Ancient Herald

The Ancient Herald is a pseudo-hostile Boss Monster in Don't Starve: Hamlet. It spawns indefinitely during the Aporkalypse. 
Upon death, it drops 5 Dark Tatters, 2-3 Nightmare Fuel, and a Blueprint for the Vortex Cloak.
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== Behavior ==
The Ancient Herald will rise from the ground somewhere on the player's screen a short time after the Aporkalypse begins and every few days thereafter. It will slowly pursue the player, losing interest if the player gets far enough away. It is neutral after that point, not attacking the player unless provoked. If the player returns to the Ancient Herald, it will not be aggressive unless attacked.
It attacks by diving into the ground, emitting a shockwave that destroys structures and damages nearby enemies, setting them on fire similar to the Iron Hulk Head or Leg. In addition, it will periodically cast an incantation, summoning various creatures and attacks to help it. Each Ancient Herald seems to 'prefer' certain summons over others, casting them far more often than it does any other.
* 4 to 5 Ancient Spirits.
* 2 to 4 Nightmare Creatures.
* 1 to 3 Dragoon Eggs, that leave Lava Pools.
* 9 to 20 Poison Dartfrogs in a circle around the player.
== Hunting ==
The easiest and quickest way to defeat this boss is to wear armor in both the torso and head slot and attack it until it is dead. Due to its relatively low hp it will most likely only summon one wave of creatures before dying unless the player is playing as a character with a damage penalty such as Wendy or Wes. If the summoned wave is anything other than frogs it is recommended that the player just ignore the wave and continue attacking the Ancient Herald until it is dead.
Attempting to kite the boss is not recommended because the player will only be able to land 1-2 hits before having to take out an entire wave of mobs.
When engaging the target, there are a few things to keep in mind. It always spawns near you, and other monsters do not attack it. It is not recommended to fight the Ancient Herald in an area that you traffic often, as there will be many summoned creatures left over, or near your base, as he will destroy and burn down everything even when outside combat.
The Poison Dartfrogs will empty your inventory and put you in a stun lock. It is nigh-impossible to kite them, so simply run away and let them lose interest. Put a stack of an easily acquirable material (Cut Grass, Twigs) in the leftmost slot of your inventory to not lose any important gear. Alternatively, if an Ancient Herald appears to 'favor' Poison Dartfrogs as a summon, it may be best to leave it behind and find another Herald to fight.
The nightmare creatures will chase you down, and he will often summon multiple Terrorbeaks. The shadow creatures are not immune to the Ancient Herald's attacks and will teleport away when hit.
The Ancient Spirits are slow, and will often die to the Herald's AOE attack. They are easily distracted by other mobs, but if not distracted, will constantly harass you.
The Dragoon Eggs are subtle, but if the Herald does his summon animation and no monsters instantly spawn, then Dragoon Eggs will rain down from the sky. The player can dodge them but if the player is wearing an armor in both the torso and head slot then it is recommended to just tank the Eggs and continue attacking the Ancient Herald.
== Trivia ==
* The appearance of the Ancient Herald is similar to the one of the two ancients mentioned in Metheus Puzzles.
* The Ancient Herald's summons are references to some of the 10 Plagues of Egypt in the Book of Exodus; Ancient Spirits being death, Nightmare Creatures being darkness, Dragoon Eggs being a thunderstorm of hail and fire, and Poison Dartfrogs being a plague of frogs.
**The spawning of Poison Dartfrogs may also be a humorous reference to players' general dislike of Frogs (due to their long attack range, ability to make players drop items, players' inability to block/destroy their spawners, the large groups they spawn in and their seemingly random agro), with large numbers of them spawning being a part of 'the end of the world'.
*The red cloth and shadowy body resemble creatures and items born from the Shadow Rifts in Don't Starve Together.
== Gallery ==
Art Stream 73 Ancient Herald.png|The Ancient Herald as seen in a drawing from Art Stream # 73.
=== Animations ===
ancient_spirit_ancient_spirit_idle_downside.thumb.gif.15d95b45c9d8ebdbadf2eadd933480c3.gif|The Ancient Herald's idle animation.
ancient_spirit_ancient_spirit_walk_loop_downside.thumb.gif.6a6dbed26540d19a5cd72e031b4e2853.gif|The Ancient Herald's walking animation.
taunt.thumb.gif.c4d24595d10ef236d6e2442738d5cf63.gif|The Ancient Herald's taunt animation.
ancient_spirit_ancient_spirit_summon.thumb.gif.cc9cadb2cc5813c71c9ce83c498e18af.gif|The Ancient Herald's summoning animation.
ancient_spirit_ancient_spirit_hit_downside.thumb.gif.a05e0f9d6063ff519437f26b8d99212d.gif|The Ancient Herald's hit animation.
ancient spirit death7.gif|The Ancient Herald's dying animation.
Category:Boss Monsters
Category:Hostile Creatures
Category:Sanity Loss
Category:Area of Effect