Hunter GZ

The **Jaktmaskin 60 "Ulven"** *(ENG: Hunting Machine 60 "The Wolf")*, otherwise known as the **Hunter**, is a type of machine in Generation Zero. Hunters serve as medium, general-purpose infantry able to perform a variety of attacks thanks to a humanoid frame, high number of possible weapon combinations, swift running speed, jumping prowess, and decent health pool.

## Physiology

Hunters resemble taller-than-average humans with hunched backs, somewhere between 2 & 3 meters (6.56 & 9.87 feet) high. The right arm features a retractable pneumatic blade whereas the left features a ranged weapon. There are additional slots for ranged weapons on its shoulders. A snake-like head protrudes from the front of the torso.

Despite being humanoids, Hunters lack hands and share the same digitigrade leg design as Runners & Tanks.

## Abilities

At long distances, the Hunter will fire at you with its left arm-mounted weapon. If a Hunter notices something (when the stealth bar turns yellow), it will howl once and begin traveling to the last seen location the target was noticed and then begin roaming in a searching status. When a Hunter detects you, they will make a howling sound which attracts any other machines in the area, especially Hunters it travels in a pack with, similarly to a Seeker. This sound was likely also used as a weapon of terror during the initial invasion. If the Hunter has gotten close to you, or if the ranged weapon has been disabled or removed, it will jump up far into the air and then stab its target with the pneumatic blade on the right arm. A loud wail when it is performing this attack will serve as a cue to dodge or focus fire. It can attack you up close with a backhanded slice as well, dealing moderate to high damage.

The Hunter's weapon kits are:

### Prototype

**Ranged**

* Machine Gun
	+ The Hunter will fire a long 6 round burst with its slow firing Machine Gun, dealing high damage.

**Melee**

* Pneumatic Blade
	+ The Hunter slashes at the player with their blade, if they are close enough and pushes the player away.
	+ The Hunter runs up to a player, leaps at them and thrusts them with their deadly blade, dealing very high damage. Note: this attack can cause a Hunter to teleport into a building if the player is inside when the Hunter activates this ability.

### Military

**Ranged**

Military Hunters will be equipped with the following:

* Machine Gun
	+ As mentioned before.
* Tick Deployment
	+ The Hunter deploys two Military class Ticks from the barrel on their backside, but only if the player managed to sneak behind it. This container can be shot off, at which point the Hunter will not be able to deploy Ticks anymore.

As well as **one** of the following:

* Gas Grenade Launcher
	+ Fired high into the air, the gas grenade then lands close to a player and starts emitting a gas cloud, damaging any player within. This does not inflict a status effect so as soon as a player moves out of the gas, they don't receive any more damage from it. (In the profile tab under eye wear apparel you can equip a gas mask that increases your gas resistance by 40 points, also under the skills tab in the combat tree the third level armor skill give you an extra 10% gas damage resistance against machines, the vanguard specialization in the combat tree can also increases your overall damage resistance by 25%, also note that gas damage can stack.)
	+ If this isn't too badly damaged, the hunter may drop RPG ammo of all types.
* Explosive sniper Rifle
	+ The Hunter aims at a player from this shoulder mounted weapon. While it is aiming, a red beam will connect the side of the weapon and the place it is aiming at. After locking in on a place for a short amount of time, the Hunter fires a single, very high damage shot at very high velocity. The projectile deals a small area damage. After firing, it takes a long time to reload the Sniper Rifle.

**Melee**

* Pneumatic Blade
	+ As mentioned before.

### FNIX

**Ranged**

* Explosive Flechette Shotgun
	+ After it charges its weapon and aims at a player for a long time, a Hunter equipped with the Explosive Flechette Shotgun fires a spray of fast-traveling, red glowing projectile in the players' direction that will stick to any surface and explodes after a short duration. If it sticks to the player or explodes nearby, it will knock the player off their feet. It works similarly to the experimental 12g pump action shotgun.
	+ They drop all types of shotgun ammo.

* Tick Deployment
	+ As mentioned before.

A Hunter **may** also spawn with:

* Explosive sniper Rifle
	+ As mentioned before.

**Melee**

* Pneumatic Blade
	+ As mentioned before.

