Poacher: the hunting-area potato
Poacher creates a hunting area. Every enemy killed inside that zone makes the Poacher much stronger, but those kills bring less money. The zone is a scaling engine paid for with the shop economy.
Poacher was the character the developers chose to tease twice: once in the release-time post on 30 October, and again in the launch notes. That is a signal. Of the ten new potatoes, Poacher is the one whose mechanic is easiest to explain in a sentence and hardest to use well.
The sentence: Poacher creates a hunting area, and every enemy killed inside that zone makes the Poacher much stronger, but those enemies also bring less money.
Trade, spelled out
Two things happen at once when you kill inside the zone. You get stronger, and you get poorer. The first is a scaling engine; the second is a brake on the shop economy that funds the rest of your run.
That is a genuinely interesting trade in Brotato, because materials are the resource that turns a run from "surviving" into "snowballing". A character that converts money into power is not unusual. A character that converts money into power at a worse exchange rate than the shop is a character you have to play deliberately.
The zone is therefore not a buff you drop and forget. It is a statement about where you intend to fight, and it only pays if you actually fight there.
Where to put the hunting area
Placement is the whole skill. Four rules cover most situations.
| Situation | Where to place | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Open arena, pack spawning from one edge | Between you and the spawn edge | Kills happen where the enemies arrive, which is where the zone should be |
| Burrows and holes in the floor | On the clean side of the burrow field | You want the pack to walk into the zone, not to fight beside a hole |
| Elite or boss wave | On your kiting loop, not on the boss | You will spend the wave moving; the zone should cover the route |
| Wave with flying enemies | Centre of the arena | Flyers cross the middle; edges waste the zone |
The mistake almost everyone makes first is dropping the zone on top of themselves. That feels safe, because it is where you already are, and it is wrong, because you are about to move. The zone should sit where the enemies will be, not where you were standing when you pressed the button.
Money problem
Kills in the zone pay less. That means the early waves are where Poacher is weakest: your income is thin, the shop offers are what they are, and you are deliberately reducing the money you take in.
Three ways to survive that phase:
Do not zone every wave. If a wave is a low-value swarm, zoning it converts a small amount of money into a small amount of power. If a wave is dense and dangerous, zoning it converts a lot of money into a lot of power, and the power is what keeps the run alive. Pick your waves.
Kill outside the zone when you need cash. The zone does not have to cover the entire fight. You can fight the first half of a wave outside it, bank the money, then pull the remainder into the zone for the scaling. It is more work, and it is the difference between a Poacher that keeps up with the shop and one that does not.
Treat the shop as a weapon slot, not a buffet. Since your income is lower, each purchase matters more. Buying a cheap item you will not use is a luxury Poacher cannot afford early.
How Poacher interacts with Evolution
Poacher is a kill-driven character, so the path you choose decides what the kills are worth beyond the scaling.
On Mecha, the parts you collect reinforce the weapons doing the killing. Since Poacher wants to kill inside a specific area, weapons that cover ground rather than single targets get more value: the zone is a region, and you want your damage to be a region too.
On Mutation, the copies multiply whatever items you are carrying. Poacher's lower income makes that riskier, because a thin item pool is a bad pool to duplicate. If you go Mutation, buy fewer and better items, and let the zone do the scaling work instead.
Most Poacher runs will end up on Mecha for that reason. It is not a rule, it is an economic consequence.
Mullet, and the character underneath
The release-time post ends the Poacher description with a joke about the mullet: "you might think that's harsh, but on the plus side, it does have a mullet. And isn't that the dream?"
That is the tone of the DLC in one line. The character is a joke about hunting trophies and 1980s action movies, and the mechanic underneath is a serious area-control engine. Both things are true at once, which is why the character reads as designed rather than bolted on.
First-run checklist for Poacher
- Take a weapon that covers area, not a single-target sniper.
- Place the zone where the pack will arrive, not where you are standing.
- Fight the first half of low-value waves outside the zone for cash.
- Commit to Mecha unless your item pool is genuinely strong.
- Do not chase kills outside the zone just to finish a straggler; the zone is the point.
For the rest of the roster, see all ten characters. For the role-based shortlist, see best characters.
Checked 2026-11-04 against the 1.2.0.1 build.