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The undead were once living creatures, but after their death, were somehow supernaturally animated. Because these horrifying creatures are not actually living, they find it hard (if not impossible) to regenerate their bodily tissue, thus most undead are seen with the flesh rotting off their bodies and bare bones protruding through their garments. With this in mind, its not hard to understand why some undead creatures are capable of inflicting their victims with disease. Another side-effect of being animated (as opposed to being alive) is that most undead creatures no longer have blood flowing through their veins, and as such they are immune to conditions that only affect fleshy creatures. This renders useless certain skills that many warriors and rangers equip.

Tyrian Undead

The undead can be found in numerous places throughout Tyria. The undead infesting the northern parts of the Kingdom of Kryta seem to be the animated remnants of the army of Orr (as they occassionally leave behind Decayed Orr Emblems when defeated) and are all minions of the Lich Lord. Raging Cadavers, and other skeleton-like creatures, can be found in The Catacombs of Pre-Searing Ascalon. These Undead seem to harbor no ill will other than those who invade the Catacombs, and so are likely masterless. Undead created by the necromancer Oberan the Reviled can be found in Old Ascalon. In addition to the undead hordes in Tyria, there is also an undead Skeleton Army prowling the battlefield in the Fissure of Woe. These are not animated undead however, as they seem to be their own faction, capable of thought, and are likely just the physical manifestation of the anger felt by the deceased Eternals and Shadows.

While the majority of Tyrian undead encountered are humanoid, the undead can be found in other forms such as Hellhounds and Bone Dragons.

Any party should be careful when adventuring in undead-infested regions such as Kryta. A solitary Zombie Warlock which seems like easy pickings can become dangerous when numerous previously-unseen ghouls burst forth from the sand to come to its rescue. Zombie Warlocks also seem to be trained Minion Masters themselves, capable of animating corpses from the ghouls they so often seem to keep as pets.

Elonian Undead

The Elonian Undead Army is similar to the Tyrian one, but is encountered comparatively much later in the game, and is therefore much higher level. Also, far more Elonian undead are vulnerable to conditions such as Poison, Disease, and Bleeding. This is likely due to the fact that while most Krytan undead are skeletons, most Elonian dead seem to be mummies. Nightfall's host of undead are far more dangerous, both due to their level and the way their skills combine to make fighting them more difficult. Also, they come in very large groups, sometimes containing twice the number of party members you have. Fortunately, many of these fights are reduced to the difficulty level of child's play due to the assistance players receive from the powerful Junundu Wurms.

Player-Controlled Undead

Most recently-deceased creatures can have their corpse exploited by a Necromancer to create an undead minion. This is done through the casting of an animation spell (like Animate Bone Horror or Animate Bone Fiend) on the creature's corpse. Be aware, though, that most undead creatures themselves do not leave behind corpses, limiting the use of such spells in areas where the undead are prevalent. Also, Undead animated by Necromancers are different from ordinary Undead. Most of these are discussed on the appropriate minion page, but it is important to note here that only animated, temporary Undead are affected by spells that target only Undead, such as Verata's Gaze and Jagged Bones.

Undead creatures take double damage from holy damage and light damage. Furthermore, animated undead are considered summoned creatures, making them vulnerable to certain skills such as Banishing Strike. Although "real" undead are intelligent enough to run from your DoTAoE spells, animated undead will run from nothing, making it extremely easy to dispatch them with spells such as Sandstorm.

Known Sub-Types

The undead army includes every creature in the skeleton, zombie, and awakened families, as well as a number of creatures from the ghost / phantom / wraith family and one creature from the elemental family.