### Apocalypse

**Ranged**

* Flamethrower
	+ If the Hunter is close to a player, it will stand still and start blasting the player with a wall of fire that has very high range. It burns the player, making them take damage for several seconds after the last time they got hit. Note that this attack may sometimes penetrate walls, this is not intended.
* Cluster Grenade Launcher
	+ The Hunter fires a single projectile into the air. As it is coming down on the player, it splits into multiple small projectiles which explode upon impact. If a player is in the middle of the affected area, it will deal very high damage. The incoming projectile is announced by a hissing sound that moves towards the player.
* Stinger Tick Deployment
	+ From the barrel on its back, the Hunter deploys two Apocalypse "Stinger" Class Ticks.

**Melee**

* Irradiated Blade
	+ Just like the Pneumatic Blade attack of the previous classes. The attack also applies the "Radiation" status effect to the player, damaging them for several seconds after they have been hit.

## Weak Points

* Hunters can be damaged when shot in the head, but higher classes are more resilient due to armor.
* The boxes located in the "shoulders" on the left and right of the head can be shot multiple times, depending on the level of armor to shred it and expose the components. Soft-point/Hollow-Point rounds are especially effective once the armor is destroyed.
	+ On Apocalypse Class Hunters, these boxes contain radiated liquid and glow green. When shot, they will spill green liquid.
* There are three hydraulic pumps on the lower center of the torso, just above the waist. However, the head can often get in the way and their minuscule size can be difficult to shoot at.
* Aiming for their fuel tank at the back is also viable, however it is less exposed on Military and FNIX classes. Destroying this gas tank will not always kill the Hunter.
	+ On Apocalypse Class Hunters, this tank contains radiated liquid and glows green. When shot, it will spill green liquid.
* There is a battery below the fuel tank on higher classes which can focused to destroy for major damage, similar to the destruction of the fuel cell. Removing both will frequently destroy the Hunter, with the exception of Apocalypse and Rival Hunters.
* Shooting off the weapons on the Hunter will significantly weaken and damage them. The blade cannot be shot off.
	+ The shoulder mounted cannon on Apocalypse Class Hunters is extremely durable and will take increased damage from SP/HP ammo, providing a very effective weak point to focus and destroy the Hunter itself.

An effective strategy to quickly destroy a Hunter is to first stun them. This is possible by hitting them with an EMP cell, an EMP round or a melee weapon or by environmental hazard.

Placing multiple explosive tanks underneath them, running away and detonating the tanks will almost certainly kill the Hunter, as most of their weak points are either close to the ground or on their backs.

Another strategy, one that is especially useful when fighting a large group of machines, is to target the Hunter's arm-mounted weapons. It takes only a few shots from sniper rifles, or a small burst from assault rifles to knock them off, greatly decreasing the Hunter's combat effectiveness. If you then target any shoulder-mounted weapons, you can make them effectively useless as long as you remain outside of melee range.

All hunters have a chance of dropping suppressors for SMG or AR class weapons. They also drop N9 handguns (quality depends on machine class)

They often drop .44 ammo.

## Story

I never knew death was a machine. Sure, the behemoth that is the Tank is a more explosive form of death, but this… this was something else. The group was making its way through a dense forest, taking a shortcut in the hopes of reaching shelter before dark. Suddenly, we hear rustling in the leaves. Holding our breaths, we pray that it’s a wild animal. Or heck, even a Runner would be manageable. We’ve gotten quite proficient at taking those dog-like machines down, especially when our team is assembled.

But no such luck. What emerged from between the trees was larger than any of us, hunched over, swiftly and silently making a beeline for our group. Aiming one of its hands at us, it opened fire. It was meant to leave the group scattered and confused, leave us unprepared for the next attack. As it charged, the blade on its other arm caught a reflection of the setting sun. This was an apex predator, a natural born Hunter. And it was here to claim us.

Worse yet, it was far cleverer than we had anticipated: while it had us distracted, fellow machines had flanked us. It was a trap. We dispersed, trying to put any and all cover between us and the machines. They moved with grace, with a lethal intelligence that put them above the others we’d met. All we could do was flee like the prey we were, burrow ourselves under any cover we could find in the hopes it would make us invisible. And somehow, we managed to escape. Luck must have been on our side today. But I have now looked death in the face, and what I saw chilled me to the bones.

## Trivia

* Hunters are the only humanoid machines.
* Hunters are the most eager machines to deploy Ticks from their Tick pods, usually right after they see or take fire from the player.
* Hunters are one of the most unique types of FNIX machines despite not being rare to spawn like the Reaper. It is the only FNIX machine to carry a medium fuel cell, and the only humanoid robot in the game.