Bellower

Attack
 Passive

## Background

**Bellower**, the *"Immortal"*, is a Dredge of gigantic size, almost four times as large as a normal human, clad in an ominous crimson-colored armor. He is one of the most powerful Sundr, the demi-god Champions of the Dredge race, serving as a general of the armies invading the Varl lands in the first part of *The Banner Saga*. He was the mate of the Sundr **Raze** and fathered a child with her.

## Recent Events

#### The Banner Saga, Part 1

After laying waste on Grofheim, Bellower speeds the power of the Dredge host towards Einartoft where he besieges the ancient Varl stronghold. Iver's stand on the monumental bridge barely stops him from crossing, before the Serpent appears and causes Bellower to pull back. This gives the Varl defenders enough time to strengthen their resolve and deny passage to the Dredge for a little while longer. Meanwhile, Rook's caravan departs striking for Sigrholm following the advice of Eyvind. There, they hope to meet Juno, a highly-ranked member of the Mender council, who is the only person that can help stop him. Bellower finally destroys Einarfotf and seemingly trails Rook's caravan to the fortified city of Boersgard, assuming command of the ongoing siege. Juno and a Varl warband led by Hakon, issued from Einartoft shortly before its fall, momentarily break the siege and make it into the city. Juno suggests that the **Silver Arrow** is the only way to stop Bellower and, executing this plan, the *Hero of Skogr* (Rook or his daughter, Alette) is killed in the fight that brings about the defeat of Bellower and the dispersion of the Dredge forces.

#### The Banner Saga, Part 2

After the siege of Boersgard is broken, Juno packages Bellower's dormant body (still pierced by the Silver Arrow) under complete secrecy in a large wooden crate, and magically seals it. She then hires the Ravens, the mercenary company under the command of Bolverk *Bloodaxe* that was garrisoned in Boersgard, to transport this wooden crate to the Blue River and cast it into its waters in order to rid the world from Bellower. Her plans go astray as *Bellower's Dream* slowly corrupts Bolverk's mind and finally drives him to Manaharr. There, he confronts Juno and Eyvind in a maniacal rage, accompanied by Zefr and tugging along Bellower's body. Iver is called to defeat the possessed Bolverk in single combat and thus decide the fate of Bellower.

If Bolverk is defeated, Juno tells Iver to bring along Bellower's body so they can throw him into the ocean called "The Vast". If Bolverk is victorious, he pulls out the Silver Arrow that pierced Bellower's armor in Chapter 15, causing Bellower to reawaken.

#### The Banner Saga, Part 3

If you lost the battle against Bolverk at the end of the previous game, it is revealed that Bellower is chasing after Iver and his party who are on their way to the White Tower. Krumr goes along with Bersi, Sigbjorn and Alfrun to distract him in Chapter 21. This results in the death of Krumr but he is unable to catch up to Iver's party. If you won instead, Bellower doesn't play any role and is only passingly mentioned, likely drowned in "The Vast" in-between the events of the two games.

## Stats and Abilities

Bellower is the mightiest unit of the game. Having a staggering 40 hit-points (20 Strength and 20 Armor) and a formidable active ability, he is practically invincible in a standard fight. He also has special passive abilities that require for very specific tactics in order to defeat him.

#### Passive Ability: Indomitable

In the first phase of the final battle, Bellower is practically invincible, meaning that his Strength will not drop below 5 (Protected). Moreover, at the start of each turn he Regenerates 6 Strength and 6 Armor points, so that he starts each turn at a minimum of 6ARM/11STR. Attacking him with the **Silver Arrow** terminates this phase of the battle.

The **Silver Arrow** is crafted from metal taken from Stravhs godstone. This magical attack helps Juno *convince* Bellower that he can be harmed and is the only way to defeat him. The Silver Arrow appears as an additional option alongside the normal active ability of the Hero bearing it, Alette or Rook, and requires 1 Willpower point to activate. It can only be targeted at Bellower and it can be loosed only when the *effective* Strength of the attack is higher than (not equal to) Bellower's Armor.

#### Passive Ability: Enraged

In the second phase of the final battle, Bellower's *Indomitable* passive is replaced by *Enraged*. Every time he receives Strength or Armor damage, he will retaliate immediately, effectively replacing his next-to-act Dredge ally in the Turn-Queue, in a manner similar to Forge Ahead. His Regeneration rate has now dropped to 1 Strength and 1 Armor point, at the start of each of his turns.

#### Active Ability: Quake and Despair

Bellower unleashes a mighty roar targeting one enemy unit at any range. The target unit cowers in despair and is Stunned on its next turn (unable to act: move, use ability or attack) while all other enemy units are pushed 3 tiles away from Bellower. Moreover, all enemy units (the target included) suffer 1 Strength and 1 Armor damage.

## Strategies

* In the first part of the final fight, ignore Bellower's bodyguards and focus only on breaking his Armor. This gives the bearer of the Silver-Arrow a chance to finish that part of the fight as soon as possible, minimizing ally knock-outs.
* In the second part of the final fight, Bellower will act immediately after any attack on his person. This, combined with his high Strength, means that he can knock-out all your units, one-by-one. Try using his bodyguards to block his path and attack him with ranged units.
* A Stonesinger accompanies Bellower in the second phase of the battle, at Hard and Normal difficulties. If it casts Umbrage, increasing Bellower's Strength by 3 points, then his Regeneration will then reach up to 23 Strength (not 20)!

#### Final Boss-Fight Bugs

Upon initial release, and after the first patch of the game, the final fight of the game against Bellower was plagued by a number of small bugs and inconsistencies:

* You do not have access to the Hero's regular active ability (Mark Prey for Rook, Thread the Needle for Alette) while bearing the Silver Arrow.
* The Silver Arrow requires 1 Willpower to be activated, even though patch notes say it doesn't.
* When the effective Strength of the Silver Arrow attack is exactly equal to Bellower's Armor (100% hit-chance), you can not attack him. Your Strength must be one point (or more) higher than his Armor.
* Sometimes the icon of the regular active ability of the Hero replaces the Silver Arrow icon. In this case, you cannot activate the ability with the mouse and user-interface. However, using the keyboard shortcut for active abilities, key **2**, bypasses this bug.
* Bellower unleashes one last fit of *Quake and Despair* when he is struck by the Silver Arrow at the end of the first phase. This means that if the Hero who carries the arrow is at 1 Strength, he will be killed leading to a game over.

## Notes

* Iver's stand against Bellower on the bridge of Einartoft, in the end of Chapter 4, is the only un-winnable battle of the game. As such, that defeat does not count for the Challenge achievement.
* Bellower makes a *guest star* appearance in the last battle (#40) of the Survival Mode offered in the second part of *The Banner Saga*. He has slightly reduced stats and a weaker version of the *Indomitable* passive ability: the Regeneration is the same (+6ARM/+6STR) but he is only Protected up to 1 Strength, similar to the Ring of the Wolf (Item).