Knowing the Monsters You'll be Facing

If you have never played Spiral Knights (in which case I don't even know why you're reading a guide on this game), or have barely started playing, this is no urgent matter as enemies will still deal normal damage and normal damage will still be effective against them, but will be quite handy to save time as you progress in-game.
Now, if you are in a more advanced level and don't know this, you should really learn in order to stop the annoying questioning of "It's gonna be beasts, right?" on a Deconstruction Zone, among other scenarios, and have more confidence when first entering any certain level.

Arcade levels have three main types (the following are unofficial names):

• Clockworks;
  
• Monster Territory;
  
• Others.

Most Clockworks levels generally contain a primary monster type, a secondary type and occasionally a tertiary type. The primary monster type is given away by the level's name and the icon above the lift leading to it. The secondary monster type in the level is generally the one who shares its damage type with the primary monster family (e.g. Construct levels may have several gremlins in certain battles, for both deal Elemental damage). The tertiary type, which spawns scarcely on the level and some times not at all, shares its damage type weakness (e.g. Beast levels have Silkwings on a few battles, rather than gremlin Menders). Most of the times, constructs are either the secondary or tertiary enemy type on this level type. Clockworks level icons have a cog occupying most of the lift's screen/arcade level icon.

Monster Territory levels (Wolver Den, Devilish Drudgery, etc.) generally contain only one monster family, and look different from Clockworks levels to better represent said monster family's habitat. Monster Territory levels are represented by three rounded pillars (mountains?) with angry faces.

The third category includes all other levels (Scarlet Fortress, Tresure Vault, Ruined Compounds, Graveyards, etc.) which are either exceptions to this guide's formula, or apply to it but are too scarce compared to the other two categories.

Now that you know that (if you didn't already before), let's get to...

In order to know for sure which enemy type is coming up next level, all you need to do really is take a gander at the icon on the screen above the lift.

It's as simple as it sounds. Only having a quick look at the lift icon will tell you which level type, monster family and predominant status effect is coming next floor. A good example would be the one in the thumbnail of this guide.

By looking at it, we can see that it's a Cooling Chamber level that contains Kats and zombies (The background is blue, meaning ice-themed, and the foreground icon is a rather pale shade of teal, meaning undead).

If you want a more specific formula, here you go:

(Note: The status effect color will always be applied to the background, while the monster family's color is applied to the foreground level icon.)

Of course, this formula I've made has a few exceptions. But I'll explain such exceptions in this section of the guide, so don't worry.

Ruined Compound icons actually do not show which swarm monster type will be spawning, but rather the regular enemies which will be spawning to support them (e.g. An orange icon means gremlins will fight you along with whichever monster family is mostly composing the compound). On situations like these, you can easily tell which enemies are going to spawn simply by looking at the name/subtitle combo in the loading screen or above the minimap. [Note that this assumes that the Compound in question is neutral (no status effect), as a Shocked Compound: Creeping Colony, for example, would spawn Power Drops and Quicksilvers rather than neutral slime-typed monsters.]

