Carrion — HP, Weakness & Drops (Valor Mortis)

Health: 120Level 1 · #9 of 15 by HP
Catalysts (level 1): 30130 Catalysts at level 6
Weak to: Fire damage
Placements: 9310 regions · #5 most common
Most likely drop: Nephtoglobin Vial3%
Can be backstabbed: NoNever blocks

How to beat Carrion

Counterplay for Carrion, written from its move list, resistances, variants and drops.

Burning variants flip the rule: they resist 90% of fire and 95% of Ignite build-up but take 50% extra Stasis, so switch to the Stasis Transmutation or a Stasis Whetstone for them. Both attacks (Impale 40, Spike 30) can be blocked for 40 Endurance.

Their posture (600, or 1,000 for big ones) dwarfs their 120 HP and they cannot be backstabbed, so ignore posture and simply kill them. Slaughtermill spawns its own Carrion during the boss fight, and Carrion drop a Nephtoglobin Vial 3% of the time.

How to fight Carrion

Game data

Tips built from its data: what it resists, what it is weak to, which attacks to dodge and how to open it up.

None of its 2 attacks are flagged unblockable, so a raised guard or a parry handles everything it throws.
Lean on Fire damage: it takes extra damage from it.
Avoid relying on Melee, Firearms; it resists that damage type.
Its head takes ×1.5 damage, so aim firearm shots at the head.
It never blocks, so a full light-attack chain always lands.
It cannot be backstabbed, so there is no stealth opener: break its posture or race its health instead.
Its toughest variant, Elite*, starts at 700 HP, far more than the 120 of a level-1 placement.

Carrion variants

Game data

The game defines 7 versions of this enemy. Each has its own health, posture and defensive behaviour; elites are tougher one-off placements, summoned ones appear mid-fight.

Carrion variants
Variant	Role	Health (lowest → highest level)	Catalysts	Posture	Stasis segments	Block chance	Parry chance	Backstab	Placed
Small*	Regular	120 → 480	30	600	—	No	—	No	63
Big*	Regular	180 → 720	100	1,000	2	No	—	No	12
Fire Small*	Regular	120 → 480	80	600	—	No	—	No	16
Fire Big*	Regular	200 → 800	120	1,000	2	No	—	No	2
Small Boss Variant*	Summoned	140	50	600	—	No	—	No	—
Fire Small Boss Variant*	Summoned	100	80	600	—	No	—	No	—
Elite*	Elite	700 → 1,190	600	1,000	5	No	—	No	—

* Variant names are built from the game's internal tier tags (the game shows no name for them). Block and parry chances are listed in the order the game stores them. Placed = how many level spawners use that variant.

Health of every variant by level

Health of every variant by level
Variant	Lv 1	Lv 2	Lv 3	Lv 4	Lv 5	Lv 6
Small*	120	168	216	288	384	480
Big*	180	252	324	432	576	720
Fire Small*	120	168	216	288	384	480
Fire Big*	200	280	360	480	640	800
Elite*	700	980	1,190	—	—	—

Speed and posture by variant

Game data

How fast each variant closes the distance, and how quickly its posture comes back once you stop pressuring it.

Its fastest variant moves at 1.2 m/s; your walk speed is 4 m/s.

Speed and posture by variant
Variant	Role	Move speed	Sprint	Posture recovery	Recovery delay
Small*	Regular	1.2 m/s	1.2 m/s	20/s	2 s
Big*	Regular	1 m/s	1 m/s	20/s	2 s
Fire Small*	Regular	1 m/s	—	20/s	2 s
Fire Big*	Regular	1 m/s	1 m/s	20/s	2 s
Small Boss Variant*	Summoned	1 m/s	—	20/s	2 s
Fire Small Boss Variant*	Summoned	1 m/s	—	20/s	2 s
Elite*	Elite	1 m/s	1 m/s	20/s	2 s

Speeds are the AI's movement settings in metres per second. Posture recovery is the posture regained per second, and the delay is the wait before recovery begins (game fields posture_recovery_per_sec and posture_reset_delay). — = not set for that variant.

