Overview
Manhole anomalies are a recurring anomaly enemy type encountered throughout Hethereau in Neverness to Everness. They appear in three confirmed variants representing escalating threat tiers: Manhole Thug, Manhole Crook, and Manhole Boss. The variants populate the city's streets and the subway-adjacent areas where the boundary between Hethereau's surface life and underground spaces becomes thin enough for anomalies to spill through.
The Manhole anomaly group's defining theme is urban underground emergence. They climb out of city manhole covers, drainage grates, and subway access points, fitting the broader Anomalies framing where supernatural phenomena leak into everyday city infrastructure. The official PlayStation Store pre-order bundle includes Manhole Boss-themed consumable items, hinting that the variant is recognizable enough to function as branded launch content.
The Three Manhole Variants
Variant | Tier | Encounter Type |
|---|---|---|
Manhole Thug | Standard | Common street-level encounter; shows up in patrols and small groups |
Manhole Crook | Elevated standard | Tougher than Thug; mid-tier encounter, often leads small groups |
Manhole Boss | Boss | Boss-tier variant, encountered as a focused fight |
Where They Appear
Manhole anomalies are not confined to a single district but tend to cluster around urban infrastructure points. They emerge from manhole covers in alleys, drainage grates near major intersections, and subway access tunnels in districts like Bridge Crossing, Tamamochi Street, and Hankaku Street. The shared visual identity is a vestigial connection to underground spaces, suggesting that the variants share a common origin in something beneath Hethereau's surface.
Combat Approach
Manhole Thug
The standard variant. Thugs encounter the player as urban-thug-flavored anomalies that emerge in groups of 2-4 around manhole openings. Their combat profile is moderate: aggressive close-range attacks, a small amount of crowd-control resistance, and standard Esper Cycle reaction susceptibility. They are appropriate fights for early-game players still learning the combat system and are common loot-drop sources for early-game commissions.
Manhole Crook
The elevated standard variant. Crooks have higher HP than Thugs, deal more damage per attack, and often appear at the head of small Thug packs. They are still standard mob-tier enemies but pose a meaningful threat to under-leveled or rushing players. Their drops occasionally include better-tier upgrade materials than Thug drops.
Manhole Boss
The boss-tier variant. Manhole Boss fights are larger-scale encounters with full break-bar mechanics, multiple attack patterns, and high HP pools. Defeating one typically requires a coordinated team rotation and either Discord teams or Charge teams damage execution. Manhole Boss drops include rare upgrade materials and contribute to Bureau containment progress.
Strategy by Tier
Against Thugs: any team build clears them. Use them as practice for parry timing and Esper Cycle reaction setup.
Against Crooks: set up a duo reaction (Scorch, Stain, or Nova) before engaging to take advantage of element vulnerabilities. Standard team rotations clear Crooks reliably.
Against the Boss: treat as a regular boss fight. Build break-bar pressure with Discord setups, save ultimates for the stagger window, and bring a healer or shielder to absorb the boss's heavier attacks.
Drops and Rewards
All three Manhole variants drop standard currencies on defeat:
Beetle Coins for general shop spending
Common upgrade materials for character and Arc leveling
Tier-appropriate ascension materials (more valuable from Crooks and the Boss than from Thugs)
Occasional rare drops on Manhole Boss kills
The PlayStation Store pre-order bundle includes a "Manhole Boss x10" item, which functions as a consumable that grants drops equivalent to ten Manhole Boss defeats without requiring the player to actually fight the boss ten times. This is a launch-window convenience item rather than a recurring drop source.
Lore Context
The Manhole anomalies fit the broader theme of Hethereau as a city where supernatural phenomena leak into everyday urban infrastructure. The Bureau of Anomaly Control treats these emergences as routine work for licensed Anomaly Hunters: the frequency of Manhole encounters means they have settled into the city's threat baseline rather than requiring emergency response.
Their underground origin is consistent with the broader pattern that anomalies appear at the edges of constructed urban spaces. Like the way Anomalies can manifest in subway systems and street infrastructure, the Manhole variants emerge specifically through the city's drainage and access points, suggesting a connection to something beneath Hethereau's surface that hunters have not fully mapped.
Tips
Use Manhole Thug encounters for tutorial practice. The fights are forgiving enough to learn parry timing without the pressure of a boss-tier mistake.
Save Manhole Crook fights for daily commission farming. Their drop tier balances effort against reward better than Thug-only patrols.
Approach Manhole Boss fights with a focused team. Standard mob comps work but a dedicated stagger setup (Discord) finishes the fight faster and rewards better stagger-window damage.
Watch for spawn patterns. Manholes anomalies tend to emerge from the same nearby covers; clearing the source area completely usually prevents continuous re-spawning during a single visit.