Hunters: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 22:46, 11 August 2026

Between the living and the creatures of darkness stand those who have chosen the blade.

Hunters are one of the four playable species in Descendants of Darkness. They fight with bladed weapons, draw upon Energy, and can place Hunter Protection on living regular humans. Protection reduces the damage a human receives while it is being built and, once completed, allows the Hunter to receive distress alerts when that human is in danger.

This page covers the Hunter-specific parts of play. For rules shared by every species, see Gameplay, Combat, and the Main HUD guide.

Quick reference

Feature	Hunter rule
Primary resource	Energy
Combat identity	Bladed weapons
Unique human ability	Hunter Protection
Valid Protection target	A living regular human
Partial Protection expiry	After 7 days without further progress
Completed Protection duration	21 days
Damage mitigation	Half of the Protection percentage, up to 50%
Website records	Hunter Protections, Protected Human Kills, and the private Protected Human Tracker

Hunter identity and role

Hunters are Energy-based combatants whose gameplay centres on bladed weapons and the defence of regular humans. Their role is not limited to protection: Hunters can fight other players, confront Abominations, advance through the same age-based combat system as the other species, and take part in the wider hierarchy of the game.

No separate Hunter creator is established in the current wiki lore. Hunter identity is therefore defined here by its player-facing role and abilities rather than by an invented origin.

Energy and combat

Hunters use Energy rather than Blood. A Self Scan or public player scan shows current and maximum Energy; maximum capacity, combat strength, attack range, and scanning range develop through the age groups. See the Self-Scan guide for the fields shown by the HUD.

Hunter attacks use bladed weapons as their species identity. Damage and attack rate remain consistent with other species in the same age group; see Species-Specific Attacks and Combat for the shared rules.

Hunters do not gain Energy by damaging regular humans. They can gain Energy through qualifying combat against players and Abominations, and making real Hunter Protection progress can also restore Energy.

Interactions with regular humans

A regular human is not a registered player. Humans have their own blood level and can be examined with the HUD's Human Scan. Hunters may attack regular humans, but their defining human ability is Protection.

Hunter Protection works only on a living regular human. It cannot be applied to:

Registered players
Abominations
Dead humans

Hunter Protection

Hunter Protection is the Hunter ability used on living regular humans. Partial progress reduces incoming damage; completion at 100% begins a 21-day Protection, records the protecting Hunter, and enables distress alerts. The standalone guide covers progress, expiry, mitigation, alerts, Protected Human Kills, the private tracker, and its relationship with Witch Resurrection.

Hunters and Abominations

Abominations cannot receive Hunter Protection. They are separate combat targets that can carry larger blood stores and individual Essence rewards. Qualifying combat against them can restore Hunter Energy. See Abominations for scanning, rewards, and tracking information.

Statistics and scanning

Hunter-related information appears across the HUD and website:

Self and public player scans use Energy for Hunters and may identify their current species and Order affiliation.
Human scans can display Protection progress.
Player profiles can display Hunter Protections and Protected Human Kills.
Website leaderboards rank Hunter Protections and Protected Human Kills.
The private Protected Human Tracker records relevant protected-human activity.

For scanning ranges, public and private scan fields, and human status information, see the Scan Others guide.

Hierarchy and changing species

Hunters take part in the game's wider lineage and organisational systems. See Player Hierarchy for the current hierarchy guide and Species Change for the in-world device used to change species.

Species choice affects your resource, combat identity, human ability, affiliation type, and roleplay. Review the cost and current restrictions before changing.

Rules

The Dark Oath applies to Hunters as it does to every player. In particular, scans and system information are protected by the Masquerade and must not be disclosed to non-players.

