Enemies

There are numerous enemies encountered in Nightcaster: Defeat the Darkness.

Description
All enemies belong to a school of magic which is represented by their color, thus using spells from the opposite spell school will work best, while spells from the same school will not work.

When you kill all enemies in an area, animals such as squirrels and butterflies will appear out of nowhere and inhabit the land.

Beasties
Beasties are diminutive creatures that are easy to kill and do little damage, but come in great numbers. They live in spawners: stationary world objects that continuously pop out new enemies as the old ones die. Spawners must be destroyed to continue.

Beetles
School class:  All

Featured in:  Chapter I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI

Description:  Weak enemies resembling as large than normal beetles. They appear in large groups and attack by approaching Arran and biting him. Their spawners resemble a collection of rocks and leaves. Every time they bite Arran, they take away one circle of mana. Two stronger versions of this enemy are also encountered: starting in Chapter VI, they have small spikes on their shells and starting in Chapter VIII, they have large spikes on their shells.

Rock Hoppers
School class:  All

Featured in:  Chapter I, II, III, IV, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI

Description:  Weak enemies resembling diminutive, ghoulish humans. They appear in large groups and attack by approaching Arran and scratching/kicking him. Their spawners resemble rock piles. Two stronger versions of this enemy are also encountered: starting in Chapter IV, they have small spikes on their back, sharper claws, and a sharper tail and starting in Chapter X, they have armor, even sharper claws and spikes, and a second sharp tail.

Mushrooms
School class:  All

Featured in:  Chapter I, II, III, VI, VII, XI

Description:  Weak enemies resembling living stems with a crown of tentacles. They attack in a similar fashion to beetles and imps, but use their tentacles to poison Arran. Their spawners resemble goo piles.

Wolves/Hounds
School class:  All

Featured in:  Chapter I, II, III, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI

Description:  Weak enemies. The Dark and Water variants resemble wolves that are extremely fast while the Fire and Light variants resemble hounds that are slower than their Dark and Water counterparts. They appear in large groups and attack by approaching Arran and biting him. Their spawners resemble rock piles that resemble a den.

Dark Wolves
School class:  Dark

Featured in:  Chapter I, II, III, VI, VII, X

Light Hounds
School class:  Light

Featured in:  Chapter III, VI, X (if Dark Mage at a certain point)

Fire Hounds
School class:  Fire

Featured in:  Chapter VII, X, XI

Ice Wolves
School class:  Water

Featured in:  Chapter VII (if Water/Light Mage at a certain point), VIII, X

Wasps
School class:  All

Featured in:  Chapter III, VI, VII, IX

Description:  Weak enemies resembling large wasps. They attack by flying over to Arran and stinging him which does poison damage. Their spawners resemble nests. Starting in Chapter VII, stronger versions are seen with spikes on their body.

Centipedes
School class:  Dark

Featured in:  Chapter I (1), III (33), IV (1), VI (29), VII (10), XI (7)

Description:  Weak enemies resembling giant centipedes with skull heads. They pop out of a stationary location and shoot a variation of Venom Strike at Arran. If he comes too close to them or injuries them, they will hide and pop out from a different location to attack him.

Goblin Riders
School class:  All

Featured in:  Chapter II, III, IV, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI

Description:  Medium enemies resembling armoured goblins on dinosaurs that represent the school they belong to. They attack by approaching Arran and hitting him with their club circling in a counter-clockwise direction.

Fire Goblin Riders
Featured in:  Chapter II, III, VI, VII (7), VIII (2), X (7), XI (5)

Water Goblin Riders
Featured in:  Chapter II (3), III, IV (2), VI, VII (7), VIII (2), X (8), XI (1)

Light Goblin Riders
Featured in:  Chapter II, III (2), VI (8), VII (8), VIII (1), X (6), XI (2)

Dark Goblin Riders
Featured in:  Chapter II, III (8), VI, VII (6), X (6), XI (3)

Gnome Riders
School class:  All

Featured in:  Chapter II, III, IV, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI

Description:  Medium enemies resembling gnomes on birds that represent the school they belong to. They attack by casting projectiles spells based on their school of magic: Fire Gnome Riders cast Level 1 Sky Fall, Water Gnome Riders cast a homing shard variant of Level 1 Glacial Might, Light Gnome Riders cast Level 1 Primal Light, and Dark Gnome Riders cast Level 1 Venom Strike that can home in and poison Arran.

Fire Gnome Riders
Featured in:  Chapter II, III, VI, VIII, XI

Water Gnome Riders
Featured in:  Chapter II, III, VI, VII, VIII, XI

Light Gnome Riders
Featured in:  Chapter II, III, IV (1), VII, VIII, X, XI

Dark Gnome Riders
Featured in:  Chapter II, III, IV (2), VI, VII, VIII, XI

Ghouls
School class:  Dark

Featured in:  Chapter II (1), IV (6), V (4), VII (6), X (6)

Description:  Large enemies resembling apes with sharp poisonous claws. They attack by poisoning Arran with their claws. They can sometimes hide below Arran to attack him from another direction.

Zombies
School class:  Dark

Featured in:  Chapter II, IV, V, VI, VII, X, XI

Description:  Medium enemies resembling slowing moving zombies. They rise from the grave and attack in large groups by approaching Arran. Zombies can only be truly killed with Light magic as Fire and Water magic will only cause them to come back to life when killed.

