Activated Vessel

From Diablo Wiki

Activated Vessels are the creatures into what Dark Vessels transform into, if they successfully summon a demon into their own bodies. They are one of the more disturbing monsters seen in Diablo III.

[edit] Appearance

Activated Vessels are not the stereotypical possessed human, they are humans, possessed by demons, Diablo style. They appear as severely mutated humans who have spikes, sinews and blood all over their bodies.

From the concept art, we can see that a spike under the neck is called the Teeth of Diablo. This may mean a special skill associated with the aforementioned spike, perhaps some kind of leeching attack.

Owing to their being possessed, they have limited or no control over their bodies. Their head rolls and swings in a very uncontrolled fashion and they have a general twitchy vibe about them. This is very apparent in their death animations, where they stand at the same place, with their entire bodies twitching and shaking, and finally explode into many chunks of flesh, letting the spirits that possessed them escape into the void.

Their mode of locomotion is quite strange, they can hover above the ground. There are not many monsters in the Diablo series that can hover without wings, only the Putrid Defiler does so. But the similarity in the lower torsos of both monsters is striking. They have their entrails and other innards hanging outside from their lower halves. How this aids them in hovering is not known.

[edit] In game

Activated Vessels are mutated, half-demonic beings who fight furiously and move very quickly. It is a good idea to kill off the Dark Vessels before they can activate, if at all possible.

Activated vessels have impressive death animations, standing still, shaking, and then shooting out embers of red light, like parts of the demon dispelling into the air.