Hunter

The Hunter is a fast and efficient synth used by Combine forces as a scout and escort. Although weaker than its larger cousin the Strider, Hunters make up by being very agile and using a variety of deadly attacks against their opponents. The Hunter is first seen in Episode One, but not encountered in combat until Episode Two, in which they are a prominent and frequently encountered enemy.

Appearance
The Hunter has a more rounded body than the Strider, with two blueish-green, expressive eyes. The body contains the Hunter's flechette launcher and two metal blades used for impaling targets. Attached to the body are the Hunter's three powerful legs. The Hunter has a powerful gait, similar to that of a gorilla and Dog, which allows the Hunter to easily outrun any human and even smash through some walls. Hunters have a number of vocalizations, all of which are shrill and fierce. When damaged, Hunters leak a gray, semi-clear fluid.

Behaviour
Hunters normally try to engage opponents at medium range, allowing them to fire their flechette launchers with great accuracy. When targets take cover, Hunters use their flechette launchers and fire them near their opponent (such as a wall behind their cover), so that when the flechettes explode, their targets will be caught in the splash damage. Once they have their target out in the open, they'll often charge to ram it. Up close, Hunters use a variety of powerful melee attacks.

Hunters are fully aware of their surroundings, in or out of combat, so using stealth tactics are not very effective.

Employment
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 only encounters Hunters for the first time in the forested open spaces of Episode Two. During the chapter, Our Mutual Fiend, in Episode Two, a rebel exaggerates his combat ability by declaring that people in the city fought Hunters with their bare hands, this indicates that the residents of City 17 may have been aware of Hunters but had not encountered them directly &mdash; 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[ed] Hunters". In any case, Gordon Freeman never encountered them during his jaunt through City 17. Given Hunters physiology, they are not particularly well suited to urban combat situations as most of their tactics rely on speed, range and manoeuvrability which are strongly impaired in close quarters, however, they come into their own in the wide open spaces of Episode Two. They are frequently encountered scouting or patrolling areas as well as being a rapid response force to intercept Alyx Vance and Gordon Freeman on their way to White Forest.

Notably during the offensive against White Forest, Hunters acted as escorts for the Striders, and would immediately fire upon any Magnusson Device launched at the Striders.

Counter Tactics
The AR2 Pulse Rifle's secondary fire (the Energy Orb launcher) can disintegrate a Hunter with one hit. The Muscle Car can also be used to kill a Hunter if used to ram the creature with sufficient force. While they are quite resilient to gunfire, Hunters are considerably more vulnerable to blunt force. Two well aimed hits from a Gravity Gun-launched tractor tire, for instance, is enough to kill one.

Failing this, Hunters can be brought down with the RPG or SMG1 grenades. If explosives or the Combine AR2 Pulse Rifle's secondary fire are not available, firearms such as the Shotgun or the Magnum can also be used, however the Hunter can absorb a lot of damage from conventional weaponry.

Also, a direct shot to either of the Hunter's eyes from the Crossbow (HL2) results in a one hit kill.

Behind the scenes
The Hunter is the final development stage of the Combine Guard and its earlier concepts.

Trivia

 * You can gain an 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 in front of you when a Hunter is shooting at you. The flechettes will then stick to the object, which must then be tossed at the Hunter. This will cause the Hunter to disintegrate.
 * 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, but they are still more vulnerable to blows than gunfire.
 * The final Hunter differs from the work-in-progress 'ministrider' seen in the Episode One engine, This can be examined in Garry's Mod when spawning both of the models from the menu. When spawned, it displays some glitchy A.I. and slowdown.
 * In 2007, VALVe made a plush version of the Hunter available for purchase on the VALVe store.