Pukei-Pukei

Take a peek-peek at our second Wildspire Waste monster — it's Pukei-Pukei!

Just like Barroth, you'll find this Extra Large monster (on its 100mm base) in the Wildspire Waste core set, which is included in the Core and All-In Pledge, from April 20 on Kickstarter.

From the journal of Jamie Perkins, Lead Developer

Defeated Barroth and looking for a bigger Wildspire Waste challenge? Pukei-Pukei is probably next on your list!

A colourful bird wyvern bursting with poison, Pukei-Pukei uses the natural toxins in its body to envenom the scatternuts stored in its mouth or tail before spitting them at threats.

Threats like you.

Physiology

With its brilliant colouring and, let’s face it, kind of cute features, Pukei-Pukei looks deceptively non-threatening. But underestimate this poisonous monster at your peril.

You’re about to become very familiar with poison and how it affects your hunter.

Let’s take a look at the card:

With higher health and armour than Barroth, statistically speaking, Pukei-Pukei is a bigger threat.

Last time we encountered poison was when we studied Rathalos. As you might remember from that journal, poisoned hunters lose 2 health at the end of their next turn.

So if you’re poisoned with only 2 health left, you’d better hope your party has a potion going spare!

Throw in Pukei-Pukei’s special rule, Toxic Presence, and poison becomes even more scary than usual — and the harder the quest, the tougher this rule gets!

Behaviours

As befits its poisonous nature, most of Pukei-Pukei’s attacks originate from its head, with occasional attacks from its tail.

Take cover when you see Pukei-Pukei gearing up for a Flying Spit:

It's only going to target one node, but whoever’s standing on that node better watch out. Flying Spit can hit a target up to 4 nodes away before the Pukei-Pukei retreats to safety.

If it lands, Flying Spit will do a nasty 6 damage, and that’s before you factor in the extra 3 damage dealt by poison.

Yes, this attack could hit you with up to 9 damage in one hit. And at a dodge of 4, it's not easy to avoid, either.

Tactical Tip: Before attempting Pukei-Pukei’s investigation quest, remember to check the different kinds of armour you can forge to see if any can help you against poisonous attacks.

Continuing with the poison theme, here’s Rear Spray:

It's been a while since we’ve seen a card with the footprint-like track symbol in the top left corner.

Each monster has a few of these behaviour cards. Which one you face will depend on the number of track tokens you find during the gathering phase of that quest.

In some Pukei-Pukei quests, you’ll face Rear Spray. In others, it’ll be a different behaviour.

If you do face Rear Spray, remember that, as a poison attack, it benefits from the monster’s special rule.

If you don’t dodge this, you’ll be taking 8 damage (including the poison) — and because it hits any hunters standing in the monster’s left, right, or rear arcs, up to 3 nodes away, that’s likely to be more than one of you!

Luckily, Rear Spray has a manageable dodge of 3, so it's possible to avoid if you’ve got the stamina.

Pukei-Pukei does have a few non-poisonous attacks in its arsenal, like Right Wing Swipe:

It may be more conventional, but Right Wing Swipe is still a formidable attack.

After all, 7 physical damage with a dodge of 4 is nothing to sniff at.

Still, given just how many Pukei-Pukei attacks are poisonous, you might decide to take a hit like this on your armour to keep your stamina board free for dodging future behaviours.

And that brings us to the end of this journal!

Which may leave you wondering… what about elemental attacks?

Yes, Pukei-Pukei is the first monster we’ve seen that doesn’t have any elemental attacks.

That’s because what it lacks in elemental damage, it makes up for with lots of lovely poison!

~ Journal Ends ~