Lambent Wretch
From Gears of War
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Lambent Wretches (Also known as Dark Wretches) are a unique form of Wretch that have become Lambent after direct - and prolonged - exposure to Imulsion. The effects Imulsion has on the Wretch's physiology are profound: they become faster and tougher. Lambent Wretches are easily-identified - they have a jet-black carapace and their eyes and mouths glow with yellowish light. Lambent Wretches have more health than normal Wretches on Hardcore and Insane, and they deal more damage in close-combat as well. Lambent Wretches also appear smarter; they are prone to ambush-style attacks out of seemingly nowhere. This tendency to ambush emphasizes the need for Gears to remain vigilant and keep active tabs on one's surroundings.
In addition to being considerably tougher, sneakier, and more powerful than a normal Wretch, Lambent Wretches are extremely volatile; if slain, the Imulsion infused in the Wretches body causes what appears to be a biological meltdown. This triggers an incandescent explosion capable of causing considerable damage to anything within a 10-foot radius - friend or foe. It is quite possible to cause a chain-reaction if an explosion occurs in proximity to another Lambent Wretch; this can clear entire rooms if a Gear is particularly canny with distributing damage amongst an entire pack of Lambent Wretches. Lambent Wretch explosions are lethal to the Locust as well; triggering a Lambent Wretch's death explosion can destroy several Locust at once given a lucky blast.
While most anti-wretch tactics work on their Lambent counterparts, one important caveat remains - naturally, due to the innate volatility of Lambent Wretches, close-combat is not recommended, especially using the Chainsaw Bayonet; the exploding Wretch can cause heavy - if not lethal - damage to not only the Gear doing so, but all within range.
Lambent Wretches appear to be the only form of Lambent Locust not innately hostile to non-lambent Locust - they are used by the Locust on the Tyro Pillar in much the same way as their non-Lambent counterparts. How the Locust Horde was able to do this is unknown.
[edit] Triva
- In Gears of War 2, although never seen, Lambent Wretches are referenced once as the Brumak is mutating into the Lambent Brumak, which gives Marcus the idea to use the Lambent Brumak to replace the lost Lightmass Bomb to sink Jacinto.
