The infected are the zombies that fill post-outbreak Seoul in Nakwon: Last Paradise. They are the environmental half of the PvPvE loop, sitting alongside hostile survivors as the second pressure on every expedition. The official framing puts the player on the back foot: this is a world where zombies hunt humans rather than the other way around. For broader context, see the overview.
General Behavior
Every infected shares the same core sensory model. They are drawn to sound, they chase on sight, and they vary in threat profile depending on what they were before they turned. The closed alpha press materials describe all six special infected types as highly sensitive to noise, which makes audio discipline the single most important skill in the city.
Loud actions pull infected toward the source. Gunfire is the loudest thing a player can do, so pulling the trigger on a firearm is rarely free: a burst of shots solves the immediate threat but seeds the surrounding blocks with new aggro and signals the player's position to nearby survivors. Quiet melee weapons are the default tool for clearing single targets. The noise rule cuts both ways: deliberate noise can pull infected away from a path the player wants to use.
Special Infected
The closed alpha confirmed six distinct special infected types. Each has a recognizable silhouette, a backstory rooted in who the person was before they turned, and a behaviour pattern that calls for a specific response.
Type | Identifying Features | Behavior | Threat Note |
|---|---|---|---|
Runner | Standard silhouette, fast movement | Aggressively rushes players | Closes distance quickly; fight or flee |
Screamer | Helmet with headlights that sway, telegraphing line of sight | Does not attack; on spotting a player it screams to alert and attract other infected | Force multiplier; silence before it summons a swarm |
Gatherer | Gear similar to player gear | Pre-infection scavengers who supplied resources to NAKWON; killed in combat and turned | Easy to mistake for another player at distance |
Armored | Makeshift body armor; armor generates noise when moving | Pre-infection survivors who crafted body armor and turned despite the protection; wide range of motion | Audible at range; plating flags them through walls |
Butcher | Severe eye and head injuries from before the turn | Specialized melee threat | Close-quarters violence; do not let one corner you |
Policeman | Pre-infection police uniform and equipment | Pre-infection identity carries through into post-turn movement and fighting style | Behaves like a trained officer, less predictable than a Runner |
The Screamer is the only special infected whose primary danger is not its own attack: its swaying headlights double as a stealth tell, since the cone of light shows where the Screamer is looking and stepping out of that cone is enough to keep moving. Gatherers and Policemen lean on their pre-infection identity, which makes them feel less mechanical than a rushing Runner. Armored infected are audible at range, and Butchers define their threat through close-quarters violence.
Environment, Time of Day, and Detection
Detection is not a constant. The day-night cycle and weather bend the audio and visual rules. Daylight makes a player easier to spot on sight; night reduces visual range and tilts encounters toward sound. Heavy rain is the third confirmed environmental state and muffles ambient sound, making both the player and the infected harder to detect through audio alone. Rain is an opportunity and a risk at once: the same dampening that lets a player slip past a Screamer can also hide an Armored infected whose creaking plates would normally give it away.
Stealth Toolkit Against Infected
Crouch and walk between cover. Sneaking is the default movement, not a special-case ability.
Watch the Screamer's headlights to read its line of sight. Step out of the cone instead of fighting through it.
Lead with quiet melee where possible. Save firearms for fights you cannot avoid or noise plays you actually want to make.
Use deliberate noise as a tool. A single shot, a thrown distraction, or breaking glass can pull a patrol away from a path you need.
Treat heavy rain as a stealth window for both sides. Move with it, not against it.
Keep wound management stocked; a bad encounter that does not kill the player can still cripple the rest of the run.
Know where the exits are. If HP hits zero, the Last Stand state still allows an extraction attempt.
Specific Skill Traits adjust how this toolkit performs, from quieter movement to more efficient melee, but the underlying audio-and-sight model is the same for every build. Most encounters happen at one of the fourteen named landmarks, and the mix varies by location: indoor sites favour Butchers and other close-quarters specialists, while open plazas and parks favour Runners and Screamers with longer sightlines.
Future Additions
Mintrocket's January 2024 dev roadmap, published after the first pre-alpha playtest, listed zombie enhancement as a priority for future builds and explicitly committed to new zombie types, more satisfying zombie kills, and an increased zombie threat level. The six special infected confirmed in the closed alpha are therefore best treated as the current roster rather than the final one. Additional types are likely in later builds; until those changes are publicly confirmed, only the six types above should be treated as canonical.
Later development updates have confirmed that this expansion is actively underway. As of the May 2026 developer Q&A, the team stated it is currently developing new types of infected that, like the existing roster, will each have their own distinct characteristics and roles. Community-suggested concepts such as ranged attackers, self-destructing units, and highly mobile climbers were described as ideas the team is exploring, with some potentially arriving through future map updates. These are stated intentions rather than confirmed additions, and none were present in the March 2026 closed alpha build.
The team also drew one firm line around infected design: it wants to avoid portraying the infected as intelligent enough to use firearms the way humans do. If gun-wielding enemies are ever introduced, the developers said they would more likely be hostile human survivors rather than infected, though no such NPCs are currently planned either. For the confirmed six-type roster and their behaviours, see the table above.
Current to the 11 to 16 March 2026 closed alpha; subject to change.