Scavenger



Scavengers are humanoid creatures that live in tribes in various areas of Rain World. They carry spears, rocks, bombs, and other items in a manner similar to the Slugcat, and can store smaller items around their waist and additional spears on their back. They are one of the most intelligent and social creatures in the game.

Appearance
Scavengers come in many different colors, from light blue to dark red, but are most commonly grey to brown or tannish to white in coloration, with elaborate mask-like faces of similar colors. Their eyes come in many colors, like green, purple, red, orange, brown, black, or white. A Scavenger's eyes are very expressive, showing fear, surprise, curiosity, and anger in various situations. Scavengers move by walking, climbing, or crawling, but cannot jump. Due to this, they have better climbing abilities than Slugcats, and can walk over tougher terrain without having to jump.

Behavior
"Main Article: Behavior"Scavengers are not always hostile; most of the time they may either run away when they see you, or may opt to continue along their path while paying you little mind if you don't do anything interesting. Scavengers will react to your behavior: moving towards them or throwing weapons near them will agitate them - agitated Scavengers will throw debris at Slugcat, or even attempt to throw spears at the slugcat. To prevent agitating neutral Scavengers, it is suggested that the Slugcat avoid interacting with or near scavengers until they have built up a positive reputation through trade.

The player may build their relationship with Scavengers through several methods, but most notably by giving them gifts of pearls. Befriending scavengers will count towards the Chieftain achievement, and befriended scavengers may even follow the slugcat into their hibernation chamber and/or accompany them throughout the zone, and can protect them from predators. The player may also make enemies of the scavengers, by attacking them or stealing their items repeatedly, but this is highly dangerous. Further details on their reputation can be found in the Reputation section.

They live in groups as small as 2 to as large as 9, have a leader, and are social creatures. Although they live in groups, each scavenger has their own opinion and relationship with the slugcat. If you saved a scavenger's life, it may help rescue you from the jaws of another creature; if they hate you for some reason they will occasionally throw rocks at you.

Scavengers are curious and will investigate noises, observe mysterious creatures and even attempt to interact with the Yellow Guide at times. They may also attack lizards, and if the slugcat helps them fight, it will count towards befriending them. Occasionally their curiosity can lead them into dangerous situations, so if patrolling with your scavenger friends you may want to keep a close eye on them.

Scavengers are capable of using items in their environment in their defense, even going so far as creating their own custom weaponry. They use explosive spears marked with red cloth and smaller "grenades" which appear to come from the cherrybomb. If befriended, you can take these weapons from them and use them - they can also be stolen or found in unmarked hidden storerooms. They are very effective against stronger enemies, and can even be used to take down vultures, tough lizards, and Daddy Long Legs. Lanterns may also be obtained from scavengers in the Shaded Citadel and Subterranean.

Scavengers are terrible swimmers. Due to their inability to jump, they cannot escape most pools of water, in addition to the fact that they swim much slower than Slugcats. If one gets stuck in water, there is very little hope for getting him out.

Tribes
Although the differences are slim most of the time, Scavengers can group into a few different types of tribes, mainly depending on what structure is considered their home. The type of tribe a Scavenger is in can affect it and its tribe mate's behavior towards you and the environment.

Types of Tribes

Nomadic Tribes- This is a tribe with no particular "home base". They typically wander around the region, and unless the Slugcat follows them, it can be difficult to locate them after first encountering them. They are typically the smallest and most aggressive of the tribes. They are also the most common type of tribe to be found. Befriending them will cause them to follow you into your hibernation chamber, which can get it very crowded but defend it at the same time.

Regions: Sky Islands, Subterranean, Shaded Citadel, Drainage System, Industrial Complex, Chimney Canopy, Garbage Wastes

Toll Tribes- These are the tribes that manage the various Scavenger Tolls found around the world. They consider this toll a home base, and each toll will typically have a hidden storage room nearby. Toll Scavengers will retreat to their storage room if significantly afraid, or if they run out of weapons. They are typically only aggressive if you cross the toll without paying, unless your reputation is high enough, in which case they'll leave you alone. When befriended, they will only send a small patrol to help you rather than the whole tribe following you around.

