Hunter

The Hunter, originally known as the Mini Strider, is a fast and efficient synth used by Combine forces as a scout and escort. The Hunter is first seen in Mossman's message in Episode One, but not encountered directly until Episode Two, wherein it is a prominent enemy.

Overview
The Hunter's body is somewhat rounded in shape with a shiny, metallic blue-green exoskeleton encasing it and three muscular legs attached to the sides and back of the body. On either side of the Hunter's body are what appear to be three pairs of compound eyes and pair of vertically aligned fléchette launchers on the Synth's front. Located directly underneath the launchers are two small limbs tipped with metal blades for impaling targets, behind those and on the back are two oval shaped orifices possibly for breathing, vocalizations, or both. It is seen when a Hunter impales Alyx Vance with these limbs.

Like all Synths, Hunters possess a number of vocalizations, all of which are shrill, fierce, and slightly electronic sounding. They also appear to have some sort of white "blood" when shot.

Application
It is assumed that Hunters are not particularly well suited to urban combat situations as most of their tactics (which rely on speed, range, and maneuverability) are strongly impaired in close quarters. If multiple Hunters are deployed in the same mission area, they use pack hunting tactics like flanking and suppression fire.

The hunter's most important role is to provide an escort for the striders in the final battle of White Forest. While helping to supress the rebels who are attempting to stop the striders, they prioritize Strider Busters that are launched, giving the strider a much higher chance of survival.

Although possessing less firepower and armor than their larger tripodal cousin, Hunters are much more agile and speedy. A Hunter will normally attempt to engage opponents at medium range, allowing it to fire fléchette rounds with great accuracy. Since the flechettes move slowly compared to bullets, the hunter has trouble against long distance enemies but can cover ground quickly.

Since Hunters are resourceful and quick-thinking synths, they employ a number of useful tactics to increase the chance of hitting a target - for example, making use of splash damage, and closing distances with a charge.

Weaponry
The Hunter's main weapon is the fletchette launcher. This fires large, fast (but not hitscan) flechettes with a small spread which do large damage upon a direct hit, capable of vaporizing biological matter with a few hits, and additional (albeit small) splash damage within a small radius if the fletchette hits a solid object. The hunter is very accurate with the flechettes, due to a combination of using lead (aiming ahead of a moving target), and "walking" fire onto a target (aiming at a point near the target and shifting aim towards it).

The hunter can also use its body as a ram to break down walls, doors or vulnerable foes. While it is charging, it cannot turn fast but if it hits it can do a large amount of damage. Finally, if the foe is in reach and the hunter is not charging, it will use the talons on its legs to slash the opponent. Again, this will do a large amount of damage and may even send them flying.

Hunters have also occasionally been seen unleashing all its ammo in a shotgun-style blast at a target just before death, in the hope of taking its killer with it.

Appearances


The Hunter is first seen in Episode One, as part of the force seen attacking the base where Judith Mossman recorded her transmission.

Gordon Freeman himself encounters Hunters in combat for the first time in the forested open spaces outside of City 17. Hunters are first met when one manages to pounce upon Alyx Vance and severely wound her. Later they are encountered scouting or patrolling areas, as well as being part of various Combine forces attempting to intercept Alyx Vance and Gordon Freeman on their way to White Forest.

Hunters were later used during the second Combine offensive against White Forest. Here, the Hunters acted as escorts for the larger Striders, clearing out smaller targets and firing upon any Magnusson Device launched at the larger Synth.

Tactics
While Hunters are quite resilient to gunfire, they are considerably more vulnerable to blunt force. At least 2 well aimed hits (depending on difficulty) from a Gravity Gun-launched tractor tire or barrel is sufficient to kill one (note: if one of their fléchettes stick to whatever the Gravity Gun is holding, the fléchette will cause the Hunter to vaporize). The Muscle Car can also be used to kill a Hunter if used to ram the creature with sufficient force.