Carrion level scaling

Game data

Enemy levels in Valor Mortis are set per placement, not by a difficulty setting (the game has a single difficulty): the same enemy is level 1 in one spot and level 6 in another, usually higher later in the campaign. This is the main variant from level 1 to 6.

Carrion level scaling
Level	Health	Catalysts	Damage dealt	Critical attack damage taken	Backstab share of HP
Lv 1	120	30	×1	120	—
Lv 2	168	50	×1.4	168	—
Lv 3	216	70	×1.7	216	—
Lv 4	288	90	×2	288	—
Lv 5	384	110	×2.3	384	—
Lv 6	480	130	×2.7	480	—

Damage dealt multiplies every attack's base damage. Critical attacks (after a posture break) and backstabs deal the fixed amounts shown, whatever your weapon; the share column is our arithmetic.

Carrion attacks

Game data

Every damaging attack across its variants, grouped into moves, with base damage per hit, wind-up and whether you can block it.

Moves
Move	Type	Hits	Damage per hit	Wind-up	Block / parry
Impale*	Melee	1	40	36.64 s	Blockableparry window 0.2 s
Spike*	Melee	1	30	1.2 s	Blockableparry window 0.2 s

* Attack names are built from the game's internal tags. Damage is the level-1 base; multiply by the placement's damage multiplier (up to ×2.7 at level 6), so Impale goes from 40 to about 108.

Carrion resistances and weak points

Game data

Weak to Fire damage (×2). Resists Melee (−50%), Firearms (−50%).

Melee−50%

Firearms−50%

Explosives—

Fire damage+100%

Ignite build-up—

Stasis (Crystallization)—

Infection—

Red = takes extra damage of that type; filled to the right = resists it (100% = immune).

Weak points

Weak points
Body part	Damage taken	Posture damage taken
Head	×1.5	×1.5
Chest	×1	×1

Variants with different resistances

Variants with different resistances
Variant	Melee	Firearms	Explosives	Fire damage	Stasis (Crystallization)	Infection	Head
Small* · main	−50%	−50%	—	+100%	—	—	×1.5
Big*	−50%	−50%	—	+50%	—	—	×1.5
Fire Small*	−50%	−50%	—	−90%	+50%	—	×1.5
Fire Big*	−50%	−50%	—	−90%	+50%	—	×1.5
Elite*	−50%	−50%	—	+50%	—	—	—

Red = takes extra damage of that type; negative = resists it. Head = damage multiplier on head hits.

Carrion drops

Game data

Random drops on every kill, with the chance the game rolls for each.

Carrion drops
Item	Type	Chance	Amount	On average
Nephtoglobin Vial	Consumable	3%	1	1 in 33 kills
Crude Transmutation Material	Upgrade material	1%	1	1 in 100 kills

"On average" is 1 ÷ chance (calculated): the expected number of kills per drop, not a guarantee.

Where to find Carrion

Game data

Placed spawners per region in campaign order: 93 in total, the most in Caverns (18).

Where to find Carrion
Location	Region	Placed	Enemy level	Health	Share of placements	Map
Valley of Ashes	II	14	1	120	15%	Show on map
Fallen Village	III	4	1	120	4%	Show on map
Caverns	IV	18	1–2	120–168	19%	Show on map
Vale of Wrath	V	4	2	168	4%	Show on map
Cursed Hollow	VI	11	1–4	120–288	12%	Show on map
The Outskirts	VII	11	1–3	120–216	12%	Show on map
City of Orphans	VIII	15	2–4	168–288	16%	Show on map
University	IX	5	3–4	216–288	5%	Show on map
Fortress	X	7	2–5	168–384	8%	Show on map
Napoleon's Prison	—	4	4–5	288–384	4%	Show on map

Counts are the game's placed spawners; scripted waves and summons during fights are not included.

Data: Steam build 25907482 (1.0 launch). How we source this

Caverns

Full map

Map drawn from the region's own level geometry in the game files (terrain, buildings, water); every marker sits at the exact position of a placed object.

