Otherworld

This refers to the gameplay event. You may be looking for the Whispering Hills Otherworld.

The Otherworld, also referred to as The Darkness, is an event that can happen at random in the Commonwealth. Everything will become incredibly dark and then hordes of monsters will spawn for a period of time. It is unclear why or how Otherworlds happen in the Commonwealth, but it is possible it might be one of the ways The Town gets more victims to "feed" on.

The Otherworld

Every time the weather changes, there is a small chance, based upon the percentage set in the Otherworld Control setting in the Whispering Hills Holotape, for an Otherworld event to start. Within this setting are also options to disable the Otherworld completely (by setting the chance to 0%) or to force the Otherworld to start at that moment when selected. Within the Attack in Settlements? setting, you can choose if Otherworld attacks are able start while you are within a settlement.

Once the Otherworld starts, ominous music and sirens will begin to play. During this time it will slowly get darker and darker until everything is pitch black. After around a minute and twenty seconds, various types of monsters will begin to spawn in a series of hordes. The number of hordes and the amount of monsters within each horde can also be changed within the Whispering Hills Holotape, with there also being an option to choose the chance for if any enemies should spawn at all in the Otherworld. The monsters that spawn include Young Demogorgons, Wormheads, Eyeless Gnashers, Bubblehead Nurses, Twinscreamers, and Mumblers. From the start of the monsters spawning to the end of the Otherworld, the event lasts around three minutes and twenty seconds in total (four minutes and forty seconds if you include the music and sirens at the beginning).

Strategy

The most important thing to consider when an Otherworld event starts is where you are. The safest place to be is in a settlement. Within your settlement you should build defenses such as guard posts, turrets, and traps. You should also construct lights in order to be able to properly see during the event (prioritize brighter lights such as Lightbulbs and Street Lights). It is also helpful to have a fortified place where monsters cannot reach you. Seal all entrances by having them be things such as powered doors (which cannot be opened while unpowered) or move furniture like couches in front of the entrances to block entry. Make sure that you have proper roofs, or else monsters will spawn inside your shelter next to you. Player-built roofs and some pre-existing roofs (like the roofs on the houses in Sanctuary) work, but beware that some pre-existing roofs (such as the roof in the small building with the weapons workbench at Hangman's Alley) do not count and will allow monster spawning within the building. You could try building player-built roofs above or inside (using clipping glitches, console commands, or place anywhere mods) these roofs to make them safe.

If you are not near a settlement, try to find a safe position to hunker down in for the duration of the Otherworld. High ground, especially high ground that monsters do not have a way of getting up to, is preferable. Going into an interior cell is not a good idea as it can seem to potentially lengthen the Otherworld while you are in there and monsters might still follow you in there anyways.

Throwables like grenades and land mines can be great for crowd control during the event. Many of the enemies move very fast and can swarm you, so automatic weapons can prove useful at keeping them off you and dispatching several of them quickly.

Bugs

• The Otherworld sirens may continue to play for a while after the Otherworld has already ended. They will end after a minute or two, and never seem to actually start a second Otherworld, despite what it may sound like.
• Fast traveling during an Otherworld event may break things.
• Using the Force Weathers commands in the Whispering Hills Holotape during an Otherworld event will break things.