- “ A little mouse comes squeaking into my nest. What possesses it to do so? Please, do sate my curiosity. ”
Description[]
The Deep Owl (also referred to simply as "Owl") is a relatively uncommon monster found in Upper Erisia, The Lordsgrove and The Depths. Owls can also be found in Pathfinder's Respite, Temple of the Forgotten Flame, and Viper's Jaw in Lower Erisia. Owls are related to the Visionshaper Oath and illusion magic.
Deep Owls will only spawn in the Etrean Luminant while the moon is out. This restriction does not apply to The Depths, nor the Deep Owl in The Lordsgrove.
- “ Yes, we Owls... Or I suppose, that's just how we appear to your limited perceptive abilities... An insidious predator that feasts on the meek... ”
All Owls are part of a hivemind named The Nestmind. Talking to it gives us unique insight on what these otherworldly predators are. It is said by The Nestmind that Visionshapers in a point of their life tries to become an owl, meaning that maybe some but not all owls that appear in Deepwoken are old Visionshapers who have become an owl through unknown means.
Deep Owl's hail down on Lumen from an inconceivable dimension where they aren't usually able to communicate with the outside world. This is altered by the Oath made between Visionshapers and The Nestmind. Deep Owls manifest themselves in our world with the ability of a Visionshaper's mind having the ability to turn illusions into reality.
When appearing in Upper Erisia or The Depths, its presence will be signaled by a sparse cloud of black feathers that gently fall down around an area. Upon entering the feathers, the Deep Owl will immediately drop down from the sky and open a dialogue with the player. During the dialogue, it is non-hostile and will not trigger a combat state. Therefore, it's a good time to log out if unprepared for the battle.
Once the dialogue ends, the owl will not attack unless hit first or if the player turns their back. However, Owls will also attack if it has already been spawned and you enter its detection range. If the player maintains eye contact with the owl and walks backward, it will not attack and will eventually give up once out of detection range.
The corrupted Deep Owls that spawn in The Depths follow the aforementioned behaviour, but have significantly higher health and attack values than their uncorrupted variants on the Etrean Luminant.
Unlocking the Visionshaper Oath requires Dark feathers, but the moves are unlocked with Void feathers.
Attacks[]
Finisher[]
| Name | Media | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Claw Crush |  |
The Owl swiftly crushes the knocked player's torso with it's talons. |
Passives[]
- Monster Resistance - Physical attacks deal ??? less damage to Deep Owls.
Dialogue[]
Note: The player can only speak to a Deep Owl if they are the one to spawn in it or have Mute.
| Begin | |||||||||||
| A little mouse comes squeaking into my nest. What possesses it to do so? Please, do sate my curiosity. | |||||||||||
| I'm just passing through. | What the.. Why can you talk?! | ||||||||||
| Ah. Carry on then, little mouse. I'm sure you have places to be. | My, my... Such impertinent squeaking. The mice of this land never fail to amaze me. | ||||||||||
| End | |||||||||||
| Begin | |||||||||||
| *The creature tilts its head curiously.* | |||||||||||
| End |
Strategy[]
One strategy an unprepared player should consider when encountering the Owl is the Fight or Flight response.
Flight
Log or run away. Since the Deep Owl can be seen before it is physically spawned, as signified by the falling feathers, it is almost guaranteed the player can get away by turning back and returning the way they came. (This strategy wont work if the owl spawns on-top of the player or if the Owl is standing somewhere and is already aggressive after killing an enemy.)
In the event that the encounter is triggered, the Deep Owl will question the player and offer 3 different choices of dialogue (this includes the "End Dialogue" option). All of these options have same result. The Owl will stare at the player until it is attacked or shown the player's back, at which it will then turn hostile and attack. There isn't any time limit for the Owl's "staring" phase meaning that if the player encounters the owl, it can be held in that state forever until someone comes to help or the player escapes its detection range (either by walking backwards or logging out). Closing the game or using the Menu Button during its dialogue and before it becomes hostile is the only guaranteed way to not fight the enemy in this state, unless a different entity sent or is sending you into a combat tag. Do remember that owl will turn their direction towards the player whenever they move.
Fight
If choosing to fight the Deep Owl for the first time, there are several things the player should keep in mind;
- Typically, the Owl becomes reasonable to kill from Power 7 onwards, but may be powerchecked around Power 12.
- It is recommended to bring a shield if unfamiliar with the Owl in order to learn its attack patterns.
- It will not turn hostile until attacked first, giving a chance to land a single hit before it starts attacking back.
- It will also become hostile if the player turns their back on it.
The most important part of this fight is parrying the Talon Swipe attack. Afterwards, the Owl can usually be hit once by any weapon type. It is best to look out for this move specifically for damage opportunities, but only get one or two swings - greed will usually lead to the player taking unnecessary damage. The Owl will typically, but not always, repeat the Talon Swipe attack once more. The alternative is usually that it'll use Feather Teleport or Owl Dash, both of which can be parried on reaction.
When using Feather Teleport or Owl Dash, the Owl will likely then attempt to Overhead Grab the player. The optimal course of action is to roll to the left or right when the Owl tilts its head down to grab.
The Flock of Feathers can be easily mitigated by rapidly pressing the F key, similar to blocking multi-hit moves from other enemies.
If looking for owls, it is recommended to join highly populated servers because this increases their spawn rate.
The Owls' special attacks are affected by shadow armour.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Deep Owls were originally intended to be exclusive to the Second Layer.[1]
- There is a low chance that a non-corrupted Deep Owl will drop Void Feather, which makes it possible to grind Void Feathers for Visionshaper safely at the The Lordsgrove via the static spawn there.
- Dark and Void feathers are required to craft over half of the Expert and Master tier Outfits.
- If you are unfortunate enough, one of these can spawn directly on top of you, trap you in dialogue and become hostile while speaking to you.
- Due to the fact that the Owl has 1.8k health, it is possible to stat check it if you are at a high enough Power due to PvE scaling, but it is recommended to still exercise some form of caution while fighting it, as with all boss-type enemies (Stat Check Level: 15).
- Don't try to hide in buildings, Deep Owl can use "Feather Teleport" to enter the building even with its large size.
- Despite having lower health than a Lionfish, they are foes to be reckoned with since they deal an unholy amount of damage if you can't fight them properly.
- Occasionally when hit by the Deep Owls overhead grab, it will bug out and be flung/teleported out of its aggression distance, though this doesn't happen often.
- When interacting with a Deep Owl after it's initial dialouge while it hasn't turned hostile, or with the Mute Regalia, the player will receive the text: "*The creature tilts its head curiously.*"[2]
References[]
