Time makes fools of us all, as the saying goes, and while it may not be obvious at the start of the game, the clock is always running in No Rest for the Wicked. While night and day may change the aesthetics, generally you don’t have to worry too much about what time of day it is - enemies, resources and treasure generally remain the same, and NPCs live on a player-based schedule, so shopkeepers and quest-givers are always at your convenience. But the passage of time itself is much more consequential as many things in the game will respawn over time, including enemies, resources and treasure. This page will explain what respawns, how long it takes for enemies, resources and treasure to respawn and how these gameplay elements respawn.
(1 of 2) Over time, the fog of war will return,
Over time, the fog of war will return, (left), indicating that an area’s enemies, resources and treasure may have respawned. (right)
Time and Respawning¶
At the start of the game - once you’re done with the tutorial on the ship, anyways - you’ll find yourself beached in The Shallows. It’s night time, and at this point in the game time doesn’t flow. Day will never break, perhaps giving a misleading impression of how dreary this game will be. On the plus side, enemies do not respawn, but neither do most resource nodes, like ore veins, trees and dig spots. Treasure does, however, respawn, as do small animals like deer, rats and crabs, which can be farmed for meat. Any progress you make here you get to keep, and if you start to run low on resources, arms or armor, you just have to wait. Time will only effectively begin to flow when you’ve defeated the first boss and made your way to Sacrament. After the story scenes and your first rest at the Rookery a clock will appear on the top right of the screen, showing you the in-game time.
Time is the key to respawns in No Rest for the Wicked… time and proximity. Gameplay elements like enemies, resources and treasure won’t respawn next to you, but if you get some distance - say, by idling in Sacrament - you’ll provide enough distance for most of the gameplay elements in the wilderness to respawn. These fall into three broad categories - enemies, resources and treasure - which will each be explained below.
Respawns and the Fog of War¶
We didn’t look at a clock to see how long it takes for various elements to respawn, but we don’t need to. Resources seem to respawn faster treasure, and treasure faster than monsters, but this also depends on the treasure itself; large chests take longer to respawn than small chests, for example. Fortunately, there’s a good rule of thumb you can follow to determine when things have respawned in an area - the fog of war. This will be dispersed as you explore an area, but over time it’ll creep back into place, and you should expect any area that has been covered by the fog of war to be full of treasure again… and enemies.
(1 of 2) After you clear an area, new enemies may start to spawn - and continuously respawn.
After you clear an area, new enemies may start to spawn - and continuously respawn. (left), Some rare, powerful enemies are less likely to respawn. (right)
Respawning Enemies¶
At first, enemies won’t respawn - any kills you make are permanent. Once you defeat Warrick the Torn, however, time flows and with it comes respawning. First, it should be pointed out that aside from world state changes, time is the main factor in determining enemy respawn. After you clear the enemies that first appear before you reach Sacrament they’ll be repopulated following your rest at the Rookery - this is basically the game transitioning from the intro enemies to the ones that will populate the area going forward.
Enemies seem to respawn fairly slow, inasmuch as resources (especially wildlife and harvestable plants) seem to respawn faster. It’s worth noting that, like many things in No Rest for the Wicked, enemy respawns are rather random. Not every enemy will respawn in an area, and the types of enemies may vary as well between spawns. This seems to happen based on the “role” an enemy fills; for example, crossbow Risen and firebomb Risen seem interchangeable, as are different types of shield-bearing Risen and the numerous varieties of “heavy” Risen. Some spawns seem more static. Just because you fought an axe-wielding heavy in a spot before doesn’t mean you should expect one to appear there later - you may find a maul-wielding heavy, instead… but it’ll probably be a heavy. Again, if it respawns at all.
(1 of 2) Resources that require tools to harvest may take a bit longer to respawn than flora and fauna,
Resources that require tools to harvest may take a bit longer to respawn than flora and fauna, (left), but spawn locations are static, so if you find a hotspot, return to it to harvest materials regularly. (right)
Resource Respawns¶
Resources respawn quickly and can be broken up into two groups - resources that require a tool to harvest, and ones that don’t. For the sake of respawns, wildlife seems to fall into the same category as resources that don’t require tools. Crabs, rats, mushrooms and herbs all reappear readily, which is good, because they’re how you make basic healing items. Resources that require tools to harvest - ore veins, trees, dig spots, fishing holes - these seem to take longer to replenish. The locations of resources doesn’t seem to vary, nor does their willingness to respawn - if you find a spot where a lot of mushrooms grow, there should always be a lot of mushrooms there.
Treasure chests have set locations, but they’re not all guaranteed to spawn. Be sure to search old caches regardless, as it’s likely you’ll find old chests full of new loot!
Treasure Respawns¶
For better or worse, RNG is a large part of No Rest for the Wicked, with something akin to Diablo style loot drops being a gameplay fixture. This means that unlike in your typical Soulslike, you can’t just beat a path to where a godly item is early on, and if luck isn’t on your side, you could just end up at a disadvantage against enemies. Fortunately, then, treasure respawns, giving you a chance to remedy the fickleness of RNG by completing runs. Like resources, chest locations and shiny spots are static. That doesn’t mean a chest will always spawn, but they don’t seem to appear in random locations, either. Their content is also, of course, random. If you find a cache or know where a large chest is, be sure to visit the location on subsequent runs to get another roll at that sweet new weapon. Worst-case scenario, you get some coins and junk gear you can sell. Or better yet, some crafting materials you can use to [upgrade your current gear]. There’s no reason to conserve resources in No Rest for the Wicked. Upgrade. Waste. And perform runs to replenish your stock.
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