Mutant

Cannibals, also called Mutants, are the main type of enemy in ''The Forest. '' For more information on Cannibal types, see the following pages:

=Types= Types of cannibals refers to their behavior, movement, and abilities. They can be found across most tribes:

=Tribes= Tribes refers to their appearance as well as their difficulty, listed from easiest to hardest:

=Gameplay= Mutants are the primary enemies of The Forest. A scattering of primitive humans living in the Forest, mutants will seek out and attempt to kill any outsider that they can find on the Peninsula. They are not necessarily immediately hostile, as some may only spy on the player at first like the Regular Mutants, while others will attack on sight due to sheer hunger such as Starving Mutants. Both sets of mutants will actively patrol the island both day and night and, after several days, can be joined by the monstrous creepy mutants. Once aware of the player's presence, patrols will get stronger and become more frequent. It is recommended that the player build defenses as larger groups of enemies can be difficult to defeat. As the game progresses, the stronger types of mutants will spawn. Listed from weakest to strongest are Skinny Mutants, Regular Mutants, Pale Mutants, Painted Mutants and Masked Mutants. Fire Mutants will often accompany a patrol after 5-7 days in a game.

First Contact
After the plane crash, the mutants will not immediately look for the player and the mutants may be unaware of the player's presence on the peninsula. It is possible, though difficult, to remain unnoticed by the mutants for an extended period of time, but it is essential that mutants are faced eventually in order to complete the story. Mutants will regularly patrol the land and, during this time, it is possible to kill a lone mutant and remain undiscovered. However if the player is seen and a mutant has successfully run away, it is possible that aggression will increase. For the first few days, simple fortifications, walls, and traps will keep the mutants from attacking the player. However, the mutants will eventually send creepy mutants to the players camp, which are much more difficult to defeat than mutants.

Behavior
Note that mutant behavior is heavily affected by the difficulty level. On hard mode and hard survival, all enemies are much more powerful and aggressive.

Initial Neutrality
Mutants (except Starving mutants) will be neutral to the player upon first interaction. If a player kills a lone Mutant, the rest of the tribe can remain unaware and therefore their stance remains unchanged.

Neutral behaviors include:
 * Watching the player from a safe distance.
 * Growling at the player.
 * False charging, where the mutant will rush into the player's face, but not swing.
 * Attempting to surround the player.
 * Backing away from an advancing player, but staying within sight.
 * Fleeing upon a charge from the player.

Passive/Fearful
Red paint, burning Effigies and hand-thrown Flare can force neutrality and passive behavior between the player and mutants of every kind, except Creepy Mutants.

Passive/fearful behaviors include:
 * Backing away from an advancing player, but staying within sight
 * Kneeling before the player and bowing their head, briefly (2-4 seconds)
 * Kneeling before the player and starting a hum or chant (10-20 seconds, or until interrupted)
 * Note that a method of pacifying the Regular Mutants exists, but is tedious and requires a neutral stance (no tribe member can be aware of any mutant killing besides the Creepy Mutants). This can be found on the Regular Mutant page.

Hostility
Little is known about Mutant hostility and may be based on each encounter. It has been speculated by the community that the following actions will increase hostilities:


 * Attacking mutants
 * Killing mutants, especially females in front of males
 * Walking too close to the mutants
 * Visiting specific parts of the map
 * Cutting down trees
 * Building large bases
 * Building fires, especially bonfires
 * Building Defensive Walls or Traps, especially on mutant patrol paths or bases
 * Destroying effigies

To decrease hostilities, it is perhaps best if players reduce the mentioned methods (e.g killing female mutants last if they are still attacking, and letting them run away once they are scared by the player killing enough of them). However, the developers have stated they have purposely put some "fuzziness" into the AI to prevent players from fully understanding and predicting mutant behavior.

Religion and Beliefs
In areas where there are non-player traps and totems, mutants can be seen in the early hours of day praying to or worshiping the sun or one of their effigies along the beach. These locations are close to large villages, and appear to mark the outer limit of their camps. Mutants encountered whilst in the process of worship are non-hostile, however striking any of them will cause the one attacked to become hostile.

When multiple mutants approach a red-painted player, one may kneel while others attack or run. If the attacking mutants are defeated, the kneeling one will remain no matter what the player does. The kneeling mutant is possibly acting as a sacrifice, or simply wishes to surrender.

When not in combat, mutants may be seen burying their fallen soldiers. Currently, if the player kills a mutant and leaves the area, abandoning the corpse with other Regular mutants nearby to access it, the body will be gone if the player goes back to retrieve it, leading to the assumption that the mutants are removing the bodies. However, Skinny mutants will start to eat the body in front of the player.

Stealing
Cannibals are known to occasionally steal players' food from a Drying Rack. Both animal meat and limbs may be stolen.

Difficulty Differences
There is a large difference in difficulty settings as to how mutants behave and attack:

Patrols
Patrols will form most of the encounters the player has with mutants and creepy mutants. The following videos are research that has been done on mutant patrol routes and their behavior. It is recommended to not build on patrol routes if one wishes to avoid conflict:

Patrol Route Video 1

Patrol Route Video 2

Patrols, part of the general mutant presence on the peninsula, are groups of mutants and/or creepy mutants that roam mostly pre-set paths throughout the forest. They have set spawn locations, and they will watch over these areas day and night. Patrols can be found almost everywhere, with the exception of the barrier islands that surround the peninsula. The most dangerous places to build are where mutant routes cross over.


