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The most powerful and mysterious being haunting the area that once was Michigan is the Merga Wraith.
Appearance[]
A Merga Wraith appears to be a roughly human-sized shape made of shadow. Its mask-like face is white and there is a strange orange light emanating from its chest area. Shards of impenetrable darkness continually emanate from it like bits of ash from a blazing fire.
Behavior[]
Little is known about the wraith (including its true essence and origin), other than it being somehow connected to the player and the bronze talisman he wears for protection from it.
If the player removes the talisman for any reason, his very next movement on the map will cause the wraith to materialize and initiate combat, unless the talisman is re-equipped before moving.
During combat, the wraith moves steadily toward the character and then uses its "grasp" as a melee attack, which causes significant bleeding wounds when it connects.
Tactics[]
The Merga Wraith is extremely difficult to fight, being nearly impossible to hit (even with guns), and also recovering from damage quickly. Thus, inexperienced players would do well to simply retreat.
Should the player successfully retreat from combat, Merga Wraith will pursue him on the map until it catches him again, or until the player re-equips the talisman. The wraith will leave combat if the player is not present, and will only attack the player.
For most players, it seems the only way to defeat the wraith is to be lucky with a firearm, and cause severe organ failure (traumatic brain injury or bleeding in the lungs). Using the Exploit Weakness ability (available with Unstoppable reputation) will however greatly increase the chances of damaging the Merga Wraith, making it possible to kill it easily with firearms. It is also possible to insta-kill the wraith using the rare Lethal Trap ability given by the Elusive reputation. The wraith slowly advances towards the player, so patient, cautious, and Elusive players who keep close but not too close (4-2 spaces) can kill it easily.
Note that putting the talisman on during combat causes the wraith to move away from the player and maintain a distance of at least two spaces unless the talisman is removed again. This can be used as a last resort should the player be trying to kill it and run out of room or ammo. If the talisman is left on, the wraith will eventually dematerialize.
A less courageous tactic for defeating the wraith is to head toward Detroit and look for a DMC Guard, enter his hex, offer to talk, and then remove the talisman. The wraith will appear and enter combat with the guard instead.
Trivia[]
- According to Michelle of the Anishinaabe, the Merga Wraith has pursued the player since he tracked it down at some time in the past, but the bronze talisman her people made for him offers some degree of protection.
- It should be noted that seeing the Merga Wraith will slightly change the dialog with Michelle, but as of v1.15 killing it or entering the portal will not affect her encounter further.
- Using the tracking ability in the cryo labs will indicate that a cloaked figure had been in the room at the cryo facility, and using it at Hatter's reveals that the same creature had apparently been there as well. The player will allude to either (or both) of these occurrences if they happened before he encounters the wraith.
- Originally, being able to kill the Merga Wraith was stated to be an oversight by the developer. However, it has since been worked into the storyline.
- As of version 0.980b the Merga Wraith had its own corpse item. A subsequent update has since done away with its appearance, though the image still remains in the files.
- As of version 0.980b, when the wraith is defeated, a portal to Merga's Realm is created. Many more wraiths and various items can be discovered within the chamber beyond the portal.
- As of version 1.15 the corpse can still appear on the ground if the Merga Wraith has a death effect (e.g. "Died of Cardiac Arrest"). However it will disappear when the turn ends and the portal opens.
- If the wraith is rendered unconscious during battle, the option to loot the body is not available.
- 'Merga' means death in Kurdish.
- After the death of the Merga Wraith, it will never show up again, even with the talisman off the player. This makes it safe to destroy or trade away the talisman.