Burblespue Halescourge

## Description

**Burblespue Halescourge** is a Chaos Sorcerer Lord who accompanied Bödvarr Ribspreader to Helmgart and commanded the Chaos forces around the town. He is the boss at the end of the Halescourge mission, where the Heroes track him down to stop him from conjuring a plague mist that would completely cover Helmgart. A bloated and pestilent sorcerer, Burblespue is a difficult foe even on the easiest difficulty setting.

Burblespue's appearance is similar to the Blightstormer, though he is larger and has more intricate tattoos. He wears a spiked metal mask with three eye-holes and carries a staff and a spellbook, called the Gruestave and the Festertome. The rotting staff was harvested from the Blot Tree (which can be found in The War Camp), and the tome's pages are flayed skin, inked in diseased blood.

Burblespue was active in Reikland long before the invasion. He was the emissary who signed the pact with Clan Fester during *Vermintide 1*. He also commanded a secret cult active in Helmgart (and most probably Ussingen) in order to make preparations for the invasion. According to Franz Lohner, he is the same "fat bastard" that ordered the theft of his book collection in Ubersreik.

## Attacks

### Plague Wave

A moderate AoE attack and Burblespue's primary damage dealer, the Plague Wave is a conical, frontal attack that is split into three green magic copies that can be dodged. When hit by the Plague Wave, Heroes will take damage over time. This attack is unblockable.

### Pestilence Possession

This is a single target ranged attack. When Burblespue teleports to the upper level of the arena, he will send out small black swarms that track and envelop a Hero. If it hits it hinders him from moving or attacking, and deals damage over time. These swarms can be shot or stricken mid-air to destroy them. If a player is "possessed", simply perform a light attack on your ally to remove the effect. The player cannot stop a possession by blocking.

### Plague Storm

One of the two large AoE attacks Burblespue performs when returning to the ground floor of the arena. This attack is similar to the Plague Wave, but on a larger scale. Burblespue raises his hands and spawns a large amount of green copies of himself that spread out to every side of the arena, dealing damage if they hit players. Just like the Plague Wave, the copies are unblockable.

### Scourge Squall

This is a large AoE attack, and similar to the Blightstormer's Chaos storm. When Burblespue teleports back to the middle of ground floor, he will spawn a large green whirlwind that spans the majority of the room, leaving only the edges of the arena safe.

## Additional Mechanics

### Teleportation

Burblespue will teleport in a green flash to one of the four corners to the room after performing an attack. The teleport knocks players back and damages them, but the damages can be negated by blocking.

### Reinforcements

Rotbloods will spawn on the second floor and jump down into the arena, possibly including Savages and Maulers. Chaos Warriors may spawn on difficulty Champion and Legend.

## Strategy

* The space in which the heroes fight Burblespue Halescourge is pretty confined. Burblespue does several AOE attacks that deal damage over time, and the further away from him you are, the easier time you will have dodging and avoiding these attacks and mitigating the damage taken during the fight. Move around the outside of the arena into save to pick him off.
* As he keeps teleporting around the arena, it might be better to stick to a side and switch between ranged and melee weapons depending on whether Burblespue moves to your side of the arena or not.
* When he eventually teleports to the upper level, additional enemies will spawn. Melee characters should defend ranged characters from the horde, allowing ranged heroes to continue to deal damage to Burblespue during this phase.
* After clearing the spawned enemies, Burblespue always teleports back to the middle of the arena and either summons a Plague Storm or Scourge Squall. Be sure to move to the sides of the arena before this happens.
* The projectiles from Plague Wave and Plague Storm can be blocked by the wooden beams and crumbled walls on the sides of the arena.
* When Burblespue stands on the upper level, he can be damaged by melee characters standing directly below him (checked with Ironbreaker + two-handed axe/Grail Knight + two handed hammer)

## Trivia

* Halescourge's name has been the center of some mockery in the community. Some examples are *"Barbecue Halalswine", "Bulbasaur Houndoom"* and *"Belzebub Hailsatan"*. FatShark's own Patch Notes even acknowledge this (1.03, 1.04), calling him names such as *"Bunglesnatch Humbledink", "Blunderstunt", "Bubblespit Halleberry"* and *"Burgersnot"*.