Regions: Outskirts, Garbage Wastes, Farm Arrays

Stronghold Tribes- These tribes set up base in only a hidden storage room, they do not have a toll to operate. They are typically only aggressive if you set foot in their stronghold, though if your reputation with the Scavengers is high enough they'll leave you alone and you can even take the equipment there. They are more nomadic than Toll Tribes but stay near enough to their stronghold that they can return in time before the rains appear. They are likely the rarest tribe to find.

Regions: Garbage Wastes, Chimney Canopy, Shaded Citadel, Sky Islands, Industrial Complex

Merchant Tribes- These are tribes that set up a camp inside of a Scavenger Merchant's room. They are more of a subclass of Stronghold tribes than they are their own class. One notable tribe is the group that lives near the Shoreline entrance to Shaded Citadel. They typically stay put in their little room and only come out to follow a befriended Slugcat a short distance from their home. They are typically very friendly and willing to trade.

Regions: Garbage Wastes, Sky Islands, Shaded Citadel

Trading
Scavengers will drop their own items in trade for other items they value. If their inventory is full, they will be forced to drop spears, mushrooms, lanterns, etc. when picking something up, unless they don't want what you're trying to give them. If you give a Scavenger an item they have little value of, if their inventory has room for it, they will probably not drop anything in return, unless you have a high reputation with them. The higher your reputation, the more likely Scavengers are to trade with you, and the more they will give in return.

When playing as the Hunter, friendly Scavengers will occasionally steal the spear off your back. You may see it as theft, but wild Scavengers can be seen sharing their equipment as well, which could be considered trading between Scavengers. They do this only if they do not have a spear or two of their own, so giving up spears you find should solve the problem.

Scavenger Merchants are Scavengers with unique behaviors that inhabit a single room named after them. They stick to this room unless scared off, and usually have a full or close to full inventory. Their purpose is to trade with the player. Scavenger Merchants are more docile and willing to give up items in return for what the player gives them.

Below is a table demonstrating the value to Scavengers of each item. Any item not listed is not worth anything to them, though they will still pick it up if they want to.

Scavenger Merchant
The Scavenger Merchant room is a special room that can be found in Garbage Wastes, Shaded Citadel, Sky Islands, or Subterranean. decorated with scavenger graffiti and lanterns on long pikes. Scavenger Merchant rooms are usually a hotspot for nomadic Scavenger groups. The creature dens in this rooms are used by them often, and groups tend to stay near these rooms. This usually means Scavenger Merchant rooms have no items on the ground as they've been taken by the nomadic Scavengers.

The Scavenger Merchant is an otherwise regular Scavenger which is defined by its behavior. Scavenger Merchants will stay inside the Merchant room unless scared away by a predator or the player character if Scavenger reputation is too low. They will fight back if not able to get away. Scavenger Merchants usually are fully stocked with lanterns (not in Sky Islands), mushrooms, grenades, and most commonly, spears or explosive spears. They will be more accepting toward the player character than other Scavengers, being less likely to attack or run away, but will still do so if your reputation is too low.Scavenger Merchants value items equally as much as all other Scavengers. The items they'll prefer to drop over other items are the same as other Scavengers as well.The higher your reputation with the Scavengers in the region the Merchant is found in, the more items you will receive through trading. For example, at a neutral reputation, giving a Lantern might only give you a single spear, or nothing at all, while being high in reputation will net you more for your trade. This is the same principle with every other Scavenger.

Reputation
Scavenger behavior has the most notable variation under the reputation system, allowing them to become either slugcat's most potent allies or most fearsome hunters. By giving scavengers items from the list above or saving them from harm, slugcat will gain reputation with them. As slugcat's reputation rises, scavengers will become less aggressive towards slugcat, will actively attempt to save slugcat from harm, and will eventually allow slugcat to pass through tolls without paying. Raising scavenger reputation up high enough will result in the player earning the passage achievement "The Chieftain."

