Hello everyone!
As development progresses and we become more confident in the content we’re creating, we believe it’s important to share what the team has accomplished.
To start, here are a few enemies you’ll encounter in the world of The Dark West.
Enemies are divided into four tiers. Tier 1 features common enemies you’ll see roaming, while Tier 4 represents boss variants based on them. As tiers increase, enemies gain higher stats, additional talents, new skills, and even unique talents.
A Buffalich is a desecrated remnant of the great plains herds; once-mighty beasts now risen again through foul, occult interference. They are most often found where slaughter was heavy: abandoned hunting grounds, mass graves, or blood-soaked fields where herds were culled and left to rot. Drawn to this death, practitioners of the Damned bind lingering spirits back into the carcasses, raising them into something unnatural. Their flesh hangs in rotted patches or hardens into blackened hide, stretched over warped frames, while exposed bone and splintered horns form jagged, ritual-scarred crowns. A dim, sickly glow burns within their hollowed eyes, hinting at something restless inside. Buffalich move in small herds, their heavy steps shaking the ground as they advance. When provoked, they surge forward together in brutal charges, trampling and crushing anything in their path beneath sheer weight and momentum. Up close, they gore and batter relentlessly, turning the violence that created them into a constant, grinding force.
This is the Longhorn Buffalich (T3). In addition to having the Groundbreaker Stomp skill from the T2 variation, it also gains the Stampede Wrath skill:
The Buffalich’s rotting frame trembles before erupting into a blood-fueled frenzy. Its eyes burn red, hooves tearing into the earth as it surges forward with unstoppable force, no longer pacing the hunt, but charging to end it.
This skill activates when the Longhorn Buffalich drops below 50% of its total health, sending it into a frenzy for 10 seconds. During this time, it gains increased Attack Speed, Global Damage, Movement Speed, and Cooldown Reduction, while also taking increased damage. This buff becomes permanent once it falls below 25% HP.
If that is not enough, The Pale Horn, the boss (T4) version of the Buffalich, is even more challenging, featuring enhanced skills, a unique talent, and more. We cannot wait to see you try to defeat him!
Desperados are humans pulled back from the brink of death by Rexcorum, and each return results in a measurable loss of self, including memory, restraint, and emotional stability; early-stage returns appear shaken and hollow, while repeated revivals produce individuals that are increasingly aggressive, brash, agitated, and socially detached, often displaying erratic speech patterns and diminished capacity for reason. This condition does not present uniformly, as some Desperados exhibit advanced physical decay and behavioral instability, whereas others persist across multiple returns with greater resilience, retaining partial control and developing heightened durability and combat effectiveness; these long-surviving cases show reduced sensitivity to pain, consistent motor function despite visible degradation, and a more deliberate, controlled aggression compared to newly returned individuals, suggesting that repeated exposure to the revival process either erodes instability over time or removes weaker psychological traits, leaving behind a more hardened and dangerous subject
Desperados are divided into three categories that significantly change how they behave:
The Miner is a melee variant that tracks you down and strikes up close.
This is the T1 version of the Desperado Miner, and it will overwhelm you with numbers. It has the Ribbreaker skill, slashing forward with two pickaxes and crushing anything within its reach.
Gunmen are ranged enemies with limited mobility who attack from a distance.
The T1 Desperado Gunman has the Aimed Shot skill, channeling before firing a concentrated shot with a higher probability of a critical hit.
This variant lights its explosives and charges at you, determined to take you down with it.
The Dynamite variation of the Desperado lights its explosives and runs toward you to use Detonation, damaging both you and itself while applying burn on hit. This skill has a 1% chance to fail, meaning it might run up to you… only to stare awkwardly as nothing happens.
We hope you enjoyed this quick preview! In our upcoming demo, currently in development, you can expect to see all four tiers of the Buffalich and the T1 version of each Desperado variant. Of course, everything is still subject to change.
Tune in next week for more from the world of The Dark West.
Don’t forget to check out our official Discord server, where you can help shape the game through polls and by sharing your feedback.
And if you haven’t yet, don’t forget to wishlist The Dark West!