Reaper

Reaper is a hostile creature designated IS-0059. It appears in the Security Sector and can also make a brief appearance in Reactors during the combat sequence while reactivating Gale Reactor. In normal conditions it enters an area through large orange portals shaped like gothic archways, patrols the area, and reacts to players once disturbed or once it detects a target.

In its regular state, Reaper wears a black cloak with scythe-like blades visible beneath it. When it detects a victim or is otherwise alerted, it drops the cloak and enters a hunting state, revealing a more insect-like body with two scythe arms and a white-glowing face. It is not blind, but it does not perceive light, so a flashlight can help reveal its presence by making the beam flicker when it is nearby. The Crystalline Armor Set is especially effective because its invisibility prevents Reaper from seeing the wearer at all.

Reaper’s behavior changes sharply depending on whether it has noticed a player. In a regular, unaware state, it can be banished with a single ranged hit, though melee contact will instead alert it and trigger the hunting state. Once hunting, it pursues its target aggressively, moving faster the longer the chase lasts until it either catches the victim, kills them, or loses them. If it grabs a player, it teleports them to The Night Realm and applies the Disorientated debuff for a short time. In the Reactors encounter, it cannot be dispatched normally and mainly focuses on Gatekeepers unless the player gets too close.

Reaper is effectively immune to most conventional weapons. Its meaningful weaknesses are laser damage, “holy” damage, and x-rays. These interactions are important both for survival and for farming Night Essence.

• Any source of laser damage, including weapons such as Energy Pistol, Deatomizer, Laser Katana, and Hardlight Saber, can damage Reaper and force it to drop Night Essence.
• “Holy” damage, such as from Lode Discs or Lodestone Bolts, also causes Night Essence drops.
• X-Ray Lamp, X-Ray Tower fire, or prolonged x-ray exposure can also make it drop Night Essence and can banish it.
• Despite dealing “holy” fire damage, Lodespear, Lodehammer, and Flamethrower do not damage Reaper.
• Laser, “holy,” and x-ray effects can enrage Reaper, causing it to try to kill the player instead of teleporting them away.
• When not hunting, Reaper can be banished in a single ranged hit; when hunting, it takes multiple hits and briefly gains immunity after being struck.
• The Night Essence drop has an approximate 2.5 minute cooldown, but the cooldown resets when leaving The Night Realm and can effectively be bypassed by reloading the Security Sector area.
• Thrown weapons with the Terminal Velocity perk can repeatedly stagger Reaper, allowing it to be stun-locked, though this also prevents another player from banishing it.

During Dark Fog weather events, Reaper will attack anyone who touches a Shade.