Dogs are one of the most 'normal' creatures to be found in this region. They behave just like how you'd expect an aggressive, territorial canine to behave.

They bark and growl at you as a warning when you start getting too close, so if your not looking for a fight, simply walk away from them and they won't come after you. Though a single dog can be overcome using even the most basic or weakest weapons available to you and with a little skill and focus, it's packs of dogs that can be dangerous. Dogs have fairly low vitality and they deal moderate damage with their bites. Not overly threatening or foreboding but not to be trifled with.


Dogs are wild animals at heart. They don't posses any particular malicious intent. They are only concerned with defending their territory and their next meal. Because of this, they can be coaxed or 'bribed' with normal meat when you throw it to them. When you toss them some meat, they will stop being aggressive to you while they are eating it. This makes them vulnerable to attack or will allow you to sneak by them without resistance. This can also save your life and avoid becoming its next meal yourself.

Dogs can outrun you so if you find yourself being chased by one, don't run away in a straight line, do some zig zags to make them confused and avoid their lunges when they start getting close.

Lastly, loud noises like gunshots will scare dogs away, you can use this to you advantage if you are being chased by a pack of dogs.

Huge Dogs are canines infected with the toxic plague of this region, and mutated into a large and hulkier carnivore.


Huge Dogs are not so forgiving as normal dogs. If one sees you, it will instantly move to attack, though can still be baited with meat but they can't be scared away by loud noises. Escaping a huge dog is the same as escaping a normal dog, though huge dogs are more tenacious and don't give up as quickly. On top of all that, huge dogs have more vitality and can deal more damage to you.

It is advised to avoid fighting a huge dog until you have a better or improved weapon and are more confident in your melee skill. Or until you have a reliable ranged weapon. Though sometimes, fights are unavoidable...

They can be identified and differentiated from normal dogs by their deeper and more distorted barks and growls as well as their larger size. It should be noted that Odd Meat can be obtained from a killed huge dog, making them a source for essence to cook in the oven.

Savages are infected humans, driven to insanity by the Darkwod. Overall, savages are dim-witted and inexperienced fighters. They run at you, waving their fists and weapons wildly and unskillfully. There are three types of savages, Unarmed Savages, Stone Savages, and Stick Savages. They can all be identified by their mostly naked, human form and the loud, primal hooting and hollering sounds they make. Some savages might not be hostile, but most of them are. It's best advised to exercise caution when approaching them for any reason.

Unarmed savages have only their bare hands to attack you with, which puts them at a ranged disadvantage as even your basic melee weapon has a longer range. They have about as much vitality as you so they can take a little beating. When they attack, they always stop moving so you can bait them into swinging their fists, wait for them to miss then close in to attack when they have their guard down. All savages tend to have alcohol, rags, or empty bottles. Unarmed savages seem to be more likely to have Healing Pills on them.

Stone Savages prefer to keep you at a distance and throw rocks at you which is a fairly effective strategy and which, arguably, makes them the more dangerous of the savage group. If you want to get at them, you'll have to dodge their rocks and rush them to close in and attack. Or you could shoot them if you have a gun or throw your own rocks at them. Stone savages will, of course, have stones on them.

Stick Savages have more vitality and they use a long, sturdy staff as a weapon, giving them a very long melee range. Other than that, they are the same as unarmed savages and the same strategies for fighting them apply here, just remember that they have a long range so give them a wide birth when they attack and remember to side step. Dead stick savages can be looted for their staff to use as a weapon or as an important crafting component in making better weapons like the shovel.

These are survivors in the Darkwood Zone. People trapped here and forced to try and scrape a living.

While they are not infected and have some level of sanity, some people can still be hostile. villagers that are hostile are similar to Savages, except they are slower and they can use weapons much more skillfully and possibly use better weapons. I have never found a hostile villager that used a ranged weapon or a firearm of any kind. Only ever seen them use either their fists, a club of some kind, or a pitchfork.

