Spitting Terror

Spitting Terrors, otherwise known as Bestia Acerbus or the Hounds of Hell are quadrapedal Animal demons.

Lore
After an especially violent battle, Baal enjoyed celebrating with his brothers by holding a feast of blood, human flesh and other Hellish delights. The Bestia Acerbus are the descendants of doglike creatures that lived by feeding upon the remains of Baal's nightmarish feasts. The variety of vile substances that the creatures consumed, along with their close proximity to the Lord of Destruction, twisted and warped the viscera of these Hounds of Hell. These quadrupedal creatures are scavengers, able to move with insidious agility, and their armored backs are festooned with scales and ridges.

Spitting Terrors are capable of spitting up a variety of caustic fluids and projecting them from a considerable distance. Packs of these terrors are especially devastating, as their bile has been known to eat through the strongest of armor and poison the most hearty men. They will move in on their prey that seems weak or crippled.

Great care must be taken when within the lair of these Bestia. Their venom retains its potency for a considerable amount of time and puddles of it may be found everywhere. When killed, the beast's inner toxins eat through the now-dead flesh, leaving a dangerous trap for those foolish enough to tread upon the corpse.

In-game
Spitting Terrors appear in Diablo I. They can expel bile as a projectile, and are also very nimble and very aggressive in close-quarter combat. These nasty critters can be encountered from the middle levels of the Catacombs all the way up to Hell itself.

Spitting Terrors will usually fire their acidic bile from afar. These projectiles deal Magic damage on impact. In addition, when a bile-projectile hits the ground or any target, it expands into an exploding orb forming a nasty pool of corroding acid. For several seconds after landing this puddle will remain 'active' and deal damage if players step upon it. It is best to kill Spitting Terrors from range in order to avoid exposure to their bile projectiles. They are relatively weak in melee combat and do not possess much health, so killing them should not be a daunting task. One should be careful fighting in melee against a large group of these foul creatures, however, as they are aggressive and attack relatively fast compared to some of the other denizens of the labyrinth. Also, Spitting Terrors have one more surprise: upon death, their bodily fluids are spilled, producing another acidic puddle which does damage when stepped upon. It's best to wait a few seconds: when the puddle-animation stops, it's safe to move on.

All three Unique Spitting Terrors are fast-spitters, which means they spit their magical acid projectiles much faster than other Acid Beasts like a firing machine gun and have mobs with the exact same ability, however they will only spit and never attack using their paws to hit unlike the others fighting melee of this same species. Undoubtedly as a result of this, the mobs in question will flee from melee attackers just like a Succubus would, serving as an annoyance to mentioned attackers.

Variants

 * Acid Beast
 * Poison Spitter
 * Pit Beast
 * Lava Maw

Uniques

 * Deathspit (Acid Beast) - Dungeon level 6
 * Chaoshowler (Poison Spitter) - Dungeon level 8
 * Plaguewrath (Poison Spitter) - Dungeon level 10