Vulture Mask

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"Vulture Mask"
Information
Code name	VultureMask
Category	Effect
Locations (amount)	Chimney Canopy Metropolis Sky Islands Farm Arrays Garbage Wastes Industrial Complex Shoreline
Respawn time	None (respawning not determined by time)
Trading value	Vulture Mask: 5 King Vulture Mask: 10

A Slugcat wearing a vulture mask

Vulture Masks are objects used to protect  Vultures' weak spots: their heads. They can be obtained by hitting a Vulture's face with a  Spear or knocking it off with a powerful Explosive. Unmasked Vultures are persistent and pursue whatever removed their mask across multiple cycles.

Function

Utility

A Vulture Mask can only be removed by dealing more than 0.9 damage to a Vulture's face. This means that Monk is unable to knock it off with standard Spears, as their maximum damage is 0.9. It is still possible to obtain Vulture Masks as Monk by using Explosives or by relying on other creatures. Additionally, Artificer's Maul ability always demasks a Vulture when its face is grabbed.

After a Vulture Mask has been knocked off the Vulture (or looted from its corpse), the Vulture Mask can be worn in order to frighten off  Lizards. A countdown timer is started when a Lizard sees Slugcat wearing the Vulture Mask, after which the Lizard no longer runs away, and returns to trying to hunt Slugcat. The countdown length is 17.5 seconds for regular Masks and 30 seconds for  King Vulture Masks. Slugcat wears the Vulture Mask when not otherwise occupied (e.g. climbing, crawling or swimming). The Mask has no collision with projectiles while being held. The Mask cannot be thrown, only dropped. As with other items, a Lizard's tongue is capable of ripping the Vulture Mask from Slugcat's hand.

Most Lizards react to Slugcat with great fear while they are wearing a Vulture Mask. While they may still bite the Slugcat if they are close, they typically try to run away.  Black,  Green, and  Red Lizards are exceptions to this. Black Lizards are blind, and so ignore the Mask completely. Green Lizards are temporarily pacified around Vulture Masks, rather than scared. King Vulture Masks frighten Lizards much more than normal Masks, capable of scaring away even a Green Lizard. This is because normal Vultures are unable to eat them and ignore them, while King Vultures target Green Lizards. Red Lizards ignore both Vulture and King Vulture Masks when worn by Slugcat and pursue them as normal, just as they would Vultures.

• 

  Animation of the Vulture Mask Sprites

Downpour-Exclusive Content

This section contains content exclusive to the Downpour DLC. This content is not available in the base game.

Elite Scavenger Masks

Vulture Masks can also be taken from  Elite Scavengers, as all of them wear Vulture Masks as a sign of authority over other  Scavengers. They wear 3 new unique variants, known as the Horned Mask, Sad Mask, and Spiked Mask:

• 

  Horned Mask

• 

  Sad Mask

• 

  Spiked Mask

SPOILER WARNING: Artificer
This section contains major plot details from Artificer. If you have not made significant progress or completed the game as Artificer, then read no further!

 Chieftain Scavenger Mask

The  Chieftain Scavenger wears a unique variant of a Vulture Mask, known internally as King Mask, which can be worn after killing the Chieftain Scavenger post-ending.

Wearing it makes all  Scavengers afraid of the player. When dropping the Mask, the effect still lasts for a full minute, making it possible to temporarily put it down without any risk of being attacked. Towards Lizards, it has the same utility as a regular Vulture Mask.

• 

  'King Mask'

Spoilers end here.

Downpour-exclusive content ends here.

Trading

Vulture Masks are prized by  Scavengers, who typically trade most weapons and resources for them, though they are not as highly valued as Pearls. King Vulture Masks are valued even more highly, as high as Pearls, and Scavengers trade any object for them.

Trivia

• While eating an object, Slugcat lifts the Mask off their face. However, while swallowing an inedible object, Slugcat simply slips it under their Mask.
• Masks must be held in Slugcat's hands and cannot be swallowed for storage.
• Although  Caramel Lizards are larger than  Green Lizards, they are still hunted by Vultures and thus are affected by regular Vulture Masks.

• Red Lizards are the only Lizards capable of taking down Vultures and King Vultures. It is possible that they de-mask them too, which can lead to easy pickings for Slugcat.
• Maskless Vultures are attacked by other Vultures with Masks, suggesting some sort of status lost when de-masked.
• After being removed from their Vulture or King Vulture, Masks rapidly darken and saturate in color.
• When a new region is entered, the AI of creatures in the Gate room is re-initiated, meaning that the timer is reset and Lizards start being afraid of Masks again.

• 

  An unmasked Vulture

• 

  A demasked Vulture being harrassed to death.

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