Hirschgeist

The Hirschgeist was a hostile miniboss that could be encountered in forested biomes. It has been removed from the mod and moved to Whisperwoods.

Appearance
During the day, the Hirschgeist appears as a skeletal deer with a pair of small, branching, vaguely claw-like antlers atop its head and a small blue flame running down its spine; however, at night, it doubles in size, and its bones become surrounded by a transparent, bright blue glow, giving it a ghostly appearance.

Behavior
During the day, the Hirschgeist is passive, and it will wander around aimlessly and avoid any natural hazards such as high cliffs or lava; during this time, it is also invincible, and any player who attempts to attack it in this state will cause a message saying "The Hirschgeist is immortal in the daytime. Try fighting it later." to appear. However, during the nighttime, the Hirschgeist will lose its invincibility and become hostile; it is able to spot targets from 50 blocks away. Its main attack is to ram into the player, dealing 3 hearts (6 HP) of damage and lighting them on fire for 5 seconds. In addition to this, it is also able to summon a large magical flame on the ground; this flame lasts for two minutes, and deals 1.5 hearts (3 HP) of damage to any entity that steps in them.

Summoning
In addition to spawning naturally, the Hirschgeist can be summoned with a Hand of Fate. In order to summon the Hirschgeist, the Hand of Fate must first be lit with a Flint and Steel, and then must be offered a cut of raw venison, an antler, and a nether wart (in any order).

History

 * 1.0.0:
 * Introduced.
 * 1.1.0:
 * Now has idle and step sounds.
 * Now persists in worlds on Peaceful difficulty, but becomes passive.
 * No longer spawns in large groups.
 * 10.0.0:
 * Removed from the mod and moved to Whisperwoods (1.15+ only).

Trivia

 * "Hirschgeist" comes from a combination of German words that, together, mean "deer spirit".
 * Surprisingly enough, the Hirschgeist can hurt itself with its own magical flames. This makes it possible for it to slowly kill itself.
 * Due to a possible bug, the Hirschgeist may sometimes stop dead in its tracks when fighting a player, and will only continue moving after a few seconds pass or if it summons a magical flame under the player's feet.
 * As of version 10.0.0, the Hirschgeist was removed from Better Animals Plus and added to a related mod, Whisperwoods.
 * Upon being added to Whisperwoods, it got a slight overhaul to differ from its Better Animals Plus counterpart.