Imperfect Reproduction starts with a 2.0 chance of being used by the Ancestor, increasing by 6.0 each round that goes by. That means that the longer the fight goes on, the more likely he is to use this skill.
• Sporadic Reproduction has a fixed 50.0 chance of being used by the Ancestor, disregarding how many rounds have already passed.
• Time Heals All has a mere 5.0 chance; this skill will most probably only be used if all Reflections are alive, and he cannot use either one of his other skills.

Strategy

• For the first form, killing an Imperfect Reflection will always deal 1 damage to the Ancestor. The Ancestor himself does not attack, only summons, so you'll be dealing with at most 3 attacks. If you're able to kill the Reflections quickly, your party won't suffer damage, following similar strategies when dealing with The Collector.
• Note that although the Ancestor's resistances to DoT skills is extremely high and under normal circumstances he can't be Blighted nor Bleeded, with the right Trinket and skill combination, you can pull it off. But regardless if it is achieved, the Ancestor is entirely immune to DOT effects.
  • Namely, this is possible with two Grave Robbers using Poison Darts and one of them having the Blighting Satchel+Blight Amulet combination. Although the initial chance won't suffice to cause Blight to the Ancestor, stacking the Blight Resistance Debuff will let you achieve it realistically after 2 rounds.

Abilities

Darkest Level
Skill Name	Range	Rank	Target	Accuracy	Crit Chance	Damage	Effect (Target)	Effect (Self)	Notes
Perfect Replication	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1, 2, 3, 4 (allies).	0%	0%	0	Summons 3 Perfect Reflections	No Effect
Imperfect Reproduction	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1, 2, 3, 4 (allies).	0%	0%	0	Summons Imperfect Reflections or Perfect Reflections*	No Effect
Sporadic Reproduction	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1, 2, 3, 4 (allies).	0%	0%	0	Summons Imperfect Reflections or Perfect Reflections**	No Effect
Time Heals All	Ranged	2, 3, 4.	1+2+3+4 (allies)	0%	0%	0	Heal 7-11	No Effect

* _{50:50 chance to summon either.}

** _{Twice as likely to summon the Perfect Reflections}

Second Form

Ancestor (Second Form)
Enemy Class	Eldritch/Human
Size	Small
Actions per round
Stats
HP	252
HP (Stygian/Bloodmoon)	303
Dodge	15.75%
Protection	0%
Speed	10
Stealth	No
Resistances
Stun	72.5%
Blight	67.5%
Bleed	77.5%
Debuff	67.5%
Move	0%

“	The flesh is fluid, it can be changed, reshaped, remade!	„
	~ The Ancestor

Behavior

The Ancestor's size grows bigger and he summons 3 Absolute Nothingness. These summons function much like the Shattered Pew of the Prophet fight in that they simply are there to set the Ancestor's position to the back. The Absolute Nothingness have extremely high resistances and dodge, which makes them impossible to hit. However, many of this form's attacks will cause him to move about, so eventually even a team with only close-range attacks can access him and progress the fight.

When killed, he will cocoon himself within a Gestating Heart.

Strategy

• Although you're unable to deal damage to (or hit) Absolute Nothingness, they can still be attacked. If you have a unit with nothing fruitful to do, but you don't want to move or pass the turn, just swipe futilely at the Nothingness.
  • If you have self-sustaining units like the Leper, Crusader, or Abomination, the moments where the Ancestor's out of their reach are the best times to self-heal.
• In this phase, the Ancestor's resistances plummet down as depicted in the Stats Table. Therefore, in this phase you can apply DoTs to him with very high reliability and even Stun him, which, considering the Resistance chance, can also be done pretty safely and thereby prevents him from acting.
• All in all, this part of the fight is pretty straightforward and easy, giving you ample time to recover from the last part, should you have the necessity to do so. Stunning him while healing HP/Stress can be a good idea, since the next part is set on a timer and will advance to the Heart of Darkness after 3 turns.

Abilities

Darkest Level
Skill Name	Range	Rank	Target	Accuracy	Crit Chance	Damage	Effect (Target)	Effect (Self)	Notes
Refashion Them	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1, 2, 3, 4, 100% +1 target.	113.75%	12%	5-14	140% Bleed 5 (6 in Stygian) Stress +7 (+9 in Stygian)	Shuffle Self
Unmake Them All	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1+2+3+4.	113.75%	7%	2-7	135% Bleed 3 Stress +7 (+9 in Stygian)	Shuffle Self
Embrace Futility	Ranged	1, 2, 3, 4.	1, 2, 3, 4.	113.75%	0%	1-3	150% Shuffle 150% Debuff: -20% DMG, -5 SPD, -10% CRT Stress +18 (+20 in Stygian)	No Effect

Gallery

• 

  Ancestor's combat animation

• 

  Ancestor Imperfect Reflection's combat animation

• 

  Using Embrace Futility

• 

  Using Refashion Them/Unmake Them All

• 

  Defending

Trivia

• Even if the ancestor in his first form is immune to all attacks, in-game, he is shown to have 80% protection. This is because protection was programmed to cap at 80%. Ancestor in reality is protected by something else.
• Many of his quotes, such as: "Remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer" and "How quickly the tide turns" became internet memes.

See Also

• Perfect Reflection
• Imperfect Reflection
• The Ancestor, for the character in Darkest Dungeon