Shambler

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Shambler
Shambler.png
Enemy Type Eldritch
Size Large (2)
Actions per round Turnticker.png
Stats
Variation Shambler Grotesque
Shambler
Abhorrent
Shambler
HP 77 116 158
HP (Stygian/Bloodmoon) 93 140 190
Dodge 0 8.75 22.5
Protection 33 33 33
Speed 0 1 2
Stealth Stealth None None None
Resistances
Poptext stun.png Stun 100% 120% 140%
Blight Blight 40% 60% 80%
Bleed Bleed 40% 60% 80%
Poptext debuff.png Debuff 40% 60% 80%
Poptext move.png Move 50% 70% 90%

Shambler Tentacle
Shambler Tentacle.png
Enemy Type Eldritch
Size Small (1)
Actions per round Turnticker.png
Stats
Variation Shambler
Sycophant
Shambler
Spore
Shambler
Spawn
HP 8 12 16
HP (Stygian/Bloodmoon) 10 15 20
Dodge 17.5 26.25 40
Protection 0 0 0
Speed 10 11 12
Stealth Stealth None None None
Resistances
Poptext stun.png Stun 50% 70% 90%
Blight Blight 40% 60% 80%
Bleed Bleed 40% 60% 80%
Poptext debuff.png Debuff 40% 60% 80%
Poptext move.png Move 40% 60% 80%

Behold the infinite malignity of the stars!
~ The Ancestor

The Shambler is a dangerous Eldritch miniboss that lurks in blackest pitch, dropping Ancestral trinkets when killed.

Encountering the Shambler

The Shambler is usually encountered in one of two ways. When traveling at 0 torchlight, the Shambler may ambush the party replacing any hallway fight (1% chance on Apprentice, 8% on Veteran, 12% Champion). The Shambler may also be summoned by using a Torch on a Shambler's Altar, which will also set the light level to 0.

Lastly, the Shambler may also appear a boss in the Endless Harvest. Since this is the only case in which the Shambler fight does not take place at 0 torchlight, the Endless version of the Shambler has slight buffs to its HP and damage to make up for the otherwise reduced difficulty.

Behavior

While the Shambler is alive the Light Meter will be fixed at 0—and the light level cannot be altered in any way with torches or skills! This greatly increases the stress and damage that the party will receive. The party will always be surprised when the battle starts, disrupting party formation. If the party flees combat with the Shambler, the Shambler will follow them—all subsequent hallway battles will be replaced with the Shambler encounter until it is defeated.

Each round, the Shambler will likely attempt to summon two Shambler Tentacles with Obdurous Advancement or Undulating Withdrawal. Tentacles are initially quite weak, but they give themselves a huge stacking buff with every attack. If at least one tentacle is left alive, the Shambler has a chance to use Stentorious Lament, shuffling the party in addition to causing heavy stress.

The Shambler is extremely slow, while the Tentacles are extremely fast and can buff their speed even further. Each round, the Tentacles are likely to act first, then the party, then finally the Shambler—resummoning any Tentacles that the heroes may have killed.

Unlike most boss minions, Shambler Tentacles will not automatically disappear after the Shambler is killed. This greatly increases the difficulty of the battle: even with the Shambler gone, the Tentacles can still deal an extreme amount of damage, especially if they've stacked their self-buff several times.

Abilities

Since the Shambler fight takes place at 0 torchlight while the Shambler is alive, all enemy abilities are buffed with +25% DMG, +5% CRIT, +12.5 ACC, not to mention Heroes will take +40% stress. The tables below show the unbuffed numbers.

Shambler

Apprentice Level
Skill Name Range Rank Target Accuracy Crit
Chance
Damage Effect
(Target)
Effect
(Self)
Notes
Obdurous Advancement Melee 1,2,3,4 1+2+3+4 82.5% 2% 1 Poptext bleed.png 100% Bleed 2
New game plus save icon.png Summon 2 Shambler Tentacles*
Poptext move.png Forward 1
Undulating Withdrawal Ranged 1,2,3,4 1+2+3+4 82.5% 2% 1 Poptext poison.png 100% Blight 2
New game plus save icon.png Summon 2 Shambler Tentacles*
Poptext move.png Back 1
Stentorious Lament Ranged 1,2,3,4 1+2+3+4 82.5% 2% 1 Tray afflicted.png Stress +10
Poptext move.png 80% Shuffle Party

Shambler Tentacle

Apprentice Level
Skill Name Range Rank Target Accuracy Crit
Chance
Damage Effect
(Target)
Effect
(Self)
Notes
Clapperclaw Melee 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 82.5% 2% 2-4 Tray afflicted.png Stress +10 Poptext buff.png Buff: +20 ACC, +5% CRIT,
+50% DMG, +3 SPD, +25% PROT

