The short version
The Thumper is a fast, straight-line charger. It does not stalk and it does not stalk quietly.
When you hear it, clear the lane. Step out of the corridor, let it pass, and carry on.
What the Thumper is
The Thumper is an indoor entity. You meet it inside facilities, usually in corridors and larger rooms.
It is a heavy, four-legged creature built for running. It has no interest in stealth, which is the one mercy in the whole encounter.
Everything about it is designed around the charge. It accelerates, commits to a direction, and hits whatever is in front of it.
Sound is your warning
This is the most useful thing about a Thumper: it announces itself.
Heavy footsteps. They carry down a corridor and through a floor. You will hear it before you see it in most cases.
Its call. A loud, distinctive noise that tells you it is active and close.
Impact sounds. When it hits a wall or a door, you hear it. That tells you where it is and what direction it is facing.
Learn to act on sound alone. Waiting to see it before you move wastes the warning you were given.
How the charge works
The charge is the entire mechanic, and it has a shape you can exploit.
It commits to a line. Once it starts running, it does not turn tightly. That is your opening.
It hits walls. A charge that meets a wall stops the Thumper and leaves it recovering. That recovery is free time for you.
It repeats. After a failed charge it turns and comes again. The pause between charges is when you move.
It kills on contact. There is no surviving a clean hit. The margin in this encounter is entirely positional.
Clearing the lane
The counter is a small set of movements that work in almost every layout.
Step into a doorway or side room. The charge passes the opening you were standing in.
Use a corner. Turning a corner breaks its line. It cannot follow you around a tight bend at speed.
Put a door between you. A closed door costs it time. It is not a permanent wall, but a few seconds is often all you need.
Do not back up in a straight line. Backing away along its lane keeps you in the danger zone. Move sideways instead.
Do not run ahead of it down a long corridor. You are in the lane the entire way and it is faster.
Why fighting is a bad trade
A shovel will hurt a Thumper. That does not make it a target.
It has far more health than the indoor entities a crew can reasonably kill. A fight takes long enough that other entities hear it and arrive.
Fighting also forces you to stand in the corridor, which is the one place a charger is strongest.
The stun grenade is the exception worth carrying. Stunning a charging Thumper buys the seconds you need to leave the lane. Stun, then go.
Corridors versus rooms
Where you meet it decides how much trouble you are in.
In a long, straight corridor, you are in the worst possible place. There is nowhere to step. Retreat to the nearest junction before it commits.
At a junction, you have options. Pick the branch it is not facing and move immediately.
In a large room, you have space to circle. Let it charge past, then move while it recovers.
In a doorway, you have cover. Standing in a doorway frame rather than the open corridor is often enough.
The general rule is the same as everywhere else in this game: open space is safety, straight lines are danger.
When it is between you and the exit
A Thumper parked in the route out is a waiting problem, and waiting is usually correct.
Hold at a junction and listen. Charges are predictable. You will hear the pattern within a minute or two.
Move between charges. Count the rhythm, then go on the pause.
Take a second route if the facility has one. Larger layouts almost always have another way out.
Do not try to slip past during a charge. Timing that is a coin flip at best, and the loss is a diver.
If the quota clock is not forcing you, patience wins this every time.
Team play
Four divers in a corridor with a Thumper is worse than one, unless the crew spreads.
Do not stand in a line. A line means one charge takes everyone. Spread across the width of the space.
One caller. “Thumper, north corridor” from one person is enough. Four people describing it is noise.
Do not group up to fight. The instinct to help a teammate puts the whole crew in the lane.
Loot elsewhere and come back. If it is holding a corridor, the rest of the facility is open. Come back later.
Reading the charge rhythm
The charge is not random. It has a pattern you can time.
Listen for the start. The call or the footfall surge marks the beginning of a run.
Watch where it faces. Its facing direction tells you the lane it has committed to. Step out of that lane.
Wait for the impact. When it hits a wall, you get a pause. Use it.
Move during the pause, not during the charge. Moving mid-charge puts you in front of something that cannot stop.
Two or three observed charges are usually enough to find a safe window. Crews that watch first lose far fewer divers than crews that sprint immediately.
Doors and other delays
A Thumper respects solid obstacles less than crews hope, but delays still have value.
A closed door costs it time. It will get through. Those seconds are what let you reach a junction.
Do not rely on a door as a wall. Treat it as a speed bump, and keep moving while it deals with it.
Stun grenades are the best delay available. A stunned Thumper stops committing to a lane, and that is the window you want.
Terrain folds and machinery break its line. Anything that forces a turn helps, because turning is its weakness.
The principle is to buy seconds rather than to block. Nothing you carry blocks a Thumper permanently.
Looting a facility with one active
A Thumper in the building does not mean the run is over. It means the plan changes.
Work the rooms away from its lane. Corridors are its ground. Rooms with two exits are yours.
Keep the exit route in mind. Do not loot deeper into the facility while it holds a corridor you must use later.
Travel light while it is active. You may need to move quickly, and weight removes that option.
Leave when the quota is met. A Thumper is the best reason to bank a modest haul instead of pushing for a big one.
That last point is the one crews ignore. Quota cleared is a win. Quota cleared plus a dead diver is not.
Two corridor problems, two answers
The Thumper and the Bracken both kill in corridors, and crews mix up the counters.
Against a Bracken, you keep looking. Eye contact pushes it back. Turning away is what kills you.
Against a Thumper, you leave the lane. Looking at it does nothing. Position is everything.
Those are opposite responses to a similar shape of threat. Mixing them up means standing still and staring at a charger, which is the worst available option.
The quick identification test is sound. Loud, rhythmic, approaching footfalls mean Thumper: move sideways. Silence and a shape at the edge of the room mean Bracken: hold the stare.
What to do after it passes
A Thumper that has charged past you is not gone. Crews relax too early.
It turns around. The pause after a failed charge is short, and the next charge may come back down the same corridor.
Use the pause to leave, not to loot. The temptation is to grab the item you dropped. That is the pause wasted.
Assume it will come back toward the sound. Noise you make after it passes reorients it.
Get out of the corridor entirely. A room with two exits is a better place to be than a hallway you have survived once.
Mistakes that get people killed
- Running down the corridor ahead of it. You cannot win that race.
- Standing in a group in a straight hallway. One charge, one wipe.
- Fighting it for pride. It has too much health and the fight calls company.
- Ignoring the sound. The warning is loud and free.
- Trying to squeeze past mid-charge. Take the pause instead.
Reading it in the bestiary
The Thumper is one of the 16 indoor entities in the monster database. That table lists every entity with its location and hazard rating where the source data provides one.
Our table’s hazard and health fields for many entities are not populated in the source data. We describe behaviour rather than invent numbers. The behaviour is what keeps you alive.
Related guides
- Indoor monsters guide — all 16 facility entities and how they differ.
- How to beat Coil-head — the other corridor problem, solved the opposite way.
- Survival guide — exits, stamina and getting out on time.
- Best equipment tier list — why the stun grenade earns its slot.