DarkHellion

It's body is a vessel for unnatural darkness.

The third tier of the ArchVile race. This guy is actually the orginal "ArchVile" arche type, and is a peculiar leftover of ancient Hell today. While they might share race and history with the common Exile; there are not many DarkHellions' left in Hell. The DarkHellions' - once a common race - were once in ancient past considered the "pure" and true beings of Void, whereas the then rare Exiles were considered unwanted mutations - a "too fleshy" aborration, with inferior powers given to them by the Void. In the beginning of times; these Exiles were cast out one by one - exiled - from the crude societies of Hellion past. However, a twist of fate turned things around for the Exiles - they grew more cunning; helped each other dominate new territory, and they expanded in numbers faster than the Hellions did. The DarkHellion - though stronger individually - were eventually overthrown as a race. A great war between the ancient Hellion race and the once exiled ArchVile sub-race ensued for eons, and the tipping point of it all, had the Hellion societies nearly wiped out - the remaining survivors scattering across the deepest, darkest and most inhospitable corners and cracks of Hell. In todays' Hell, the DarkHellion is not considered a threat by the common ArchVile' species, but is considered disgustingly impure and inferior - the counter opposite of the element of Fire, which they revere above the Void, possibly due to the ancient grudge against the Hellions. While the hatred still runs deep between the two diffrent races, they seem to get along - possibly due to having found a new mutual goal... for now.

The ancient DarkHellion was always tougher, and grew only tougher yet from the inhospitable living conditions that ensued. Now they are far more powerful than any other species of ArchVile - the pure Void energy literally overflowing and expelling from their beings.

See the Exile for some more history of the ArchVile species.

## Behavior

The DarkHellion behaves a whole lot like the vanilla ArchVile version, but he has gained the ability to periodically sprint at double speed - making him blisteringly fast, and that much more difficult to aim at.

The DarkHellion retains his influence over most other demons', allowing him to wipe the memory of demons at will. Monsters forget all about counterattacking against the ArchVile species.

The DarkHellion also retains his ability to ressurect any corpse of any species of Demon below him in rank. The DarkHellions' powers of Void are vastly beyond the common Exile, and with a single spell can resurrect multiple corpses in his nearby vicinity - reassembling dead demons with the power of Void, even those he's held a personal grudge against. He cannot ressurect other ArchViles, Cyberdemons' or SpiderMasterminds.

## Attacks

### Pure Void Blast

The DarkHellion prepares a supernatural spell that binds to the body of the recipient, and after about 2,1 seconds; if the target is still within sight of the Vile, the spell is released and the recipient combusts with a powerful blast of pure Void energy - dealing significant splash damage. When used on a human player; the player is also thrown about 4 feet into the air - higher than jump height - allowing them to perform some tricks to circumvent certain types of level design. The attack most often does between 81 and 84 damage to the main target, due to the position of the blast in relation to the target.

The Immolation Blast can not hurt other species of Vile, but its splash component can hurt surrounding demons around the main target.

#### Perfect Darkness

A few split seconds after the DarkHellion begins casting his spell; a Perfect Darkness effect binds to the recipient - smothering it by blocking almost all of his view, and dealing rapid health draining at roughly 12-18 damage per second. This effect can only be mitigated by quickly seeking cover behind a solid wall. Taking the full duration of this effect usually causes between 24 and 36 damage, allowing this Vile to always kill an unarmored player at full health, with just one single spell cast. This effect can in fact hurt other players and nearby demons.

### Mass Resurrection

Not an attack per se; but he uses this ability whenever he comes across the corpse of any eligible Demon. It works extremely fast, restoring up to 18 monsters in his nearby vicinity, in a circle around him, on the spot, back to full health in less than 2 seconds. The monsters have their memory wiped, and are immediately alerted to the players location. He constantly makes a check for surrounding corpses while he's running about; but does'nt actively go out of his way to resurrect corpses laying some distance away.

## Strategy

By themselves, in large open areas; a single DarkHellion is deadly to both newbies and experienced players. The first tip is to never get caught in the open with an ArchVile in the first place; as their spells are undodgeable, and only fizzle out if line of sight is broken in due time, and only by solid map walls. The DarkHellion is absolutely best dealt with as a first priority target due to his abilities; and preferably with potshots from around corners. Their extreme tolerance to pain; probably stemming from their religious acts, means these guys are difficult to disrupt. However, the SSG and Quad Shotgun are both excellent tools, that often scores a pain state for each point blank hit - allowing the player to focus fire a bit longer before needing to duck for cover. A BFG9500 for a guarenteed oneshot kill, is also an effective strategy to use on a DarkHellion. A DarkHellion has a huge healthpool and a shortened painstate, and chance on dying outright trying to force a kill is very high - even with a Quad Shotgun. It is best to just run for full cover when encountering one.

The ArchVile is a monster species that varies widely in difficulty considering skill of player, availability of cover and ofcourse arsenal; but the DarkHellion is especially heineous to all with his lingering Perfect Darkness effect. A player with low health - regardless of skill and good spots to cover behind - will find meeting this enemy an almost secured death sentence - barring extreme luck. In a way, the DarkHellion is a bit of a cheesy enemy - arguably unbalanced.

Specific to the ArchVile species; mines work quite well on them, as they have a 50% chance to enter pain state upon touching one. Throwing 2 or more in one spot makes him do this check for each unit; making it likely he will be delayed just long enough to let the mine(s) explode right under the Vile - causing big damage or death at 5+ mines. This is a good way to deal with those Viles you know where and when will pop up.

While he does drop an item that suggests he might regenerate hp, he does in fact not regen health.