Shambler

Veteran Level
Skill Name Range Rank Target Accuracy Crit
Chance
Damage Effect
(Target)
Effect
(Self)
Notes
Obdurous Advancement Melee 1,2,3,4 1+2+3+4 88.75% 6% 1-2 Poptext bleed.png 120% Bleed 3
New game plus save icon.png Summon 2 Shambler Tentacles*
Poptext move.png Forward 1
Undulating Withdrawal Ranged 1,2,3,4 1+2+3+4 88.75% 6% 1-2 Poptext poison.png 120% Blight 3
New game plus save icon.png Summon 2 Shambler Tentacles*
Poptext move.png Back 1
Stentorious Lament Ranged 1,2,3,4 1+2+3+4 92.5% 6% 1-2 Tray afflicted.png Stress +10
Poptext move.png 90% Shuffle Party

Shambler Tentacle

Veteran Level
Skill Name Range Rank Target Accuracy Crit
Chance
Damage Effect
(Target)
Effect
(Self)
Notes
Clapperclaw Melee 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 88.75% 6% 3-5 Tray afflicted.png Stress +10 Poptext buff.png Buff: +20 ACC, +5% CRIT,
+50% DMG, +3 SPD, +25% PROT

Shambler

Champion Level
Skill Name Range Rank Target Accuracy Crit
Chance
Damage Effect
(Target)
Effect
(Self)
Notes
Obdurous Advancement Melee 1,2,3,4 1+2+3+4 102.5% 9% 1-3 Poptext bleed.png 140% Bleed 4
New game plus save icon.png Summon 2 Shambler Tentacles*
Poptext move.png Forward 1
Undulating Withdrawal Ranged 1,2,3,4 1+2+3+4 102.5% 9% 1-3 Poptext poison.png 140% Blight 4
New game plus save icon.png Summon 2 Shambler Tentacles*
Poptext move.png Back 1
Stentorious Lament Ranged 1,2,3,4 1+2+3+4 100% 9% 1-3 Tray afflicted.png Stress +10
Poptext move.png 100% Shuffle Party

Shambler Tentacle

Champion Level
Skill Name Range Rank Target Accuracy Crit
Chance
Damage Effect
(Target)
Effect
(Self)
Notes
Clapperclaw Melee 1,2,3,4 1,2,3,4 102.5% 9% 4-7 Tray afflicted.png Stress +10 Poptext buff.png Buff: +20 ACC, +5% CRIT,
+50% DMG, +3 SPD, +25% PROT

* Summoning will occur whether the ability lands or not.

Strategy

The Shambler is easily more dangerous than most bosses. It is best to finish the quest first before summoning the Shambler as the party will likely be in very poor condition afterwards. In the worst case, fleeing the Shambler encounter will cause the Shambler to replace all subsequent hallway battles, making the quest nigh impossible to complete.

The party will likely get shuffled multiple times during the fight. The fight always begins with an ambush, forcing party members to waste some turns getting back into position. Stentorious Lament may also shuffle the party again during combat. It is recommended to bring rank-flexible heroes or heroes with movement skills. Another tactic is to rearrange the party in its worst possible configuration prior to fighting the Shambler—this way any shuffle will strictly improve the party's positioning.

A Tentacle is extremely dangerous if left alive: while it has relatively low HP, its attack, Clapperclaw, greatly buffs its PROT, DMG, and ACC every turn. Unlike the Shambler, which deals a small amount of damage to the entire party each turn, Tentacles deal heavy damage to a single target, prioritising heroes with Mark Mark. The Shambler will resummon a Tentacle after it is killed, so the party must spend actions every round dealing with the Tentacles while also trying to kill the Shambler at the same time.

The Shambler has a few weaknesses. Because its attacks always hit the entire party, Riposte Riposte becomes a highly efficient source of damage. A Highwayman or Man-at-Arms can alternate turns between setting up Riposte and dealing with Tentacles.

Both the Shambler and its Tentacles have high PROT, so Bleed Bleed and Blight Blight are effective. Damage over time effects have an additional benefit due to turn order: since the Shambler is very slow, it will usually act last, re-summoning any Tentacles killed that round. However, because damage-over-time effects kill the Tentacle on its turn, the Tentacles are still alive when the Shambler acts, meaning that the Shambler will not summon any new ones, and existing Tentacles will die harmlessly at the beginning of the next round. This can save the party many valuable actions.

Likewise stuns are extremely effective. Stunning the Shambler on the first round buys the party time to move back into position, and stunning a Tentacle gives the party more time to deal with it.

