Heishou Pack

"Wait!"

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This page contains spoilers for Intervallo V: Nocturnal Sweeping, Canto VIII: The Surrendered Witnessing.

The Heishou Packs (simplified Chinese: 黑兽; traditional Chinese: 黑獸; pinyin: hēi shòu; 'Black Beast') are a group of organizations that operates in District 8, functioning as a "secret service" or private army to various prominent personages of H Corp. They first appeared in Intervallo V: Nocturnal Sweeping.

Overview

The Heishou Packs are a group of organizations of augmented fighters that serve the upper classes of Hongyuan, particularly the families of Daguanyuan. There are twelve official Branches of the Heishou Packs in total, each of which corresponds to one animal in the Chinese Zodiac, and is named after the corresponding Earthly Branch. Members of each Branch have characteristics and display manually-induced mutations (gained after a regimen of Bolus treatments, revealed to be based on life-forms from the Outskirts) reminiscent of the animal they are based off of. Members are thus usually referred as the "beasts" of the Heishou Packs.

Each Branch is overseen by a Heishou-Xianren who strictly controls their population, using a secret Branch-specific recipe for their Bolus, which contributes to their abilities and strengths.

Each Branch of the Heishou Packs swears allegiance to one given figure, who becomes their lord, at any given time. The current lord must receive from the Heishou absolute loyalty, regardless of any previous affiliations; which appears to be enhanced by Q Corp.'s Singularity. Because of these factors, the dynamic is colloquially referred to as the lord "holding the Heishou's leash".

The beasts of the Heishou Packs all wear black robes and tend to cover their faces. The outfits present variations among the Branches, as members have the animal their Branch is named after depicted on their robes. Higher ranking members are known as Adepts and have uniforms that appear to feature more of the same animal, such as Zilu, whose outfit possesses two hares as opposed to the regular Mao Branch members' singular hare, as well as dual wielding a personal blade and the standard-issue Mao Branch's "Butcherblade".

The exact nature of each Branch varies depending on the nature of said Branch, generally ranging from private army to a "secret service".

Mao Branch

The Mao Branch (卯; pinyin: mǎo), colloquially known as 'hares', specialize in group ambush and pursuit missions. The Mao's mutations are based on hares, allowing them to transform their legs into digitigrade limbs to massively enhance their speed and agility.

Their weaponry consists of a long and thin rectangular greatsword with glyphs inscribed onto them using Q Corp.'s Singularity, which grants them additional power when a certain pre-determined condition is met.

The Mao Branch is currently in service to Jia Qiu and his clan, and were temporarily loaned to Shi Yihua during the events of Intervallo V: Nocturnal Sweeping.

Si Branch

The Si Branch (巳; pinyin: sì), colloquially known as 'serpents', specialize in assassination and stealth, wielding thin purple spears. The Si Branch's mutuations are based on snakes, and transform their limbs into thin, scaled forms resembling snakes, which allows them to strike with blinding speed and attack from unconventional angles.

They currently appear to be in service to the Shi family.

Other Branches

Several other Branches have been alluded to or directly shown, but not extensively elaborated on:

• The Zi Branch (子; pinyin: zǐ), presumably based on rats, which is mentioned to mobilize in large groups.
• The Chou Branch (丑; pinyin: chǒu), based on oxen, which is in service to the position of Family Hierarch. They appear to wield large, spiked clubs.
• The Shen Branch (申; pinyin: shēn), based on monkeys, which is in service to the position of Family Hierarch. They appear to wield staffs.
• The Chen Branch (辰; pinyin: chén), based on dragons, which is in service to the position of Family Hierarch.
• The You Branch (酉; pinyin: yǒu), based on roosters, said to specialize in direct combat and warfare rather than subterfuge. They appear to be in service to the Jia family.
• The Wei Branch (未; pinyin: wèi), based on goats, which is only alluded to by Jia Mu's skills.
• The Yin Branch (寅; pinyin: yín), based on tigers, which is only alluded to by Jia Mu's skills.
• An unnamed branch based on horses, presumably called the Wu Branch (午; pinyin: wǔ), which Wei is implied to be a former Adept of.

