Hesk

Paid a penny a tail. Then the rats grew. Shoots from afar. Poison spreads through the pack.

Skill: Venom Bolt

Venom Bolt2

Deal 100% of power + arcana, piercing armor, and apply 4 poison.

Your power plus arcana, all of it past armor, then 4 poison. Poison ticks each time the enemy acts for 12% of your power plus arcana per stack, and never wears off in that battle. Like every skill it costs mana only: it has no cooldown and does not end your turn.

Passive: Contagion

Strikes apply 1 poison. A poisoned enemy that dies passes half its poison to the others.

Every strike that lands adds 1 poison, and poison stays all battle. When a poisoned enemy dies, each of the others takes half of its poison, rounded up, so a pack poisons itself as it falls.

Specialization: Deadeye

Strikes +25% pierce. Crits apply 3 poison.

Pierce sends a share of each strike's power round armor; Deadeye adds 25% to his own 10%. Every crit adds 3 poison as well.

A specialization replaces the passive; you play one or the other. Hesk's opens when Hesk's own best floor is 20 or deeper, and you switch it in the hero's details at hero select. The Daily Descent and the Season Descent always use the base passive.

Base stats

Hesk starts every run with +20 health, +3 armor, +2 power, +1 arcana, +8% crit chance, +50% crit damage, +10% pierce, +3 mana, a Rusty Shortsword and 30 gold (more with the Endurance trial or the Pilfered Crown). Everything else comes from gear. What each number does is on the stats page.

Good with

Hero select names three sets that suit Hesk. Any hero can wear any set; these are a starting point.

Ratcatcher Poison the pack.

2Strikes apply 1 poison.
3+30% damage to poisoned enemies.
5Enemies with 5 or more poison are weakened.

Warden Break their guard.

2+20% pierce.
3Strikes shred 25% of the target's current armor.
5The first time an enemy's armor breaks, it is stunned.

Duskfang One perfect cut.

2+15% crit chance.
3+100% crit damage.
5Crits execute enemies below 20% health.

What the bosses say

Each boss has one line kept for Hesk, said once, at the start of a fight.

Boss	The line
The Tallyman	The ratcatcher. A penny a tail, and never once my cut. I have it all written down.
The Rat King	Ratcatcher. A penny a tail, you said. Here are ours. Come and count them.
The Old Sow	Ratcatcher. Every penny a tail you were paid ended up in me. Thank you for saving.
Mother Brine	Drowned rats sink down to me, ratcatcher. I keep every one.
The Drowned Organ	Ratcatcher. Drowned rats nest in my pipes. Each one holds a note.
The Hermit	Ratcatcher. Your drowned rats float down to me. I eat well.
Avarax	You killed my rats for pennies. I am worth a great deal more than pennies.

Unlocking Hesk

While locked, hero select says: "Slay 100 Gnawers to unlock." Slay 100 Gnawers, the vault's rats, on the battles you win. A free descent to floor 10 kills about eleven, so he comes in the free game. The Gnawers are counted on every battle won, a Daily Descent's too but not a seed-code run's, and he joins you when a normal run ends.

Play Gold BelowThe first ten floors are free. No ads, and it plays offline.

Written from the game's own rules, version 2.17.0. Spotted something wrong? Tell us on Discord.