Drowner

Drowner

Species	Necrophages
DLC	Base game
Oil	Necrophage Oil
Signs	Igni Aard
Location	Skellige White Orchard

The Drowner is a Necrophage that lives in the muddy water of ponds and lakes. It looks like a drowned corpse, but it belongs to a species of its own.

Lore

A fisherman from Blaviken gives simple advice. At the water's edge, stay quiet. The first reason is to avoid scaring the fish. The second is to avoid drawing drowners.

A drowner looks like a corpse pulled from the bottom of a pond. Its skin is a sickly blue or green. Slime and sludge ooze from every pore, and it reeks of rot. For this reason, many people believe drowners rise from the bodies of the drowned. Lost travelers who fall into bogs are said to become drowners. So are children who swim too far from shore. Drunk peasants who stumble off narrow swamp paths are said to turn into vodniks.

Like many beliefs about monsters, this one is false. From a distance, drowners do look like people. Witchers have studied them up close, though, and found many ways their bodies differ from a human body. Their scaly skin, gills and back fins show that drowners belong to an entirely foreign species.

Drowners have more dangerous cousins: vodniks, Mucknixers and the Drowned Dead.

Behaviour

Their bodies make drowners excellent swimmers in muddy water. They often gather near villages and towns, where food is easy to find.

Drowners are cowards by nature. They usually eat scraps dug out of rubbish heaps and the bodies of dead animals. A lone traveler or a careless fisherman who strays into their territory is another matter. Then the scavengers become fierce hunters. They strike with lightning speed and drag the victim into the water to drown. When not very hungry, they keep the body under water for a few days. This lets it age until it is soft and rotten, just the way they like it.

Drowners are most active at dusk and at night, above all when it rains. At such times they even leave the water and wander inland.

Weaknesses

Coat the silver sword with Necrophage Oil. Igni is the Sign to use, because drowners are especially weak to fire magic. Drowners live in rotting filth, so poison does them little harm. They are no smarter than a carp or a pike. That is why spells that work on the mind, Axii included, have no effect on them.

Drowners rely on their numbers. They try to flank their target and attack from several sides. Do not get surrounded. Keep moving and use Igni to break up the pack.

Contracts and Quests

Quest	Quest Giver	Location	Reward
Contract: Here Comes the Groom	Notice board	Svorlag, Skellige	Crowns, Ekhidna trophy, Ekhidna mutagen
Evil's Soft First Touches	Notice board	Seven Cats Inn, Novigrad	450 crowns

Drowners turn up in many quests near water. In Evil's Soft First Touches, a main quest of Hearts of Stone, drowners fill the sewers under Oxenfurt. They have to be cleared on the way to the lair of the Toad Prince.

On Spikeroog in Skellige, drowners guard the cave of Melusine. They attack inside the cave during Contract: Here Comes the Groom.

Drops

Name	Image
Drowner Brain
Drowner Tongue
Monster Bone	-
Monster Claw
Monster Saliva
Monster Blood
Monster Heart
Monster Ear
Monster Eye
Monster Hair	-
Monster Liver
Monster Tooth

All Monster Categories

All Necrophages

Name	Image	Variant of	Oil	Signs	Bombs	Location	DLC
Abaya		Water Hag	Necrophage Oil	Quen Igni	Northern Wind	Skellige	Base game
Alghoul		-	Necrophage Oil	Axii	-	-	Base game
Devourer	-	-	Necrophage Oil	-	-	Skellige Velen	Base game
Drowned Dead	-	Drowner	Necrophage Oil	Igni	-	Velen Novigrad Skellige Kaer Morhen White Orchard	Base game
Drowner		-	Necrophage Oil	Igni Aard	-	Skellige White Orchard	Base game
Foglet		-	Necrophage Oil	Quen	Moon Dust	Velen Novigrad Skellige Kaer Morhen Toussaint Isle of Mists	Base game
Ghoul		-	Necrophage Oil	-	-	White Orchard Velen	Base game
Grave Hag		-	Necrophage Oil	Yrden Quen	-	Velen Skellige	Base game
Ignis Fatuus		Foglet	Necrophage Oil	Quen	Moon Dust	Velen	Base game
Mourntart		Grave Hag	Necrophage Oil	Yrden Quen	-	-	Base game
Mucknixer	-	-	Necrophage Oil	Igni	-	Skellige Velen	Base game
Rotfiend		-	Necrophage Oil	Igni	-	Velen White Orchard Skellige Toussaint	Base game
Scurver		-	Necrophage Oil	-	-	Toussaint	Blood and Wine
Spotted Wight		-	Necrophage Oil	Igni Yrden Axii	-	Toussaint	Blood and Wine
Water Hag		-	Necrophage Oil	Quen Igni	Northern Wind	White Orchard	Base game
Wight		-	Necrophage Oil	Axii	-	Toussaint	Blood and Wine