Factions, traders and warlords
Apocalypter's world is populated by factions that each answered the collapse differently — and by warlords, the store page's promise of long-term targets. Here is what the demo build actually shows, and what the full game — out now since September 23, 2026 — carried forward.
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Pairs with: Parts, condition and maintenance · Car customization and builds · Character gear and upgrades
The demo's map of friends and enemies
The faction relationships screen in the demo is short but consequential:
| Faction | Standing in the demo | What it means in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Coyotes | Friendly | Their sentries and camps do not fire on you; you can shelter and trade near them. Codex entry: "coyote sentry". |
| Scrapyard | Hostile | Armed scavengers who attack on sight; they are also your best ammo dispensers if you fight smart. |
That is the whole in-demo roster. The store page promises "different factions" to fight, help or trade with in the full game, and the demo's codex already has placeholder-shaped holes for locations and groups you will meet later.
Traders and the nut economy
Trading is functional in the demo and follows one rule: rusted nuts are money.
- Traders appear at camps and carry randomized stock — what they sell and buy changes, so revisiting camps is worthwhile.
- You can trade with them, or rob them. The game does not stop you; it just notes that a trader who is dead trades no more, and their friends remember.
- Keep rusted nuts for purchases. Food supplies and the trading budget are separate needs; a currency jar is not a hunger reserve.
Warlords and trophies: the full-game loop
The headline promise on the store page since the reveal: eliminate all the warlords and attach their trophies to your car — Mad Max's war rig, built from the remains of your enemies.
What the demo shows today is the blueprint: one boss-class encounter (Buzzgut) and the underlying systems — boss fights, enemy factions with bases, vehicle combat — that the full game scales up to a warlord campaign. Use the current encounter and its objective rather than assuming every warlord repeats the demo's arena or defenders.
How to stay on the Coyotes' good side
The demo's friendly faction behaves like a faction should:
- Do not shoot friendlies. Even one stray shot at a Coyote camp makes every visit a firefight.
- Do not loot their camps blind. Taking from friendlies is how "friendly" stops being true.
- Do shelter with them. Their towers, fuel and dew collectors are the safest beds in the demo.
- Read the codex. It tells you which locations are theirs and which are contested.
Trader and Codex fixes after release
The September 26 hotfix fixes liquid trading stopping after a player put other items in the liquid-selling crate. Keep the dedicated selling area for its intended goods and update before treating that launch fault as a trader refusing every liquid. It does not establish a fixed buy price or guarantee a particular trader's randomized stock.
The September 28 hotfix restores the missing Mechanic and Organic Mechanic Codex entries and addresses batteries that could not be picked up after a merchant died. A missing entry from that old build is not proof of a new faction-unlock requirement.
Official main-game announcements · equipment and interaction fixes · release summary.