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The world of HUNGER is populated by infected creatures born from the bacterium that devastated Napoleonic Europe. All six confirmed enemy types were once human. Each moves and fights differently, requiring players to adapt their approach based on the threat encountered. Surviving soldiers driven to madness by the infection are also encountered, posing a distinct threat from the infected creatures. The studio has said new types of Hunger will keep arriving after launch, alongside new maps, NPCs, quests, cosmetics and weapons, but it has not said how many.
Enemy Types
Enemy | Notes |
|---|---|
Dregs | Prototypical zombie-like adversaries, the most basic and common type of Hunger; several Dreg variants exist, each with its own loot pool |
Shamblers | A threat on par with a fully armored player; one swings a massive, crushed hand spiked with nails |
Waifs | Scuttle low across the floor and swipe at the player's legs to inflict damage |
Bloats | Explode on death to spread a cloud of poison gas across the area; an unexploded Bloat will also detonate if it is shot |
Droolers | Attack from range, lobbing projectiles with their tongue |
Brutes | Massive enemies that deal heavy damage in close quarters |
Threat Design
The enemy roster is designed so that each type presents a distinct combat challenge, from basic crowds to armored bruisers, ranged attackers, and explosive threats that punish careless grouping. Each of the six types of Hunger also carries its own backstory exploring the nature of the disease and the toll it took on the person before the infection. Players will also encounter hostile Living (other players) during Expeditions, adding a PvP layer to every encounter in the field.
Looting the Infected
Any creature a player kills can be searched for loot much like a container, and their twisted forms often yield scraps of armor, ammunition, or materials. Certain rare creatures guard unique rewards, including cosmetic Schemas, making some encounters worth seeking out rather than avoiding.
Bosses and Rare Creatures
The six types above are the common population of an Expedition, not the whole bestiary. Boss encounters are confirmed as part of the endgame alongside dungeons, and the studio has described large-scale cooperative boss fights as one of the pillars it wants sitting on top of the extraction loop during the first year of Early Access, next to dedicated player-versus-player battlegrounds and cooperative Trials.
Rare creatures already appear inside ordinary runs. Certain ones guard unique rewards, including cosmetic Schemas that cannot be obtained any other way, which makes hunting them a deliberate choice rather than an obstacle to route around. Roaming mini-bosses are among the additions planned for the The Expedition Map rotation, so an Expedition may eventually carry a heavy threat that is not tied to a fixed location. No boss has been named publicly, and none of their behaviours has been described.