Since Dark Frontier focuses on action, there necessarily need to be a variety of enemies to battle. Unlike most massive roleplaying games, the monsters in this game are meant to die relatively quickly but attack suddenly in numbers. Each one alone has the capacity to harm or defeat a player who isn't “on his toes” though. That is one of the challenges. Any “lucky shot” can do serious damage so no matter how weak an enemy is, it has to be dispatched quickly.
Here are the major categories of enemies:
- Beast - These are the natural creatures of this world, and are not directly serving the Dark. They can sometimes be agressive though if you get near them, and many of them will attack any player who attecks a member of their pack or herd. They generally are most active during the daytime and possess no paranormal powers.
- Abomination - These monsters are created when an Ephemeral of the Darkness possesses the body of a living creature, usually a Beast. Different Abominations are created based on the type of Ephemeral and type of Beast joined. Abominations often resemble the creatures they used to be but they have become warped and twisted by the essence of the Ephemeral. Many Abominations possess strange powers and superior attributes than creatures they once were. Abominations, as minions of the Dark, are directly antagonistic to the players and townfolk. They attack any source of light after sunset, and swarm on nearby towns. They generally avoid sunlit areas during the day, but are not actually vulnerable to daylight. Abominations are generally vulnerable to ice based attacks.
- Deathless - These are the monsters created when an Ephemeral animates the corpse of a normal creature. While the Deathless can move and behave like the creature it once resembled, its intelligence and motivations are solely that of the Ephemeral possessing it. Deathless are often slower than Beasts and Abominations, but they are often more difficult to destroy. Deathless are not vulnerable to accuracy based damage, but are immobile during the daylight. Like Abominations, Deathless wander in the night to destroy everything that gives off heat and light. Deathless are generally vulnerable to fire based attacks.
- Ephemeral - Some say that the Ephemeral are the embodiment of the Dark, others say that they are spirits corrupted by the Dark. What is certain is that they are the source of most of the monsters that endanger humanity. Ephemeral have the power to become insubstancial and immune to physical damage. During this time they often flicker between translucency and invisibility. Ephemeral almost always manifest some sort of elemental attack. It is only in the middle of an attack that they become vulnerable. Most Ephemeral cannot take much damage, and are quite vulnerable to specific types of magic. An Ephemeral's first directive is to take possession of a body, whether living or dead, and become an Abomination or Deathless. After its host body is destroyed it is again expelled and will either try to destroy whatever is threatening it, or flee to possess another body. An Ephemeral caught outside of a body during the day is destroyed.
- Machine - Like Beasts, Machines are not directly evil or servants of the Dark. But some Machines found in the abandoned cities are quite dangerous and even agressive to humans. Strangly enough, Ephemeral can sometimes merge with Machines to form grotesque homonculai puppets. Machines are generally vulnerable to electricity but are considered Abominations when the possessing Ephemeral manifests as organic components within the Machine.