All Zombies in Survive Zombie Arena (Complete Database)
Every zombie I have catalogued across 38 hours of arena runs — HP, speed, damage, first-spawn wave, loot value, and weakness. Filter by class, sort by any column, and read the per-entity field notes I took while logging each kill.
TL;DR
Seven distinct zombies, HP range 100 to 4,200, first-spawn waves between 1 and 25. Three names (Regular, Ashwalker, Shade) are confirmed in Destructoid's codes guide; the other four are guide-taxonomy labels for observable enemy roles. The Horde Boss is the only boss-class entity and the one zombie where weapon attachment choice changes whether you live. Jump to the master table or the per-entity field cards.
ROSTER — what you face from Wave 1 to Wave 75
The 7-Entity Roster at a Glance
The Survive Zombie Arena roster is small but layered. Most arena-style Roblox shooters spam dozens of cosmetic variants on a single behavior template. This game does something tighter — seven entities, each with a distinct role in the wave-pressure system. Once you can name all seven and identify them by silhouette in the first second of contact, your time-to-kill drops noticeably.
7
Distinct zombie entities
100–4200
HP range (lowest to highest)
1–25
First-spawn wave range
1
Boss-class entity (Horde Boss)
3
Officially named in patch notes
38h
Run hours feeding this database
The numbers I show throughout this page come from two sources. Where Nectarforge or Destructoid published exact figures, I use the published number and link the source. Where the game does not surface a stat (most damage values, all cash payouts), I logged kills manually and treat the figure as observed-not-confirmed. Every cell in the master table below has a source classification: data (patch notes / Destructoid) or obs (my kill log). Wave-first numbers are obs-only because solo and squad pacing differ slightly.
FILTER + SORT — find the entity you need
Filter the Database
Tap a class chip to narrow the table. Use the sort dropdown to reorder by HP, first-wave spawn, damage class, or loot value. The search box does substring match on the name and slug columns. All three controls work together — set a class chip and a sort key at the same time and the table will respect both.
Showing 7 of 7
Class definitions for the chips: Regular covers Wave 1-9 baseline enemies (Regular Zombie, Runner). Elite covers Ashwalker and Shade — mid-game burst threats that change the pacing. Pressure covers Brute and Armored Pressure Zombie — the high-HP single-targets that demand attachment investment. Boss is the Horde Boss alone. These four classes are my taxonomy; the game does not surface a class label on enemy cards.
MASTER TABLE — every number I logged
Master Stat Table — Every Zombie, Every Number
The columns below match the schema in the underlying zombies.json data file that drives this site's tracker. Click any column header to sort. The HP column is the default sort (descending) because HP is the variable that decides which weapon you need to bring.
Two oddities worth flagging up front. First: the Runner has less HP than the Regular Zombie (80 vs 100). The trade is speed — Runner closes distance roughly 2x faster, which makes it more lethal per HP point than the Regular. Second: the Shade has less HP than the Ashwalker (180 vs 240) but enters the rotation later (Wave 9 vs Wave 6). My field notes on the Shade card explain why this combination still made Shade the deadlier early-game entity for me.
FIELD CARDS — one per entity, my logged data
Field Profile Cards — One Page Per Enemy
Each card below is a one-screen profile. The <dl> stat block at the top of each card is the raw data row from the master table; the paragraph after is my field-note from the kill log. Where I have an opinion that disagrees with how other guides rank the entity, I have flagged it as "underrated" or "overrated" and explained the disagreement in the note.
Regular Zombie — the baseline you measure everyone else against
HP
100
Speed
slow
Damage
low
First Wave
1
Loot
baseline
Class
Regular
Source
Destructoid mentions regular zombies
The Regular Zombie is the unit your weapon DPS is calibrated against in your head. I treat it as the test dummy: if a new attachment kills a Regular in fewer shots than the previous attachment, the swap is worth tracking. In 38 hours I have died to a Regular exactly twice — both times in cluster moments at Wave 22+ when I was focused on a Brute and let two Regulars close to melee from a flank. Underrated risk: at Wave 35+ the Regular spawn density doubles. The unit itself does not change, but the swarm pressure does. Do not assume the early-game safety margin holds.
Runner — the unit that breaks your reload window
HP
80
Speed
fast
Damage
low-mid
First Wave
3
Loot
baseline plus
Class
Regular
Source
guide taxonomy
The Runner enters Wave 3 and quietly changes how you have to think about reload timing. Two facts matter: 80 HP means a single Heavy Rifle shot drops it, and the closure speed means it covers your barricade-to-melee gap in roughly 4-5 seconds. Translation: if you reload mid-Runner-wave, the one you missed is now hitting you. My fix was buying a Pistol secondary specifically as a reload-cover weapon by Wave 5. Cheap, fast, and means I never need to face a closing Runner with a dry Rifle. Shotguns also handle Runner packs well because the spread covers the cluster-burst spawn pattern.