Note that both the Shambler and its Tentacles have high resistances, so Trinkets are required for stuns, Bleed Bleed, and Blight Blight to be effective.

Certain area-of-effect attacks like Rake or Hew can deal enough burst damage to kill Tentacles before they become a threat.

Mark Mark compositions are especially effective at bursting down the Shambler, especially using the Houndmaster's Target Whistle.

Shambler Tentacles, like most boss minions, disable stall penalties, so a properly prepared party can stall effectively against them. Stuns can be used to prolong the battle while preventing the Tentacles from attacking; not to mention, the Tentacles' self-buff increases their PROT, giving the party even more time to heal.[1]

Shambler Hunting

Players may choose to hunt the Shambler in order to acquire its Ancestral Trinkets. The chance of any given hallway curio being a Shambler's Altar is quite rare, around 1% to 1.5% depending on the region:

Region Chance
Ruins 1/79 (1.27%)
Weald 1/79 (1.27%)
Warrens 1/76 (1.32%)
Cove 1/66 (1.52%)

Based on these numbers, the Cove seems to be the best location for Shambler hunting; not to mention the high proportion of Eldritch enemies makes it efficient to equip trinkets and skills that grant bonuses against Eldritch. Note, however, that this does not take into account the average size of each dungeon, the number of hallway curios generated, or other strategic considerations like the chosen party's strength in a particular region.

Team Selection

Preferred Heroes

  • Abomination - Can easily kill Tentacles with Rake due to his high damage and speed. This allows the other three heroes to focus on Shambler, making the fight much easier.
  • Crusader - A very rank-flexible character—Smite, Stunning Blow, and Holy Lance enable the Crusader to deal high damage or stun every single turn. He can also heal or stress heal from any position with Battle Heal or Inspiring Cry.
  • Man-at-Arms - Rampart can be used to reposition in case of a bad shuffle and Retribution can deal damage with Riposte Riposte.
  • Highwayman - Duelist's Advance is the skill to use here, as it enables Riposte Riposte and repositions the Highwayman. Open Vein can also clear out Tentacles fairly quickly.
  • Houndmaster - Cry Havoc can keep the whole party's stress low. Hound's Harry is also great for spreading minor Bleeds across the Shambler and its Tentacles. He can Mark the Shambler and apply a huge -Prot debuff to allow himself and others to deal massive damage.
  • Occultist - Hands from the Abyss has an extremely high stun chance, and when paired with Demon's Cauldron, the Occultist is one of the best heroes to stun the Shambler or its Tentacles. Not to mention, the usual downside to using the skill, reducing the light meter, is irrelevant here. While he usually doesn't deal much damage on his own, his Mark Mark and other debuffs can help his teammates kill the Shambler much more efficiently.
  • Grave Robber - Lunge and Shadow Fade can arrange your party against the Shambler's shuffle. Pick to the Face can severely damage a Tentacle through its PROT buffs.
  • Exclusive to The Shieldbreaker DLCShieldbreaker - Perfectly at home with movement. Impale can tag the Shambler and its Tentacles with Blight all at once and Pierce will bypass any PROT the Tentacles might have stacked. You can also prepare for the fight with her Armor Piercing camp buff.

Reasonable Choices

  • Antiquarian - Since the nature of the fight with the Shambler tends to be long, Invigorating Vapours will allow your party to dodge attacks with ease, whereas having Get Down! will allow you to very quickly place the Antiquarian in the backlines again, while also providing a formidable boost to her Dodge and Speed, allowing you to quickly rebuff the party with Invigorating Vapours once more.
  • Arbalest/Musketeer - Can be out of position, but can get to the back with a single action. Mark is extremely effective, since it can deal huge amounts of quick burst damage. The Mark will also last fairly long due to shambler only having 1 action.
  • Bounty Hunter - Can be out of position when shuffled to Rank 4, but a preshuffle can fix this issue very reliably. His Mark can cut away Shambler's PROT and allow the team and himself to deal huge amounts of burst damage.
  • Jester - Battle Ballad is a huge offensive boost, but Jester doesn't provide much in addition to that. His only option to move back is Finale, which can often make the fight a lot worse due to the debuffs it applies.
  • Plague Doctor - Since a lot of damage comes from Blight and Bleed, Battlefield Medicine can remove them and keep the party together. However, she can't heal while in the front, and has little in the way of repositioning. But her strong Blight DoT can still deal good damage to the Shambler and it's Tentacles.
  • Hellion - She can use Breakthrough to recover, but that's usually a worse idea than simply walking forward due to the debuff. If it Bleeds can be used from Rank 1-3, so she can usually still contribute to the fight, even if she isn't in the front ranks.
  • Exclusive to The Crimson Court DLCFlagellant - Can easily recover from shuffles in a single step to the front and his bleeds can bypass PROT stacks across enemies. Good emergency heals and Stress relief, too. His Regeneration from Reclaim can also prevent Deaths from the DoT Shambler applies frequently.

