R.E.P.O. | Monster guide: Robe

The Robe is one of the most unsettling monsters in R.E.P.O., a tall, silent figure draped in a living black robe with skeletal grey hands and a bone-white face. It moves slowly and makes almost no noise while hunting, which makes it genuinely dangerous even before it gets close enough to strike.

What sets the Robe apart is its core mechanic: looking at it makes it faster. That single rule flips the usual instinct of keeping your eyes on the threat, and it's what makes the Robe so consistently threatening even at a distance.

Behavior

The Robe roams the map until it spots a player, then shifts into a slow, deliberate stalk. While stalking it moves slower than a walking player, so as long as the targeted player keeps moving and avoids looking at it, the Robe cannot actually catch them. The moment a player looks directly at it, however, the Robe accelerates sharply, signaled by a hiss, raised hands, and a darkening around the screen edges. Looking away causes it to slow back down.

If it loses sight of its target, the Robe speeds up temporarily to try to relocate them, then returns to its normal pace once it either finds them again or gives up the search.

When the Robe reaches a standing player it sweeps with its hands in a short arc that can hit multiple targets at once, dealing 100 damage per hit. If it spots a player hiding under an object or entering a hiding spot, it flattens itself down and crawls under to attack, dealing 50 damage per hit in that crouched state but attacking more frequently. The crouched attack also stuns the players it hits, which can lead to a stun-lock loop if the player cannot escape. The Robe is almost entirely silent during its stalk, only crackling its fingers quietly; it only vocalizes when it is looking at a player, attacking, or occasionally crying while roaming.

Hidden usefulness

If the Robe gets stuck on a large piece of valuable or the C.A.R.T., it will start screaming, which can act as an accidental audio alarm telling other players where the Robe is and that it is currently occupied. Parking the cart in a wide open area away from the Robe's usual patrol can help keep it out of trouble and give the team a small window to work more freely.

Weaknesses

The Robe's core weakness is its own stalking mechanic. It is slower than a walking player while hunting, so a moving target that avoids looking at it is effectively safe from being caught. It also cannot jump, so elevated platforms that require jumping to reach are a reliable refuge. Its height works against it too, as it can get stuck on ceiling-level objects in tight spaces, though it can eventually squeeze past some of them. Its strength breakpoint drops significantly when stunned, from 13 down to 6, making a stunned Robe much easier to pick up and reposition.

At 250 HP the Robe is not fragile, and its normal 100-damage swing can down most players in a single hit, so it demands respect even when you have it figured out.

Strategy

• Never stop moving when a Robe is stalking you. It cannot keep pace with a walking player as long as you keep going.
• Resist the urge to look back at it. Glancing at the Robe is what turns a manageable chase into a dangerous one.
• If you break its line of sight, hide and stay quiet until it loses interest and moves on.
• Do not try to hide while the Robe still has eyes on you. Run first, break line of sight, then hide.
• If you are caught under a surface with the Robe crouch-attacking, try to escape out the other side rather than backing into a corner. Teammates can also try to stun the Robe to break it out of the crouched attack state.
• Park the C.A.R.T. in a large open area away from the Robe's path so it does not get stuck on it and become harder to track.
• Elevated spots that require a jump are a safe fallback, since the Robe cannot jump up to reach you.

How to kill

The Robe has 250 HP and no special damage resistance, so any reliable damage source will work given enough hits. The most important thing is to attack it while it is not attacking you, since a single normal swing from the Robe deals 100 damage.

The cleanest kill window is when the Robe is stunned. A stunned Robe drops its strength breakpoint from 13 to 6, meaning it can be picked up and thrown much more easily, which can be used to reposition it or simply deal throw damage. While it is stunned and its hands are raised, commit to close-range melee hits or ranged shots without the risk of eating a counter-swing.

If you are engaging without a stun, attack from the side or behind so you are outside the front-sweep arc of its normal attack. Keep your distance after each hit to avoid standing in the arc when it recovers. Do not stand in doorways or tight corridors when engaging, since the Robe's sweep can hit multiple targets and a narrow space gives you no room to dodge. With focused fire from a group, 250 HP goes down quickly, just make sure nobody looks at it during the approach or the Robe will accelerate before you are ready.