• Ravenous Warrens = Dust Bunnies & Wolvers/Chromalisks
  
• Chittering Burrows = Grave Scarabs & Spookats
  
• Creeping Colony = Glop Drops & Jelly Cubes

Using that information up there, you can equip yourself accordingly to the swarm monsters and their helpers coming up in the compound, so you can die slightly less painfully. This one is arguably obvious, because there is no monster type represented by a lime green icon. There are, however, several kleptolisks lurking about that can steal your items (including alchemy orbs and other rarities!) with their attacks, so be sure to kill them dead before getting the level's loot. The Scarlet Fortress levels don't apply to this formula (and nor does the look-at-the-level-name-and-take-a-wild-diddly-darn-guess strategy work either), probably since they were the first batch of levels created in the whole game, but those levels always contain spookats (undead) and jelly cubes (slimes), with the majority of either of the two varying depending on the level in question. I put both in the same list item because they have very similar environments. Jigsaw Valley is occupied by woodcutting gremlins and their constructs, so equip accordingly and it should be a breeze. The Aurora Isles, on the other hand, have a very varied range of enemies that depends on the level. The Jelly Farm I and II, for example, have, of course, jelly cubes, while the Low Gardens and Stone Grove have mostly beasts and occasionally constructs. Let's not forget our recently-reimplemented friend the Starlight Cradle. These stages are imbued with an eternal lullaby which has affected the resident monsters, making them able to (albeit more painfully than your parents used to) sending you into a deep sleep. I included this zone in the