Discouraged Heroes

These heroes usually have limited position function and can be crippled by shuffles.

  • Leper - Powerless if forced to the back, and has to trudge forward one square at a time.
  • Vestal - Loses access to healing skills if she's shuffled into the front. However Divine Comfort can still be used in Rank 2 and can save any heroes from Deathblow to DoT.

Ancestral Trinkets

The primary reason to hunt down the Shambler is to acquire the unique Ancestral-rarity trinkets. Every time the Shambler is defeated, it will drop one of the five trinkets below, until all the trinkets have been acquired, at which point it will drop gems instead. Trinkets are dropped regardless of the Shambler's difficulty level, so it is usually preferable to hunt Apprentice- and Veteran-level Shamblers if that is the goal.

Ancestor's Map Ancestor's Bottle Ancestor's Candle Ancestor's Tentacle Idol Ancestor's Scroll
Ancestor Map.png Ancestor Bottle.png Ancestor Candle.png Ancestor Idol.png Ancestor Scroll.png
  • +25% Trap Disarm Chance
  • +25% Scouting Chance
  • +10% Stress
  • +25% MAX HP
  • +50% Food Consumed
  • +10% Stress
  • +15% DMG if Torch above 50
  • +2 SPD if Torch above 50
  • +5 DODGE if Torch above 50
  • +10% Stress
  • +20% Virtue Chance
  • +8% Death Blow Resist
  • +25% Healing Skills
  • +25% Stress Skills
  • +10% Stress


Related Enemies

Wandering Bosses

Gallery

Trivia

  • In the early access and the original release the Shambler left a normal Corpse after it was killed instead of a large one, despite it taking up 2 Ranks during a fight.
  • As evidenced by its corpse, the Shambler has purple blood.
  • The Shuffling Horror, the boss from the first Darkest Dungeon quest, "We Are the Flame," is a stronger, corrupted version of the Shambler. This version does not summon tentacles, but instead has another unit guarding it.
  • The Shambler features in two Journals that can be found in the game. The first, "Journal of Darius, Highwayman", ends with Darius' party being ambushed and slaughtered by a Shambler. The other one, "The Blackest of Fates", documents the fate of a party whose occultist, "thrice damned Mizir", activated a Shambler Altar and unleashed a Shambler upon everyone.
  • As of the Inhuman Bondage update, the Shambler will physically drag the party into another dimension. The area resembles a violet galaxy and functions the same as Pitch Black.
  • The name "Shambler" likely comes from the "Dimensional Shambler", one of HP Lovecraft's creations. The Dimensional Shambler is a creature that comes from another dimension and attacks its prey by using a form of hypnosis to make the victim believe they've been dragged into another plane of existence. However the appearance of the Shambler does not match the description given of the Dimensional Shamblers, as they are mostly humanoid. Rather the Shambler's appearance closely resembles the description given of the Shoggoth, said to be "vaster than any subway train— a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming.[2]"
  • Another reference to Lovecraft is when the narrator calls it a "Star-Spawned horror." In Lovecraft's work the Star Spawn are another name for the Cthulhi, which are spawn of the Great Old One Cthulhu, one of the central beings of Lovecraft's mythos.
  • The word "Obdurous" in "Obdurous Advancement" does not exist, the actual word is "Obdurate", meaning "stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing".

See Also

References

  1. An example of stalling against Shambler Tentacles may be found in this thread. A video of the Shambler fight and subsequent stalling can be found here.
  2. H. P. Lovecraft, At The Mountains of Madness


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Roaming / Event Shambler Collector Exclusive to The Crimson Court DLCFanatic Exclusive to The Color of Madness DLCThing from the Stars Shrieker Brigand Vvulf
Boss Minions Cauldron Brigand Matchman Shambler Wilbur Drowned Anchorman Shrieker's Nest Barrel O' Bombs
Exclusive to The Crimson Court DLCCourtyard Baron Viscount Countess Crocodilian Garden Guardian
Exclusive to The Color of Madness DLCFarmstead Miller Fracture Sleeper
Contains spoilers for the Darkest DungeonDarkest Dungeon
Spoilers
Shuffling Horror Templar Impaler Templar Warlord Mammoth Cyst Ancestor Heart of Darkness