Spawn System Info

The Enemy Spawn Director

The Enemy Spawn Director(ESD) monitors players through a mission, and decides what to spawn, where, and how much based on how well the player is doing. The ESD knows how well a player is doing based on Stress Levels. When the stress you and your squad are under is High, the ESD will consider ending the current encounter faster and will spawn less enemies. When the stress you and your squad are under is Low, the ESD will start spawning more enemies. All of this to try to ensure that you are under a constant and continuous amount of Pressure. By keeping your Pressure Level consistent throughout a mission, the ESD insures that there are never too little enemies and never to many enemies.

Stress and Pressure

Stress Levels are shared between your squad mates. If your Stress is High or low, it will contribute to how high or low your Squad's Stress Level is. Your personal Stress Level can increase dramatically if you have taken damage, have been incapacitated, have been grabbed, have a low ammo or grenade count, or are low on stims. Stress will also go up over time based on how long you have been in active combat. Your Stress levels will decrease over time as long as you are not doing anything to increase them.

The Spawn Cycle

ESD Wave Handler Diagram provided to the Modding Community via Artem "Neo_Kesha" Yashin, a Developer at Saber Interactive

The ESD breaks the spawn cycle of Enemies into 4 phases: Tension, Wave, Breather and Swarm.

Tension Phase

The Tension Phase is the first phase the ESD goes through. During this phase players should be preparing themselves to enter combat. You will mostly encounter Minoris, and Majoris Enemies that will "Patrol" the area. Extremis enemies can spawn, though it is rare.

Wave Phase

The Wave phase is the big one. During this phase players will have to actively fight through a wave of incoming enemies. You will encounter everything from Minoris enemies to Terminus Enemies. Mini Bosses can only spawn during this phase.

Swarm Phase

The Swarm phase is a rare possibility during a Wave phase. It is basically the wave phase but 2 times harder. Enemies will come in extremely large numbers, and Extremis enemy spawns will be more frequent than in any other phase. this is the only other Phase Mini Bosses can Spawn in.

Breather Phase

The Breather Phase is the calm at the end of the storm. This phase is designed to give players time to stand around and gather resources like Stim Packs, Grenades, and Ammo Boxes. Zero enemies will spawn during this phase but you may have to pick off one or two that are left behind by the wave phase. At the end of this phase the whole Spawning process resets and begins again in the Tension phase.

Progress Monitoring

The ESD is constantly monitoring how players are progressing in a level. If you are stalling or not progressing for any reason, Breather Phases will last longer in the spawning process, and Wave Phases will be shorter and happen less often. The ESD knows that players are not progressing when they are not doing objective related tasks like pressing buttons or searching bodies, or if they are not entering new areas of a level.

Difficulty Influence.

The difficulty of a mission affects the spawn system in a more direct way. Higher difficulties will allow your Pressure value to be higher, so that you can be under more Stress before the game starts to cut you a break. Higher difficulties also increase the chances of encountering a Swarm Wave, or a Mini Boss.