Rotfiends


The rotfiend is another monster that spawns from mass death. When bodies are left to rot and fester after war, plague, or famine, they inevitably draw the attention of rotfiends. Rotfiends feed on all types of carrion but have a preference for human corpses and flesh. When packs of rotfiends become bold enough, they begin attacking living humans that pass through their territory. It is difficult to exterminate all of the rotfiends in an area due to their great resiliency. They’re best driven off by destroying their food supply, which means at the very least burning corpses that cannot be buried properly.

You encounter groups of rotfiends primarily in Chapter 2. They can be found in the mine tunnels around Vergen and swarming around the unburied corpses around the Kaedweni Camp. In Chapter 3, they’re in the sewers beneath Loc Muinne.

Rotfiends are best fought with light attacks, moving rapidly from target to target. When you deplete a rotfiend’s vitality, it seizes up briefly before exploding into a poisonous, flammable cloud of gas. This explosion does much heavier damage than any of a rotfiend’s usual attacks, so roll away from it. You may need to get clear of the entire rotfiend pack, as the explosion and fumes damage other rotfiends nearby. You sometimes see chain reactions of rotfiend explosions, which can work to your advantage if you’re not stuck in the middle of them. Rotfiends attack with a lunging, leaping motion, so never assume one is too far away to damage you. Oil your blade with necrophage oil to damage them more quickly. Bombs and traps are also useful for keeping swarms under control. To gain knowledge of rotfiends, read the book The Horrors of War: Rotfiends .

You can get five unique materials from defeating rotfiends, almost all of them worth keeping on hand. Necrophage blood and necrophage skin should be stockpiled, as they can be used to craft oil. Necrophage skin can also be used to craft leather and magic wraps. Necrophage eyes can be sold freely, as they aren’t required for crafting and contain vitriol, which is easily obtained from other sources. Necrophage teeth should be kept in storage until Chapter 3 or so, since they can be used to craft extra diamond dust if you need it. Rotfiend tongue has no crafting use and contains caelum, an alchemical substance you can obtain in other ways. So rotfiend tongues can be sold freely, though you may want to keep one in storage. You can substitute a rotfiend tongue for the harpy egg required to complete the quest An Encrypted Manuscript in Chapter 3.

Greater Rotfiends

The greater rotfiend is larger and stronger than common rotfiends, dealing more damage and able to soak up more damage, too. It also explodes when its vitality is depleted, but the explosion is more damaging and spreads a larger cloud of gas. It attacks using tactics similar to those of regular rotfiends, but its strength can make it very dangerous if it jumps you while you’re trying to deal with other members of the pack. Greater rotfiends are better fought with strong attacks rather than light attacks, so you can put them down more quickly.

Greater rotfiends thrive in cave environments and are primarily encountered there. Greater rotfiends do not roam the fields around the Kaedweni Camp in Chapter 2 but can be encountered in the camp cave and in the various caves and tunnels near Vergen. A lone greater rotfiend can be encountered in Chapter 1, in the cave you venture into in order to find ostmurk. This is the first rotfiend of any sort you encounter in the game.