For as long as Illagers have been a presence in the world, they've been collecting data. After 7 years, they've deduced that players are the ones responsible for the most Illager deaths, raid thwarts, outpost raids, mansion burnings, and many, many other things. In response, the Illager higher-ups started a project named "Traders in Disguise" and trained a small group of Illagers to become specialized assassins called Ambushers and sent them out disguised as wandering traders to hunt down and kill every last player.

Mobs:

All Ambushers

All Ambushers have 50 health, teleport after taking 7+ damage, dodge arrows like endermen, teleport out of water, lava and powdered snow, teleport to their target if they get too far, are immune to fall damage, and can only take up to 10 damage in a single hit.

Sickle Ambusher

Utilizing swiftness and illusions, the Sickle Ambusher becomes a literal one-man-army

The Sickle Ambusher starts the battle by creating four clones that surround you in a circle. The real one and the clones then run at you quickly with their Ruthless Sickles (see Weapons for effects of attack). After landing a blow, the attacker teleports to a nearby position and runs in for a follow-up attack. The clones instantly disappear when hit or automatically disappear after 10 seconds. Whenever he's under full health, the Sickle Ambusher casts a spell that heals him for a few health instantly and also gives him regeneration 3 for 10 seconds and fire resistance for 15 seconds (if he's on fire). On death, he drops the Ruthless Sickle, 5-10 emeralds, and 30 XP.

Bow Ambusher

Expert archer, master illusionist, and evoker of the depths, very few can even survive the Bow Ambusher's magical onslaught, let alone fight their way through it

The Bow Ambusher starts the battle by casting mirror image, fatigue, vexes, and evoker fangs, and periodically uses these spells throughout the battle. When not casting spells, he fires his Trifectal Bow (see Weapons for effects of attack). Whenever he's under full health, the Bow Ambusher casts a spell that heals him for a few health instantly and also gives him regeneration 2 for 10 seconds and fire resistance for 15 seconds (if he's on fire). On death, he drops the Trifectal Bow, 5-10 emeralds, and 30 XP.

Weapons:

Ruthless Sickle

The light weight hooked blade is specially designed to hinder the victim and invigorate the attacker, allowing for multiple hits in rapid succession. While not the strongest blade normally, it truly shines when landing a blow on significantly wounded targets.

5 damage
52 durability
2 attack speed
When landing a hit with this weapon, the victim is inflicted with blindness for 3 seconds and the attacker is given swiftness 2 for 1 second.
Deals 3X damage to the victim if the victim is under half health
Can disable shields

Trifectal Bow

This bow is specially designed to quickly notch and fire three arrows at once. The arrowheads of the arrows are rather sharp and jagged, providing a little shock to the victim when they land

64 durability
Slightly faster draw speed than normal bow
Shoots 3 arrows at once
Arrows inflict slowness 6 and weakness 6 for 1 second, effectively stunning the target.

Advancements:

Illusory Ambush: Get ambushed by a Sickle Ambusher and then turn the tables

Magical Onslaught: Get ambushed by a Bow Ambusher and then turn the tables

Who's the Ambusher Now?: Secret ;)

Magical Comeuppance: Secret ;)

Config:

["Config for Traders in Disguise"]
#Chance wandering trader is actually Ambusher. Will be a 1 in (your number) chance. Default value is 20, meaning a 1 in 20 (or 5%) chance.
"Ambusher Chance Bound" = 20
#Whether or not Sickle Ambushers can spawn from wandering traders. Default: true
"Spawn Sickle Ambushers" = true
#Whether or not Bow Ambushers can spawn from wandering traders. Default: true
"Spawn Bow Ambushers" = true
#The maximum amount of damage any Ambusher can take in one hit. Does not apply to the void or /kill. Default: 10
"Ambusher Damage Cap" = 10
#Whether or not Ambushers can spawn in raids. If true, Ambushers will appear in raid waves based on the next 2 config options. Default: false
"Spawn Ambushers in Raids" = false
#How many Sickle Ambushers in each raid wave. Must have no more and no less than 8 integers. Default: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1
"Sickle Ambusher Wave Count" = [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 1]
#How many Bow Ambushers in each raid wave. Must have no more and no less than 8 integers. Default: 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1
"Bow Ambusher Wave Count" = [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1]
#Level of the swiftness effect given by the Ruthless Sickle. Counts from 0, so 0 is level 1, 1 is level 2, etc. Also affects Sickle Ambusher. Default: 1
"Sickle Swiftness Level" = 1
#Duration of the swiftness effect given by the Ruthless Sickle measured in ticks. Also affects Sickle Ambusher. Default: 20
"Sickle Swiftness Duration" = 20
#Duration of the blindness effect given by the Ruthless Sickle measured in ticks. Also affects Sickle Ambusher. Default: 60
"Sickle Blindness Duration" = 60
#The damage multiplier of the Ruthless Sickle when striking a mob that's under half health. Also affects Sickle Ambusher. Default: 3.0
"Sickle Damage Multiplier" = 3.0
#Level of the slowness effect given by the Trifectal Bow. Counts from 0, so 0 is level 1, 1 is level 2, etc. Also affects Bow Ambusher. Default: 6
"Bow Slowness Level" = 6
#Level of the weakness effect given by the Trifectal Bow. Counts from 0, so 0 is level 1, 1 is level 2, etc. Also affects Bow Ambusher Default: 6
"Bow Weakness Level" = 6
#Duration of the slowness effect given by the Trifectal Bow measured in ticks. Also affects Bow Ambusher. Default: 20
"Bow Slowness Duration" = 20
#Duration of the weakness effect given by the Trifectal Bow measured in ticks. Also affects Bow Ambusher. Default: 20
"Bow Weakness Duration" = 20

FAQ:

Can I use this in my video/modpack?

Sure! Just make sure to credit me and/or leave a link back to the original page here on curseforge.

Can you make a port to version/mod loader?
Currently, there are no plans for more versions, but I may make ports to new versions of Minecraft as they come out. As for mod loaders, no. I never learned any other mod loader, nor do I plan to.

I found a crash/issue, where do I report it?

Just report any issues in the comments along with the full crash report (if applicable).

Do you have any more content planned? If so, what is it and when will it come out?

Currently there is no new content planned, but I’m open to suggestions for balance, config options, advancements, and maybe even items or new types of Ambushers within reason.

If you add any new content, which versions will it come to?

All updates will be released for 1.16.5, 1.18.2, 1.19.2, and 1.20.1. If I don’t release updates for all versions at once (though usually I will), new content will come to every version eventually. However, I probably won’t update 1.19.4 anymore since a very small amount of people actually use it. Do note that I don’t have much planned in general except maybe ports to newer versions as they come out.

Additional Credits/Thanks:

All textures made by AstreaYT
Chinese localization by lonely_wescoff90
Russian localization by rey_zex
Several of the Ambushers' spells and the Ambushers' grins were inspired by Illage and Spillage
Modding by Kaupenjoe for awesome modding tutorials
The mod's concept and the weapon designs were inspired by the Yiga Clan from Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom

Note for Resource Pack Makers:

Even though both Ambushers use the same texture, they're actually 2 separate files (sickle_ambusher.png and bow_ambusher.png), so if you want to make a resource pack where they each have unique textures, then you can.

Questions? Suggestions? Want to follow development progress? Join the Discord!
https://discord.gg/n8VW3xyG8K

Donations:

Buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/thedarkpeasant

Donations can help me to continue making mods like this