How the AI director works

Everything here is read from the decompiled game scripts. Each claim links to the exact file and line, so you can check it yourself. Read the chapters in order the first time; each builds on the previous one.

1. Difficulty is two dials

   Every spawn table in the game is indexed by two numbers, challenge and resistance. Havoc ranks just pick which row you get, and rank 30 reaches a row normal Auric never touches.

2. Tension and the pacing states

   The director runs a six-state loop driven by how much the team is suffering. Peaks and relax phases are what give you breathing room, and Havoc takes them away.

3. Distance pays, challenge rating brakes

   There is no single pool of director tokens. Spawn timers are mostly paid for by the metres your lead player walks, and the threat already chasing you decides what is allowed to join.

4. Specials, slots and strikes

   Each special lives in a slot with its own timer. Havoc adds slots, picks more disablers, and turns coordinated strikes from a rare event into a coin flip.

5. Hordes

   Ambushes appear right next to you from hidden spawners; vector hordes run in from far down the path. From rank 16 they arrive on a clock, up to 2.4 times faster.

6. Monsters, captains, events and patrols

   Monsters and patrols are laid out along the route when the mission loads. Havoc adds more of both, sends captains by distance, and can roll a monster into a special slot.

7. Triggers

   Bosses, rituals and the twins are tied to distances along the route and fire when the player in front crosses them. Knowing where those lines are is most of Havoc 40.

8. Who can hit you, and who they pick

   Melee slots and attack intensity cap how many enemies swing at one player. Target selection decides who that player is, and it favours whoever is alone.