exceptions due to its icon only including the Sleep status effect's colours and not any of the monster family colours. This could be due to the fact the Starlight Cradle is quite diverse, containing beasts, constructs and slimes distributed fairly evenly. Speaking of slimes, be wary of the Sloombargo miniboss, capable of exhaling an incredibly potent sedative mist. Simply being close to it can knock you out! Again, both are together for having a similar environment, simply with different rooms, decorations, color sets and, of course, enemies. The Dark City is home to fiends of all types (with the thankful exception of Greavers), with a few Spookats in certain battles, and several Trojans waiting stoically for unprepared Knights in the Stygian Steeds level. The Concrete Jungle is populated by Drouls (poison-themed Dust Zombies), Jelly Cubes and Toxigels. Be cautious, for the Briar Bone Barrage stage is home to the Toxilargo miniboss and can be quite a challenge to get through. It produces toxic fumes and getting up close and personal can considerably weaken you. A very good exception to this formula are two boss areas you'll find in a clockworks arcade run. As stated previously, there is no enemy represented by green, so the Gloaming Wildwoods don't exactly fall into the pattern. However, the enemies there are mostly beasts and the occasional gun puppies and lumbers, with two fights involving dust zombies.
The Firestorm Citadel is also an exception, for there is no enemy represented by red. However, it is also very widely known that the place is teeming with slag walkers (undead) with the occasional battle with a trojan or two (fiends).
