Hearth and Hamlet Enemy Army Strength Explained
Trivial means few losses. High means a costly win. Extreme means you lose unless you act. Hunting scouting adds counts; Advanced Scouting adds attack and
Last verified: August 20, 2026 — Hearth and Hamlet full release on Steam (app 4315040, launched August 19, 2026). Demo numbers are not treated as live data.
Trivial means few to no losses. High means you will probably win but it will be costly. Extreme means you are going to lose unless you do something quickly. Low and Medium sit between Trivial and High. That mapping is from the developer on the live Steam hub, not a demo guess.
The label table
| Label | Developer meaning |
|---|---|
| Trivial | Few to no losses |
| Low | Between Trivial and High |
| Medium | Between Trivial and High |
| High | Probably win, but costly |
| Extreme | You lose unless you act fast |
Two different threads asked the same question within hours of launch. One player later found the Hunting research line. The other thread’s OP edited that a hunting lodge upgrade covers it.
What scouting actually shows
| Tech | What you see | Source |
|---|---|---|
| No scouting | Strength estimate still exists, but you open the notification menu to get it | Phorust |
| Scouting (Hunting) | Army number + strength estimate. Did not seem to add extra data beyond that for one player | Player + dev |
| Advanced Scouting | Attack and defense numbers | Player, confirmed useful |
Phorust kept the estimate in the notification menu on purpose so people were not completely blind before scouting. Regular scouting is the convenience + count. Advanced Scouting is the combat math.
Exact enemy HP, your soldier attack formula, and whether raid strength has a cap are not yet confirmed. A player asked the cap question under the lose-game thread and it was not answered in the captured posts.
From Community Gameplay
- Incoming banners name the pack: goblins, skeletons, huge rats, plants, orcs, later undead. First goblin wave after the 5-guard quest was Trivial. (Campfire Kingdom, 45:05)
- Scouting on the Hunting page is what turns “Extreme” into a count. Advanced Scouting added attack/defense in the same line. (Campfire Kingdom, 1:15:43)
- First strike needs both north and south palisades. One wall does nothing until the other is built. (Campfire Kingdom, 1:34:01)
- Losing still steals resources and applies a fat happiness/efficiency debuff for a few minutes. Rebuild food before you restock walls. (DDA Challenging, 1:22:39)
How to use this in a fight
- Trivial: keep workers on food. Do not drain the economy for extra guards.
- High: expect losses. Recheck food after the fight because leavers can still happen on a win that was costly.
- Extreme: pause building vanity upgrades. Pull soldiers, finish scouting if you lack it, or take the loss on purpose during the zombie window if the developer advice applies. See Can You Lose the Game? and How Many Soldiers Do You Need?.
Incoming enemy tracker sitting in the wrong corner after you change resolution is a known issue. Save and exit to reset it. That is UI, not a lying strength label.
Sources
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Official Steam store: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4315040/
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Steam Community hub: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4315040/discussions/
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Enemy Strength thread: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4315040/discussions/0/588435430711597783/
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How strong are enemy armies?: https://steamcommunity.com/app/4315040/discussions/0/588435430711556674/
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Raid footage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQqbBSyw6-w
Fan-made guide. This site is not affiliated with Phorust Studios, Runic Forge, Gamersky Games, Steam, or Valve; all game content and media belong to their respective owners.