Inversely, if slugcat repeatedly steals from and harms scavengers, their reputation will lower, and scavengers will become more and more aggressive. This will typically only manifest in more protective and hostile scavengers, but if the player repeatedly harms scavengers cycle after cycle, their reputation can eventually drop to the point where they will actively seek slugcat out, sending "kill squads" to the player's general location whenever they are near.

Since scavengers are significantly more communal than the other creatures of the world, the player's actions will often have a significant effect on their global and regional reputation, meaning the larger community of scavengers will react to slugcat's interactions with individual scavengers. This is a significant rarity in the reputation system, as most other creatures gain or lose global reputation very slowly. It is still possible to see (or intentionally create) individual scavengers that are much more or less happy with slugcat than the community, but consistent positive or negative treatment will quickly cause the whole region and even the whole community to adapt.

Although it typically doesn't accelerate reputation, it may be a good idea to give Scavengers weapons if they don't have any, even if you don't know them well. The reason being, if you stand idly by watching helpless Scavengers fight a creature, survivors of the fight may turn on you for not helping. Giving them weapons will allow them to fight and they won't care what actions you do or do not take.

Communication
Being one of the world's few perceivably intelligent species, Scavengers utilize a wide range of nonverbal body language to communicate with others of their species and with Slugcat.

To signify that a toll has been paid for and that Slugcat may pass through, they will wave their hands in a circular "come through" motion.

To indicate a threat, they will point their hands or spears at the animal.

To indicate an ally, they will point at it and jump excitedly.

To indicate a warning, they will hold their spears up as though about to throw them.

To indicate they want something, they will stare at Slugcat and restlessly dig at the ground, sometimes reaching out towards the object.

To indicate fear, their spines will start to vibrate and their eyes will widen.

To indicate anger, their eyes will widen and slant, and they will begin to twitch.

To indicate sadness, their eyes will narrow, slanting away from the center of their faces.

To indicate annoyance, they will slightly bristle.

To indicate friendship, they will walk up to Slugcat or another scavenger and touch spears.

Properly learning all Scavenger interactions and their primitive body language will help greatly with dealing with them, as it'll tell you what they need and what they feel about your presence.

Tips

 * It is possible to simply grab items from a Scavenger's hands or back, but be wary that this will quickly anger all but the most friendly scavengers.


 * Scavengers can be befriended by dropping pearls at their feet.
 * Avoid moving too quickly around them when you first encounter them - staying low to the ground and moving slowly will keep them calmer.
 * If you are being hunted by scavengers, attempt to retreat to a larger creature, such as a Centipede, Lizard, or even the feared Vultures. They will either retreat from the predator, or if in a larger, armed group, fight it via throwing spears, bombs, and everything else nearby.

Trivia

 * Scavengers are one of the 10 backer-created creatures.
 * Originally, scavengers were intended to be able to glide, but this feature was later scrapped due to issues with pathfinding.
 * Scavengers will throw objects at the Overseer out of defiance. This will cause the Overseer to drop its eye if successful.
 * Scavengers have three slots for holding items (two hands and a "pocket slot" on their side) and can hold extra items such as spears on their back. They will drop everything they're holding, even what's on their back, in order to grab a pearl dropped at their feet. This opportunity may be used to take their items peacefully.
 * Although scavengers may at first appear to be wearing masks, upon closer inspection they seem to simply have fancifully shaped faces with grandiose antlers.
 * Scavengers are able to dodge objects, however, they are not as skilled at this as some other creatures, such as Noodleflies, and will oftentimes not even attempt to dodge. They can either jump or duck out of the way depending on the height of the approaching object. Scavengers are also able to dodge projectiles approaching from behind them.