Hunters
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 built as a percentage. The HUD's Human Scan can show the current Protection progress on a regular human.
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:
| 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 Protected Human Kills leaderboard (login required).
Player profiles can include both Hunter Protections and Protected Human Kills. Completed Protections also have their own Hunter Protections leaderboard (login required).
Protected Human Tracker
The 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 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
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.
