Kenshi can be a difficult game if you decide to fight with enemies that have stats 70 times better than you. In those scenarios, it is important to drag a group of bandits to bars and beat the crap out of them with the inhabitants of that bar. Thanks to this strategy, you can quickly level up your toughness/dexterity/strength without bleeding to death. Afterwards, you should be ready to venture out and pick up fights with starving bandits and maybe even bigger thugs! Let’s start with…
10. Vagrants
Poor, miserable bastards.
These guys have extremely low stats and they make great target practice. The only downside of killing these guys is that if you manage to get knocked out by them, they’re gonna steal your food and … weaponry. That’s why you should bail out as soon as you realize that they’re gonna kill you!
Why these guys make great target practice:
- Weak
- They come in large numbers
- If you’re OP enough, you might dismember them!
9. Starving Bandits
I don’t have any food, go chew on a cactus or somethin’!
These guys are pretty common in Border Zone, you can usually see them walking in large groups and they’re equipped with iron sticks and rarely low-quality sabres. But they’re weak and desperate for food, thus they’re gonna be great target practice for your blades and crossbows!
Why these guys make great target practice:
- Deal a bit of damage, which is good for your toughness
- Can be bribed with food
- More of a challenge than the Vagrants
8. Cannibals
They don’t stop coming!
They are by far the weakest enemies in Kenshi, but they come in swarms that can consist of even 30 cannibals. They will improve your stats greatly, but pay attention to your HP and surroundings - if you’re at low HP and you see another patrol of cannibals coming towards you, you either need to run away or take your chances and fight them as well - be careful, losing to these guys means losing your character!
Why these guys make great target practice:
- Weak and frail(no armor, low stats)
- Come in large quantities
- Very common in northern parts of the world
7. Fogmen
Spooky!
Fogmen, like cannibals, are weak and can be found in the outskirts of Mongrel. The likelihood of finding them is far greater than those of cannibals and I never had any problems slaughtering them. Again, be careful, they’re gonna take you to their camp and eat you alive during their odd ceremony!
Why these guys make great target practice:
- Close to Mongrel, which allows you to rest and kill them again
- Weaker than cannibals
- They WREEEE when you hit them
6. River Raptors
Disgusting things.
These creatures can be found in swamps and Holy Nation territories. They come in packs, have very slow attack speed, but if you decide to attack them as a whole, they might beat the crap out of you - that’s why it’s important to hit and run them, instead of just selecting the option to attack them.
Why these creatures make great target practice:
- Slow attack speed
- Slow movement speed
- You’re doing the world a favor by disposing of them
5. The Red Sabres
They never let me get to The Hook in peace :(!
After you’ve brutally slaughtered the River Raptors, Starving Bandits, and other weak idiots, it’s time for the Red Sabres. They are slightly stronger than Dust Bandits and come in beatable numbers. The good thing about The Red Sabres is that they won’t enslave you or steal your stuff, which means that even if you do get knocked out, you can crawl to a nearby bar and sleep in a bed peacefully!
Why these guys make great target practice:
- They will most likely beat the crap out of you but hey, gotta grind dat toughness
- They leave you alone
- They ain’t super OP, so don’t worry too much
4. Grass Pirates
YAR-HAR?
These guys have stats similar to Dust Bandits and The Red Sabres but they can drop weaponry that costs around 500 cats. If you are poor, these guys make decent target practice AND can make you some money in return. Just make sure to not piss off the Crab Bandits, these guys don’t play around!
What makes these guys great target practice:
- Good for money making
- As weak as Dust Bandits
- Common to find in the Stormgap Coast, The Eye, and The Outlands.
3. Manhunters
Pricks!
These guys will automatically hate you. Good, they’re idiots, they have crappy armor and are slightly more difficult to kill than any other bandit mentioned above, but worry not - for some reason they start automatically bandaging each other and ignoring you, this allows you to hit them a couple of times and kill them.
What makes these guys great target practice:
- They wear crappy grade medium armor
- They usually come in small numbers(5-10)
- Close to UC territories
2. Beak Things
The bane of inexperienced players.
Beak Things will kill you if you have weak stats. They are extremely fast and they deal incredible amounts of damage. They will also eat you alive, but hear this - their attack speed is extremely slow and because of that, you’ll be able to block 100% of the hits if you have the defense stat at least 20-30. Make sure to pick them 1 by one, picking a fight with a herd of Beak Things can prove to be fatal!
What makes these majestic creatures great target practice:
- You can squeeze in 2-3 attacks before they can strike you
- Their slow attack speed allows you to block their attacks 99% of the time
- They’re tanky and hard to kill, which is perfect for improving dexterity, defense/attack stats
1. Leviathans
Really?
You should go for Leviathans when your dexterity is at least around 40 and toughness around 40-50. These guys are extremely powerful, but their attack animations are… buggy(?) If you are a katana user, you will see a massive spike in leveling dexterity+attack. Leviathans will most likely defeat you but that’s the point - toughness is also important and Leviathans will improve the most crucial stats in the game.
What makes Leviathans great “target practice”:
- Strong as hell enemies, that’s why you get extra rewarded for fighting them
- Tanky and almost impossible to kill if you’re a relatively weak character
- Useful while maxing out dexterity, strength, attack and defense, toughness.