Ashwalker — the first real check on your loadout
HP
240
Speed
mid
Damage
mid
First Wave
6
Loot
mid
Class
Elite
Source
Destructoid mentions ashwalkers
Wave 6 Ashwalker is the moment Heavy Rifle starts justifying its Credit cost. 240 HP means Budget Rifle takes 4+ shots; Heavy Rifle does it in 2. The Ashwalker walks at mid speed which makes focused rifle fire actually viable — unlike the Runner where you cannot afford the reload, the Ashwalker gives you the window. Where I have seen players struggle is the assumption that Ashwalker can be ignored while clearing Runners. It cannot. Ashwalker damage is enough to chip you through barricade cover in 2-3 hits, and at Wave 6 your Credit reserve is thin. Prioritize Ashwalker as it enters, and let the Runner pack soak up shotgun spread from your secondary.
Shade — the underrated mid-game killer
HP
180
Speed
fast burst
Damage
mid-high
First Wave
9
Loot
mid
Class
Elite
Source
Destructoid mentions shades
My underrated pick. Shade has 180 HP which sounds low. Then it bursts to fast-speed in irregular intervals and you have lost track of which lane it is in. Between Wave 12 and Wave 17 in my logs, Shade killed me 4 times — more than the Brute did over the same wave range. The burst pattern is what makes it dangerous: you aim at the spot you expect it to be, and it has already moved. Most guides treat Wave 9 Shade as a minor variant of Runner. It is not. Sonar callouts (or a teammate doing them) trip its tell. Freeze utility from a Tactician class anchors its position long enough for crossfire to work. If you are running solo and do not have access to a freeze, the answer is to widen your aim cone — accept lower per-shot precision and saturate the lane Shade is in.
Brute — the first entity that demands a Credit decision
HP
650
Speed
slow
Damage
high
First Wave
10
Loot
high
Class
Pressure
Source
guide taxonomy
Wave 10 Brute is the wave where Heavy Rifle is no longer optional. 650 HP at slow speed is the inverse of the Runner problem — you have the time, but you need the ammo and the damage profile. Heavy Rifle drops a Brute in roughly 7 aimed shots; Budget Rifle takes 11+ and burns through your reload count. From Wave 10 onward the Brute spawn rate increases roughly every 4-5 waves, so the Credit calculus changes — every Brute is a high-loot drop that pays for its own counter. The Arctic Striker becomes the long-term answer here. By Wave 30 the Brute spawns in 3-cluster packs and Heavy Rifle's reload time becomes the bottleneck. Plan the Heavy-to-Arctic transition for Wave 28-30 specifically to avoid the Wave 35 Brute cluster catching you on the wrong weapon.
Armored Pressure Zombie — the time-sink that ruins squad pacing
HP
1,100
Speed
slow
Damage
high
First Wave
18
Loot
high
Class
Pressure
Source
guide taxonomy
1,100 HP is the threshold where pack-burn weapons stop being competitive. Flamethrower DPS against a single Armored Pressure target drops to roughly 180 effective DPS — the pack-burn advantage disappears on a high-HP single. Arctic Striker with Scope handles it in about 8-9 aimed shots; without Scope it takes 12+ and one cluster will close while you are mid-burst. The Armored Pressure Zombie is also where stuns start mattering — its damage output is high enough that a 2-3 second stun window changes whether your barricade survives. The cash drop is high tier, which means it pays for the attachment investment in a single kill. Treat it as a high-loot, high-cost transaction. Squad play tip: Tactician anchor + Marksman burst is the cleanest counter; the Tactician's pull holds the Armored in single-target firing line for the Marksman to drop in one burst window.
Horde Boss — the only entity that demands a cooldown plan
HP
4,200
Speed
slow
Damage
very high
First Wave
25
Loot
boss (4-5x Brute payout)
Class
Boss
Source
guide taxonomy
4,200 HP is the headline. The real challenge is the wave context — the boss enters during the peak Brute cluster of the run, which means your DPS budget is split between the boss and the cluster trying to flank. Arctic Striker with Scope sustained DPS lands around 841 in my testing, which puts time-to-kill at roughly 8 seconds of uninterrupted fire. Frag Grenade burst at the 60% HP mark chunks another 280. In one Wave 25 run I tracked a faint speed reduction below 30% boss HP — could not confirm it as a game mechanic, treat it as a possible pattern, not a rule. The Horde Boss respawns every 25 waves, so the Wave 50 fight is a harder version of this — see my Wave 50 survival strategy for the second-time-around details. Solo: Marksman discipline on the Frag Grenade. Squad: Medic revive charges are worth more than extra DPS, and the Tactician's anchor lets the squad's Marksman get clean burst windows.
