Salmonsnake
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Warning! Spoilers ahead!
Proceed at your own risk! |
The Salmonsnake is a boss encounter in Fear & Hunger.
Lore
The Salmonsnake is an ancient creature that resides in underground waterways. Its resemblance is somewhat like a gigantic axolotl with a fish-like head. Similar to species like the anglerfish, it seemingly hides and relies on bait to ambush its prey. Numerous human legends refer to this beast; the northern warrior tribes of Oldegård are known for crafting runes that purportedly contain the essence of a Salmonsnake's soul, granting their wielders hardened skin. The creature's meat is celebrated for its rich, flavorful grease, retaining its appeal even when consumed in its raw state.
Location
The Salmonsnake is hidden in Level 5 - Mines, locked behind a door in a room filled with a large pile of water and several rotting corpses. Underneath the water, an object shines. Should the player decide to reach for it, the Salmonsnake will suddenly appear out of the water and approach the party, initiating an inescapable battle.
Defeating the Salmonsnake yields generous rewards for the player: it leaves behind the Stone crown—an item enabling a non-hostile approach to obtaining the Cube of the Depths from the Cavedwellers. Skinning it with a Skinning knife results in x6 Salmonsake meat, each restoring 30 Hunger. However, the most coveted prize may be the Salmonsake soul, obtainable using a Soul stone on its body. One of the best accessories in the game, the Salmonsnake soul significantly simplifies battles, especially solo encounters, by preventing limb loss, Bleeding, Infected arm/leg, Critical state, and Burning. Notably, equipping it outside of battles also heals Bleeding and Infected arm/leg, making Cloth fragments and Green herbs redundant.
Battle
| Body Part | HP | Blunt | Slashing | Piercing | Fire | Otherwordly | Ev. Rate | Magic Ev. | Resistances |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Head | 1200 | 100% | 100% | 120% | 100% | 100% | 5% | None | Blindness, Confusion |
| Torso | 1250 (5000) | 5% | None | ||||||
| Left arm | 800 | 5% | None | ||||||
| Right arm | 800 | 5% | None | ||||||
| Eye | 150 | 40% | 40% | ||||||
| Tongue | 500 | 5% | None |
- Note: HP in parenthesis is only used for Damage-over-Time calculations.
Strategy
Its eyeball can be destroyed which causes the Salmonsnake to reduce the chance of attacking from 50% to 25% per arm. Once blinded, it's inadvisable to dismember both of the arms, as its head is unaffected by the blindness and will Headbutt every turn, so it's better to only destroy one arm. Note that if the character gets hit by the Smash attack, there will be a chance to get stunned from it.
The Salmonsnake will extend its tongue every turn, becoming fully extended after 2 turns where it will use an insta-kill coin flip. The player can damage the tongue to make it retreat back into the mouth and will recover its health each time it changes extension.
The player can offer a cave gnome egg to make it skip 2 turns, however it should be noted that offering cave gnome eggs every 2 turns will not work and it will still attack. Therefore if the player wants to use cave gnome eggs, they should either use them every turn or every 3 turns.
Dialogue
In combat:
- If talked to:
- You try talking some sense to this monstrosity...
- Offer Gnome egg (Available if the player has a Gnome Egg in their inventory.)
- The salmonsnake is busy eating the egg. (+Two-turn Stun)
- Player: "..." (Available if the player does not have a Gnome Egg in their inventory.)
- The salmonsnake is making gurgling noices.
- Player: "Please don't!"
- The salmonsnake doesn't appear to understand your pleads.
- Player: "Prepare to die."
- The salmonsnake staring at you with it's empty fish-gaze.
- If blinded:
- Without it's eyes, the salmonsnake struggles to sense you!
Trivia
- By using the spell Walk on Water, the player can cross the water that the Salmonsnake pops out of, heading to a hidden location containing Lizardman and Nosramus's second laboratory.
- The Salmonsnake's name is a literal translation of the name in Suomi/Finnish, Lohikäärme, the lohi prefix meaning 'salmon' and the käärme suffix meaning 'snake'. The actual translation of the name into English would be 'dragon'. In comparison to the size of the player character, it is quite accurate.