@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 == Energy and combat ==
-Hunters use '''Energy''' rather than Blood. A Self Scan or public player scan shows current and maximum Energy; maximum capacity, combat strength, attack range, and scanning range develop through the [[Player Age Groups|age groups]]. See the [[Descendants of Darkness Main HUD#Self-Scan Button|Self-Scan guide]] for the fields shown by the HUD.
+Hunters use '''Energy''' rather than Blood. A Self Scan or public player scan shows current and maximum Energy; maximum capacity, combat strength, attack range, and scanning range develop through the [[Player Age Groups|age groups]]. See the [[Self Scan|Self-Scan guide]] for the fields shown by the HUD.
 Hunter attacks use '''bladed weapons''' as their species identity. Damage and attack rate remain consistent with other species in the same age group; see [[Species-Specific Attacks]] and [[Combat]] for the shared rules.
@@ Line 49: / Line 49: @@
 == Interactions with regular humans ==
-A regular human is not a registered player. Humans have their own blood level and can be examined with the HUD's [[Descendants of Darkness Main HUD#Human Scan|Human Scan]]. Hunters may attack regular humans, but their defining human ability is Protection.
+A regular human is not a registered player. Humans have their own blood level and can be examined with the HUD's [[Scan Others#Human Scan|Human Scan]]. Hunters may attack regular humans, but their defining human ability is Protection.
 Hunter Protection works only on a '''living regular human'''. It cannot be applied to:
@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 * Dead humans
+<span id="Protected-human_distress_alerts"></span><span id="Protected_Human_Kills"></span><span id="Protected_Human_Tracker"></span><span id="Hunters,_Witches,_and_human_death"></span>
 == Hunter Protection ==
-Hunter Protection is built as a percentage. The HUD's Human Scan can show the current Protection progress on a regular human.
+[[Hunter Protection]] is the Hunter ability used on living regular humans. Partial progress reduces incoming damage; completion at 100% begins a 21-day Protection, records the protecting Hunter, and enables distress alerts. The standalone guide covers progress, expiry, mitigation, alerts, Protected Human Kills, the private tracker, and its relationship with [[Witch Resurrection]].
-=== Applying Protection ===
-Each successful use that makes real progress moves the human closer to 100% Protection. Real progress can restore some Hunter Energy and refreshes the unfinished Protection's activity window.
-The Hunter who completes the process at 100% is credited with the Protection. Completion contributes to the Hunter Protections statistic and begins a full '''21-day''' Protection period.
-=== Partial Protection and damage mitigation ===
-Protection helps before it is complete. A human's damage mitigation is half of the current Protection percentage:
-{| class="wikitable"
-! Protection progress !! Damage mitigation
-|-
-| 20% || 10%
-|-
-| 40% || 20%
-|-
-| 60% || 30%
-|-
-| 80% || 40%
-|-
-| 100% || 50%
-|}
-Mitigation is capped at '''50%'''.
-=== Expiry and duration ===
-An unfinished Protection expires after '''7 days without further progress'''. Making additional real progress before then keeps the attempt active.
-Once Protection reaches 100%, it is complete and remains active for '''21 days'''. The completed Protection enables the distress-alert behaviour described below.
-== Protected-human distress alerts ==
-Distress alerts apply only while a fully completed Hunter Protection is active.
-=== When an alert begins ===
-When real damage leaves the protected human at '''50% blood or lower''', a distress incident can begin. The protecting Hunter is told:
-* Which protected human is under attack
-* Who the attacker is
-* The region or map location of the attack
-The attacker is warned that the human is protected and that the Hunter has been notified.
-=== Continued attacks and reset behaviour ===
-Continued damage during the same incident does not repeatedly spam the Hunter. Each attacker can still receive their own warning, so a different attacker who joins the incident may be warned even when the Hunter has already received the main alert.
-A later hit can create a fresh Hunter alert when any of the following occurs:
-* Five full minutes pass with no damage to the protected human.
-* An attack happens in a different region.
-* The human recovers above 50% blood, ending the incident, and is later reduced to 50% or lower again.
-=== Lethal hits and the protecting Hunter ===
-A lethal hit that crosses the 50% threshold can still trigger the distress warning before the human's death is recorded. There is no additional distress-HUD warning simply because the human then dies.
-The protecting Hunter does not trigger the normal distress response by attacking their own protected human. If that Hunter kills the human, the death does not count as a Protected Human Kill against their own Protection.
-== Protected Human Kills ==
-Killing a regular human while a fully completed Protection is active can count as a '''Protected Human Kill'''. These kills have daily, weekly, monthly, and all-time rankings on the [https://descendantsofdarkness.com/leaderboards/protected-human-kills Protected Human Kills leaderboard] (login required).
-Player profiles can include both '''Hunter Protections''' and '''Protected Human Kills'''. Completed Protections also have their own [https://descendantsofdarkness.com/leaderboards/hunter-protection Hunter Protections leaderboard] (login required).
-== Protected Human Tracker ==
-The [https://descendantsofdarkness.com/protected-humans Protected Human Tracker] is a private, login-required record of activity involving fully protected regular humans.
-'''Attacked or Killed by Me''' is available to signed-in players and can show protected humans they attacked or killed. Repeated attacks may be grouped together with the number of attacks, the latest attack, the region, and whether the human died.
-'''Protected by Me''' is the Hunter-only view. It can show the humans protected by that Hunter, attackers and repeat attacks, whether and where a protected human died, and Witch revival information when applicable.
-== Hunters, Witches, and human death ==
-Hunter Protection and [[Witches#Witch Resurrection|Witch Resurrection]] can affect the same regular human at different stages:
-# A Hunter protects a living human.
-# Another player kills that human while the Protection is active.
-# After the human becomes eligible, a Witch may build Resurrection progress and schedule their return.
-# The Hunter's '''Protected by Me''' view may show the relevant Witch revival status.
-Protection itself cannot be applied to a dead human; returning the dead is the Witches' role.
 == Hunters and Abominations ==
@@ Line 162: / Line 76: @@
 * The private Protected Human Tracker records relevant protected-human activity.
-For scanning ranges, public and private scan fields, and human status information, see the [[Descendants of Darkness Main HUD#Scan Others Button|Scan Others guide]].
+For scanning ranges, public and private scan fields, and human status information, see the [[Scan Others|Scan Others guide]].
 == Hierarchy and changing species ==
-Hunters take part in the game's wider lineage and organisational systems. See [[Player Hierarchy]] for the current hierarchy guide and [[In-World Devices#Species Change|Species Change]] for the in-world device used to change species.
+Hunters take part in the game's wider lineage and organisational systems. See [[Player Hierarchy]] for the current hierarchy guide and [[Species Change]] for the in-world device used to change species.
 Species choice affects your resource, combat identity, human ability, affiliation type, and roleplay. Review the cost and current restrictions before changing.
@@ Line 177: / Line 91: @@
 * [[Witches]]
+* [[Hunter Protection]]
+* [[Witch Resurrection]]
 * [[Gameplay]]
 * [[Combat]]
@@ Line 183: / Line 99: @@
 * [[Abominations]]
 * [[Player Hierarchy]]
-* [[In-World Devices#Species Change|Species Change]]
+* [[Species Change]]
 [[Category:Gameplay]]