BlackshiftersReport
English：Blackshifters · Factions
One of the five gangs of the Swamp, made up of ronin Hivers. They run the casinos of Shark and Mud Town and lend money on the side. As long as you don't owe them anything, they have no reason to touch you.
Made up of hive ronins. Though, they may be ronins, but they sure haven't lost that greedy goddamn hiver mindset. They handle the town's money... loansharking, gambling, that sorta thing... they run the casinos 'round here. As long as you don't owe 'em money, they got no reason to hurt you. — Swamper Barman
The Blackshifters are one of the five gangs of The Swamp. Every member is a ronin Hiver — an individual who left the Hive and can never go back.
The business they are in
Each of the Swamp's five gangs has its own trade: the Hounds grow hemp, the Twinblades kidnap and harvest organs, and the Blackshifters deal in money.
They run the casinos found in Shark and Mud Town, lend at interest, and can often be found on the street extorting money out of people who owe them. The game's own text hints that they cheat at their own tables:
Don't blame the licks! We all know you're a shady dealer! You're just lucky you're behind that counter right now...
Tch, this game is dog shit, I tell ya...
The Swamper Casino Dealers are Hive Princes carrying Mercenary Clubs and wearing Trader's Leathers. Unlike a normal bar, you cannot buy food or supplies from a dealer — you are invited to a game of catcrawlers instead.
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What happens when you meet them
The Blackshifters are a civilian-type gang, not bandits. They patrol no zones and have no homeless spawns — they stay in town and will not stop you on the road.
For most players they are barely a threat: keep out of the casino's business and off their books, and they are just a room full of Hivers. But their members have the Traitorous personality and their stats are not low — Strength 32–40, Toughness 48–60 (Hive Toughness growth is naturally high). Starting a fight with them inside Shark is not a light one.
Cross the Blackshifters and you'll pay for it in blood. — Blackshifter warning
The Secret Drug Farm
The only outpost the Blackshifters directly control is not in the Swamp at all — it sits in Stobe's Gamble, and it is called the Secret Drug Farm.
It holds an abundance of hashish and hemp, and nearby Flats Lagoon will pay enormous sums for both. The farm consists of six Storm Houses: five locked, one destroyed.
A swamp gang's cash cow guarded by ancient machinery is never explained by the game. What is certain is that anyone hauling that stock away has to get through the machines first.
Where they sit among the five gangs
Fandom infers the relative sizes of the five gangs from the order of succession in the world states: the Blackshifters are smaller than the Hounds but bigger than the Grayflayers.
- Big Grim dies → Shark passes to the Blackshifters
- Big Grim and Big Darkbrow both die → Shark passes to the Grayflayers
In other words, the Blackshifters are second in line for Shark. A player who wants the Hounds gone without wrecking the whole city should take out Big Grim and leave Big Darkbrow standing — the town then falls to the casino owners.
Their leader: Big Darkbrow
Big Darkbrow is a Hive Prince holed up in a hideout inside Shark, with the same Traitorous personality. Strength 34.4–37.6, Toughness 51.6–56.4, Dexterity 51.6–56.4, Perception -1.2–3.6.
He is also a key supporting character in the Hounds' rise to power: in the Letter To Darkbrow, Big Grim proposed they team up to remove Hash, then the boss of the Swamp, and named her price — the city. See Hounds and Big Darkbrow.
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