Stevari

Stevari (lit. Guard) is a deadly enemy that spawns in all future Holy Mountains upon triggering the message

This happens if enough damage is done to the bordering brickwork surrounding the Holy Mountain shop area (e.g. large explosions, heavy amounts of Acid, or tunneling enemies like Worms). This enemy also naturally spawns in The Tower.

Behaviour
The Stevari has a powerful, accelerating long-range explosive attack, as well as a short-range bubble attack. While the individual attacks are damaging, it is not that much (many enemies exist that do much more). Instead the danger comes from the incredible knockback of the former that can easily throw you around the temple making combat against it much more difficult, and the rapid fire ability of the latter. Since it also comes with a powerful version of the Energy Shield, it is also difficult to even hit in the first place.

Upon taking direct damage, it bleeds Bone Dust powder. Upon death, it drops an impressive number of gold nuggets.

Killing 3 Stevari will cause the Holy Mountains to start spawning Skoude instead of Stevari.

Combat Tips

 * Both of its ranged attacks can be surprisingly easy to dodge so long as you continue moving vertically.
 * This enemy has hitpoints in the hundreds. It is highly recommended to either run away with a Teleport Spell or similar, or to use your nastiest tricks to defeat it. Lightning Bolt is very effective since it can pierce its projectile shield.
 * When exiting a Holy Mountain, the exit will collapse from a small-scale Earthquake. The falling debris may actually trap this enemy and deal massive damage. Should this finish it off, don't be tempted by the gold: you must still watch out for the highly-damaging red 'desecrated' particles that linger for some time after the collapse occurs. See the Holy Mountain page for more details.
 * Projectile Repulsion Field is very useful against Stevari's projectiles. Standing right next to him will make all of his projectiles fly away from you, even the accelerating bolt, since it starts off pretty slow. You can then take your time to kill him.
 * Can be easily killed using Circle of Stillness and then kicking it while frozen.
 * Vulnerable to the Chainsaw and Luminous Drill spells due to their rapid fire and shield piercing ability. After getting the Stevari's attention, hide underwater behind the platform with the health restore and spell refresher (or another corner), then ambush it in melee combat for impressive damage.
 * If you just want to kill it without worrying about the gold, Polymorphine can be effective. The suggested method would be to throw it in the small hallway between the shop and the perk selection area, make sure to damage the enemy to take down its shield.
 * Using a flask of Pheromone or Invisiblium is always the best choice if you don't want to kill it.
 * Very easy to kill with an Emerald Tablet of any kind, provided you have invisibility or learn how to consistently dodge its projectiles. Should require 2 to 3 throws to finish it off. An easy ambush can be set up in the corridor that leads from the shop to the perk altar, but this will leave the enemy between you and the tablet. This also carries the benefit of counting as an accidental kill, which will make it drop 2x as much gold, and may be a viable strategy for early-game money.


 * Successfully hitting this enemy with a projectile with the Personal Gravity Field modifier on it will render it largely unable to attack you, and the effect lasts quite a while. Since you will likely be fighting this enemy in the Holy Mountain, you can then remove the mana-hungry modifier for the rest of the battle.


 * You can kick the training dummies found in the Holy Mountain into Stevari, to not only kill him in one shot, but also get 2x gold or 4x with the Trick Greed perk.

Trivia

 * A patch on Oct 11 2019 added a Worm Crystal to every Holy Mountain, which significantly reduces the likelihood of Worms accidentally angering the gods on your behalf.
 * "Stevari" is the Helsinki slang for "mall cop" or "security guard".
 * The Stevari is often called "Steve" by the Noita community by account of the similarity with its name.
 * If killed, Stevari's body can be eaten. It is made out of cursed meat and will grant the Rain Curse effect that spawns a rain cloud that follows the player. If the duration of the Rain curse is higher than 14s the rain cloud will turn into a thunder cloud that occasionally will shoot lightning. If it's higher than 44s the thunder cloud will turn into an acid cloud.