Pitchfork-wielding villagers can be rendered vulnerable if you put your back to a wall and wait for them to attack and then dodge. (Pitchforks get stuck in walls if you attack a wall with one, making you stop and sit there for a moment while you struggle to pull it out.) Villagers have around the same vitality as you.
Killed villagers can be looted primarily for food and for their weapons.

Huge Bugs are passive creatures. They will not attack you and are, in fact, afraid of you. They will try to run away if they see you.

Huge Bugs appear as large, basketball-sized beetles and are always found around burrowed 'holes' in the ground which they use to escape in when threatened. They can be identified by the subtle 'crackling' sounds they make.

What's notable about Huge Bugs is that, when killed, can be looted for a unique item, the 'shell.'

(Shells are a vital component to making armor.)

Sometimes, you may come across a bug nest, these nests have several huge bugs in them along with many holes but most notably, they may have a large, unknown egg residing in them. This egg possesses an embryo inside that has some special healing qualities as well as a large reserve of essence that can be extracted from it.

Hunting bugs for their shells can be challenging as they almost never are found far from the safety of their burrow hole. The most effective way to hunt them I have found is to rush up to them quickly and hit them with a melee weapon before they can react and retreat as they take a short moment to do so once they see you.

Worms are really to be considered more of an environmental hazard.

These writhing black annelidic creatures are always found in huge masses, covering the ground or floor in ankle deep volumes. Trying to walk over them will slow you down and will drain your vitality rapidly as they are very noxious.


Worms can be killed/cleared by anything related to fire. You can swing a torch around at them, pour gas on them and then ignite it, throw a molotov at them, it all works and it's the only way to deal with them.

Huge Bugs are the source of Worms and they can sometimes burrow out into your hideout and spread worms around in it. You can stop it by killing the bug before it has a chance to lay the worms.

Many structures in the Darkwood Zone are likely to be completely infested with these worms, especially abandoned ones. If you plan to search and scavenge supplies outside, then it is advised to bring something with you to burn away any infestations you come across that would block you from going inside.

Be warned: Those who exploit the benefits of injecting themselves with essence will often experience intense hallucinations. These hallucinations can be so intense that one could perceive that they are being attacked by invisible assailants at night and it could feel so real that your mind makes it real. It seems that these hallucinations are agitated when in complete darkness. Therefore, it is advised to keep the lights on at night.


Shadows only can appear at night and they cannot be killed. But they can kill you. Shadows can only attack you when you are in the dark and appear as ghostly apparitions that lurk in the darkness. Their arrival at the hideout is signaled by the sounds of whispering.


They will disable every single light in the hideout, except one that is chosen randomly to remain on, and will also disable your torch and lantern too. They cannot disable your flashlight though if you have one. Flares will also work and they are the best source for protection from Shadows as they make a very large, radial light that will keep them away. Shadows cannot be blocked by any traps or barricades, only by a light source.

Be wary of crossing fields full of poisonous mushrooms. What I can only imagine were likely savages at one point have succumbed to their toxin and lay dead in the field as the mushrooms infest their body. They lay motionless until another victim passes by, to where they suddenly spring from the forest floor and run at them, exploding and releasing the toxic spores everywhere.


Mushroom Men will sometimes come out of the ground where you find mushroom patches and chase after you, giggling maniacally in a distorted voice. If you let them get too close, they will explode all over you, potentially seriously wounding you.

This creature has very low vitality and can be dispatched easily with one hit or shot. It will still explode after a moment when you kill it, so make sure that you stay away. Melee fighting these creatures would generally be a very bad idea. Best to shoot it if you can or just run away as they are not particularly fast.

Eventually, if you elude them for long enough, they will explode anyway, regardless if you killed them or if they were close enough to do damage. What's left of them after they explode can be harvested as Odd Meat.

A strange, terrifying, large, bird-like creature that stalks the night, searching for something to feed to its young, which it keeps inside of its body.