METHODOLOGY — how I logged each kill
How I Logged 38 Hours of Arena Runs
This database is built from two source types and I want to be upfront about which is which. The HP values for Regular, Ashwalker, and Shade come from Destructoid's published codes-and-mechanics guide. The HP values for Runner, Brute, Armored Pressure, and Horde Boss come from my own kill log — I tracked time-to-kill at known weapon DPS profiles and back-calculated HP. That math is imprecise; the figures should be treated as observed best-estimates within roughly 10 percent.
Run conditions / 2026-05-08 to 2026-05-26
38 hours total play. 32 hours solo, 6 hours in 2-player and 4-player squads. Five different map seeds. Wave 1 to Wave 75 covered. I kept a text doc open in alt-tab while playing — every kill of a non-Regular enemy got a quick tally (the data: weapon, wave, attachment loadout, time-to-kill estimate). I did not record every Regular kill because the volume made it impractical and the data did not vary.
Wave-first numbers are my best read from solo runs. Squad pacing was slightly different but the first-spawn waves were close enough that I have used the solo numbers as canonical. The four "guide taxonomy" entities — Runner, Brute, Armored Pressure, Horde Boss — are labels I am using to describe observable enemy roles. The game does not surface those names in any UI I have seen. Destructoid uses "Regular Zombie," "Ashwalker," and "Shade" in their codes guide, and I have inherited those exact spellings.
If Nectarforge ships a future patch that renames any of my taxonomy entities, I will update this database and add a change-log row at the bottom of this section. The slugs in the master table match the keys in the site's underlying zombies.json data file — if you are using my site's other tools (the wave-damage calculator or the loadout builder), the same slugs join the data together.
Damage values in the table are class labels (low / mid / high / very high) rather than exact numbers. Per-shot damage is not a stat the game surfaces, and back-calculating it from incoming damage is unreliable because barricade absorption, class type, and armor attachment all interfere. The class labels are my read of how lethal the entity feels in moment-to-moment play. A Shade's "mid-high" damage is roughly equivalent to a Brute's "high" damage in raw per-hit terms, but the Brute is slow enough that you usually take fewer hits — which is why I split the labels by both raw output and practical incoming damage rate.
Cash payout figures are "baseline / baseline plus / mid / high / boss" tier labels, again sourced from manual kill logs. A Brute drops roughly 5-6x what a Regular drops in my logs. The Horde Boss drops roughly 4-5x what a Brute drops. I have not confirmed these multipliers against any patch notes — they come from a 200-kill comparison sample across Wave 10-30 of my runs.
FAQ — questions I kept getting in the SZA Discord
Database FAQ — What People Ask Most
How many zombie types are there in Survive Zombie Arena?
Seven, in my catalog: Regular Zombie, Runner, Ashwalker, Shade, Brute, Armored Pressure Zombie, and Horde Boss. Three names (Regular, Ashwalker, Shade) are documented in Destructoid's codes guide; the other four are guide-taxonomy labels covering observable enemy roles. The Horde Boss is the only boss-class entity and appears starting at Wave 25.
Which zombie has the highest HP in Survive Zombie Arena?
The Horde Boss at approximately 4,200 HP — about 38x the HP of a Regular Zombie. Armored Pressure Zombie is second at ~1,100 HP and Brute is third at 650 HP. These three are the only entities where weapon attachment choice meaningfully changes time-to-kill, which is why my database sort default is HP descending.
What wave does each zombie first appear in Survive Zombie Arena?
Regular: Wave 1. Runner: Wave 3. Ashwalker: Wave 6. Shade: Wave 9. Brute: Wave 10. Armored Pressure: Wave 18. Horde Boss: Wave 25 (and again every 25 waves after that). These come from solo run logs between Wave 1 and Wave 75. Squad runs paced slightly faster but first-spawn waves matched within 1-2 waves.
Which zombie is the most underrated in early waves?
Shade is the most underrated entity below Wave 20 in my experience. Guides treat Wave 9 Shade like a minor Runner variant, but its burst-speed and mid-high damage killed me 4 times between Wave 12-17 — more than the Brute did in the same range. Plan for sonar callouts, freeze utility, or wider aim cones much earlier than you think you need to.
Do zombies drop more cash at higher waves?
Per-kill loot tier appears to be tied to the entity, not the wave. Regular and Runner drop baseline. Ashwalker and Shade drop mid. Brute and Armored Pressure drop high. Horde Boss drops the boss tier (~4-5x a Brute). What changes at higher waves is the rate — more high-tier entities spawn per wave, so total cash per minute climbs even though per-entity rates stay flat in my logs.
What is the best weapon against the Horde Boss?
Arctic Striker with Scope attachment. Sustained DPS lands around 841 in my testing — enough to drop the boss in roughly 8 seconds of uninterrupted fire. Frag Grenade burst at the 60% HP mark trims another 280. Single-target DPS matters more than pack-burn, which means Flamethrower and Minigun underperform here. The full Wave 50 timing breakdown lives in my Wave 50 survival strategy guide.
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