Personnel

Heishou Pack
Zilu Mao Branch Adept	Wei Former Wu Branch Adept

Sinner Identities

Heishou Pack Identities
Mao Branch
	Ryōshū Mao Branch	Outis Mao Branch	Faust Mao Branch Adept

Si Branch
	Rodion Si Branch	Gregor Si Branch

Fighting Style

Sinners

Heishou Pack - Mao Branch Identities revolve mainly around Rupture RuptureThe next Y time(s) the unit is hit, take X fixed damage. and Haste HasteSpeed +X for this turn., as well as inflicting a unique debuff called Deathrite【Haste】 Deathrite【Haste】- Base Stack: 3
- When getting Rupture triggered by getting hit by an Attack Skill from a target with 10+ Speed, lose 1 Stack and gain +1 Rupture Count
- At 0 Stack, take Gluttony damage equal to Rupture Potency on self; then, this effect expires
※ Cannot gain additional Stacks of this effect while it is already active exclusively bound to their Skill 3. Identities from the Mao Branch gain plethora of benefits from being at 10+ Speed or being faster than the opponent, such as re-using coins, Coin Power, inflicting additional Rupture RuptureThe next Y time(s) the unit is hit, take X fixed damage. and working in tandem with their unique debuff Deathrite【Haste】 Deathrite【Haste】- Base Stack: 3
- When getting Rupture triggered by getting hit by an Attack Skill from a target with 10+ Speed, lose 1 Stack and gain +1 Rupture Count
- At 0 Stack, take Gluttony damage equal to Rupture Potency on self; then, this effect expires
※ Cannot gain additional Stacks of this effect while it is already active. Their high Speed conditionals are made easier by their above average Speed range of 4 - 7 and their ability to gain plenty of Haste HasteSpeed +X for this turn. due to Skill Effects and their unique Status Effect Strider【Mao】 Strider【Mao】- Max Stack: 3
- Turn End: gain 5 Haste next turn
- Reduced by 1 at Turn End, granted to them with their Skill 3 or Defense Skill.

Heishou Pack - Mao Branch Identities universally have Slash Skills and Clashable Counter Defense Skills. All Identities additionally have a Skill 2 and Defense Skill with the Gluttony Affinity. Their Passive and Support Abilities require Gluttony Affinity as well.

Heishou Pack - Si Branch Identities utilize a combination of Rupture RuptureThe next Y time(s) the unit is hit, take X fixed damage. and Poise PoiseBoost critical hit chance by X*5% for the next Y hit(s)., using their unique status Serpent Arm Serpent ArmMax Stack: 3
Turn End: gain 3 Poise and +2 Poise Count next turn
On Base Attack Skill use, if target has Rupture, gain 5 Poise
Turn End: lose 1 Stack to accumulate Poise both passively and against targets with Rupture. Identities from the Si Branch gain benefits based on the combined Poise on themselves and Rupture on their targets, such as Coin Power and coin reuses. They are also able to inflict the unique debuff Deathrite【Venom】 Deathrite【Venom】Base Stack: 5
- When getting Rupture triggered by a Critical Hit from the target, lose 1 Stack
- When losing Stacks due to this effect, gain 1 Offense Level Down or 1 Defense Level Down (3 times per turn)
- When losing Stacks due to this effect, if the Stack drops to 0, take Gluttony damage equal to Rupture Potency on self
-※ Cannot gain additional Stacks of this effect while it is already active, which triggers additional effects when the victim has Rupture triggered by a critical hit.

Heishou Pack - Si Branch Identities have a combination of Slash and Pierce Skills, as well as Clashable Guard Clashable Guard- On Clash Win: raise the target's Stagger Threshold by this unit's final Clash Power.
- On Clash Lose: when hit, reduce the attacker's Final Skill Power by this unit's Final Power.
- On Clash Lose: does not gain Final Power from the following sources: Resonance and the Level disparity against the Attack Skill Defense Skills. All Identities additionally have a Skill 2 and Defense Skill with the Gluttony Affinity. Their Passive and Support Abilities require Gluttony Affinity as well.

