Rounds and difficulty
An ANKOU match is an endless series of rounds: each round releases a fixed number of the Ankou’s Drowned, and it ends when the last one falls. The next one comes after a short break, a little bigger, a little tougher and a little faster. The match ends when the whole squad is dead (see Down, revive and death).
How a round plays out
- Pre-game: once everyone has loaded the map, you get 6 seconds before the first round. Use them to look around and spot the wall weapons.
- Round: “ROUND 8 · The horde is coming” appears in the middle of the screen, then the first Drowned come out about 2 seconds later and trickle in. Next to the round number, bottom left, a skull shows how many are left to kill, including those that have not spawned yet (also on the scoreboard, Tab). On the last one, it turns red and “Last one” appears.
- Break between rounds: 10 seconds of respite after the last kill. That is the time to rebuild barriers, buy a perk, move a quest forward or visit the Forge of Ys.
During the break (and before round 1), a banner at the top of the screen shows “Breather · Round 8 in 7 s” with a draining bar. In the last 3 seconds it turns red, a bell tolls every second and the screen edges pulse red: the next round starts at zero.
From round 3, the last Drowned of a round, if it was a walker, starts running at you: don’t count on it to dawdle.
How many Drowned?
The number of Drowned in a round depends on the round and on how many players are present when the round starts. The first rounds are deliberately short, then the growth speeds up from round 10, with no sudden jump from one round to the next.
| Round | Solo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 10 |
| 2 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 |
| 3 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 21 |
| 4 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 29 |
| 5 | 24 | 27 | 32 | 37 |
| 6 | 27 | 31 | 38 | 45 |
| 8 | 28 | 33 | 43 | 52 |
| 9 | 29 | 34 | 45 | 56 |
| 10 | 30 | 37 | 51 | 65 |
| 11 | 32 | 41 | 58 | 75 |
| 12 | 34 | 44 | 65 | 86 |
| 15 | 41 | 58 | 92 | 126 |
| 20 | 55 | 87 | 151 | 214 |
| 25 | 75 | 126 | 228 | 330 |
| 30 | 98 | 173 | 322 | 472 |
- There are never more than 24 Drowned alive at once, whatever the player count: the others wait their turn. With four players, the pressure comes from how long rounds last more than from the crowd.
- The delay between two spawns shrinks every round (2 seconds in round 1, about 1 second around round 15, under half a second past round 30).
- The Drowned climb in through boarded windows and rise from the ground, in the zone you are in and in the open neighboring zones, never right under your nose. Opening a door therefore also widens the horde’s hunting ground.
- A Drowned that gets stuck or stays too far from everyone eventually vanishes and respawns closer: no need to hunt it down on the other side of the map.
Health of the Drowned
A regular Drowned’s health rises by 100 points per round up to round 9, then by 10% per round from round 10. It does not depend on the number of players.
| Round | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 40 | 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 150 | 250 | 550 | 950 | 1,045 | 1,683 | 2,710 | 4,365 | 7,030 | 18,235 | 47,296 |
Around round 15, an unupgraded weapon starts to struggle: that is the right time for the Forge of Ys. Past round 25, only upgraded weapons, wonder weapons and offensive perks keep up. Headshots and Lead Hail make a huge difference.
Walkers, runners and sprinters
Each Drowned rolls its speed when it spawns:
| Round | Walkers | Runners | Sprinters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100% | — | — |
| 2 | 85% | 15% | — |
| 3 | 60% | 40% | — |
| 4–5 | 35% | 65% | — |
| 6–7 | 15% | 75% | 10% |
| 8–10 | 5% | 60% | 35% |
| 11–12 | — | 50% | 50% |
| 13–15 | — | 35% | 65% |
| 16 and up | — | 15% | 85% |
A sprinter runs almost as fast as you do while sprinting: from round 11, don’t rely on your legs alone to shake the horde, you need a clear loop to run (or Marathon).
Special rounds
The Ankou’s Pack (hounds)
The first hound round falls at random between rounds 5 and 7, then comes back every 4 to 6 rounds. The “The Ankou’s Pack” announcement replaces the normal round: no Drowned, only spectral hounds that appear in a flash of lightning (on Ker-Ys) or a burst of frost (in the Nec Mergitur Métro).
- Number of hounds: 8 per player for the first pack (3 per player on Discovery and with the newcomer step-up, then 8 for the second), 10 per player afterward (48 at most). There are many of them but their bite is light (15 base damage, 13 on Normal).
- At most 2 hounds alive per player, plus 1 (3 solo): they come in small waves, one every 1.8 to 3.4 s, which leaves time to reload.
- On Discovery and with the newcomer step-up, the first pack is softened: only one hound alive per player, plus 1, one every 2.6 to 4.2 s, and even slower hounds (5 m/s instead of 5.9). Later packs have normal speed and pacing.
