Overview
The enemies in Blight: Survival fall into two broad groups: Blight-infected creatures and non-infected human combatants. The infected are organized into six distinct categories, each presenting different combat challenges. Human enemies use the same directional combat system as the player, creating a different kind of threat. Together, these enemy types populate No Man's Land with a varied and unpredictable array of dangers.
Infected categories
Six categories of Blight-infected enemies have been identified:
Hybrids: Animals merged with humans through Blight infection. These creatures combine the speed and aggression of animal behavior with the unpredictability of human-scale threats. Their mixed anatomy makes their attack patterns harder to read than pure human or animal enemies.
Armoreds: Human-infected hybrids that retain or develop natural armor. These enemies are tougher to damage, requiring players to find weak points or use heavier weapons to break through their defenses. They are slower but significantly more durable than other infected types.
Hiddens: Concealed infected that reanimate or emerge from the environment. These enemies ambush players from hidden positions, reanimating from what appeared to be corpses or bursting from environmental cover. They punish players who rush through areas without scanning their surroundings.
Swelters: Heavily infected entities that release airborne spores. These enemies create area-denial effects, forcing players to reposition or risk exposure to the Blight's infectious particles. Fighting Swelters requires spatial awareness and the ability to manage multiple threats while avoiding contaminated zones.
Decayeds: Decomposing infected in advanced stages of Blight corruption. These enemies are falling apart but remain dangerous, potentially breaking into smaller threats or releasing hazardous material when destroyed.
Mini-bosses: Organisms combined into larger, more powerful threats. These are multi-entity fusions that serve as encounters more demanding than standard enemies but less elaborate than full boss fights. They appear as gatekeepers or high-value targets within missions.
Named enemy types
Several specific enemy types have been identified by name. The game also features multi-stage enemies that evolve during encounters:
Rattlers: Common plague-ridden infected, described as reanimated peasants or knights. TikTok footage has shown a "Stage 03 Rattler," confirming the multi-stage progression system. Finisher animations include a knight stabbing through the jaw. Rattlers are the most frequently encountered enemy type.
Bellowers: A merged infected that screams to attract more Blight-infected to the player's position. Bellowers create urgency in encounters; leaving one alive too long means the fight escalates as additional enemies converge on the noise. Prioritizing Bellowers is a key tactical decision.
Nightstalker: A predatory threat tied to nighttime gameplay. As of December 2025, developer Ana has been working on different visual designs for the Nightstalker, while Principal Animator Richard created an early finisher animation designed to show "the visceral, weighty interactions" the team aims for. The team describes it as "one of those encounters the team wants players to approach with caution" and says it is "already giving both playtesters and devs nightmares."
Human combatants
Not all enemies in No Man's Land are infected. The game's setting involves two kingdoms locked in war, and soldiers from both sides still operate in the battlefield. Players will also encounter opportunistic bandits taking advantage of the chaos. Human enemies use the same 5-directional combat system as the player, making fights against them feel like skill-based duels rather than pattern-recognition exercises.
Human enemies can parry, dodge, and block just as the player can. They read the player's attack directions and respond accordingly, creating encounters that test the full depth of the combat system. Fighting human opponents requires the kind of tactical thinking that Blight-infected enemies, with their more predictable patterns, do not always demand.
Enemy variety and adaptation
The range of enemy types means that players cannot rely on a single combat strategy for every encounter. Hiddens punish reckless movement. Bellowers punish slow play. Armoreds punish weak weapons. Swelters punish static positioning. Human combatants punish predictable attack patterns. This variety is what gives the directional combat system its long-term depth: the system's mechanics are consistent, but the application changes depending on what you are fighting.