Gnoster, Wisdom of Night

Gnoster, Wisdom of Night is a Nightlord encountered at the end of the Sentient Pest Expedition. It is a duo boss made up of a white moth and a whip scorpion, Faurtis Stoneshield, which share a single HP pool and fight independently in the first phase. The battle takes place in a desert arena tied to the expedition’s story of a forest being consumed by sand, and the arena changes in the second phase as the pair unite and the ground becomes covered with viridian leaves.

In phase 1, Gnoster focuses on ranged magic and poison while Faurtis relies on physical attacks, stomp pressure, and roars. The moth throws magic projectiles and sprays poison mist, while the scorpion can burrow, go inert, and harden its body after taking enough fire damage. If the moth’s poison inflicts the player, a parasite appears and deals damage over time; if it is left alone, it eventually develops further and becomes more dangerous. Teammates can remove the parasite by attacking the infected player, and Neutralizing Boluses can also clear it before it hatches.

Gnoster is weak to fire, and both members of the fight are fully immune to Madness. Fire damage has special interaction effects here: the moth continues burning after being hit, and the scorpion can be forced into a passive hardened state that greatly reduces its damage output and gives the party a window to concentrate on the moth. The boss cannot be parried, but it is vulnerable to Critical Attacks after its stance is broken.

At around half health, Gnoster mounts Faurtis and the fight shifts into a combined phase. In this form, the moth perches on the scorpion’s back and coordinates a sequence of attacks centered on a marked target: a large vertical magic beam, a set of charging attacks from Faurtis, and follow-up volleys of magic projectiles. The moth also uses a special mounted attack that calls down cascading pillars of intense magic damage. The combined form remains susceptible to fire pressure, so teams that can maintain burn damage keep an important advantage through the transition.

During the Everdark Sovereign version of the encounter, the bosses can be revived after death by Animus, Ascendant Light, a red spectral moth. This variant extends the fight with an additional phase in which Animus possesses one of the others and uses upgraded attacks. It is also known to be buggy in its current state, with reports of Animus spawning out of bounds or failing to appear if Gnoster and Faurtis are defeated at the same time.

The Sentient Pest encounter is notable for its raid-style map behavior as well: swarms of locusts announce Gnoster’s presence, gather at points that trigger small explosions, and can drain Nightfarer levels if players are caught in them. Following the locusts is the intended way to track the boss, since Gnoster is not visible from a distance and does not appear on the map until a Nightfarer gets close enough.

Defeating Gnoster rewards Murk and, on the first clear, Night of the Wise. The Everdark Sovereign version also drops Sovereign Sigils and can award Dark Night of the Wise after the appropriate unlock. Its blessing restores the party’s stolen levels and grants an effect that occasionally awards a large amount of Runes when defeating enemies.