They can still Guard and Riposte in rank 4, but the damage potential is still limited without access to Snakebite.ĭefeating the group of snakes brings great rewards, as they drop Aegis Scales when they die, as well as a Shieldbreaker-specific trinket and journal pages for the Shieldbreaker's story. Rattlers can be effectively disabled for a round by pushing them into rank 4, where they can only use use Slither Forward, a skill with very low damage and accuracy, in place of Snakebite.

Thankfully, it has a much lower crit chance than Pliskins, and lack the self-heal of the Adder, but it can still be a serious problem if it stacks enough bleed on a single target. The Rattler's main attack, Snakebite, does good damage and inflicts bleed, which may put heroes at a disadvantage if they are prepared more for blight attacks from the Pliskin or Adder. High health and decent Protection means that it will take a few turns to deal with them, so equipping the Shieldbreaker's Puncture ability before camping, or having reliable stuns available, is highly recommended to break its guard. The Riposte's damage is fairly low, but the guard can be dangerous as the Rattler can protect softer and more dangerous enemies like the Pliskin.

The Rattler's main strength is its ability to Guard and Riposte in one action. The Rattler prioritizes targets with lower bleed resistance (1.5x), as well as marked targets (2x). Its basic attack, Snakebite, deals a fair amount of damage as well as bleeding.

At the start of the fight, the Rattler will typically use Warning Rattle to guard one of its allies, and this move can be used once every 3 rounds.

Darkest dungeon wiki shieldbreaker