Defiant Gouge

Defiant Gouge
Using a Shrine summons enemies nearby.
Using a Shrine summons enemies (stronger per stack) nearby. Scales over time.
Rarity	Lunar
Category	Utility AIBlacklist
Stats
Stat	Value	Stack	Add
Enemy Difficulty	40%	Linear	+40%

The Defiant Gouge is a lunar item in Risk of Rain 2.

Whenever the holder activates a Shrine or Cleansing Pool, the Defiant Gouge summons enemies (more enemies per stack), much like a Shrine of Combat would. Shrines that can be activated multiple times will spawn enemies for each activation.

Notes

• Stacking this item will cause the summoned enemies to be more powerful and/or numerous, as though the difficulty were higher. This also means that those enemies are worth more gold and EXP when they die.
  • If playing with the Artifact of Sacrifice, this item can be used to acquire items more easily, as higher difficulty enemies also have higher chances to drop items. However this strategy is inherently limited by the amount of shrines one can find in any given stage.
• Just like Shrines of Combat, the difficulty scaling of the enemies spawned by this item is based on the difficulty when the player enters the level, not when the shrine is activated.
• Be careful when trying to get rid of this item through a Cleansing Pool while having multiple stacks or multiple lunar items, as every use that doesn't entirely remove this item will spawn enemies. This scenario can be particularly problematic if the stage happens to feature a Family Event, especially the Survivors of the Void - DLC Content
  This content is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
  Click for more info.Void Barnacle
  HP: 225 (+68 per level)
  Damage: 6 (+1.2 per level)
  Class: Ranged
  Speed: 0 m/s
  Armor: 0 Survivors of the Void - DLC Content
  This content is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
  Click for more info.Void Devastator
  Destroyer of WorldsHP: 2800 (+840 per level)
  Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
  Class: Ranged / Self-Destruct
  Speed: 8 m/s
  Armor: 20 Survivors of the Void - DLC Content
  This content is part of the Survivors of the Void DLC. It is only available if the DLC is enabled when starting a run.
  Click for more info.Void Jailer
  HP: 2200 (+660 per level)
  Damage: 14 (+2.8 per level)
  Class: Ranged / Self-Destruct
  Speed: 7 m/s
  Armor: 0 Void Reaver
  HP: 1900 (+570 per level)
  Damage: 12 (+2.4 per level)
  Class: Ranged / Self-Destruct
  Speed: 6 m/s
  Armor: 0 Void Family Event.
• The Defiant Gouge will stop working after the difficulty gets too high per amount of item, similar to Shrines of Combat, because of the extreme cost of each enemy that needs to be spawned. See Directors for more.

Lore

Excerpt from the folk tale “Hymn of Aphocles”:

“...The statue had been carved to the artist’s creative vision. Beautiful and powerful, its mighty marble visage shone as radiantly as the moon. However, the common folk did not share the artist’s vision. Declaring the statue imperfect, a single laborer took up his gouge and defiled the work, shaping it to his own selfish ideas of beauty.

Admiring his own work, the laborer confidently claimed that he had increased the beauty of the art tenfold. However, the artist did not hear these words. The artist felt only rage, rage at the laborer who had defiled his masterpiece, and rage at the common folk who lauded the laborer as a hero.

And just as the laborer did not recognize the beauty of the untouched statue, so too did the laborer fail to recognize the shards of marble constricting around his leg.”

Version History

Anniversary Update

• Major Content
  • Added New Lore Entry: Defiant Gouge
• Gameplay Changes
  • 🌧 Monster Spawn Points: 100 (+100 per stack) ⇒ 40 (+40 per stack)
    Developer Notes: A single Gouge would spawn way too many monsters. Now, having 1 or 2 Gouges should be a reasonable option.

Early Access Content Update 5

• Major Content
  • Added New Lunar Item: Defiant Gouge

Gallery

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  Concept Art