Monster Monday - A-H0L0 Mirage Archer (Patreon)

The soldier grunted as he hefted his rotolaser into place and it begin to spin up, unleashing a spray of crimson bolts. Shots peppered and ripped through the wall, leaving behind glowing holes, but only managed to slightly singe the darting figure that silently weathered the assault. Hovering in the air, the slight figure was strangely adorable with pigtail-like protrusions and a round face. However, as it rose higher above the heroes, its handheld molded together and projected the arc of a bow. It drew back a trembling string, creating a crackling arrow aimed at the soldier - only to suddenly swing it and fire a blistering bolt at the hidden operative who was driven from her sniper in a brilliant burst.

Our adorable automaton archer aims to adeptly access areas unallowed to it and then arcing into the air to ably annihilate armies and adversaries.

I've built a number of ethereals from Zenless Zone Zero, but I was inspired by one of the more recent patches and decided to build something a little different from the series. I'm a little sad the A-H0L0 mirage archers are as rare as they are because I think they make for an interesting fight as switch hitters that can swap between dual blades, a super-sized sword, and a bow. I also really wanted to represent their hologram-projector abilities . . . but they don't really make much use of them. Even referencing Aria, they seem to mostly be used for disguise, which is the reasoning behind its high Deception score and its Visage Projector ability. A seventh-rank spell is a bit beyond its level of twelve, but I limited many of these heightened effects as the mirage archer can only target itself with the effect.

Slightly more important to its general design are its Convert Void Casters. These allow it to swap between its phase cutlasses and its void bow, which is a slightly more unique weapon that I had deal void damage based on the phase cutlass. Both use a high attack bonus with the phase cutlasses having low damage and its bow featuring moderate damage. It's a little uncommon for me to use lower damage on the melee Strikes, and I do actually try to compensate them a bit with Double Slice. This is based on the fighter feat, with a few modifications and simplifications, and is largely inspired by the dual sweeps she often does after dashing into the fray. However, with just that, we've covered most of her basic effects. But she has access to her Overload State.

In-game, the mirage archer will periodically enter an enhanced state. I thought it would be fun to have this triggered by a crit, which causes the mirage archer to become quickened. However, the mirage archer can also use this state to fuel its final two abilities. Its enlarged swords from when it enters its control phase. I decided to keep this as the phase cutlass damage, but it hits in an entire line rather than a singular foe. It does get to bring its bow into play, which you think it would've done sooner as a 'mirage archer,' with the Supercharged Shot. This combines a Strike with an explosion, based on the big blast by the bow, that deals limited use area damage with a high DC save. Both of these effects than remove the mirage archer from its Overload State, which makes for a fun little ups and downs in its overall kit.

ENCOUNTER HOOKS

Bot of the Ball: The heroes are invited to the party of a noble. They, along with pretty much everybody else, are unaware that a mirage archer is among them in the guise of a noble that it has disguised itself as. The mirage archer could be operating on orders as an advanced force for a larger group or have its own designs, but the heroes have a chance of interacting with it before it makes its move.

Mecha Mirage Mayhem: As noted, the mirage archer didn't really have enough for me to warrant giving it more hologram powers. However, you could certainly expand on it with more illusion-based powers. This likely would be an advanced version of its base stat block, with effects such as mirror image, thicket of knives, and perhaps even shock and awe among other options. As a more advanced unit, this mirage archer may have designs of its own or could be a powerful servitor of a hidden master.

Have a monstrous Monday!