Heishou Pack - Mao Enemies

Heishou Pack - Mao Enemies function similarly to the Heishou Pack - Mao Branch Identities, having a fighting style focused around Rupture RuptureThe next Y time(s) the unit is hit, take X fixed damage. application and the gaining of buffs (primarily additional Rupture RuptureThe next Y time(s) the unit is hit, take X fixed damage. application from the Passive "Vigor [Mao]") from Speed differences. Both variants have four Slash Skills: a 2-Coin Lust Skill that inflicts Rupture RuptureThe next Y time(s) the unit is hit, take X fixed damage., a 2-Coin Wrath Skill that is able to Reuse the second Coin based on the unit's Speed, a 3-Coin Gluttony Skill that inflicts Deathrite【Haste】 Deathrite【Haste】- Base Stack: 3
- When getting Rupture triggered by getting hit by an Attack Skill from a target with 10+ Speed, lose 1 Stack and gain +1 Rupture Count
- At 0 Stack, take Gluttony damage equal to Rupture Potency on self; then, this effect expires
※ Cannot gain additional Stacks of this effect while it is already active and gains Coin Power from Speed difference, and a Pride Clashable Counter that gains Haste HasteSpeed +X for this turn. On Use.

The Umbrastriker variant is more focused on Rupture RuptureThe next Y time(s) the unit is hit, take X fixed damage. Count application, while the Featherstriker variant is more focused on Rupture RuptureThe next Y time(s) the unit is hit, take X fixed damage. Potency application.

Gallery

• 

  Zilu
• 

  Heishou Pack - Mao: Umbrastriker
• 

  You branch member
• 

  Silhouettes of the Chou, Chen, You, and Shen Branch members
• 

  Si Branch member cameo

• 

  Zilu Story Log Portrait
• 

  Heishou Pack - Mao: Umbrastriker Story Log Portrait

Trivia

• The official translation of Heishou is "Black Beast" and is not to be confused with other translations using different tone marks. This can be seen in the Japanese translation of the name Heishou in the promotion video of Intervallo V: Nocturnal Sweeping when introducing the Heishou Pack Identities, in which the characters were written in Japanese kanji (written using Traditional Chinese characters). This is also further corroborated by the continued mentioning of not trusting the beasts that are black of fur.

Navigation

Factions
Wings	Extant Wings	A Corp. - B Corp. - C Corp. - D Corp. - E Corp. - F Corp. - G Corp. - H Corp.- I Corp. - J Corp - K Corp. - M Corp. - N Corp. - O Corp. - P Corp. - Q Corp. - R Corp. - S Corp. - T Corp. - U Corp. - V Corp. - W Corp. - X Corp. - Y Corp. - Z Corp.
	Collapsed Wings	Old G Corp. - Lobotomy Corporation
Fixer Organizations	Associations	Hana - Zwei - Tres - Shi - Cinq - Liu - Seven - Eight - Devyat' - Dieci - Öufi
	Fixer Offices	Rosespanner Workshop - Molar Boatworks - MultiCrack Office - Fanghunt Office - Firefist Office - Tri-axe Office
Syndicates	Five Fingers	The Thumb - The Index - The Middle - The Ring - The Pinky
	Other Syndicates	Yurodiviye - Tingtang Gang - Los Mariachis - Tieqiu Crew - Twinhook Pirates - Blade Lineage - Kurokumo Clan - Dead Rabbits
Other Factions		Hooligans - Casino Security (Casino Slaves) - N Corp. Inquisition - Technology Liberation Alliance - Pequod Town - T Corp. Gangsters - Wuthering Heights - Edgar Family - The Wild Hunt - La Manchaland - Heishou Pack - Daguanyuan
Monsters		Trash Crabs - Mermaids - Gnomes - Bloodfiends - Sweepers - Jar Monsters