We will get Iron Hulk, Just not in the way we Think.

[Dragolantis]

Recently, the Depths of Duplicity update came out, and we recieved a fairly large swath of content, a new shadow creature, new ruins enemies, new shadow rift content, and the Great Depths Worm, the Varglet equivalent for depth worm attacks. I highlight the GDW specifically, because it behaves somewhat similarly to a certain Hamlet boss, the Pugalisk.

I've noticed that when it comes to adding things to DST from DS, that they like to subvert expectations. The most obvious example is Dragonfly. Dragonfly in RoG is the seasonal boss of summer, and does not attack unless provoked, simply preffering to set everything on fire, but when fighting it, Dragonfly becomes enraged. DST decided to shake things up. When introducing their raid bosses Bee Queen, Toadstool and Klaus, Dragonfly was also introduced as a raid boss, and by now, I'd assume most people on here knows how Dfly in DST functions.

In adddition, this is mostly a crack theory of mine, but I always assumed that the Moon Quay Powder Monkeys were meant to look somewhat like the Prime apes from Shipwrecked, and they've either changed with time, or changed as a result of arriving through the unnatural portal.

The Great Depths worm is another prime example of subverting expectations. The Pugalisk fight is one that a good few people who played Hamlet quite enjoyed, and wanted to see come to DST. We did get a similar fight in theGreat Depths Worm, but we didn't get, and at this point likely never will get Pugalisk.

What does that have to do with the Iron Hulk returning? In truth, I believe we are going to get a new boss that has a similar fight to the Iron Hulk. I also believe that this new version will be Lunar Aligned.

Why do I think this? Depths of Duplicity has shown us that Klei is willing to take ideas from Hamlet (and maybe even SW if my crack theory is true), so the possibility of them repurposing the Iron Hulk fight for a new boss mob is not out of the question, and I'm sure a good chunk of people who played Hamlet will not only enjoy the new fight, but also the potential for something similar to the Living Artifact.

The reason I believe it will be Lunar aligned is that I believe that Wagstaff will play some role in the creation of this new boss. Lunar aligned and Lunar rift content seems to fall into one or both of two distinct categories: Gestalt ghostly aliens, or Wagstaff chicanery machines. The only two mobs that fall into the Wagstaff category are CC and Scrappy Werepig, both with their own laser attacks, and Iron Hulk, or this new version of it, would fit right in with the laser aesthetic. The reason I believe it would take after the Iron Hulk fight specifically is because already the Iron hulk fight has some similarities to Wagstaff's own equipment, and he seems fascinated by Iron Hulk in Hamlet, thus I believe that he would want to create something similar. The Iron Hulk is also capable of damaging nightmare creatures in Hamlet, so it would make sense for a Wagstaff made version to be lunar aligned.

Despite Wagstaff's clear influence in CC, Scrappy Werepig, and even stuff like the Moon Quay, Wagstaff has not directly created any of these things himself. CC was simply attracted to Wagstaff's experiment, Scrappy Werepig was made by literally crawling through Wagstaff's old junk, and Moon Quay pirates came from elsewhere in the constant, arriving from the unnatural portal made by another experiment. My guess is that with all the research he's gathered, from the various scrap experiments, to the mysterious energy he gathered from CC, and from the Spark ark research done in Host of Horrors, my theory is that he wants to make his own machine, that, either by design or by influence by the mysterious energy or gestalts, begins to attack the players.

 

In short, I believe the possibility is there, and I would certainly love to see it happen. A revamped Iron Hulk fight would be interesting to witness in DST, and the possibility of something like the Living Artifact as a very late game Lunar Rift item would certainly make the whole pain of opening the rifts in the first place worth it by a good while. It is, of course, just theory. I could be wrong, and have been wrong about things before, but I figured I'd cast the idea out there, and see what people thought of it.