Bighorn Bison
Field Notes
When they are not stampeding after me I have observed these monsters using their massive heads to bludgeon rocks and fight amongst themselves. How can they expend so much energy on fruitless activity? Are they merely trying to keep from freezing?
Behavior
The Bighorn Bison is an enemy that can spawn on the Ancient Valley and Magma Barracks maps. The bison attacks by making a roaring sound, before teleporting a short distance, stopping at terrain, edges, and characters, dealing damage to the latter.
Tactics
The Bison deals large amounts of damage and quickly, which can wreck an unprepared player. Avoiding their charges is a priority, achieved by jumping so that the bison misses the character completely.
Due to Bighorn Bison not being able to jump, one can trap them at a ledge and safely shoot at them with a ranged character. Due to the charge not being able to cross a ledge, a ranged character can also stand on a platform of the same height and shoot at it unharmed. Standing at a lower point than the Bison and jumping while attacking is also effective, however, take care as at close ranges the Bison can still hit the player.
If one must take on a Bison without trapping it at a ledge either because it is Frenzied or spawned at what would be the high ground, using invulnerability moves, a Hopoo Feather, or a Photon Jetpack to avoid its attack is recommended. The charge does have a cooldown, so after they have attacked once, they are briefly left open. If the bison is Frenzied, de-aggroing it by moving away vertically can be used to avoid combat.