DR. NOVA
- ELITE
- GOODCO HQ
DR. NOVA is a named elite on GOODCO HQ, a place of staff.
The cleanroom's lead, and keeper of the building's one honest fact: the engine part in the vault was never built by anybody here. GOODCO dug it out of the Sea of Tranquility in 1969, and has spent fifty years copying a machine that is not broken, only waiting.
The numbers
- BASE HEALTH170
- CONTACT DAMAGE18
- HITS EVERY0.70s
- SPEED18/s
- SIZE24 across
- CRIT CHANCE10%
- ABOVE THE HORDE+3 levels
- NOTICES YOU AT240
The monster at its baseline, before a venue has placed it. What it really fields on each difficulty is under “Where you meet it”.
Where you meet it
GOODCO HQ
It is placed by hand on GOODCO HQ and waits at its post until you come close.
| DIFFICULTY | LEVEL | HEALTH | DAMAGE | XP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EASY | 4 | 190 | 20 | 244 |
| MEDIUM | 4 | 266 | 20 | 244 |
| HARD | 6 | 380 | 21 | 284 |
| NIGHTMARE | 45 | 665 | 42 | 8246 |
What to know
- ON SHIFTPotters about its post until something wakes it.
- THE ENTRANCECloses at 115/s until it has said its piece, then fights at its own pace.
- WHAT IT WAS CARRYINGA shift's pay, and only about one body in five is carrying any of it when it falls.
- WHEN STRUCKIt bleeds. A blow that overwhelms it bursts it, and there is a face among what lands.
Mechanics
Every dangerous move is telegraphed — it roots, it winds up, and you get the beat you need to be somewhere else.
- WARD SHIELDOnce it has been hurt, it roots for 0.6s first and raises a shell over itself worth 22% of its full health. The shell EATS damage until that budget is spent, and whatever overflows still lands — so a saved cooldown breaks it AND hurts, while chipping at it merely feeds it. It fades on its own after 7s if you leave it alone. Once every 12s.
- SNARE FIELDIt roots for 0.6s first, then lays a field 40 across on the ground where you were standing, from as far out as 170. It lies there for 3.6s and cuts your pace to 70% while you are in it. It deals NO damage whatsoever — its whole strength is what else is on the field while it has hold of you. Walk out of it; a jump clears it too. Once every 10s.
What it drops
Every kill pays one medkit, one repair kit and one XP scroll.
Its drops roll 25% better on the rarity ladder than the level's ordinary loot.
Guaranteed pieces by rarity: 1 magic. A rarity the monster's own level has not unlocked yet is skipped, so the same fight pays better on a harder rung.
Always drops
Story items
VAULT KEYCARD
What it says
Spoilers for this fight, covered until you ask for them.
DR. NOVAFASCINATING. AN INTRUDER WITH WORKING LEGS. KNOW WHAT WE KEEP IN THE CLEANROOM VAULT?
THE HEROAN ENGINE PART. I CAME TO TAKE IT. I HELPED BUILD THAT ENGINE, BEFORE YOU PEOPLE FIRED ME.
DR. NOVABUILD IT? NOBODY BUILT IT. WE DUG IT FROM THE SEA OF TRANQUILITY IN '69. NOT EARTH'S.
THE HERONOT FROM EARTH? I MACHINED PARTS FOR THAT THING FOR TEN YEARS. IT'S JUST ENGINEERING.
DR. NOVAWE SPENT FIFTY YEARS COPYING A MACHINE THAT ISN'T BROKEN. IT'S WAITING. TO GO HOME.
Last words
IT'S STILL... HHH... STILL... HUMMING...
What this scene is part of — everything said and found around it — is its chapter of the story.