Region Family Type Trophy
Prophecies Campaign
Pre-Searing Skeleton NA-icon-small3 Raging Cadaver
Warrior1 Restless Corpse
Skeletal Limb
Kryta Ghost / Phantom / Wraith1 Mesmer17 Wraith
Elementalist17 Smoke Phantom
Decayed Orr Emblem
Zombie2 Warrior11 Grasping Ghoul
Warrior18 Executioner
Ranger18 Bone Dragon
Ranger24 Rotting Dragon
Monk18 Damned Cleric
Necromancer14 Zombie Warlock
Necromancer18 Necrid Horseman
Necromancer30 Rotscale1
Skeleton Warrior16 Hellhound
Ranger13 Skeleton Ranger
Ranger17 Skeleton Bowmaster
Monk12 Skeleton Monk
Mesmer13 Skeleton Mesmer
Elementalist13 Skeleton Sorcerer
Ring of Fire Islands Ghost1 Elementalist24 Portal Wraith Decayed Orr Emblem
Nightfall Campaign
Istan Ghost / Phantom / Wraith1 Elementalist15 Tomb Wraith Skeleton Bone
Skeleton Warrior10 (24) Relentless Corpse
Necromancer10 (24) Restless Dead
The Desolation Elemental1 Elementalist24 (26) Carven Effigy Mummy Wrappings
Awakened2 Warrior24 (26) Awakened Blademaster
Ranger24 (26) Awakened Gray Giant
Monk24 (26) Awakened Acolyte
Necromancer24 (26) Awakened Defiler
Mesmer24 (26) Awakened Head
Mesmer24 (26) Awakened Thought Leech
Paragon24 (26) Awakened Cavalier
Dervish24 (26) Awakened Dune Carver
Mummy Wrappings
Eye of the North Expansion
Far Shiverpeaks Ghost1 Elementalist21, 22, 23 Shock Phantom ?
Skeleton Monk21, 23 Skeleton Priest
Mesmer22, 23 Skeleton Illusionist
Elementalist20, 21, 22 Skeleton Wizard
Undead Bone
Zombie2 Dervish20 (26) Crypt Slasher
Warrior20 (26) Crypt Ghoul
?
Depths of Tyria Zombie2 Warrior28 Ancient Blademaster
Elementalist28 Ancient Effigy
Paragon28 Ancient Cavalier
Dervish28 Ancient Tomb Carver
Dervish24 Crypt Keeper
?
Warrior24 Zombie Brute
Necromancer23 Zombie Horseman
Necromancer24 Zombie Necromancer
Monk24 Chained Cleric
Warrior20 Evil Corpse
Undead Bone
Necromancer28 Decayed Dragon ?
Skeleton Warrior21-24 Skeletal Hound
Ranger24 Skeleton Archer
Elementalist24 Skeleton Wizard
Mesmer24 Skeleton Illusionist
Monk24 Skeleton Priest
Undead Bone
Ghost Ritualist22, 23 Ash Phantom
Monk21 Crypt Banshee
Mesmer22 Crypt Wraith
Diessa Chalice
Necromancer/Assassin28 Restless Dead ?
Realms of the Gods (Core)
Fissure of Woe Zombie2 Necromancer30 Dragon Lich Dark Claw
Skeleton Army Warrior24 Skeletal Berserker
Ranger24 Skeletal Impaler
Monk24 Skeletal Bond
Mesmer24 Skeletal Ether Breaker
Elementalist24 Skeletal Icehand
Umbral Skeletal Limb
  1. These creatures are not vulnerable to holy damage.
  2. These undead are fleshy creatures.

Hard mode levels are in brackets

Animated Undead
Name Level Skill Notes
Bone Fiend 1..18 Animate Bone Fiend ranged attack
Bone Horror 1..18 Animate Bone Horror
Aura of the Lich1
Malign Intervention2
 
Bone Minion 0..13 Animate Bone Minions one corpse produces 2 minions
Celestial Horror 25 Star Servant summoned rather than animated
party members gain 25 health and 3 energy each time it hits
Flesh Golem3 3..26 Animate Flesh Golem leaves an exploitable corpse
Shambling Horror 1..18 Animate Shambling Horror creates a Jagged Horror when it dies
Jagged Horror 0..16 Animate Shambling Horror2
Jagged Bones2
attacks inflict bleeding
Vampiric Horror 1..18 Animate Vampiric Horror whenever it deals damage, it heals its controller for an equal amount of health
Minion of Zoldark 20 Animate Undead only usable by Zoldark the Unholy
  1. This skill creates one minion, plus one more for each corpse within earshot.
  2. These skills create minions upon the death of the target creature rather than creating them immediately.
  3. This minion is a fleshy creature.


For a listing of known types of undead units see Category:Undead.

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