Crow Mauler

The Crow Mauler is a notoriously difficult, semi-optional boss in Fear & Hunger.

Lore
"'He was set on purifying the dungeons from filth and deprivement. Little did he know that he would become of the black himself.' -The New Gods"Before he became known exclusively as the Crow Mauler, he was a man from the Kingdom of Rondon called Rudimer, and had the rank of Captain in the army of Rondon. He became captain of the wretched dungeons known as the Dungeons of Fear and Hunger.

In 1590, the madness from the ancient catacombs, where the dungeons were built on top of, spread throughout the dungeons. Some might even suspect that the current plague going on in Rondon came from the catacombs and the dungeons themselves. And so, with renewed determination, Captain Rudimer set out to purify the dungeons of the filth and depravity infesting the halls. Little did he know of how much of an impossible task this was.

The supplies and logistics needed for this endeavor was dwindling faster than what he had imagined. He went to the underground city of the Cavedwellers and traded a bizarre artifact for food and supplies (the bizarre artifact being the Cube of the Depths). Later on, he lost his mind to the darkness, and he ran into the dungeons, wearing nothing but a sheet of cloth and having feverish dreams of crows. Now he wanders the hallways, purging them of anything still breathing. Captain Rudimer was no more.

Locations
The Crow Mauler guards the crow bed, which is likely the first bed the player will run into in the dungeon of fear & hunger. Sleeping in the bed for the first time is safe, but attempting to sleep the second time will trigger a coin flip. Failing this coin flip makes the Crow Mauler appear at the player's bedside and engage in an unescapable battle. The bed is only safe to rest on after the Crow Mauler is dead.

The Crow Mauler also starts slowly chasing the player after entering the Mines or the Thicket, suddenly appearing near room exits. The player is always alerted with the message "A terrifying presence has entered the room" and an eerie sound effect when The Crow Mauler enters the area. If Le'garde is found alive and joins your party, the Crow Mauler will become much more aggressive in pursuit and can show up on any level of the dungeon. In one of the map layouts, The Crow Mauler can be seen beforehand in the Level 1 Dungeons within the area where Trortur resides, standing behind large bars down the hallways leading to the Blood Pit. Interacting with The Crow Mauler in this part will only give the message: "There is something waiting for you on the other side of the bars...".

There's a stronger, double-headed version of the Crow Mauler that can be encountered in the Level 9 Gauntlet. It appears to have the same attacks and behavior than the original Crow Mauler but you'll have to cut both of his heads in order to kill him since destroying his torso is almost impossible due to his very high HP.

Strategy
The Crow Mauler is one of the most difficult opponents in the game as he has a very high HP pool, possesses an insta-killing attack, and deals massive damage coupled with very dangerous status effects. It is not advised to engage him unless the player is ready to take him out quickly enough and/or has enough party members.

The Crow Mauler has two main attacks - Peck and Maul, and a less frequent attack, Flock of crows.

Maul is his standard attack, done using his mace-wielding arm, which inflicts the broken bones status effect while also doing heavy damage.

Peck will peck attacked party member's head, insta-killing them. This attack makes him notorious for being able to wipe an entire party, one-by-one, in just a few unlucky rounds. Targeting the Crow Mauler's head with a Red Vial item in battle will Blind him, making his Peck attack miss. However, if you Run from battle and reengage him after, he will no longer be Blind.

Flock of crows seems to occur at random and causes the blindness effect (which, if inflicted upon the player character, makes your screen turn completely black for the remainder of the playthrough). Having strong head armor reduces the chance of this attack working, and the Iron Mask prevents it entirely. Dismembering his human arm will stop him from using the spell.

The most effective way to get rid of the Crow Mauler is to aim for his head as the massive HP pool of the body makes him practically invincible. The head is very difficult to hit however, therefore saving up on items like throwing knives and throwing darts and learning offensive spells seems to be the best way to get rid of him without heavy losses.

It is also worth noting that the Crow Mauler is immune to out-of-battle damage: arrows will not harm him and bear traps will only hold him still, giving the player more time to escape.

Loot
The crow mauler has no random loot but carries the Crow emblem key, which allows the player to access the Crow Mauler room and obtain Miasma.

Using a soul stone on his corpse will give you the Crow Mauler soul (*1.3 Attack multiplier).

Dungeon Nights
The Crow Mauler also appears in the Dungeon Nights easter egg game mode as one of the main characters in the plot.

Trivia

 * The character is seemingly inspired by Pyramid Head from the Silent Hill series. Both wear similar clothing, have a large weapon they wield, and their human head is covered (Pyramid Head has a large metal pyramid like cage covering his head, while the Crow Mauler has a head of a crow). Beyond that, the Mauler's potential early appearance standing ominously behind bars just north of Trortur's lair, is a direct visual recreation of Pyramid Head's iconic first-ever series appearance doing the same in the hallway just outside room 208 in the Woodside Apartments.