Y̢͖̞̞͕ͬ̽ͩ͑̿̕͜Ǫ̧̭̝̺̼̙͂̾̃̎̈́͑͐ͦ͠Ů̱̉ͯ͟ ̶̛̹̺̻̜̪ͯ̒͆ͧ͌͊ͣWͭ̎͊̅͏͉̣̪͈̝̯͞I̛̥̟͈̰̾͊̉̌̔͋͜L̞̱̽̑ͫͩͭ̓̆ͪL̶̠͕̠͑̾ͮ̐ͤ͑ ͇̻̜̪̱͙̻̈́̾̍̔͡B̓ͬ͂͆͏͕̙̻͇̠E͙̠̾̾̃́ͦͮͪ͡ ̇̅҉̡͈C̷̩͈̻̪͔̞͋ͦ̅̃ͯ̃ͨͅL̖͉̤̥̓͒ͬ͋̀̕A̸̵͎̫̼̱̹͑͛͂̀ͪ͋ͨͫỈ̬̫͖ͬ̍̕M͚͖͖̆͊̒ͪͫͪͧͪẺͫͭͪ̑ͥ҉͈̪̖͙̘̯̥͡D̞ͦͧ̂̀̚̚͞.̛̮̦̤͖ͨ́ ̛̮̦̙̩̗̂ͦͪ̄͆̐͜T͈̬͐̆ͅH͓̣̣͕̱̖͒͊̒͊̔̉͐̾̆Ȩ̰̂̓̀R̨͍͈̩̯͉̿̓̄̐͑ͨ̆͞Ȩ̷̪̝̬̄͗͐͆ͭͦ ̩̤͖̬͖̐ͨÍ̞̥̩̟͂͒ͦ͛ͧͣ́̚͘͢S̶̰̻͕̰̮̟͕̹̄ͥ̎̆̀͢ ̸͙̘͕̘̞̪͎̲͆̀̎̈́́ͭ͠N̦͓̻̫͖͐́̍̆̊̚̕͠O̢̗͔̻͙̜̰̘̳͂̂̓ ͚̠̲̂͑͑ͯͭ̽͝Ȩ́̉ͣ̅ͫ͆҉̷̮̙̟̹̠S̸̯̞̣͇̣̮͐̊̆͋͘͡C̺͉͎̤̈̒̄͠A̝̩̝͎̗̯̱̜͌͆ͥͦͮ͒ͨ̉͘͘P̳͎͒͐̾̏ͭ͘ͅĖ̦̱͙ͥ̉̈̏̚͜ ̦̲̠͌ͥ͠F̗̼͓̖̿̃ͤͮͪͨ̎̚R̡͔͔̈́̾͆͑ͪ̋͗Ô̶͖͚͍̖̥͇̙̏͒ͩ̈͢M̵̩̬͖͔̭͂ͪ͛̅̿ͥ̚ ̮̝ͯ̿̊͟͢T͓̫̾̎ͩ͛͊H̶͕͓̆Ẹ͚̜̉̽͂̽̃͑ͮ̇́ ̟͓͔͎͉̠̐̆ͬ͛͗͋ͮ̀͘͞S͒̌͗ͅW̛̬̜̃̅ͫ̇ͫ͋͟À̭͔̝̞̱̜͖̮́́ͬͫ̍̃ͮR̡̡̖̖͔̝̊̃͑͞M̷͓̙̫̠̳̜͈̓́̀̐ͯ̃̑ͅ.̡̧̥̪̫̥͍̦̂̋̐̅̈́
F̱̭̮ǪṞ̺͈̰̥E̱V̷̟̬ER̼̼̙͕ ͙͔I̟̥̠̖̪͙͡ͅM͚͜P̭͔͕̼̳̟̣R̼̦̻͖̀I̖̲S̱̯̦̫̞O͍̹̬̤̘͙̱N̶̬̻̥̤͍̩ͅE͕̬̗̻͔D̘̟.̲̤̲̜ ̯̞T̷H̳͎̹̪̠͓̺E̬R̮͎̳̭͙E̬̫̰̺̫͍ I̙͈̬̼̟̗S̞ ̢̳̙͕͓N̗̯̯̩O̻̘͍͢ ̩̖̕E̫̗̣͢S̲C̺̤̫͉̘̹͚A̛̱͕P͙͓̮E ͓̮̫̜F̶R͚̺͕͇̙̫̲̀O͉͕̞̺̗M͓̱̤͈̘ͅ ̡̫̪̠͙T͖̲̩͠H̼̲̲͉̲̪͈E̡̹͕ ̡S̝W̫̤͇̬̩̩A̝̪̹͎R̥̦̙̱̯̦M̗̦.̪͕̠͚͈̪͍
̟̗̪̰̙ͅN҉͉̥E̙̰̝͔̬V̼͖͖̀E̻̟R͔̯ ̟̩̭͔̪͓͉͠T͈̥͖͎͍̟̰O̸ ̻̤̱̥͠B̪̀Ḙ̦̰̞͙̣͙ ̧̺F̩R͔̠̮̖̀E̤̲͞É.̷̼ ͎̺͠T͔͖̳͉͟H̺͚̗̮͇̩͇ER̤̗E̛͍̫̭̬̤ ̬̞̣I̻̙S̛̟̳͚ ̵̹͓̠N̗̪͠O̧͓͕̩ ̛̹E͓̳̘̘̘̦͟S̠͍̖̪̰C̦̲̰͉̱͇͉͟A͚͈̘̰͚͠P̶E̞͖͡ ̣̰̦̘͖̀F̸̮̤͎͔͕̪R͖̮̟̜̝O̡̩̳͉̱M̗͉̮̻̘ͅ ̧͉̖T̘̙͕̺H̙E͢ ̨̬̞S̪ͅW̮͝A̩̬R̙͇̬̞M̵̤̦̘̟͔͔.͉͓̤͖
YO̲̭U ͚͖͇͎̬̤͝WI͕̗Ļ̙L̷ ̴̘̹̼̳̭̙B̵E͡ ͖̬̞͚̤̀Ṕ͎A̘͎̯R͇̺̣͇̲̱͉T̳̰ ̤̖̲͓͔͈OF̣ ̩̼̙US̩͙̻͕̰.̱̗̭̰̫̲̪ ̲̪̬͈T̰͚H̬̙E̥͔̠͡ͅR̷̮͉͖̹E͕̻̮͖̥͙͕ ̰I̬̳̳̘͕Ş̙ ̬̲N̠̯͜O̢̦̪ͅ ͙̠́ͅE͏̰̞̣͔S̘͖͕̱̝̹̰C̯̳A̞̳͚͔͉̰͜P̘̘͕͘E͙̘ ̲͇̘͔̤F̙̤̟́R̬͟O̸͓̠̜M̪ ̻̀T̫̹̪͎͍̺͔Ḥ̷͈̯͎E̞̫̯̼ ͉̙̦S̘͚̤̟̻̰W̴͉̹̲̺̥Ḁ͍̹͉̪R͙M.̼̤
̧̜W̜͎E̪̙̖̳͔ ̥͓̹̻͓S̖̺̰̻H̸̞̪̠͖̝AL̪̮͔̭̺͝L҉̱̫̖̻ ̬̪̕C̡̩͕͉͉̱͍L̴͈̙̻̜͇A̯̲I̜̖̱̣̻͍M̴̯̤̩ ̸͖̩̹̤̠̝̗A̮͚̜͈̣̖͡L̙Ļ͖̞̜̯͇͈.͔̜̞ ̜̤͍̥̟̝̘T̷͕̭̼̝H̳́E̱̠̭ ̯̬̣̲̟̟̕S̳W̖̜̝̙̩͝ÀR̫͖̪̺̖̥̟M̕ S͢H̛̳̣͚̖̜ͅA̻̝̖̩̣͎L͠L̻̟͠ ̬͉̱̹͕͉̳C̷̯̣̘̬̳͈̙L̼̀A̩͇̘͔̰̥͓I̞̯̹͙M̨͈͙̻̲͎̦ ̟̗͖̳A̡͓L̟͍̞̘̘Ḽ̛̻̩̙.͍͈ ̬ͅA̬̜̰̪͈̠̣͘͟L͍̼̻̞̠̯̀͜L̸͔̩̹̪̻̀͝ͅ ̧͈̭̲͍̥̼͚̞W̶̧̨͈͇͍̣̦̪̟I͙̱L͔̤͇͓͞L̡͢҉̼͚̤̫ ̱̳̜͕̮ͅB̡̲̬͔͞E̙̯̱̥̯̞ͅ ͏̨̼̖͖̦̰̼̗ͅͅT̨̪̩̬̺͞͠H̸̳̺̹͇Ȩ̶̞̱̙͓̰̺̹͝ ̹̗̳̱͈̱̖̀͘͠S͇̯̪̪̟͜W̮̪̩A͏̘͚̞͇͠R͍̳̩̟̻̫̕͡M̡̫̩̭͎̩̭̤̪.̷̬̰͇͇͕̩́
