Wake of Vultures

Stat
 Duration

The **Wake of Vultures** is an item in Risk of Rain 2.

Upon killing an Elite enemy, the holder gains that same Elite power for 8 seconds (*+5 seconds per stack*).

For more information on what powers each Elite type gives, see Elite Status Effects.

## Notes

* It is possible to gain every single Elite power at once.
* The Artifact of Honor makes this item more effective, with every kill granting the player an Elite power.
* Activating the  while holding the Wake of Vultures will *not* give any Elite effect, even if the Artifact of Honor is active.
* Be wary that this item may interfere with healing-based strategies, as killing an  or  Elite will temporarily replace half or all of the player's health with shields, respectively. Since shields cannot heal through normal means, this can be an unwanted nuisance for players who are in the fray often and require that healing to stay alive.
	+ However, getting the Overloading buff will also instantly grant 50% shield, even if the holder's current health is below 50% of its max. Similarly, getting the Perfected buff will turn the holder's health into shield and immediately grant 100% shield. In either case, when the effect ends, the holder is also healed for the amount of health originally turned into shields: 50% for Overloading and 100% for Perfected (regardless of how much or little shield the player had right before the effect expired). The  increases this post-buff restoration, but items like  and  are not affected.
* There is a bug involving this item and , which allows the shield to recharge instantly. This happens when a character kills a  enemy and the elite buff expires while Safer Spaces is still on . This is because when the elite buff expires it removes a stack of the cooldown debuff and when the timed debuff expires, it removes another stack, bringing the total number of stacks to -1. When that character is then hit and loses the , it will add one stack for the cooldown debuff, but since it will only be at 0 stacks and therefore "not present", the shields will be enabled on the next frame. When the cooldown debuff later expires, it will bring the debuff stacks to -1, conserving the corrupted state.
	+ There is a secondary bug involved here, where the shields behavior is not granted/removed when the character gains/loses the Voidtouched elite buff, but when there is a change in the character's inventory and it makes a check for the elite buff's existence. Therefore, the Safer Spaces shields must be on cooldown while the elite buff shields behavior is removed and not when the elite buff technically expires. Other than adding/removing/transforming an item in the character's inventory, an inventory change check can also be triggered when the character picks up an  orb. As such, the easiest way to trigger the bug is to hold Wake of Vultures, Safer Spaces, and Infusion. Note that holding an Infusion is an insufficient condition when the character has reached the max bonus health for the currently held stacks and the inventory change needs to be triggered by another method.
	+ This bug fixes itself when the character is revived, or advances to the next stage as all buffs are reset.
	+ Even though the character is impervious to most sources of damage, the shield technically goes on cooldown until the next frame, so if the character is hit by multiple sources of damage in the same frame, only the first one will be protected from the shields, while the rest will go through.
	+ A different way to trigger this same bug is to have the  steal  while it is on cooldown. When the player retrieves the item, they will gain the same instant recharge behaviour for the rest of the stage.

## Lore

```
Order: Unique Leather Belt
Tracking Number: 40***********
Estimated Delivery: 10/23/2056
Shipping Method:  High Priority / Biological
Shipping Address: Auckland, New Zealand, Earth
Shipping Details:

“The mind rules over its body from a fortress of bone, learning of the world around it through fleshy portals. The heart is just an extension of the body, which finds its root in your head.”

Somebody said this, I can’t remember who. Anyway, make sure to take great care of it. It’s incredibly rare.
```

## Version History

PC Patch v1.2.3
* (Undocumented) Wake of Vultures can now grant the  affix

Anniversary Update
* Major Content
	+ Added New Lore Entry: Wake of Vultures

## Trivia

* The **Wake of Vultures** is a reference to the Headhunter Belt in the ARPG Path of Exile, which has a similar appearance and effect.
	+ The order description is "Unique Leather Belt", which is the item type of the Headhunter.
	+ The tracking number "40\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*\*" is likely a reference to the required level to wear the Headhunter.
	+ The estimated delivery "10/23/2056" is a reference to Path of Exile's launch date, October 23, 2013
	+ The shipping address "Auckland, New Zealand, Earth" is the location of the studio Grinding Gear Games, which develops Path of Exile.
	+ The quote in the shipping details is a paraphrase of the Lore/Flavor text on the Headhunter item card.
	+ The closing remark "It's incredibly rare." is a reference to the rarity of the Headhunter in Path of Exile, with many players going to great lengths to hold one some day.
	+ The internal name is "HeadHunter"