Difficulties

''"Monk," "Survivor" and "Hunter" redirect here. For the achievements of the same names, see Achievements.''

When a player starts their game, they have the option of playing as three different Slugcats. Monk and Survivor both spawn in the same location and have the same story (being led by the yellow overseer to the same destination) with the only gameplay differences being features or changes that make Monk easier than Survivor. Monk (Yellow), Survivor (White), and Hunter (Red) correspond to easy, medium, and hard difficulties, respectively.



Yellow Slugcat: The Monk (Easy Difficulty)
The Monk is described as being more in-tune with nature than the average Slugcat. Predators are less common and slightly less aggressive, and less food is required for the player to hibernate. Karma gates will also remove their karma level requirements after their first use, meaning the player cannot get trapped and can easily backtrack after entering a region they can’t progress through. Creatures are also much more quick to befriend or forgive Monk. The only significant downside is the Monk's reduced damage when throwing spears, meaning killing the sparse predators will be harder than normal, and even not killing weak enemies like Squidcadas or Noodleflies in one hit. Colored pearls are absent from the Monk's journey, locking off much of the optional lore, due to Monk placing farthest in the timeline so all of the data has faded over time. The Monk is designed for players seeking a more peaceful experience.



White Slugcat: The Survivor (Normal Difficulty)
The classic Rain World experience, Survivor has standard karma gate requirements, requires 4 pips of food to hibernate, and must deal with the ever-present threat of predators. Deals the standard amount of damage with spears (1) and encounters more creature variety (For example, Dropwigs are entirely absent from Monk but appear in a select few locations as Survivor).



Red Slugcat: The Hunter (Hard Difficulty)
Playing Hunter is a different and more difficult experience than the other two slugcats. Hunter is a carnivorous slugcat, described as being "karmically imbalanced". Hunter can eat any dead creature, unlike the other two characters who can only eat centipede corpses. Plants are still edible but only give 1/4th of a food point. Batflies also only give 1/4th of a food point. Karma flowers do not spawn as this character. Predators spawn in greater numbers, including some restricted to lineages for Monk and Survivor. Hunter is faster and stronger than the other slugcats and also has the ability to carry a second spear on their back. Their heightened metabolism requires more food per cycle than the other Slugcats, encouraging the player to fight for survival and hunt predators for food.

The Hunter's journey is significantly different from the other two slugcats, starting in upper Farm Arrays. The Hunter holds a green neuron fly, a spear on its back, and a pearl in its stomach when it spawns. While Hunter starts with a maximum karma of 5, Five Pebbles (character) only raises the Hunter's max karma by one. This means that visiting echoes is required; the player needs to raise their maximum karma four times before passing the Guardians. Hunter also does not have the ability to warp to previously visited shelters upon completing passages.

The Hunter has a unique cycle counter, starting on cycle 19 and counting down to cycle 0. Dying or quitting at/below cycle 0 causes the run to immediately end and the final score to be tallied. At cycle 0 and below, Hunter becomes significantly weaker, suffers seizure-like spasms, and requires more food to survive. The cycle count descends into negative numbers below cycle 0. Each step below zero makes the effects of the Hunter's affliction much worse. It is difficult, although not impossible, to survive for some time in negative cycles.


 * Note: "Respawn rate" refers to the rate of creatures respawning after being killed by the player. Creatures that die from sources other than the player are guaranteed to respawn the next cycle.



Nightcat
Nightcat does not have a campaign, instead only being found in arena mode. It doesn't have any special ability and works just like the normal Slugcat. It has dark blue skin, two white eyes, and a white nose. Since it doesn't appear in single player mode, it is most likely not canon to the Rain World story.

The most likely reason why Nightcat is in the game is to give the arena mode a fourth Slugcat for multiplayer. All four Slugcats have the same abilities in arena mode.