Monster

3d7206f7de976eab — Goliath, Wraith and Kraken

The Monster is the solo class and opponent to the Hunters in the fight for dominance over the planet of Shear in Evolve. Their primary goal in Hunt mode is to either destroy the Power Relay or kill all the Hunters. To better accomplish this, they'll Evolve by devouring the local wildlife and then retreating into a chrysalis-like state, leaving them temporarily vulnerable.

Monsters have three stages of evolution. At the start of each game, all Monsters start at stage one with four ability points invested into their four skills, all of which have three levels each.The first time they evolve, they receive another three ability points to invest into their skills. The second time they evolve they recieve another two points to allot. Each time they evolve they also become larger and stronger, gaining health and armor. Monsters can specialize in perks chosen before the game starts, as well as consume stronger buffs that can be gained by eating special elite wildlife.

Background

While there is much speculation about the Monster's origins, little is known for sure. They're not complete newcomers to the galaxy - Ebonstar had a monster in captivity for months before the outbreak, and the colony of Factor was annihilated by the beasts. They adapt quickly to their environment and are capable of intelligent behavior, and there is suspicion both that they are biomechanical in nature and also created by some advanced alien race or by science. The monsters biological makeup is written in HNA (often described as artifical DNA, but only because it was previously thought incapable of existing naturally) and is heavily related to the Patterson Equations, potentially explaining many of their powers. Analysis from Caira indicates that the "eggs" (Nest mode) do not appear to be laid by any of the existing monsters, and form the creatures inside mere moments before hatching. One thing is certain - they are violent, deadly, and hell-bent on the destruction of the human colony on Shear.

Monsters

Goliath

Goliath woke up on the wrong side of angry this morning. Little is known about this Monster because scientists studying the beast wind up getting torn in half. Proving just how unfair natural selection can be, Goliath can not only punch through the hull of a starship, it can also breathe fire.

The Goliath is a large saurian-like monster with spiny skin that resembles igneous rock. Also, its eyes and mouth glow an orangish red like the fire they breathe. The Goliath is a brute-force bruiser who specializes in engaging the hunters directly with its immense strength. From a distance, the Goliath can throw boulders and uses its fiery breath to incinerate any enemy who attempts to evade it.

Kraken

If the dictionary ever decided it needed a new word to describe the mix between waking nightmare and ungodly horror, it would undoubtedly include an image of Kraken. This tentacled monstrosity unleashes electric death on Hunters who get too close and even those who think they are safely out of range.

A Lovecraftian beast with four glowing eyes, the Kraken can generate bio-electricity from the two tentacle-like appendages on its back that serve as functional wings. Said appendages can be swung in a wide arc to cause blunt injury to anything hit. While not the most durable of Shear's beasts, this eldritch being more than makes up for it with long range electrical blasts to snipe unfortunate prey from afar. Its specialty is ranged combat and damage evasion, utilizing its skills to buffet the hunters around and zap them from a distance before dropping down to finish the kill.

Wraith

Wraith is the stealthy assassin. it’s an alien Monster who warps around the battlefield, ripping into her enemies with it's blade-claws. It can hit – then run – before you even see it coming.

The Wraith is an almost ghost-like bladed stealth hunter. It moves quickly across the battlefield, creating decoys and abducting hunters from afar to single them out and take them down quickly. The sneakiest of the monsters, Wraith has a weak frame but uses it's bizarre (sometimes borderline supernatural) abilities to confuse, deceive, and pick off its would be hunters in fast, aggressive engagements.

Behemoth

Behemoth is a ginormous rolling juggernaut, peering down on enemies through molten eyes. A brawler at heart, he makes up for his slow speed with pure brute strength. If he does not crush you to death, his lava bombs will disintegrate you.

The largest and most durable of the monsters, the Behemoth is the rolling tank of the monster race. It cannot jump, and moves by rolling on the ground. The Behemoth's fighting style is focused around combating abilities and controlling the battlefield through powerful ranged AoE attacks and generated rock walls; when hunters grow too evasive, it can pull them in with its tongue grab ability before walling its target in to secure a kill.

Gorgon

Gorgon is a devious, hideous killer who enjoys watching her prey struggle. Her ranged attacks can deal damage over time and are menacing when focused on a single Hunter. Traversing across the map quickly with her Web Sling, Gorgon can also stick to walls and hide or rain down attacks from above

A slender arachnid monster that bears a humanoid head and torso, and an abdomen that resembles some sort of stinger. It supports itself on two long hind legs and has two long arms with spindly fingers as well as tertiary arms in between. Gorgon travels by web slinging across the area.

Monster Adaptations

Meteor Goliath

On the ruined planet of Shear, in the desperate struggle between Man and Monster…. Adaptation emerges as the weapon of choice. Meteor Goliath , Evolve’s first adaptation, is a variant of the iconic Goliath Monster, adding a new look, and stunning blue-fire effects, as well as new audio, and gameplay. Meteor Goliath uses his burning “area of effect”, and increased range to spread residual fire damage across the entire Hunter team, while showcasing a fiery twist on Goliath’s abilities. Abilities: All Abilities have been re-balanced around residual fire damage, but the differences don’t stop there.

