Maris, Fathom of Night

Maris, Fathom of Night is an ancient, drifting celestial being that serves as a major boss encounter. It appears as a gelatinous, invertebrate entity with a bright white, otherwise featureless face and an elongated blue body patterned with a network of constellations. Maris is wrapped in a transparent shroud reminiscent of a jellyfish exumbrella, giving it a crustacean-like silhouette, and it swims through its arena using flexible bilateral tentacles that end in green, fin-like structures. In its second phase long dark green ribbons unfurl behind it, trailing like strands of seaweed. Its Japanese title, 夜の深海, translates as "Deep Sea of Night."

Maris is an augur-like stellar being that camouflaged itself by transforming surroundings into a vast ocean and blending with local lifeforms. For eons it drifted through the cosmos until the encounter with the Night stirred its curiosity and roused it from aimless floating. The boss arena simulates a place beneath the ocean surface, and the fight is notable for environmental hazards and summoned minions that shape the pacing of combat.

Maris deals Standard and Magic damage and inflicts Sleep. The encounter features two main phases. In Phase 1 Maris uses sweeping physical attacks and summons stationary Spirit Stalks and swarms of volatile Spirit Jellyfish that pursue players and explode in Mists of Slumber. Maris performs area attacks including spinning charges, ground-centered cyclones, and tentacle slams that splash bouncing waves of water. It periodically makes a siren-like sound, retreats, lands, and curls into a cradle to channel a long, unavoidable Sleep spell that spans the entire arena unless interrupted. In Phase 2 Maris becomes more aggressive, creating additional jellyfish and dropping large luminous atomic teardrops that fall and explode on impact, applying Sleep buildup.

An Augur is a lesser version of Maris encountered in the Giant Bubbles raid in Limveld. The Augur spawns bubbles around the map; entering one transports the player directly to the Augur. The Augur is more passive, uses a limited moveset, and rewarding players with runes and the Unifying Fate boon when defeated. An Everdark variant called Everdark Maris appears in a distinct Everdark Sovereign fight. The Everdark encounter begins with Maris in Phase 1; after defeating it once Maris respawns in a form that floats largely out of reach and no longer spawns minions, changing the fight’s dynamics and requiring different tools to finish.

Maris drops unique rewards tied to its status upon defeat. Defeating Nightlord Maris yields the Night of the Fathom item, random relics, and Murk. Defeating an Everdark Sovereign Maris unlocks the ability to purchase the Dark Night of the Fathom from the Collector Signboard, and rewards random relics, depth relics, Murk, and Sovereign Sigils. The Augur raid grants 50,000 runes and the Unifying Fate boon that causes the Flask of Crimson Tears to also restore FP.

• Key attacks to recognize include Spinning Charge, Cyclone, Splash (tentacle slams that create bouncing waves), Hypnosis (a channelled siren sleep incantation that must be interrupted), Summon Jellyfish (swarms of explosive spirit jellyfish), Summon Plants (stationary Spirit Stalks), and Atomic Teardrop (large falling bombs in Phase 2).
• Minions and summoned hazards are targetable and can be destroyed; they release projectiles that may also damage Maris when intercepted.
• The Hypnosis channel affects the entire arena and must be interrupted quickly; lightning-based attacks and rapid close-pressure are particularly effective for breaking the channel.
• Jellyfish swarms can be lured into detonating near Maris or destroyed from range to reduce pressure and damage the boss.
• Waves and spiraling charges are often best avoided by rolling into the attack rather than away; cyclone attacks should be evaded by disengaging until they dissipate.