A Banshee is rarely encountered as they do not come out in the day, only the night. During the day, they watch over their nests. During the night, they silently and slowly stalk for prey. During the night, a survivor may be unlucky enough to have a Banshee wander into their hideout. The creature will try to find where they are hiding and either make them look at them or will try to touch them, to where they will release their young upon them to feed.


From what I have seen, this creature, by itself, will not attack you (not directly) nor will it attack your barricades. However, despite that, a single banshee can easily spell the doom of an unprepared survivor. It can and it will open doors. If you don't want a Banshee to get to you, simply block all entrances and they will be denied. When a Banshee has found you, they emit a haunting, ear-piercing scream that will temporarily disable all the lights in the hideout, including your torch or lantern, so make sure that you have either a flashlight, or better, some flares to pop onto the ground so you can still see.

After they scream, banshees will suddenly expire. Since they don't attack you to begin with, don't waste your ammo or your weapon's condition attacking them once they have found you because they will die no matter what. After they die, they release a swarm of "Banshee Babies" now these are mildly dangerous as they can easily corner you and overwhelm you with their sheer numbers. They have very low vitality and do low damage but they quickly can dispatch you if you let them corner you. Their attacks will interrupt yours so you can't aim or use your melee weapons at the point where they are all over you. You have to keep them at a distance.


The most effective way to get rid of banshee babies I have found is to throw a Molotov at them when they are just starting to come out of the banshee's corpse. You can also use gasoline and pour it on the ground to make a wall of flame, but that takes more beforehand planning as doing that and igniting the firewall takes quite a lot of time if you have not already set up the gas on the floor.


Fire will almost instantly kill a banshee baby on contact and it will also set them on fire like everything else, guaranteeing that they will die before they can do anything to you.

Banshees rely very heavily on being able to scare you to succeed. If you remain calm and stay focused, you can defeat them fairly easily. Their presence can be identified by a murder of crows suddenly flying over the hideout and by their particularly heavy and slow footsteps as they search for you.

It is not unknown to encounter multiple banshees during the night. Stay vigilant.

Chompers are one of the top predators of the Darkwood Zone. They are infected humans, mutated by the plague into a hideous and terrifying abomination that roams the woods in search for fresh meat.

Chompers are arguably the most dangerous creature in the Darkwood Zone. They have a fairly high vitality so they can take quite a beating. While they are limited to melee but are fast and they will hunt you relentlessly once they have caught wind of your scent.


It is not advised to use melee weapons on a chomper as they deal a lot of damage to you and it is very difficult to avoid their snapping maw without precise movements. It's typically better to use ranged attacks, specifically a firearm of some kind. Any amount of damage will briefly stun a chomper so even a low caliber pistol can keep them at bay and eventually kill them. Most enemies, chompers included, will die from a single shot with any shotgun, provided that they absorb all the pellets of the shot.

Killed chompers also will drop Odd Meat when they die. They can be identified for their humanoid appearance, with the upper half of the body split down the middle and formed into a giant, sharp-toothed maw. They have a distinct, staggering footstep pattern that can be listened for as well. If a chomper spots you, it will stop and roar loudly for a few seconds, their roar being very distinct. I have never tried it myself but supposedly, chompers can be distracted and baited by meat just like Dogs can.

Sometimes during your travels, you may come across a chomper that is asleep. You will know this by seeing a moving body laying on the ground that is snoring very loudly. A sleeping chomper will never wake unless you step on it, attack it, or make a loud sound like a gunshot. If you want to kill a sleeping chomper, the way I'd recommend is with a molotov. Throw one on a sleeping chomper and it will likely burn to death before it can wake up and get up because it takes a considerable amount of time before it's fully awake. It's also possible to beat a chomper to death before it wakes up and starts attacking but I'd rather not unless I have no alternative.

I have done my best to document the life forms of this region in my Logbook, but I doubt that it's anywhere near complete.

This place is mysterious...and unpredictable. My last piece of advice is to always exercise extreme caution. You never know what can suddenly come out of the trees.

...
...It's dangerous to be outside during the night...The forest comes alive...