Deer

Deer

The first real hunt, the first leather, and the key to the first boss.
Biome	Meadows
Alignment	Passive
Faction	Forest
Health	10
Damage	-
Weak To	-
Resistant To	-
Immune To	Spirit
Stagger	-
Tameable	No
Trophy	Deer trophy
Spawn ID	`spawn Deer`

Every save begins with a Deer. It is the first thing worth chasing in the Meadows, it drops the hide that becomes your first proper armour, and because Eikthyr will not appear without a pair of its trophies, it is quite literally what stands between you and the first boss. It cannot hurt you in any way, so it is a frustration rather than a threat.

Behaviour

Deer are timid to the point of comedy. They graze in loose, scattered groups across open woodland, wander slowly with nowhere in particular to go, and break into a sprint the moment they see, hear or get hit by anything at all. A fleeing deer runs faster than an unrested viking and curves away unpredictably, so chasing one on foot is a good way to lose your stamina and your target at the same time, and a missed arrow sends it over the next ridge. However badly you wound them, they never attack or turn to fight. They share the forest faction with Greydwarves, so the local monsters ignore them and they ignore the monsters right back, and a deer will happily graze past a nest that would kill you. You can spot a starred one from a distance by its antlers, which grow noticeably larger with each star.

Where to Find It

Deer are common throughout the forested parts of the Meadows and across the Black Forest, usually with around four alive in an area at once, and they spawn at all hours rather than only by day or night. Both biomes spawn one and two star deer, which drop double and quadruple the hide and meat and are well worth the extra arrows. Nothing gates them: the small herd wandering within sight of the Sacrificial Stones on your first morning is most players' first kill, and the Black Forest herds keep supplying hide long after the Meadows have stopped being interesting.

Where and When	At Once	How Often	Stars
Anywhere in forests of Meadows	4	-	Yes
Anywhere in Black Forest	4	-	Yes

Strengths and Weaknesses

This is a hunt rather than a fight, and the challenge is the escape, not the animal. Crouch and approach from outside its line of sight, because a sneak attack multiplies your damage and a zero star deer drops to a single arrow even from a Crude Bow. Do not open at long range with wooden arrows unless you are happy to jog after it. Close the distance, shoot it in the body, and be ready to put a second arrow in straight away. Water is your friend, since deer wade badly and slow right down, and so is high ground that cuts off the direction it wants to run. A thrown spear works if your bow skill is still poor, and Eikthyr's own forsaken power makes the chase far cheaper once you have it. You will never need to block, parry or dodge, and anything that shoots is all the gear you need.

It ignores Spirit.

Drops

It drops hide for your first armour, meat for your first cooked meal, and the trophies that summon Eikthyr at the Sacrificial Stones.

Item	Base	1 Star	2 Star
Deer hide	1-2	2-4	4-8
Deer trophy	50%	50%	50%
Deer meat	2	4	8

Level Variants

A creature can spawn at one of three levels, shown as stars beside its name. Each level is rolled separately at spawn, so a two-star is rarer than a one-star. The difference goes beyond the stats: a starred deer is recoloured or larger, so you can see it coming.

Level	Stars	Health	Damage	Drops
1	-	10	100%	x1
2	⭐	20	150%	x2
3	⭐⭐	30	200%	x4

Notes

The easiest way to tell a deer's level from a distance is to look at its antlers. Antlers or large antlers mean the deer is starred.

All Creature Categories

All Passive Animals

Name	Biome	Alignment	Health	Very Weak To	Weak To	Resistant To	Very Resistant To	Immune To	Drops	Level Variants	Spawn ID
Crow	Black Forest	Passive	1	-	-	-	-	-	Feathers	-	`spawn Crow`
Deer	Meadows	Passive	10	-	-	-	-	Spirit	Deer hide, Deer trophy, Deer meat	⭐ ⭐⭐	`spawn Deer`
Gull	Meadows	Passive	1	-	-	-	-	-	Feathers	-	`spawn Seagal`
Hare	Mistlands	Passive	10	-	-	-	-	Spirit	Hare meat, Scale hide, Hare trophy	⭐ ⭐⭐	`spawn Hare`
Seal	Deep North	Passive	400	-	Fire	-	-	Spirit, Stagger	Seal Pelt, Seal Blubber, Seal Trophy	⭐ ⭐⭐	`spawn Seal`
Shadow	Deep North	Passive	-	-	-	-	-	Blunt, Slash, Pierce, Chop, Pickaxe, Fire, Frost, Lightning, Poison, Spirit	-	-	`spawn ShadowPerson`

All Categories