Virtue

VIRTUE
General
Class	Lesser Angel
Health	10
Weight	Medium (Flying)
Rank	3
Locational Damage
Head (200%)	;
Limbs (150%)	;
Conditional Modifiers
Flammable	;
Airshot	;
Splatters	;
Magnet Pull	;
Damage Type Modifiers
	Electricity: 150%; Nails: 125%; Feedbacker Parries: 60%;
Radiance Multipliers
Health	1.5x
Damage	1.5x
Speed	1.5x
Appearances
	4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-S; 5-1, 5-2, 5-3; 6-17-1, 7-3, 7-S 0-E, 1-E P-2; The Cyber Grind
Cyber Grind Data

The Virtue is a Lesser Angel introduced in 4-1: SLAVES TO POWER, and is the second Angel-class enemy that the player encounters in ULTRAKILL.

Virtues appear as floating, glowing blue orbs containing a pink triangle and have golden rectangular chains wrapped around them. They also have four blue wings: a pair of large ones to their sides, and two small ones under the orb, and have fractured golden halos with debris floating around them.

Behavior

Virtues fly around, moving very little, akin to Drones, but with much shorter dashes. Virtues attack the player at regular intervals, regardless of whether they have a line of sight or not.

Virtues become enraged if they have attacked more than five times. If they are blessed, or if there are more than two Virtues active at once, they do not enrage.

When they die, their "corpse" falls down and creates a non-damaging explosion upon contact with a surface, the player, or if they are shot again. Their corpse can be parried, and acts similar to the S.R.S. Cannon, though fully recovering the player's health and stamina, unlike cannonballs. Killing an enemy with a Virtue's corpse grants the + Cannonballed style bonus.

Attacks

Divine Light
Virtues emit a windup sound and a pink glow, indicating the start of the attack. The Virtue will then summon a spinning white insignia that follows the player for about 3 seconds, before stopping at their current location for a brief moment before the beam is cast. Afterwards, the insignia vanishes and creates a large beam of divine light that deals 30 damage and lingers for a few moments before shrinking and disappearing. When they glow pink just before the insignia appears, Virtues can be parried. However, doing so does not cancel the attack.

If the Virtue is enraged, the insignia becomes red, and the beam attempts to predict the player’s position.

Strategy

Virtues are extremely dangerous due to their Divine Light attack, and can be even more dangerous if they spawn in groups of two or three.

Shotgun Blasts at point-blank range are the most reliable way to kill a Virtue, especially if the player manages to Shotgun Parry a Virtue with one. The Whiplash can be used to grapple onto a Virtue and approach them to blast them with the Shotgun. It can also be used to grapple the Virtue's corpse closer to the player, allowing for easier parries.

The Electric Railcannon instantly kills a Virtue in one hit, and due to its infinite piercing nature, it can take out two or more Virtues that are lined up near one another.
The Sharpshooter, when properly lined up, can also inflict grave damage to a Virtue. Any variant of the Impact Hammer deals fatal damage to a Virtue' when it is in its red charge level, or even during yellow charge level during their parry window. The S.R.S. Cannon can instantly kill a Virtue by hitting them with a cannonball and then detonating it with a Revolver Shot.

At long distances, Projectile Boosts and the Rocket Launcher's rockets are a very reliable way to take down a Virtue that is far away or risky to approach, however, the player should be aware of the fact that Virtues take knockback from attacks, meaning that they take a slightly more effort to aim at a Virtue.
Another way to take care of a Virtue from a long distance is by attaching a magnet onto them and then unloading the Nailgun into them, killing them swiftly due to the fire rate of the Nailgun and the fact Virtues have a weakness to nails.

Dodging a Virtue can be difficult, as the Divine Light beam lingers for a short while after being cast, and because enraged Virtues attempt to predict the player’s movement. Sliding is extremely recommended as it can out-speed the Divine Light beam, and, when a Virtue is enraged, dashing into the opposite direction of the slide at the last second tricks the Virtue into missing the player.

Difficulty Changes

Harmless

Virtues are unable to enrage.
Virtues always move slowly towards the player when being far.

Lenient

Virtues are unable to enrage.
Virtues rarely move sideways (about once per two attacks).

Violent

Virtues enrage after three attacks.
Virtues can enrage even if blessed.

Brutal

Virtues enrage after three attacks.
Virtues can enrage even if blessed.
The beam of divine light lingers for much longer.
Virtues move sideways much more often (up to six times per attack).

Terminal Entry

Virtue

TYPE: Lesser Angel

DATA:
The basis of a lesser angel's forming are quite similar to that of the Husks', wherein the physical manifestation of the soul is dependant on its value, though unlike for Husks, virtuousness also acts as a factor for angels.

Lesser angels come from human souls, which are formed into abstract or animalistic shapes, making them distinct from the humanoid bodies of greater and supreme angels, who were created as such and are considered purer and placed higher on Heaven's societal hierarchy.

Due to their past lives as humans, Virtues are often sent to complete tasks that greater angels deem below them or otherwise uninteresting, such as acting as wardens in Hell. There Virtues use heavenly fire to punish sinners who aren't acting out their punishment, in order to not waste Gabriel's time with minor offences and fluctuations.

Virtues are normally known to have a multitude of eyes, though for unknown reasons, these eyes are hidden or removed for ones that become wardens in Hell. Some have speculated this may be related to why almost all husks lack eyes, with the only verified exception being the previous Judge of Hell, King Minos.

Little is known about the specifics of angels, as Heaven is exclusionary and segregated due to wanting little to no direct contact with God's human experiment.

STRATEGY:
- Verticality and cover give little safety against the Virtue's light beams, so constant horizontal movement is encouraged, though retracing one's steps can be dangerous as the beams linger.

- If ignored for too long, Virtues will enrage, making their light beams predict their target's movement. Although it's easy to avoid their attacks with enough space, leaving them unattended can quickly turn the tables in their favor.

Media

Icon

Gameplay Demonstrations

A Virtue firing its beam.
An enraged Virtue firing its beam.

Concept Art & Renders

Concept art for the Virtue's color palette.
Earlier concept art.

Audio

Spawn
Divine Light Charge
Divine Light
Divine Light Ambience
Death
Core Shatter

Trivia

In the traditional Christian angelic hierarchy and, more importantly, Dante Alighieri's Paradiso, Virtues are middle-ranked angels and are responsible for carrying out God's will, being of a higher rank than archangels like Gabriel, making their name in ULTRAKILL quite inappropriate for a being classified as a lesser angel.
- Virtues also more closely resemble thrones as described in Dante's Paradiso.

Enemies

Lesser

Greater

Supreme

HUSKS