How exactly Nightmare works?

[soda wizard]

According to most of the info I have read before starting, Nightmare begins to appear some time after you learn your first typhoon skill OR after you pass some number of used neuromods in total.
So, being much scared about this fearsome creature, I tried to walkthrough the game for the first time using and learning ONLY human skills. Despite of that, Nightmare appeared right after I first time entered Crew Quarters. He was standing near the enter to this section, so he immediately spotted me and killed by two or three melee strikes.
After that, I decide not to limit myself with only human neuromods, because, you know, he already appeared anyway, and, like 5 mins after my first use of typhoon ability, he did show himself again. This time his appearance was accompanied by phone call from Alex with some explanation about Nightmare, so it seemed to be the TRUE, logical first time, when I had to meet him.
What do you think was the real first time I met him? A bug? Or maybe I dont know something about Nightmare mechanics? Help will be appreciated!
Much sorry for bad English.

[matthew]

I think they appear once you get past GUTS, it doesn't seem to matter if you are using full human or alien, or a bit of both.

But I really dont like them, tbut easy to hide from them, I suppose they were added to add a bit of fear factor, but to me, they don't really add much to the game in general, apart from been a pain in the backside. Once you have good skills and a fully maxed shotgun, they are easy to take down.

[BOT]

Nightmares spawn on certain intervals around when you first see it in the Arboretum, and has many different ways of spawning.

Normally, they spawn on minute based intervals, with a 30 Minute delay if you killed the Previous Nightmare, and 20 Minute delay if you hid the previous Nightmare out.

They also instantly spawn if too many Alien Neuromods are upgraded at one time, so if you plan on buying in bulk, put a delay between your neuromod purchases unless you want to have to deal with it.

One will spawn in the Neuromod division if you reset the Neuromod License, recently they patched this so it won't spawn if you've only gone for human mods, but I still tend to see it regardless of neuromods I may have.

[soda wizard]

Thank you for your answers, guys. Especially for that one about Neuromod license :D
By the way,I have issues with this minute-based intervals too. Nightmare doesnt respawn for like 2 hours from the last visit. Maybe it is so because I still didnt leave Crew Quarters, who knows..
Funny thing is that I kinda prepared to deal with Nightmares and set a timer on my tablet for 15 mins to know when approx. he will spawn

[Cifer Null]

It could be that they're excluding menu/freeze-time for the Nightmare countdown. In my experience going halfway through the game with 3 different builds now is that there are a few places where a scripted Nightmare happens, namely first Arboretum visit (just to show it behind the sealed door, doesn't actually linger), when you renew the Neuromod licences, and if you fix and use the main eleveator back to the main lobby straight after the Arboretum visit.

These are all encounters I've had with only 2 typhon mods installed, staying both under the threshold for turret aggro and random Nightmare spawning, which is 3.

[Morgian]

The nightmares have one scripted appearance in the Arboretum (first sighting), and are random from there on. Vapormatter already posted the details.

After you install a third typhon power you get the quest for the satellite signal from January, which you can do or not. It nets you four charges of nightmare banishment.
From then on, whenever you install a typhon power, there is a chance that a nightmare will spawn close to you and come looking. It was high enough that I went to a nice spot before doing the install. Aside from that exception they spawn when you enter an area, but not while you are in it. You can see him "listening" for you when there is one around.

On "No Needles" I encountered 4 of them, and I lost count when doing a typhon run. Must have been at least 15, more likely 20.

[Nefrarya]

I think my nightmare is bugged... I'm playing story mode and hide from it. But now the timer runs down to zero, stays there and the nightmare stays in front of my hiding place. The objective is only cleared when I make it to a zone transition. That's not supposed to happen, right?

[Cifer Null]

I'm not sure the nightmare can disappear if you're looking at it. I think it only disappears when its off-screen, or some distance away from the player.

[Shadow_Actual]

Originally posted by Cifer Null:

I'm not sure the nightmare can disappear if you're looking at it. I think it only disappears when its off-screen, or some distance away from the player.

I'm not at all sure that that's the case. I recently had a nightmare show up in the Reactor pit, and I alerted it (by accident) then left, and it didn't disappear until I left the sector. Or at least the detection meter stuck around.

[Morgian]

Mine usually vanished when the time was up. But some of them are kinda more persistent. I am pretty sure that the one in the workshop is kinda permanent (the one which always respawns), and I have my doubts about the one spawning near the waterworks (not a guaranteed spawn).