Clay Dunestrider

The Clay Dunestrider is a new Boss Monster introduced in Risk of Rain 2. Being a Boss, the Clay Dunestrider may be encountered after initiating a stage's Teleporter Event. It can otherwise spawn naturally during higher difficulties.

Environments

 * Abandoned Aqueduct
 * Rallypoint Delta
 * Scorched Acres
 * Sundered Grove

Rolling Tar Balls
The Clay Dunestrider extends its legs to raise itself up, before dropping balls of clay out from the bottom of its pot. These balls quickly roll across the floor and home in on targets, exploding on impact.

These balls have a Proc Coefficient of 1.0.

Clay Pot Barrage
The lid on top of the Dunestrider's pot opens, and it launches 6 clay pots in the direction of its target, which explode on impact.

The pots aren't particularly accurate, but they're fired in quick succession and have a Proc Coefficient of 1.0.

Life-Draining Tendrils
After taking enough damage, the Clay Dunestrider plants itself into the ground and opens its lid. Tar tendrils will then latch onto all entities nearby - players and enemy monsters alike - and drag them towards the pot's center while slowly siphoning health from all affected entities. Once something is sucked into the pot, the Dunestrider will begin to siphon even more health from it, eventually killing the entity if they're unable to escape or outpace the siphoning.

The amount the Dunestrider heals is actually greater than what it siphons. In addition, it gains 200 extra armor during this attack, making it extremely difficult to kill until the attack is over.

Since this attack involves the boss healing itself, the Dunestrider is one of two enemies (the other being the ) that can properly be affected by the Malachite heal-negating effect, should the player obtain the corresponding Elite aspect equipment, or proc a Malachite ghost upon killing a Malachite enemy while holding the.

This move has a proc coefficient of 0.0.

Loot
Main Article: Mired Urn

If the Clay Dunestrider is the Teleporter Boss, there is a 15% chance for the Uncommon item (that drops as a reward for defeating the Clay Dunestrider) to be replaced by its Boss item, the.

Tips

 * Players with poor mobility and sub-par movement skills must avoid the Clay Dunestrider while it is attempting to heal itself. While players are generally able to maintain their distance from the Dunestrider if they backpedal, getting fully caught by the boss will result in them having to wait until the attack ends before they regain control of their movement - assuming they don't die beforehand.
 * If multiple Dunestriders are present and the player lacks mobility, it might be wise to focus one at a time. The pulling effect of Life-Draining Tendrils can stack, and with lesser movement, it can become inescapable.
 * It only takes a one or two movement items to be able to comfortably dodge both of the Clay Dunestrider's clay ball attacks, even at close range. If you've encountered one and don't happen to have any movement items, it's wise to stick to high ground to avoid the Rolling Balls attack. Be mindful, however, that simply standing atop a rock won't always protect the player from the attack; there are situations where the level geometry is just shallow enough to allow the balls to roll up and across them.
 * While the Dunestrider's life drain can be a source of frustration, it can also be an opportunity to inflict heavy damage upon the boss. Despite the large armor increase for the duration of the attack, the boss's health can still be whittled down if the party is proactive and makes an effort to kill all nearby monsters before the boss gets the chance to suck them in. This will greatly reduce the amount of health the Dunestrider ends up regaining.
 * If the party has a large number of crowd control items, such as or, it may be advantageous to allow a large number of monsters to be consumed before killing them all at once.

Trivia

 * The Clay Dunestrider may be related to the Clay Man, a Monster in the original Risk of Rain, who is also an unused Monster in Risk of Rain 2 code.
 * The pots thrown by the Clay Dunestrider does in fact look very similar to the Clay Man's pot, further establishing the relation.