Vulture



Vultures are large, winged predators, and one of the most persistent threats in Rain World. They move through the air using wings and gas propelled from their bodies, and catch their prey with a lunging bite before flying off back into the sky. They are menacing foes which can appear in the majority of the game's regions. Their chief disadvantage is their large size: Vultures are not encountered in areas inaccessible from the sky and are unable to traverse pipes or tunnels. Vultures are notable for their fearsome masks, which can be taken from them by skilled Slugcats.

Appearance
Vultures are large aerial creatures that have a fat round body, a long slender neck, and two long wings. These wings can either be used to gain height or walk along terrain. Vultures attain buoyancy in the air by releasing gas from their bodies. The gas they release is an odd pinkish-red color, and dissipates into air after being released, not retaining its color. Their head rests atop their long, skinny neck and has two large mandibles (called 'tusks' in the game files) which they use to latch onto prey. All vultures wear masks apparently made of bone, with two eye holes through which their menacing eyes can be seen glowing. Vultures come in a variety of colors, including a light grey, a muted green, a vibrant purple and a sandy yellow. Though it is not observable in game, official art depicts vultures as having slimy skin.

Behavior
A Vulture's arrival is typically signaled by its shadow descending over the landscape. By the time the Vulture appears on screen, it will have already seen nearby prey, and may immediately be ready to attack Slugcat. Vultures will hover above their prey briefly and make a light rustling sound before lunging headfirst to bite. If the bite connects, the Vulture will attempt to fly off with its prey. Moving quickly may help delay or prevent lunges. Lunges are interrupted by spear or rock hits, so carrying objects is useful as a last resort.

The primary weak point of all vultures is their head. Head and neck hits cause double damage, while wing hits only cause 1/10th base damage. On the first solid hit to the head, the vulture's mask will fall off. This mask can be used to scare away most lizards for a limited amount of time (17.5 seconds for regular vulture masks, 30 seconds for king vulture masks). Masked vulture bites are never lethal, but de-masked vulture bites will kill 100% of the time. Vultures will attempt to fly away once hit with at least two spears.

When de-masked, vultures become very aggressive, actively hunting the player down across cycles and attempting to bite the player. Maskless Vultures are also attacked by other vultures with masks, suggesting some sort of status lost when de-masked.

Vultures are capable hunters and can grab all lizards with the exception of green lizards, and most other small creatures. Hiding in a tunnel or a pipe until a Vulture leaves or catches something else is a viable option. Most other creatures will run for cover as soon as they spot a Vulture.

King Vulture
King Vultures are a variant which only appear natively in hardmode. These Vultures have two sharp harpoons mounted on their masks, as well as two laser sights that move with their heads. King Vulture launch these harpoons at prey in an attempt to reel them in to be eaten.

Harpoons kill upon contact and are very accurate, so finding cover is recommended. The laser sights flash rapidly with a pulse sound three times before firing. Once both harpoons have been fired, King Vultures will typically move into close range and attempt to bite their target like normal Vultures. It takes a few seconds for the vulture to pull its harpoons out of terrain and reel them back in. King Vultures will also hunt green lizards.

Although typically only encountered in hardmode, king vultures can be made to spawn while playing as The Survivor through the lineage system by killing vultures in Chimney Canopy and Sky Islands repeatedly.

Trivia

 * The grey caps seen on their back open as they release gas.
 * Vultures cannot retrieve their mask, once one has lost its mask it will pursue the player until death or region change.
 * Although Vultures are high level predators, they can be killed by several threats. Pole Plants, monster kelp, scavengers, leviathans, red centipedes and red lizards can be seen killing them.
 * Vultures can very rarely squeeze into small pipes. This was more common in the alpha version of the game.
 * Vulture grubs will call on vultures when threatened, suggesting a mutually beneficial relationship, or that vulture grubs are a larval form of vultures. They will, however, pick up vulture grubs like any other prey, and King Vultures will not hesitate to harpoon them.

Bugs

 * If the player carries a dead vulture or king vulture through a room-transition pipe, they will oftentimes gain an unintended burst of speed until they leave the room.