 * Mutants respawn at various spawn points and objects, thus there is no finite amount of mutants and it is impossible to wipe out all mutants on the peninsula.
 * The size of the patrol may vary. There are scouts that travel alone, pairs of mutants that travel together, and tribes that travel in groups of 3-7 mutants.
 * The behavior of the patrol may vary. Some are aggressive, others may be curious, and some may ignore players completely, but one should expect a fight if spotted.
 * Some mutants will climb trees and use them as observation platforms while traveling through the forest. Cutting down trees and underbrush around one's camp will make mutants more visible, at the cost of making players more visible as well.
 * Un-engaged patrol members will often step in to save incapacitated or knocked down allies.
 * There is no difference at day or night when it comes to patrols. It is speculated that mutants may be more hostile towards the player at night time.

Patrol types

 * 1) Mutant Patrols - Consists of mutants only, they are fast moving and can often be seen running. They walk more often than they run. Will often stop to pray, sleep, build mutant effigies or investigate sounds, player buildings etc
 * 2) Creepy Mutant Patrols - Consists of 2-3 armsies, Virginias and cowmen, (mutant babies too if a Virginia is present). They have more sight and detection of the player. Without the help from mutants scouting, they can be more easily avoided. Though if they spot the player, they will often attack.
 * 3) Mutant and Creepy Mutant Patrols - Possibly the most dangerous patrol to come across. Consists of 2-3 armsies, Virginias and cowmen, (mutant babies too if a Virginia is present), as well as 2-3 mutants, often pale skinny types. These patrols are slow moving, and the mutants will walk at the same speed as the slower moving mutants. The mutants act as scouts, as soon as a mutant sees the player, the mutants will almost always start charging at the player. The pale Skinnies will also attack. Due to variety in this patrol, it is often the most difficult patrol type to deal with.

Patrols vs Attacks

 * Patrols search for possible threats and they're identified if they run past the player, even with a base present.
 * Attacks are designated groups of mutants and/or creepy mutants that head directly to the player's base when discovered, and chances of this occurring increase if the base gets larger.

Villages
Other than the cave system, mutants are also seen around the peninsula in camps of various size and location. The player may notice small scouting parties leaving them and single mutants wandering through them. Other than finding mutants in such camps, there are also chances of finding loot such as baggage and other brought in objects. Bodies can also be found quite frequently.

There is one large, central camp with the most huts, in the southern portion of the map. This camp has the most mutant activity out of any camp, and it contains one cave entrance on the North side (Formerly inside a hut.). This cave is where the player will awaken if caught by the mutants for the first time. Despite mutant's notorious fear of fire, especially the player's campfires, some camps appear to have one large campfire, which also appears to be recently used, too.

Combat
Enemies might attack when alone or in groups, and if the player is not careful they might ambush from behind. The mutants can be knocked down though it is much more difficult in harder modes. Sometimes the enemies will take evasive action if they see the player as a threat; they might even run away completely or come back later with more mutants.

In addition to attacking the player, mutants have also been seen "intimidating" the player. It is possible that they are testing the player to see what actions they will take next. To intimidate the player mutants will hiss and lunge at the player while another will circle the player and attempt to make eye contact. After a short amount of time the mutants will either attack or retreat further into the forest. It is currently unknown at the time if this is a glitch or if this was added to the game on purpose.

If the player proves too much for the mutants, they might run away into the forest and not return for a period of time. During or after combat mutants can also be seen climbing trees, and jumping from one tree to another or at the player.

Incapacitated mutants will sometimes be dragged to safety by other mutants.

Attacking a mutant will arrest any attack they may be performing. If they are to lunge at the player, and the player swings their weapon, the attack will stop causing the mutant to stumble backwards. Therefore, rapidly slashing can be a good multipurpose tactic when engaging a mutant. It offers offensive and defensive benefits, though the drain on stamina should be considered as well as flanking enemies.

Occasionally after killing a large band of mutants or while moving through territory with a mutant settlement nearby, a mutant may be seen sitting on the ground crying either in pain or mourning the death of others.

Infection
The death of a mutant, mutant, or animal in close proximity to the player may result in becoming splashed with blood and acquiring the "bloodied" status. Theoretically, being "bloodied" for too long is stated to result in acquiring the "infected" status by the suggestion to "avoid infection by washing" when covered in blood. Being infected leads to negative effects on "athleticism" and can be seen in the "health tab" of the survival book. To cure an infection eat raw Aloe Vera.

Optional Forms of Encounters

 * If the player wishes to gather building materials, explore, or just play in peace, they can type  for zero mutants except creepy mutants in caves for story progression. Typing   will set the game to have mutants only come out at night.  To reset these, and return the game to its default state the player can type.
 * Building and lighting the bonfire at night will cause a large amount of mutants and sometimes creepy mutants to be drawn to the player's location, which will be immediately hostile.