̦͎̣̝͢Y̥̦̞̭͇̖̯͝O̧͖̻͕͍͔U̘͎ ̞W҉I͚̖͇̦͇L̪̗͓̀L̺ ̯̲̳̠̺N̡̮O̯̞̟̜̥̲̯T ͔͖B̼E̷͖.̜̼̺͢ͅ ͇̤̫Y̖͎͇͢O͉̠̻͚U͎͕͍̮̲ ̻̣̗̳WI̦̝͘L̢̞̟͉̞L͙͙̘̼̣͖̰͘ ̵̼͚̭̠O͙̺̦N̤͎̞̘͔ͅL͏Y̢ ͙͉̥̻̭̞B͏̳̪̩E̪̫͎̫̪͙ ̣̠̙̮̮T̢H́E̮͖̫̤̺̻̥͜ ̷͇͚͔S̠͈̫̥̺̝W̳A̭̠͡R͏͉̞̙̥M̝̕.̗̠̬͚
̴̩ṟ̣͈̝͈u̡̟͈̦̗͉͔n̗ ̗͕̖̭͈̕w͠h͔̥̰͇͓̜i̙̱̞̲̖̳l͏̯̼͇͚e̕ ̥͈͓̮̬̹y̻o҉̭͇̣̥u̳̣̥̙̤͇ ̠c͍͈̳͕̰͞an̟̘̻͇̣̱͘ ͚͖̬̫̭TH̭̘̲̲̩̝̫͜E̫͇̻̻̬̹͎R͏̭̼̯ͅE ̳I͓̮̤͙̣S͔͓ ̰͘N̖͓͔͞O̢̲̙̖̲̦͖̲ ̢͍͉̖̯E̖͉̝S͜C͚͔̟̝̗͈̟Ą̺P̨̫͓E̼̮̖̻̘̟̳ ̷͙͚̥̘̲̹̻F̫͕̪̖͍͝R̞͈̝Ò̙M̬̯̮̫͉̦ ̸͙̘̤̯̫T͔̼̣̩͢H͉̺̰͕͞E̲̟ͅ ̛̯͈͓Ş̳̱W҉͈̹̰͕A̟̯R͎̤̲̯̣̝̫M̮̙̟̗͓͙.҉
̙̻̭̫͔̠͖t̝͎̝ͅh̗͇̺͔e̜̻ ̷̰̺̲S͏̯͖̝͍ͅa͎̠̭n̜̰̫̻̥̝ç̳̼̳̩͙ͅt̳͔͇͉̰͕̼u̷̠̪͔̪͕͔a̕rý̞̤̻̜ͅ ̖̻i̻͠s̘͘ ̧̺̝ͅn͈͔̘̖͍̖͔ę̖̦̙͈͕̟ͅa̳̘͚̠̯͖r̢ ̨T͕͠H͕E̞̰R̜̯͟E̘̘̙͕̖͖̟͟ I̷͙̠̬͎S͚͙̯̝͇̬͝ ̷̘̠̻̯͔̦̱N̜͈͍̹̜̯̤̕O̹̦͈ ̡͕̰E̩̥̥S͎̩͍͡C̶̹̭̥͎͇͉A͖̗̘̤͟P͈͇E̖̬̯͙͎͚̜ ̼̘͔F͟R͕̰͓O͇̞̪̬M͙͍ ̠͈̘Ţ͕̻͇̯͍ͅḤ͍̤̦͎̰͘ͅE ̙̦̖̗ͅS̷̲̻̟͍Ẃ̞͈̙͔̟ͅA̞̩̙͉͇R̮͞M̻͎͕̞͇͚.
̦͉̻̗͉̠ýo̡ṷ ̗̱͞c̠͙͔̮̼̼ͅą͖̜̜͉̗͎̘n͎̜n̙̪o̷̘̝̖̘͚ț̻̫͈̫̕ ̬̫̹̭͘s̯̮̠͕̩̫ͅt̢̠̺͎̝̼o͍p͖̝̱ ̱̗̱͙̙̻í͉̰t̹̙͟,̤͍͍ ͕̘̭̻͙y̙̳̫̩̙̕ọ̤̘͜u͎͙̲̭ m̝u̶̠̲̗̗s̫̘̭̖̞ͅt̺̩͈̻͚̖̹͝ ͇̼̩̖͓͜r̛̝̹͍͉̺ͅu͏̞n̪̬̙͙̲͉̠͡ ̫͔T̮̫́H̦̦͕̤ͅͅE͏R̙̙͓̩̺̮̠E͙̭͠ ͕͎͇͞Ì̗͈̲̙̣̼̣S̠̳͈͓̼̞̦ N̵̯̼̗̼͍̠͉O͙̲ ̮̟̥̝E̫S̞̣̥̤͖̻͈C̸̯̭A̴̞̱͎̦͓P̴̠E̩̙̩ ̠̜͉̥͘FR̹O̗͎̳M͏̻ͅ ̫̲͈͖T͙͈͔̳̹H͉̞͙̯̣̕ͅĘ̘̫ ̬̥͟S͓̬̗̯̗͠W҉̜̳̼̤A̼̼̝̬͜R̙̯̹̭̜͈M̯̩͍̠̫͚͕.͓̝̬̖͍͚

Thanks for reading my guide. Now you will have much more confidence when going out with your piercing gear into a Slimeway next time, rather than just rushing in and praying you brought the right stuff.

Be sure to comment if you found any mistakes or if there's any missing or misleading information in the guide, I really don't want my guide to un-educate newer players.

Image used in the thumbnail by me, all information in this guide was acquired by playing the game.
Special thanks to Rapidfirerobot for reminding me to update this, and to almost everyone else in my friends list, who kept asking about level themes at such frequency as to encourage me to make this guide.