Elder Kraken

Before Goliath, before Wraith…before the creature we’ve come to call, “Kraken,” there was something else – something primal: The Progenitor. This thing….this….ELDER KRAKEN returns from the depths of time to wreak havoc on the planet Shear and anything that might get in its way. Where Kraken soars above and swoops down on prey, the Elder Kraken doesn’t prod from a far away. It lives to strike at the heart of a Hunter squad and overwhelm prey with calculated attacks. Make no mistake, Hunters, do not let the Elder Kraken dictate the terms of this fight. If it can control your position and herd you into groups, you’re done. Between devastating distance attacks and massive melee damage, the Elder Kraken is an ancient, reawakened force to be reckoned with.

Glacial Behemoth

Glacial Behemoth is a ginormous rolling juggernaut, peering down on enemies through molten eyes. A brawler at heart, he makes up for his slow speed with pure brute strength. If he does not crush you to death, his Killing Frost will freeze you to death. Frozen Monolith creates a massive ice piller that slows hunter movement and deals AoE damage, Deep Freeze fires a projectile that slow hunters movement, Ice Spear impales enemies and Killing Frost slows hunters reload and swap speed.

Queen Gorgon

At the start of the operation, the Hunters are greeted by an ominous voice setting the scene and alluding to the events that have led to the Queen of Gorgons taking over a Wraith containment facility and the surrounding area. As the team makes their way to the Queen’s lair, they’ll face hordes of infected wildlife and Gorgon minions that spawn from the Queen’s eggs. Can the Hunters survive and take down the Queen of Gorgons to uncover why she’s on Shear?

A purple version of the Gorgon. This version of the monster has a bigger health bar than it's common version and can cause more damage. It gains power and health from eating Hunters and NPC fauna.

it was an adaptation that was unfinished due to The Deepest Dark being in its Beta.

Monsters/Adaptations In Lore

The Host

The Host is a monster that exists within evolves story however is never seen in game, it is the likely cause for the downfall of Factor alongside Behemoth and is a grotesque monster capable of summoning parasites to defend it or attack any opposition.

Scrapped Monsters

Velvet Worm

The Velvet Worm was a monster originally planned for evolve but was scrapped due to not being terrorizing and perilous enough but almost, it made it as far as the testing phase.

It was originally planned to take Wraith's place as the 3rd Monster.

Shared Characteristics

While Monsters grow in size, their movement speed always remains the same, making them appear slower at larger stages.
All Monsters have a smell radius of 70m, and can "see" hunters health bars through walls and other obstacles at this distance.
Monsters have both heavy and light attacks, identifiable by their animations. Heavy attacks knock hunters back and do higher damage.
All Monsters have the ability to pounce on enemies by pressing the melee attack button in stealth mode. If not interrupted, this immobilizes the hunter until the Monster is damaged by another hunters weapons. Pistols won't work!
When not sneaking, Monsters leave tracks that can be seen by the Hunters. Sneaking or not, all Monsters leave a scent trail for Maggie's Trapjaw, Daisy.
As Monsters gain armor, their bodies glow more brightly with bio-luminescence that changes color with different Monsters.
- Goliath: Red
- Kraken: Cyan
- Wraith: Pink
- Behemoth: Orange
- Gorgon: Lime Green
- Meteor Goliath: Blue
- Elder Kraken: Maroon
- Glacial Behemoth: Sky Blue
- Velvet Worm: Probably Yellow
- Phantom Wraith: Purple and dark pink

Gallery

Official Art

Trivia

All of the Monsters are based on classes in other games such as:
- Goliath is meant to resemble the All Around starter class.
- Kraken is based around the Range type of character class.
- Wraith is based on Rogue/Assassin type characters with low health in trade for deception abilities, speed and hard hitting attacks
- Behemoth is meant to resemble the Tank type of character class with AoE abilities and high health in trade for slow speed.
- Gorgon resembles the Tactical type character class using strategies to ruin the enemies strategies and wear down her opponents.
- The Host was based around a Summoner type character build using summoned minions to fight for it.
- Velvet Worm was described as an Ambush predator implying a trap and lure type of play style.
  - It's unknown what sort of classes both The Leviathan and Kali would have been based around as there is very little information on both Monsters Gameplay wise.
Much like most of the wildlife of Shear, the Monsters have albino versions that can be seen as each of the monster's elite skin.
The Monsters appear to have shared characteristics with Ridley Scott's "Alien" such as seeing with smell, sneaking, pouncing, use of eggs, and speculation that both the Monsters and Aliens were created for war by an advance (presumed) alien race. However, the developers have stated that they did not want to go for a "Pacific Rim-like" story line; so this is unlikely.