Howler Enemy type 2 of 15 · first met in The Battlefield

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

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

• Watch for the red attacks: Grab cannot be blocked, so dodge them instead of holding block.
• 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.
• It has a grab, and grabs cannot be blocked: step back when it lunges.
• Its toughest variant, Elite T1*, starts at 600 HP, far more than the 100 of a level-1 placement.

The game defines 4 versions of this enemy. Each has its own health, posture and defensive behaviour; elites are tougher one-off placements, summoned ones appear mid-fight.

* 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

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

Its fastest variant moves at 8 m/s; your walk speed is 4 m/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.

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.

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.

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

* 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 Jump Attack goes from 30 to about 81.

It has no special resistances or weaknesses: every damage type works the same.

Weak points

Variants with different resistances

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

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

Howler drops

Item	Type	Chance	Amount	On average
Flaming Whetstone	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.

2 placed spawners carry a scripted reward that always drops on the kill: Warrior's Fury (Cursed Hollow), Warrior's Fury (University).

Elite drops: Ambers and keys

Reward	Type	Location	Carried by	Nearest Lantern
Warrior's Fury	Amber	Cursed Hollow	Elite T1* · Elite	Silent Cannons · about 207 m away
Warrior's Fury	Amber	University	Elite 09* · Elite	Lift Shaft · about 25 m away

These are one-time rewards from specific spawners. The Lantern distance is a straight line from the spawner (calculated).

Placed spawners per region in campaign order: 95 in total, the most in Fortress (22).

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

Fortress

Reset viewFull mapFullscreen

• Lanterns6
• Boss1
• Chests16
• Keys2
• Letters9
• Item pickups64
• Ability altar1
• Echoes of the Past3
• Enemies100

Click the map to zoom with the scroll wheel

Everything placed in Fortress

Ability altars: 1

Bosses: 1 (Captain Raphael)

Chests: 16 (Indestructible Shell, Life Diverted, Ferrofluid Flask Power Upgrade, Empty Ferrofluid Flask, Quintessential Blade Material, Sands of Time, Remnant's Return, Lucky Shot, Quintessential Transmutation Material, Potent Concoction, Exquisite Firearm Parts, Tomorrow's Promise)

Keys: 2 (Captain's Key, Fortress Armory Key)

Lanterns: 6 (Courtyard, Traverse, Main Gate, Chapel, Ramparts, High Tower)

Letters: 9 (Shrike's Scout Report, Countess Elara's Order, Correspondence from the Imperial Legate, Report of the Siege, Letter from Countess Elara's Husband, Commander's Note, Curfew Notice, The Codex of the Oathbound)

Basic hits needed to kill a level-1 Howler (100 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	430 per hit3 to the head	342 per hit2 to the head	260 per hit
Musket	1150 per hit	1210 per hit	1300 per hit
Blunderbuss	1150 per hit	1230 per hit	1350 per hit
Saber	520 per hit	340 per hit	260 per hit
Rapier	425 per hit	335 per hit	345 per hit
Claymore	250 per hit	280 per hit	1100 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.

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

Enemies found alongside Howler

Enemy types that share the most regions with it.

• Risen SoldierThe Battlefield100 Health10 shared regions
• Risen MusketeerThe Battlefield70 Health10 shared regions
• CarrionValley of Ashes120 Health10 shared regionsWeak to Fire damage
• VolunteersValley of Ashes650 Health10 shared regions

Walkthrough for the chapter where you first meet it