The Walking Pox can infect more than just humans. Once-loyal canids can also be turned into corrupted living corpses.
They are tough, fast, and can pin even a massive Ogryn with their pounce attack. Once pinned, they proceed to maul their victim until they are downed, at which point they seek fresh prey.
Mutator[]
Main Article: 
Hunting Grounds
A smaller, more numerous version of regular poxhounds appears in missions affected by the Hunting Grounds Special Condition. Wave of these lesser poxhounds spawn in waves intermittently throughout the mission. These hounds are differentiated by a different cry as the pack spawns and swarm en masse. Visually they are smaller, less putrescent, have less-developed spikes, and have glowing eyes that leave a brief trail as they run.
These hounds are significantly weaker, only having as much health as a Poxwalker. They make up for this with sheer numbers, spawning a couple dozen that arrive in 1-2 waves. When the audio cue for the lesser-poxhound wave occurs, it is a good idea to group with your strike team, use AOE, and knock any hounds off of teammates.
Strategies[]
Hounds may attempt to pounce even if they do not have a clear line of attack; while they can pass through other enemies, they cannot pass through terrain or other cover. Stand in a way that you are not entirely exposed to the hound's pounce as currently it is very difficult to avoid. This can include railings, to the side of doorways, boxes, and other terrain features. Standing at the top or bottom of a ramp is ill-advised as they can path over these easily.
They can be knocked off a player with sufficient stagger, grenades, and from charges (such as from Ogryns or Preachers or even Mutants). Enemies attacks with high stagger, such as Maulers or Crushers, can also knock a hound off a pounced player. Multiple hounds spawning may knock each other off of already-pounced operatives.
They can also be knocked out of the air mid-pounce if a ranged weapon has sufficient stagger. A well timed pushed from a melee weapon while blocking or a doge perpendicular to the path of the pounce is often times all that is needed to avoid an attack.
They tend to target whichever operative is furthest away from others (since they are an easy target) but will default to random targeting if all operatives are grouped together.
Hunting Grounds special condition icon
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
Khornate Ogryn Renegade with Hound of Xaphan
- The Poxhounds of Darktide are inspired by a defunct miniature the Hounds of Xaphan. The miniature features a Khornate Ogryn Renegade with Hounds of Xaphan. The miniature is from the Siege of Vraks Part 2 and the tabletop rules are found in Imperial Armour Volume 6.