Strider

A Strider is a Combine Synth first seen in Half-Life 2.

Appearance
Consisting of a beetle-like carapace-on which is a symbol similar to that of a Gunship's-and three jointed legs, Striders are the terrestrial equivalent of a Gunship. Nose-mounted is a powerful pulse turret. On the belly is a warp cannon that causes scenic destruction and inflicts massive splash damage vaporizing anything in close proximity. Prior to the cannon's discharge, a thin blue laser indicates where the cannon is aimed with the surrounding space around the cannon's barrel distorting enveloped by a blue aura, followed by an audible shrill report. Their legs are tipped with sharp spikes, which are capable of impaling targets and clearing debris. Striders have compound eyes, two on each side of the pulse turret. They leak a yellowy substance when damaged, and contain a biological cerebral unit that looks very much like a human brain, which draws upon a blood-like substance. This shows that the Strider is both organic and machine, instead of a pure machine. They will also make strange sounds that, curiously enough, seem to reflect their bionic structure, as the noises resemble electronic growls, groans, whoops, and howls.

Employment
Striders serve as the Combine's armored ground unit. Individual striders are used to patrol off-limits city streets and provide heavy support for groups of soldiers. However, in full-scale military combat, Striders are used in a role similar to manhacks, but on a city-wide scale, destroying possible shelters and flooding an area as a means of removing all enemies. Because of their greater effectiveness and value, they are used mostly in a defensive role. Striders fit this task well due to their destructive ability and remarkable maneuverability on even the harshest terrain. A strider can and will destroy an entire building in order to strike a handful of targets inside. Their long legs can climb over any resulting debris or any barriers several meters high. They can also crawl through small tunnels "digging" through barriers using their warp cannon. Striders are sometimes transported and deployed via dropships, folding their legs into a compact shape that allows them to be transported.

In wilderness areas, they are often accompanied by Hunters who act as escorts, engaging opponents whilst the Strider destroy larger targets. During the Combine offensive against White Forest, Striders can destroy the outer buildings surrounding the Resistance base, destroying the Magnusson Device teleporters as well. They were defeated by Arne Magnusson and Gordon Freeman's deployment of the Strider Busters.

Counter Measures

 * Striders tend to follow specific patrol routes when tasked with defending a certain area, making them fairly easy to avoid, so long as shield scanners are not being used. When shield scanners do accompany a strider, they function as spotters for it, searching inside buildings and other places of concealment for targets the strider would otherwise be unable to see.


 * Striders can only take damage from explosives, such as rockets and grenades, Combine energy orbs, such as those used as the alternate fire mode for the Pulse Rifle, or physical objects launched with the gravity gun. The RPG is by far the most efficient weapon for killing striders, and its rockets do the most damage. Hand grenades, SMG grenades, and energy orbs do about half the damage of a rocket. Inside the Citadel, energy orbs do more damage, twice that of a RPG. It seems to ignore all projectiles launched at it, focusing on attacking the player instead. So as long as the RPG is not fired directly in front of it, it won't attempt to destroy the missile.


 * To destroy a Strider during the Battle of White Forest, pick up a Magnusson Device with the Gravity Gun, launch it at the Strider's main body, and then set the Device off by hitting it with any gun. Do not attempt doing this until you have killed all nearby Hunters, as they will fire upon a Device as soon as they see it.

Trivia

 * The only way to spawn a Strider via the console is to activate "noclip", go up to at least the Striders height, and typing into the console "give npc_strider" (although the in the ground bug was fixed in Garry's Mod). It will not use its warp cannon, and will only walk if its target moves out of its LOS and the map has the necessary node structure.


 * In Half-Life 2: Episode One, a citizen remarks: "I hear they put babies in those Striders," although this is very unlikely as the Combine's suppression field has been in effect for many years by that point. It's also likely that it is merely rumors since civilians often share misinformation with Gordon when they hear it.


 * Striders closely resemble the "tripods" described in H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds.


 * Striders are the only synthetic lifeforms known to possess any "organ" at all. This is shown in Episode Two when Dog attacks a strider and tears its brain out.

Chapter Locations

 * Half-Life 2 - 1, 11, 12, 13
 * Half-Life 2: Episode One - 1, 4, 5
 * Half-Life 2: Episode Two - 3, 5, 6

Spawning in-game

 * Type: give Entity Name (Gold Source Engine)
 * Point at ground where you want it to be created and type: npc_create Entity Name (Source Engine)
 * Half-Life: N/A
 * Opposing Force: N/A
 * Blue Shift: N/A
 * Half-Life 2: npc_strider
 * Lost Coast: npc_strider
 * Episode One: npc_strider
 * Episode Two: npc_strider
 * Obsidian Conflict: npc_strider