Breath of Darkness

 is a secret boss in Outward.

Description
A larger and more threatening version of an Ancient Dweller, found through a secret puzzle in the Caldera region. For a description of how to solve the puzzle, see the bottom of this article.

The boss room is extremely dark, you will need to bring a light source of some kind for the fight.

Like the Concealed Knight: ???, this enemy will respawn on Area Reset.

Combat
The 's melee attacks ignore 50% of player damage resistances (not including Protection or Barrier).

Skills

 * Creates a gust of Ethereal energy which continuously deals 15 Ethereal damage and 1  Impact every 0.3 seconds for 3.6 seconds. Restores health to the Ancient Dweller and inflicts Mild Petrification at 8% buildup per hit.
 * Sends out three delayed homing projectiles which each deal 25 Ethereal damage and 50  Impact, and inflict Despirited (52%) and Mild Petrification (15%).
 * Sings a song and inflicts Haunted to all targets in a wide radius at 13% buildup per second for 4 seconds

Drop Table

 * In addition to these drops, after defeating the boss there will be a random sample node which spawns on the side of the room, either on the left or the right side around the wall.

Puzzle Solution
This enemy is found only by solving the secret puzzle in the Caldera region. Note that solving each step is required for all characters, you need to physically approach the runic messages for the game to recognize your progress in the puzzle.

In order to complete the puzzle, you will need to have:
 * Unlocked Daughter Medyse, Kid Calygrey and the Severed Obsidian
 * Completed the Sirocco quest line


 * 1) First, you must pull the lever in The Vault of Stone to release the Dwellers into exterior Caldera.
 * 2) Four Ancient Dweller enemies will be released into exterior Caldera, one corresponding to each Unidentified Sample Rotation. You will need to find the Dweller for each sample rotation (Each Dweller spawns while on their respective rotation only) and kill it. Rotation A's Dweller is found at the north-west of Caldera near the Sulphuric Caverns, B is in the north-east near the The Vault of Stone, C is south-east near New Sirocco, and D is south-west near the alternate exit to Old Sirocco. You must kill all four Dwellers without resetting the scene, you can do this by sleeping for 2 days at a time in exterior Caldera!
 * 3) * Note: There is currently a bug which may cause Dweller A and B to spawn at each other's positions instead of their own. If you can't find them near where they should be, try looking at the other Dweller's location instead.
 * 4) After killing all four Dwellers, a secret Runic Message will appear in Old Sirocco, on the first level down on a slightly raised platform near a Chest. It reads "MÉDUSE SOUFRE BLEU" (Blue Sulphur Medusa, or Blue Sulphur Jellyfish). This is a hint for the next location, the Sulphuric Caverns.
 * 5) At the Sulphuric Caverns, make your way to the blue sulphur pool deep in the caverns, then push the button at the machinery here (requires unlocking Daughter Medyse). After doing so, there will be another runic message on the ground which reads "BAIN" (Bath).
 * 6) At the Steam Bath Tunnels directly opposite of the red door, on the back end of a stone hut you will find another runic message which reads "LION CRISTAL CORDE" (Lion Crystal Rope).
 * 7) At The Grotto of Chalcedony make your way across the metal bridge with two calygrey on it, on the pulley wheel of the right wooden tower you will find a glowing yellow stone in the center of the pulley wheel (requires unlocking Kid Calygrey). When you interact with the glowing yellow stone, another runic message is revealed which reads "CALDEIRA" (French for "Caldera", meaning a volcanic crater).
 * 8) At the Scarlet Sanctuary, head straight and down the triwinged staircase, head through the east hallway towards a glowing lever and Scarlet Emissary on the wall you will find another runic message which reads "CERF FRÈRE COEUR" (Deer Brother Heart).
 * 9) At the bottom of The Eldest Brother on the metal platform, interact with the corpse on the ground (requires unlocking Severed Obsidian) to reveal more runic messages on the metal bridge you crossed which read "CHANT NOIRCEUR PRUDENCE" (Song Darkness Caution).
 * 10) At The Vault of Stone, in the lower tunnels (through the gate which required pulling the lever to unlock) you will find a small cavern opening at the end of a tunnel next to a chest. Enter the cavern to find the  and complete the puzzle.