- The last hound killed always drops a Max Ammo.
Hounds are fast but fragile: put your back to a wall or a corner, bring out a high fire-rate weapon or a shotgun, and drop them before they surround you. Details in Special enemies.
Divers
From round 12, then every 4 to 6 rounds (never during a pack), a Diver joins the round once a good third of the Drowned have spawned. It does not count toward the zombies left: the round can end while it is still prowling. It is very tough, its health grows with the number of players, and it always drops a power-up when it dies. See Special enemies.
Map-specific enemies
The Nec Mergitur Métro adds its own creatures (rat swarms from round 7, and other surprises). They are described in Special enemies and Nec Mergitur.
Difficulty
The host picks the difficulty in the lobby (see Lobby and match settings), from level 10: before that, their matches are played on Normal (see Levels, ranks and prestige). Realistic unlocks once the host has reached round 10 in a ranked match.
| Normal | Realistic | |
|---|---|---|
| Drowned health | ×0.9 | ×1.25 |
| Damage taken | ×0.85 | ×1.5 |
| Horde speed | normal | that of 2 rounds later |
| Delay before health regenerates | normal | ×1.4 |
| Power-up chance | normal | ×0.75 |
| XP earned | ×1 | ×1.25 |
| HUD | full | minimal (no crosshair) |
Easy difficulty, which unlocks at level 10, is unranked: rounds have the normal number of Drowned, but the extraction assault and Easter egg steps are half as crowded, power-ups and loot are halved (rare components only a little less, ×0.8), Drowned, hounds and bosses are weaker (×0.6) and half as dangerous, sprinters come 2 rounds later, health regenerates faster and your maximum health is ×1.5. Extraction and the Easter egg stay fully playable.
Discovery difficulty is never offered in the lobby: fewer Drowned (×0.7), a softened first hound pack (see Rounds and difficulty), weaker Drowned (×0.6), half as dangerous, slower, and more frequent power-ups. As soon as the power is turned on there, Menhir is given to every player, who drinks it right away (and to anyone joining in progress afterwards); the other perks still have to be bought. It kicks in on its own in two cases:
- the beginners’ guided match (see Your first match);
- the newcomer boost: a Normal match from round 1 where no player has reached round 10 yet (in a ranked match) is played on Discovery, solo or in a group. A message says so at launch. As soon as one member of the group has passed that mark, the next matches go back to Normal, with the step-up below; a player joining mid-match doesn’t change the current match. Doors there are free while the power is off. The Training panel keeps the “Turn on the power” step and its marker there, then, with Menhir given, guides you to a second perk (see Your first match).
After the boost, as long as the host has never picked a difficulty in the lobby (the choice unlocks at level 10, see Levels, ranks and prestige), these matches are played on Easy instead of Normal: more health, and an extraction possible from round 5. A message says so at launch and the Training panel stays there (power, first perk, extraction). Like any Easy match, they are unranked.
Once the host has picked a difficulty, Normal goes through the newcomer step-up: a Normal match from round 1 where no player has reached round 10 on Normal or Realistic yet (rounds played on Discovery don’t count) stays on Normal, but halfway to Discovery: Drowned are fewer (×0.85), weaker (health ×0.75) and hit less hard (damage ×0.7), sprinters come one round later and packs are softened as on Discovery (the first one, then 8 hounds per player for the second). Everything else follows Normal (paid doors, XP, leaderboards). A message says so at launch, and the marker stays on screen until the power is on, then until your first perk. As soon as one member of the group has reached round 10 on Normal, the next matches are played without help.
Number of players
- From 1 to 4 players. Each round’s Drowned count is recalculated at the start of the round with the players present: a friend who joins mid-match or leaves changes the next round, not the current one.
- Regular Drowned health does not change with the number of players; Divers’ and bosses’ health does.
- Solo, Second Wind lets you get up on your own (see Down, revive and death): it is the most important perk of a solo match.
Starting round
The host can start the match further in (rounds 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40 or 50). You still start with 500 points and the starting pistol, against Drowned of the chosen round. Such a match is not ranked (see Leaderboards, Barracks and Archives). Hounds and Divers show up 1 to 3 rounds after the start if the chosen round is already past their first appearance.
This setting unlocks once the host has reached round 10 in a ranked match, like Realistic difficulty: before that, every match starts at round 1.
Tips
- Rounds 1 to 5: knife kills and body shots before the finishing blow maximize your points (see Points); open the first doors.
- Rounds 5 to 10: get ready for the first pack (high fire-rate weapon, back to the wall), turn on the Power and grab your first perks.
- Rounds 10 to 15: health climbs fast, sprinters arrive. Upgrade at least one weapon, find a running loop and keep an escape route.
- Beyond: a wonder weapon, several upgraded weapons and the right Korrigan’s Gumballs (End of Watch, Sea Fog…) make the difference.
Checked against the game on November 10, 2026