Vessel

Vessel
Mod	Jaden's Nether Expansion
Type	Hostile
Health	24 ♥×12
Attack damage	2
Speed	0.25
Follow range	16
Size	0.8 × 2.6 blocks
Fire immune	Yes
Spawns in	2 biomes
Category	Monster
ID	netherexp:vessel

The Vessel is a hostile ranged mob added by Jaden's Nether Expansion. It fires volleys of shotgun pellets at players within 16 blocks, is fire-immune, and is tagged as a skeleton, so other mods treat it like one. Players meet it in the Soul Sand Valley and Black Ice Glaciers biomes and in the Chapel and Mega Fossil Campsite structures. It is worth fighting for its Wraithing Flesh drop and for the chance that it releases an Apparition when it dies.

Spawning

The Vessel is a natural monster spawn in two nether biomes, each with a spawn weight of 30 and a group size of exactly one:

• Black Ice Glaciers, a cold nether biome.
• Soul Sand Valley, where it shares the spawn list with Apparitions, Ecto Slabs and Stampedes.

Spawns are always single. The Vessel is also placed directly by two structures, the Chapel from Chapel and Sanctum and the Mega Fossil Campsite from Mega Fossils.

A Vessel can also be obtained from a Vessel Spawn Egg, which stacks to 64.

Behavior

Movement and targeting

The Vessel walks at a movement speed of 0.25 and has a follow range of 16 blocks. Its target goals, in priority order, are players that attack it, the nearest player, nearby iron golems and the nearest Piglin. The mod adds the Vessel to the Elysium piglins_afraid_of tag, so piglins avoid it. Its pathfinding strongly avoids water and treats lava as a high-cost path.

Attacks run only while the target is inside the 16-block follow range. Once the Vessel has had line of sight to its target for 20 ticks, it stops and strafes sideways around the target, reversing direction at random and backing off when the target comes too close.

Shotgun volley

Each attack is driven by an attack timer that starts at 110 ticks:

1. From 110 down to 100, the Vessel takes aim.
2. At 70 it plays a warning sound, unless it is a Doom variant.
3. From 40 and below it stands still and fires when the timer reaches 40.

The timer counts down only while the target is visible, except in the last 50 ticks, when it counts down regardless. The volley is between 16 and 20 pellets (config minVesselBullets and maxVesselBullets). Each pellet deals 1 damage, so a full volley can deal up to 20 damage.

Aim depends on distance. Within 5 blocks (config vesselAccurateDistance), the Vessel aims at the target's current position and its shot is very accurate. At longer range it aims at where the target was shortly before the shot, so a player who keeps moving can avoid part of the volley.

Doom variant

A Vessel given the name tag DOOM, ShotgunGuy or Shotgun Guy (case-insensitive) becomes a Doom variant. It uses its own ambient, hurt, death and fire sounds, and it does not play the warning sound before firing.

Exorcism

The Vessel is a possessed mob and can be exorcised in two ways:

• A splash potion of plain water (no other effects) that hits the Vessel converts it into a Skeleton. The new skeleton has Confusion for 200 ticks (10 seconds), and nearby players receive the exorcism advancement.
• Entering water or rain has the same effect.

Silver weapons

Weapons in the c:silver_weapons tag (the necromium items from Caverns and Chasms) deal 1.8 times damage to the Vessel. Each hit also applies Slowness V for 60 ticks (3 seconds). The slowness is enabled by default.

Death

When a Vessel dies it has a 25% chance (config vesselUnleashingOdds) to release an Apparition at its position. On Hard difficulty the chance is doubled to 50%. The released Apparition inherits the Vessel's target. The release can be turned off with the config option possessedMobsUnleashApparition.

Drops

Item	Amount	Conditions
Wraithing Flesh	x2.0-4.0 +looting bonus
Bone	x0.0-2.0 +looting bonus

The Vessel drops 2 to 4 Wraithing Flesh, and 0 to 2 Bone. Both amounts are increased by the Looting enchantment.

Tips

• Break line of sight to stall the timer. The timer does not count down while the Vessel cannot see its target, unless it is in the last 50 ticks. Standing out of sight during the early part of the cycle delays the volley.
• Fight at close range. At 5 blocks or less the Vessel's aim is precise, so mid-range fights, where it can strafe and aim at your previous position, are the most dangerous.
• Use splash water. One splash potion of water converts a Vessel into a skeleton without a long fight.
• Use necromium weapons. The 1.8 times damage multiplier and Slowness V make these the strongest weapons against it.
• Listen for the warning. The warning sound is the only cue before a volley, and the Doom variant has none. Move when you hear it.
• Clear the area before the Vessel dies. A dead Vessel can release an Apparition that inherits the target, so an Apparition may arrive after the fight seems over.