The Forest: Cannibals - Enemies The Forest Guide

Last update: 28 December 2022

The Forest, in its current incarnation (1.0) contains a quite a lot of opponent types. They are divided into two groups - Cannibals and Mutants. The second group has been described in detail in a different chapter of this guide, this chapter contains information on the opponents you'll encounter most often.

• Regular Cannibal
• Skinny Cannibal
• Fire Thrower Cannibal
• Pale Cannibal and Pale Skinny Cannibal
• Masked Cannibal and Masked Skinny Cannibal
• Cannibals Behavior

Regular Cannibal

The first group of opponents is encountered from the beginning of the game (from day 1). Regular cannibals are a standard enemy - they look the most "human" (more on that in the further part of this chapter), deal medium damage, and have average stamina. Most of the time, you'll encounter them in groups of 2 to 5 - each group has a leader (Cannibal Leader) who can be recognized by his outfit or by a skull hanging over his head.

When it comes to abilities, a Cannibal leader does not differ much from his allies, but has a few unique mechanics connected to him. First, this opponent prefers attacking player's buildings, especially when he is engaged in combat against regular opponents. Second - this opponent often stays neutral, engaging the player only when he is provoked. Finally, killing the leader destroys the group's morale - the remaining opponents will escape from the battlefield (unfortunately, they will be back to avenge their leader). Cannibal leaders can build Effigies.

Skinny Cannibal

The next group of cannibals that can be encountered from the beginning of the game. Those enemies are characteristic for their bodies - they are much skinnier, which enables them to move faster than other cannibals. As a result, they deal much less damage and can survive less punishment before they are dealt with.

Patrols consisting of these opponents consist of up to 5 units and are much less organized than other groups - the members of the patrol travel in a very loose formation, often being found far away from each other. This means that they are easier to eliminate, but staying undetected will be much harder. The enemies from this group are the most irritating in the whole game - they love to engage the player by approaching him, dealing a single attack, and retreating back to their original position. Consider using a weaker, but faster weapon that increases the chance of hitting skinny cannibals.

Fire Thrower Cannibal

A group of cannibals that has a ranged attack - they launch fiery projectiles at their opponent. This group appears to engage the player's encampment or himself when he is found in his base. The projectiles they fire can set the player or nearby objects on fire, dealing area of effect damage and often destroying the constructed buildings. For this reason, consider eliminating such enemies as quickly as possible.

The enemies from this group use ranged weapons, but when the player approaches them they switch to melee attacks. To eliminate them, use a ranged weapon, but stay mobile. You can also enter the melee range and eliminate them using melee weapons.

This group of opponents appears after about a week in game (7 days).

Pale Cannibal and Pale Skinny Cannibal

Pale Cannibal and Pale Skinny Cannibal are two groups of cannibals that are simply a more powerful version of Regular and Skinny cannibals. They have more health points and deal more damage, but their abilities are almost the same. The only difference is that these versions of cannibals appear inside caves and you can find them there - they rarely appear on the surface.

Masked Cannibal and Masked Skinny Cannibal

Similarly to the previous group (Pale), Masked Cannibal and Masked Skinny Cannibal are simply more powerful versions of regular cannibals. Masked cannibals are the most powerful (aside from mutants) humanoid opponents you'll encounter during the game - they have more health points and deal even more damage. Same as regular cannibals, you can encounter them on the surface only - you won't encounter them inside caves.

This group of opponents appears after 22 days in game.

Cannibals Behavior

You can encounter those enemies on those occasions:

1. An enemy patrol - a single enemies (which is quite rare), or groups ranging between 2 or even 6 (one of which is the mutant leader himself) individuals. As the name suggests, they comb the area of the island in search of a prey, which is you, naturally. It should be mentioned that that you cannot hide forever - the opponents will gradually converge on your position. They won't find you right away, especially when you start a base in a remote area, but they will finally locate you.
2. A group of cannibals stationed in one of their camps - there's a number of cannibals camps scattered around the island, in which their rituals are held. Afterwards, they embark on their patrols, which is why there's a high chance that, at the time you reach one of those camps, you won't encounter any enemy nearby.
3. Cannibals inside the caves - while being in the cave, you are certainly going to stumble upon a group of sleeping (or busy with their own affairs) cannibals. They remain passive until they notice you (to avoid this, you just have to sneak by them while crouching).

The cannibals behavior differ depending on a number of conditions:

1. Your aggression - if you will charge and jump on cannibals like a mad dog, slaughtering them like cattle, there's a chance that cannibals will simply decide to retreat at the mere contact (especially if they are travelling alone or in a small group). There's, however, a chance that they will become more hostile and aggressive towards you.
2. Effigies - if you build an Effigy (and set it on fire), the cannibals coming across it will probably retreat in fear. Still, their behavior in this situation depends on the size of their patrol group, on your attitude (either passive or aggressive), as well as (unfortunately) the numerous bugs in the game.
3. Time of the day - the enemies tend to be more aggressive after the sunset, which does not mean that they will be completely passive during the day.
4. "Stage of the game" - that is, generally speaking, the time you've managed to survive. The more nights you are able to live through (killing numerous enemies in the process), the more numerous their patrol groups will be, and the more aggressive the individual mutants will become. You'll also encounter more powerful versions of the opponents.