Schisms are Greater Husks that first appear in the mission [ 0-3: DOUBLE DOWN ]. They are tanky, ranged enemies that fire vertical or horizontal lines of projectiles in V1's direction.
Appearance[]
Schisms appear to be horribly mutated humanoids with an irregular amount of limbs. Their right arm has an energy cannon fixated onto it that appears to merge with its thick fleshy arm; the creature's skull is merged with the shoulder of this arm. The other arms are small and flimsy, and even writhe in the Schism's idle animation. They also have a mechanical device inside their chest cavity.
Combat[]
Schisms will try to get within medium range of V1 in order to attack, but unlike Strays will not retreat when V1 approaches them. They'll either fire a series of 25-damage projectiles in a horizontal or vertical pattern with very long tells indicating which is which. A well-timed punch with the Feedbacker can Parry their attack, killing the Schism instantly.
Difficulty Changes[]
Other than the default changes introduced by the various difficulties, the Schisms boast some unique differences:
- HARMLESS / LENIENT
- The Schism will only fire 3 projectiles per barrage.
- STANDARD / VIOLENT
- The Schism will fire 6 projectiles per barrage.
- BRUTAL
- Schisms will actively attempt to lead their barrage rather than fire them in a set horizontal or vertical motion.
The Cyber Grind[]
In the Cyber Grind, Schisms are higher-priority fodder enemies, due to the large barrage of projectiles each of them can launch.
Terminal Data[]
For more information, see Terminal.
TYPE: GREATER HUSK
DATA:
The result of two souls attempting to manifest in the same space, causing an amalgamation of two physical bodies.Due to the doubled body mass, they’re quite resilient to damage, but have very poor motor control and thus cannot aim with any degree of accuracy, resorting to barrages of energy orbs in the general direction of their opponent.
STRATEGY:
- Piercer revolver's charged headshots are an efficient tool for a quick kill against Schisms, though their displaced head can make aiming difficult for the inexperienced.- A point-blank Pump Charge shotgun blast with 2 pumps will be able to take them down in a single shot.
- Due to their poor aim, they aren't a priority target, but the sheer amount of projectiles can sometimes make avoiding them tricky in busy encounters.
Rending Apart[]
Schisms are much tougher than other Husks, taking considerably more effort to defeat while also posing more danger to V1.
There are a number options for instakilling Schisms. One could utilize a point-blank 2 pump Pump Charge Shotgun blast, interrupting their attack either by shotgun parry or shooting its projectile, a headshot with the Piercer Revolver beam (though the Alternate Piercer Revolver beam can instakill without a headshot), or any cannonball attack other than a <25% raw charge.
Although they can survive a Projectile Boost attack or a direct hit from a Core Eject Shotgun Grenade (Note that both deal the same damage), these attacks will both deal critical damage, and the resulting fire damage is typically enough to finish them off. Additionally, their attacks can be interrupted, instantly killing them. The Knuckleblaster is also powerful enough to send Schisms high enough in the air for it to fall to its death, given enough headroom. Alternatively, punching a Schism downwards after sending it up in the air via ground slam or Whiplash causes the Schism to be splattered. Another method is to land a Rocket Launcher airshot as not only does this kill the Schism instantly, it also creates a red explosion that may hit other enemies.
Schisms have a fairly lenient parrying window. Unlike with Strays and Soldiers, parrying schism from the moment of it firing will not cause an explosion and instead counts as a normal melee parry.
Other than that, the Shotgun's primary fire and Nailgun's primary fire are consistent ways to deal with Schisms.
Trivia[]
- Schisms are named for the TOOL song, "Schism".[1]
- Schisms are remarkably scarce for fodder Husks; while they have appeared in every non-boss level since their introduction, three non-boss levels have only one Schism spawn: [ 2-2: DEATH AT 20,000 VOLTS ], [ 5-1: IN THE WAKE OF POSEIDON ], and [ 5-2: WAVES OF THE STARLESS SEA ].
- Schism corpses can be found in [ 0-2: THE MEATGRINDER ], one level before their proper appearance, in the bloodied rooms where Swordsmachine fights Husks off-screen: the hallway after its first observable arena encounter and the blue pedestal room that it connects to.
- Using the Screwdriver Railcannon on one of the Schism's smaller arms will cause the hand and screwdriver to move around erratically and wildly. The reason for this is unknown.
- Strangely, the screwdriver itself appears to float a few feet off from the schisms' hand, causing it to appear to be flying around uncontrollably.
Gallery[]
References[]