Monsters by Region

The monsters you meet while exploring are fixed to the regions they appear in. This page first covers how to read their names and the rules for who shows up, then points you to the list for each city.

A name tells you what it is

A monster's name is usually <prefix> <species>. The prefix tells you its element; the species tells you its lineage.

Each lineage has its own set of species names. You will meet Kudzu Tiger in many cities — the prefix changes, but a Kudzu Tiger is always a Beast. The names are built so you can read what something is from its name alone.

Lineages that grew out of this land (Beast · Plague · Wraith · Warden · Cultist) take their names from Korean folklore, while those that came from beyond the Rift (Warhost · Elemental · Warped) carry foreign-sounding names. That is why Geuseundae and Regis sound so different.

Some names have an extra word in front. That extra word marks a different individual of the same species. If it describes something that happened to the body — like Armored or Horned — it is an Elite; if it speaks of time — like Aged or Old — it is the same species met again at a higher level range.

The eight lineages

Beast — The first to breathe in what the Rift poured out were not people but animals. To them the Rift is neither faith nor curse — only something that made them hungrier.

Warhost — Beyond the Rift there were ranks and orders too. These did not drift through; they were sent. Ask what they march for and no answer comes.

Elemental — Raw masses of element that the Rift could not filter and simply spewed out. There is no malice in them. They only remake the temperature and pressure of a place into their own.

Plague — Those who breathed the Rift's air for too long keep walking after their breath has stopped. They believe they are merely still sick.

Wraith — Memories of the moment of death, caught on the Rift and unable to scatter. They repeat what they did in life — ringing bells, walking patrols, waiting for someone who will never come.

Warden — The Rift has settled into things people once raised: statues, bells, lighthouses, memorial stones. They were built to guard, so they guard still.

Warped — Things that had no shape have taken shape — fear, hunger, silence and the like. The way they strike is never the same twice.

Cultist — People who read the Rift not as a disaster but as a revelation. They never learned to fight alone; instead they heal and embolden whatever stands beside them.

One from each lineage — the first boss of that lineage you are likely to meet.

That is one per lineage. Meet the rest of the faces in the city lists below and in the Codex.

Three ranks and the encounter rules

Three things worth knowing:

• The monster you met on the previous step is left out of the next step. You will not face the same one twice in a row — unless it is the only candidate in that region.
• Seoul is no exception. Even the very first region, Gangnam Evening Street, has seventeen candidates, five of them Elites. Deeper regions have more normal candidates, but every region has the same five Elites. An Elite can jump out even on the first step of your first expedition, so do not let your guard down just because it is Seoul.
• Elites do not compete on how common they are. They are not weighed on the same scale as normal monsters but rolled separately, and once one appears it will not appear again for a few steps. If the odds were allowed to clump, Elites would stop feeling like Elites.

By city

A region card only previews its two most common monsters and its strongest one. Monsters not shown on the card appear too — you learn the rest as you meet them, and the Codex keeps the record.