Everything placed in Caverns

Ability altars: 2

Bosses: 1 (Sphinx)

Chests: 11 (Lucky Shot, Lunatic's Grasp, Limit Break, Ferrofluid Flask Power Upgrade, Superior Firearm Parts, Surplus, Perfectionism, Empty Ferrofluid Flask, Distilled Transmutation Material, Pure Blade Material)

Keys: 1 (Mining Shaft Key)

Lanterns: 5 (Mine Cart Route, Old Mine, Weeping Ledge, Ancient Lair, Last Sunlight)

Letters: 4 (Longing Wife Letter, Death Notice, Miner's Letter, Saltmine Note)

Hits to kill Carrion

Calculated

Basic hits needed to kill a level-1 Carrion (120 HP) with every blade and firearm at weapon levels 1, 5 and 10.

Hits to kill
Weapon	Weapon level 1	Weapon level 5	Weapon level 10
Pistol	815 per hit6 to the head	621 per hit4 to the head	430 per hit3 to the head
Musket	275 per hit	2105 per hit1 to the head	1150 per hit
Blunderbuss	275 per hit	2115 per hit1 to the head	1175 per hit
Saber	1210 per hit	620 per hit	430 per hit
Rapier	1013 per hit	718 per hit	623 per hit
Claymore	525 per hit	340 per hit	350 per hit

Calculated from weapon damage × the first light attack's multiplier × (1 − resistance); firearms also show head hits. Upgrades, Ambers, coatings and the stat board are not included, and higher-level placements need proportionally more hits.

Journal entry

Game data

William's journal page on Carrion, as written in the game.

SpoilerShow the journal entry

I am scribbling this down quickly, as the memory of these creatures deeply disgusts me. They seem to consist of a mass of corpses, fused into a horrendous pile. Slashing at them leaves no mark, but the substance holding them together takes easily to fire.

Carrion is the #5 most common of the 15 enemy types, with 93 placements across 10 regions; you meet it first in Valley of Ashes and see it most in Caverns. All of its 2 attacks can be blocked; the hardest hitter is Impale at 40 base damage. Bring Fire damage: it takes extra damage from it. None of its placements carry a scripted Amber or key. Its health runs from 120 at level 1 to 480 at level 6, paying 30 Catalysts to 130 Catalysts.

Carrion FAQ

How do you beat Carrion in Valor Mortis?

Carrion halve both melee and firearm damage, so neither blades nor guns are efficient; the answer is fire. Regular Carrion take double fire damage (the big ones 50% extra) and have no Ignite resistance, so a burst of the Fire Transmutation or a Flaming Whetstone does more than a full Saber chain. Burning variants flip the rule: they resist 90% of fire and 95% of Ignite build-up but take 50% extra Stasis, so switch to the Stasis Transmutation or a Stasis Whetstone for them.

How much HP does Carrion have in Valor Mortis?

Carrion has 120 HP at level 1 and 480 HP at level 6, its highest placement level. Levels are set per placement, not by difficulty. Its toughest variant, Elite*, starts at 700 HP.

What is Carrion weak to?

Weak to Fire damage (×2). Resists Melee (−50%), Firearms (−50%). Head hits deal ×1.5 damage.

What does Carrion drop?

Random drops: Nephtoglobin Vial (3%), Crude Transmutation Material (1%). Every kill also pays 30 Catalysts at level 1.

Where do you find Carrion?

Carrion first appears in Valley of Ashes and is placed 93 times in total: Valley of Ashes (14), Fallen Village (4), Caverns (18), Vale of Wrath (4), Cursed Hollow (11), The Outskirts (11), City of Orphans (15), University (5), Fortress (7), Napoleon's Prison (4).

Where is the best place to farm Carrion?

Caverns has the most Carrion placements (18 of 93), so that is where you meet it most often. Each level-1 kill pays 30 Catalysts and rolls its drop table.

Can you backstab Carrion, and does it block?

No: Carrion cannot be backstabbed. It never blocks or parries.

Why does Carrion have different health in different places?

Each placement has its own enemy level from 1 to 6. Level 6 has 480 HP and deals ×2.7 damage compared with level 1. It is not a difficulty mode; Valor Mortis has a single difficulty.

Carrion Enemy type 8 of 15 · first met in Valley of Ashes

How to beat Carrion

How to fight Carrion