Vaultbreakers enemies and bosses
The Chosen of Maldrakor hunt players across the whole map, Scrat and Rusthook families fill the regions, and bosses include the Wreckytitan, the Forgotten Champion and, in the Alpha Test, Necronus.
Vaultbreakers populates its regions with a surprisingly organised bestiary. BetaDwarf names enemies directly in patch notes, which means we can track families as they arrive - from pirate-like Rusthooks to the Chosen of Maldrakor that now hunt players across entire maps.
The Chosen of Maldrakor
The Chosen of Maldrakor started life as Changelings, and the October update gave them a full rework. They are a third party that hunts you and everyone else in the fight: smarter, less predictable, and stalking the whole map. They cannot see your exact position - hiding in grass still works - but they can sense noise, and the audio team added heavy sound cues so you hear them before they land. Early encounters are limited so new players are not overwhelmed, and their loot was updated with the rework.
Enemy families seen so far
| Family | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Scrats | Pirate Scrat, Trike Scrat, lab events | The scrappy industrial faction; Scrat labs release poison gas events |
| Rusthooks | Sniper, Fixer, Shoota, Captain | Pirate-styled crew with ranged and support ranks |
| Bandits | Ghost Bandit Crossbow, Ghost Bandit Dagger | Spectral bandits haunting ruins and keeps |
| Wildlife | Stoneback Bear (trained), SharpTooth | Named beasts appear as world encounters |
| Mechanized | Junk Chopper, Wreckytitan | Scrap machines; the Wreckytitan is a patched-up boss |
Bosses and named encounters
Boss health was reduced across the board in October, so the marquee fights are more approachable than in earlier tests. Confirmed names include the Wreckytitan, whose attacks and encounter mechanics were reworked, and the Forgotten Champion, a ghost-knight style encounter from the bandit era of the game. The Alpha Test adds Necronus in the Ancient Tower - a boss with its own monologue, and its own known-issue quirk where the speech can trigger after death.
Hazards beyond the bestiary
- Darkness. Cave systems carry a darkness mechanic: torches are supplied, but your light radius is smaller than you might like.
- Corruption and cursed items. Artifact progression interacts with environmental hazards and cursed loot - the Chosen react to both.
- Poison and gas. Scrat labs vent gas, and poison barrels deal full damage to AI enemies, so they are tools as much as traps.
How to fight them, briefly
Health bar colour now tells you intent, not affiliation: enemies and hostile players both read red, while your party stays green with blue names. Crowd control against Elite and Nightmare enemies was smoothed in October, so stuns land more consistently when it matters. If you are still learning the ropes, the beginner guide covers the habits that keep fights winnable.