Failing this, Hunters can be brought down with the Resistance RPG or MP7 (HL2) grenades. A direct hit from the Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle's secondary fire (the Energy Orb launcher) can disintegrate a Hunter as well. If explosives or the Combine Overwatch Standard Issue Pulse Rifle's secondary fire are not available, firearms such as the shotgun or the Magnum can also be used. Five or six shots at point blank range from the shotgun's secondary fire should be enough to kill one, though this is not an effective tactic as it consumes large quantities of ammunition very quickly and requires that the player stop fighting momentarily to reload.

While hunters are generally very accurate at firing fletchettes, if one uses basic dodging tactics while employing small arms fire to destroy them, they will have a good deal of trouble hitting. However, if moving predictably (or not moving), a hunter will quickly kill the player, since fletchettes do a large amount of damage with a direct hit.

Avoid close combat quarters with them, as it is extremely dangerous.

Behind the scenes



 * Hunters were originally intended to be vulnerable only to blows from objects launched at them with the Gravity Gun. Later, Valve made them vulnerable to all weapons as the Hunter design changed, however they are still more vulnerable to physics damage than all firearms but the Colt Python.


 * According to Matt T. Wood, one of the team's main goals for the Hunter was to make the player feel vulnerable wherever hiding or not. The Hunter arena before the secondary silo in White Forest became their testbed for improving the Hunters' close-combat behavior. A classic combat space, featuring multiple exits and many possible paths, the team tuned it for a strong cat-and-mouse gameplay experience. While players have many options for escape, the map is designed so that Hunters will never completely lose them - but always be able to pursue and flush the player out of hiding.


 * In the Episode Two chapter Our Mutual Fiend, a Rebel radio operator exaggerates his combat ability by declaring that people in the city fought Hunters with their bare hands: "We used to wrestle Hunters to the ground with our bare hands! Used to kill ten, twenty a day, just using my fists!". This indicates that the residents of City 17 may have been aware of Hunters but had not encountered them directly. On the other hand, the rebel may not have even known what a Hunter is since he only mentions bare handed fighting after being asked "how ... city folk kill Hunters".

Trivia

 * In Episode One, if a player spawned a ministrider by typing "give npc_ministrider, the predecessor of the Hunter will appear. Beside cosmetic differences, the ministrider will also not shoot flechettes; instead, it will shoot Pulse Ammunition (as seen in an old Episode Two trailer) and will only be vulnerable to explosives and energy orbs.


 * Most of the Ministriders sounds will not precache when spawning it, probably because it was supposed to only be scripted for Mossman's Message and not meant for combat in Episode One.


 * In the model of the ministrider, there is only one quarter of actual Hunter animations.


 * In Episode One, the ministrider model was used during the Mossman message.


 * Players can gain an Orange Box Achievement "Payback", by killing a Hunter with its own flechettes. As the flechettes cannot be handled directly with the Gravity Gun, achieving this involves holding a physics object when a Hunter is shooting at the player. The flechettes will then stick to the object, which must then be tossed at the Hunter.


 * In 2007, Valve made a plush version of the Hunter available for purchase on the Valve store.


 * If spawning NPCs using the console in Episode Two, Hunters may occasionally use a special instant-kill move where they leap on their target and crush their spine, similar to the animation played at the beginning of the game when the first Hunter encountered attacks Alyx Vance. Hunters use this move against player-allied human characters, such as Citizens, Alyx, or Barney. This seems to occur if the Hunter manages to get behind an unaware human NPC. They may also try this with Zombies and/or Antlions, but they are never seen encountering Antlions.


 * It is stated on the Valve Store Hunter plush page, that Hunters hate being called Mini-striders. although this is more likely a joke than a canonical story element.


 * The Hunters can also be pulled, pushed and killed with a supercharged Gravity Gun, although this can only be done by typing "physcannon_mega_enabled 1" in the console. The Hunters (like Overwatch soldiers) will be killed by pulling them towards the Gravity Gun.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life 2: Episode One
 * Half-Life 2: Episode Two