Monsters of Dungeon Siege II: Broken World

The Gas Powered Games team introduces five new enemies you'll have to battle in the action RPG expansion pack

It's said that an overlord who possessed absolute control of magic itself ruled the first Age of Aranna until he met his demise in a cataclysmic battle that also saw the massed armies of the rebellion destroyed. For a millennium after this momentous event, the forces of the arcane moved freely to all who sought to use it. But then, driven by the clarion call of an ancient legacy, the flow reversed. At the location where the monumental clash had taken place so long ago, a new heir had arisen. Seeking to bring about a renewal of the past, he gained strength with each day, consuming those who submitted and eradicating any who attempted to resist. It seemed no one could prevent his ascendance, which would complete the circle and occasion the return of the former state of the world.

Picking up the story that played out from this dire scenario Dungeon Siege II: Broken World is Gas Powered Games' expansion pack released earlier this week. You managed to vanquish the evil Valdis, but unleashed a terrifying abomination held captive for 1,000 years. As a dark pall falls across the entire breadth of the land, you can opt to continue the adventure together with your companions from the sequel or recruit powerful new allies to your side. Choosing from a range of classes that includes two new additions, the Blood Assassin and Fist of Stone, you and your party must face and defeat hosts of monstrous horrors if you are to succeed in saving Aranna. Thanks to the team, we have the opportunity to learn about five examples in this feature prior to meeting them in the heat of battle.

Includes five exclusive screenshots

The Aranna you knew in Dungeon Siege II is drastically changed in Broken World. One year after the cataclysm that tore apart the world, people are still trying to put their lives and homes back together. If the massive cracks in the earth and the burnt forests weren't bad enough, the entire world is being overrun by monsters. But these aren't the mindless beasts and mischievous creatures you're familiar with - they are creatures and people that have been experimented on and modified in horrifying ways. They're strong, fearless and merciless. Before you can hope to defeat them, you'll have to discover where they're coming from...

Bound Skivers use their four arms to fill the air with deadly daggers. They are unequaled at ranged combat, though fortunately, they're extremely rare. It's possible they can only be created from the corpses of highly skilled rangers.

One of the major goals for Dungeon Siege II: Broken World was to revisit things that the player was familiar with from base game, but to show how they have been drastically changed by the cataclysm. We wanted our monsters to have interesting spells and special abilities to challenge players, and we wanted them to be viscerally scary and intense. The "bound" creatures are the final result of these desires. You can see all their stitched body parts and grafted metal plates in the screenshots below, but you'll have to play the game to see their gruesome actions. These are horrific monsters, and they're a ton of fun to fight.

Decaying Bound Taclak
Taclaks were once a mischievous tribal people that lived in the Aman'lu forest outside of the Elves' hometown. Decaying Bound Taclaks bear little resemblance to the Taclaks the Elves knew. They are afflicted with some disease, and though it gives them frenetic strength, their bodies are poisoned and falling apart. They are barely held together by the bandages that cover them.

However, the greatest danger is not from their strength or mindless brutality. When they're killed, their rotten blood spills out in a toxic cloud that poisons and dissolves everything it touches. Entire towns have been destroyed when a brave defender struck down a decaying Taclak, spilling its deadly blood over himself and his companions, and dooming them all.

Stitched Horror
These abominations are cruel mockeries of Elves. They've been stripped down and wear nothing but crude straps. Their feet and arms have been cruelly torn off and replaced with claws and half-giant arms, making them both terrifying and deadly. Metal plates have been grafted over their faces, erasing their former identities.

No Elf can look upon these horrors without weeping and losing hope. Every Elf that falls in battle against them is taken away to be turned in to a Stitched Horror himself, swelling their monstrous ranks. It's only a matter of time before the monstrous army grows large enough to overwhelm the Elves entirely.

Bound Skiver
The Bound Skiver is a horrifying fusion of Elf and Human. The upper of a Human is stitched to the lower body of an Elf after the latter's head has been removed, and the entire abomination is held together with leather straps. Bound Skivers use their four arms to fill the air with deadly daggers. They are unequaled at ranged combat, though fortunately, they're extremely rare. It's possible they can only be created from the corpses of highly skilled rangers.

It's unknown what is done with the Elf's head and the Human's lower body. They're most likely used for other 'projects'.

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