Whoa... a Bristleback! Right, then. We can't let that escape.  |
Bristlebacks are shaper corrupt Ursixes.
Etymology and Anatomy
Bristleback gets its name from the portmanteau of the words Bristle (Short stiff hair on an animal) and Back (Back of the body). Although Bristlebacks do not really have any bristles on their backs, they have several spiky crystals on them.
Bristleback are larger than their distant cousins, Ursix. Their large silver-blue bodies are more than twice the height of a javelin. They have argent crystals growing out of them, showing their Shaper-corrupt nature. They are bipedal, knuckle-walking creatures that do massive damage to their foes. Bristlebacks, unlike Ursix, have four pale-blue glowing eyes. Their mouths have sharp canine teeth that can rip away even the toughest armor from any javelin. Their arms and feet both have 4 digits each and have several argent crystals protruding out of them. Each digit is equipped with sharp black claws.
Narrative Involvement
Bristlebacks are not native to Bastion. In fact, any bristle back that is found in Bastion has entered the country through an anomaly, usually a conjunction.
Echoes of Reality
The very first Bristleback encounter was when the Freelancer was looking for its quills for Doctor Harken’s device during the mission What Harken Wants.
Bristlebacks were also found inside anomalies during the Echoes of Reality cataclysm. It was the duty of the Freelancers of Northern Bastion to make sure they did not escape the conjunction and end up into Bastion.
Season of Skulls
During the Season of Skulls of 469 LV, the Sentinels tasked the Freelancers to light a Sentinel Bonfire in a daring location—a conjunction of all places. But the Freelancer who silenced the Heart of Rage took the task upon themselves and lit a bonfire monument inside the Great Falls Anomaly. While protecting it from Scar threat, they had an encounter with a Bristleback unofficially nicknamed Ghastly Monstrosity and defeated it. This strengthened the Sentinel-Freelancer relations.
Encounter Locations
Bristleback cannot be encountered in Northern Bastion. But they are found inside Anomalies that show up in storm clouds above bastion:
- Great Falls Anomaly
- Monument Watch Anomaly
- Silent Path Anomaly
- Shadowmark Anomaly
- Spires Anomaly
- During the mission What Harken Wants
Behavior and Abilities
Bristleback’s Crystal Projectiles
Bristleback attack fiercely. They have several abilities:
Pounce Strike: Bristlebacks can randomly pounce on an enemy in the distance and land near them to do massive damage.
Homing Crystal Projectile Quills: Bristlebacks launch several homing crystal projectiles from their back that can damage and stagger their foes.
Crystal Projectiles Strike: Bristlebacks shoot crystal projectiles from their palms at their enemies in their front.
Hidden Attributes
Bristleback have one hidden attribute: Crystallized Body Immunity: Most parts of a Bristlebacks’ argent bodies are completely immune to all attacks.
Strategy
Bristleback are apex enemies. So they usually appear towards the end of a combat as a 
target enemy.
- Special Weakness to Armor:
Armor Buster, Acid, Fire - Special Resistance to Armor: Ice, Lightning, Shield Breaker
Overview
They can only receive damage to their weak points, from combos, or from procedural damage.
Bristleback’s Weak Point Glows Yellows
ince Bristleback are aggressive and do massive damage to their foes, they should be a priority among other enemies. Because they are armored, anti-armor damage dealing weapons and gears are the most effective against them.
Bristleback are fully capable of defeating their foes within one or two attacks, so a constant moving around is necessary during combat. Combat can be tough if there is only one javelin as they continuously perform their attacks and target this javelin.
Since they are mostly immune because of their attribute, they cannot be damaged easily. Using Acid, Armor Buster, and Fire damages on the weak point will still have an additional multiplier of 1.5 to the damage done, on top of the weak point damage multiplier.
At regular intervals of reducing their health, Lesser Ash Titans drop ammo and repair kits. Use these resupplies to replenish your javelin.
Combat
A Bristleback Projecting Homing Crystals from its Back
If a flying foe is encountered, Bristlebacks will try to bring them down using their crystal projectiles. These projectiles are homing, and the only way to escape them are by taking cover. Bristlebacks can pounce near a foe and do damage to them. This usually follows a Crystal Projectiles as they stagger the foe. They also shoot crystals from their palms, but these projectiles damage and stagger the foes, but do not seek them. If a foe is very close to the Biristlebacks, they can use melee swipe.
Most attacks from an Bristleback are easily avoidable by strafing on ground or evading them while in the air. Targeting their weak points is both a good and a bad idea.
Melee based attacks are not the best way to effectively tackle a Bristleback.
Using procedural damage (i.e., the damage generated by a perk of the weapon or gear or component), performing combos, and targeting the weak point of the Bristlebacks is the only way to defeat them.
Javelin ultimates are a very good source of damage on Bristlebacks.
Bristlebacks are usually found inside conjunctions. So, there is only a short period of time to defeat them (usually under 4 minutes). If they aren’t defeated before that, then they escape into Bastion. This also means that the guaranteed loot drop will be lost.
Every Named Bristleback
There are no named Bristlebacks. However, every Bristelback encountered is of the Legendary type. There are only 6 places where a Bristleback can be encountered and nowhere else.
Trivia (May Contain Spoilers)
- There are a few cortex entries that indicate that Bristleback are shaper corrupt brutes.
- Although Bristleback is confirmed to be an Ursix in its Journal entry, Faye calls it a shaper corrupt Brute when inside the Echoes of Reality Conjunctions. This begs the question whether Ursix are in fact evolved or Shaper-corrupt brutes themselves.
- Bristlebacks are the only known Chimera apex enemies.
- The ability names are taken from datamined files. They may have been slightly modified to avoid confusion with other in-game names.
Gallery