Stiltwalkers
School class:  All

Featured in:  Chapter II, III, VI, VII, X, XI

Description:  Medium enemies resembling gnomes on stilts with larges shoes that represent the school they belong to. They attack by throwing small bombs.

Fire Stiltwalkers
Featured in:  Chapter II (1), III (12), VII (2), XI (1)

Water Stiltwalkers
Featured in:  Chapter II (1), VII (1)

Light Stiltwalkers
Featured in:  Chapter II (1), VI (4), X (7)

Dark Stiltwalkers
Featured in:  Chapter II (1)

Goblins Archers
School class:  Fire

Featured in:  Chapter III, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI

Description:  Medium enemies resembling diminutive humans. They attack by shooting fire arrows at Arran. Sometimes, they have barrels which they can hide in to protect them from Arran's attacks and as such take more hits to defeat.

Spiders
School class:  All

Featured in:  Chapter III, IV, V, VI, VIII, X

Description:  Medium enemies resembling giant spiders hanging on a web. They descend from above and attack Arran by surprise, doing poison damage.

Fire Spiders
Featured in:  Chapter III (11), IV (2)

Water Spiders
Featured in:  Chapter IV (1), VIII (1)

Light Spiders
Featured in:  Chapter IV (3), V (1)

Dark Spiders
Featured in:  Chapter IV (4), V (1), VI (6), X (1)

Sludges
School class:  Water, Dark

Featured in:  Chapter III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, X, XI

Description:  Large enemies that resemble slimy puddles. They attack by often casting Level 2 Glyph spells of their appropriate class on Arran before closing in and attacking him with melee attacks. They are immune to Arran's staff attack.

Water Sludges
School class:  Water

Featured in:  Chapter III (9), VII (3), VIII (8)

Description:  Large enemies that resemble water puddles. They attack by often casting Level 2 Water Glyph before closing in on Arran and attacking him with melee attacks.

Dark Sludges
School class:  Dark

Featured in:  Chapter IV (3), V (1), VI, VII (6), X (6), XI (5)

Description:  Large enemies that resemble purple puddles. They attack by often casting Level 2 Dark Glyph before closing in on Arran and attacking him with melee attacks.

Mummies
School class:  Dark

Featured in:  Chapter IV (4 Yellow, 1 Purple)

Description:  Medium enemies resembling one-legged mummies. They attack by casting projectiles spells based on the color on the crown of their heads: yellow ones attack by casting Level 1 Primal Light and purple ones cast a homing non-poisonous version of Level 1 Venom Strike at Arran.

Harlequins
School class:  Fire/Water, Light/Dark

Featured in:  Chapter IV, V, VII, X, XI

Description: Medium enemies resembling jesters that can be of two schools simultaneously. They are always fought alongside a Wraith King in battle teleporting and casting spells at Arran depending on their school. The Fire/Water Harlequins can cast Level 1 Sky Fall or Level 1 Winter's Fury while the Light/Dark Harlequins can cast Level 1 Primal Light or Level 1 Venom Strike that can home in and poison Arran.

Fire/Water Harlequins
Featured in:  Chapter IV (1), VII (5), XI (3)

Light/Dark Harlequins
Featured in:  Chapter IV (1), V (1), VII (1), X (10), XI (3)

Wraith Kings
School class:  Dark

Featured in:  Chapter IV (1), V (1), VII (3), X (4), XI (3)

Description:  Large enemies resembling a king. They are always accompanied by at least one Harlequin and attack Arran by teleporting and casting Level 1 Dark Arc at him.

Totem Poles
School class:  Light (Owl), Water (Tiki), Fire (Turtle)

Featured in:  Chapter IV (2), V (3), VII (6), X (5), XI (9)

Description:  Large enemies resembling a totem pole. They attack Arran based on the pole's components: the owl casts Level 1 Primal Light, the tiki casts a homing shard version of Level 1 Glacial Might, and the turtle bites Arran up close. Because the totem pole is an enemy comprising Fire, Water, and Light magic, only Dark magic can dismantle the totem pole and kill all of the pole's individual components.

Fire Ogres
School class:  Fire

Featured in:  Chapter VI (4), VII (10), X (19), XI (9)

Description:  Large enemies resembling two-headed humans. They remain stationary in one spot mainly casting Level 2 Sky Fall as Arran gets within their range. They occasionally hide after taking damage at certain intervals and can also cast Level 1 Fire Ward to temporary block Arran's spells. They can also punch him if he gets within point blank range of them.

Ice Ogres
School class:  Water

Featured in:  Chapter VII (6), VIII, XI (6)

Description:  Large enemies resembling humans covered in ice. They remain stationary in one spot breathing ice on Arran as he gets within their range. They occasionally hide after taking damage at certain intervals and can punch Arran if he gets within point blank range of them.

Goblin Mages
School class:  Fire

Featured in:  Chapter VII (4), XI

Description:  Small enemies resembling diminutive humans riding on clouds. They attack by circling Arran extremely fast casting Level 1 Fire Glyph spells.

Ice Rock Monsters
School class:  Water

Featured in:  Chapter VII (5), VIII, X, XI

Description:  Enemies resembling rock-based humans. They attack Arran by punching him. They can only be killed by hitting them with the staff twice causing them to dismantle and then casting spells while they're in that state before they reassemble.

Yeti
School class:  Water

Featured in:  Chapter VIII, X, XI

Description:  Large enemies resembling apes that often come in pairs. They attack Arran up close by slapping him or by casting a homing shard version of Level 1 Glacial Might at range.