Hamster

The **Killer Hamster** or **Sabretooth Hamster** is an enemy that currently appears in Story Mode, Survival mode (usually in the later stages of the map), and Deathmatch (if the Leg of Meat is present). Spawning in the harder waves of survival mode, Killer Hamster is a sizable foe, taking many hits with most weapons to kill. It attacks by biting the player, which is an instant kill, unless you have an Shield Belt loaded with batteries. The screen will go into bullet time when the Hamster is biting near the player.

The Killer Hamster is an "organic" enemy, meaning it is not affected by Flashbangs or any other weapon specifically designed for use against robots. Notable is its large size, health and tenacity; the Hamster takes many hits to destroy with any gun. Explosives are much more effective in helping kill a Hamster, with it usually taking around about three explosions to kill. A Thermal Bomb does understandably more damage, but keep in mind that a Hamster will survive at least one. As a Hamster takes more and more damage, it will lose an eye, both ears and two of its legs. However, this does not leave it with any less mobility or perception. Though tough, Hamsters have no defensive properties whatsoever, including weak points/strong points, nor defensive instincts.

Hamsters are surprisingly agile and speedy and this should not be underestimated. Hamsters move with successive short hops and while occasionally a Hamster must first build up speed, either recovering from knockback or a direction shift, it can easily give chase and it is not advised to fight one in a confined area. Also giving advantage to its surprising speed, Hamsters can perform a leap. This can be seen by a Hamster crouching down onto its haunches, before springing forward. The distance can vary slightly, but it is always at a veritable speed, higher than that of its attainable land speed. One should note that if a Hamster is left to pounce and run, it can technically outrun the player. Sometimes a Hamster's pounce will sail over the player if he/she is crouching.

Hamsters only have the one attack; that is to bite the player. This is threatening enough to generate bullet-time, with it going at one of its slower instances. This attack is relatively quick, and though the Hamster's AI will not really take advantage of the fact, the attack can be performed dangerously successive. If the player does not have any sort of shielding, a bite will instantly kill him/her, though the attack's effective range is easily avoidable with a roll in the opposite direction. At a certain distance, the bite will also draw you in, so be careful.

The Killer Hamster is featured in the Cobalt Launcher icon, albeit a seemingly more robotic version.

## Strategies

Due to the Hamsters large health and resistance, the best gun you can get is advised, particularly a Missile Launcher (and even though the Beam Gun can quickly kill lots of smaller enemies, it won't work well due to the hamster being large). Grenades of any sort also help. When being faced downhill, Grenades are incredibly useful for their ability to spam and roll down, and importantly, away from the player, leading to an assault on their target. Stick Grenades typically have a larger, more powerful explosion, but must be thrown clear. Flash Bangs will not stun a Hamster, and if one is caught in the blast, can lead to an untimely demise. A Hamster will generally take about three explosions at full health before succumbing.

If one encounters a Hamster suddenly or is otherwise without sufficient means to kill it, you can easily jump up onto a Hamsters head or body, where you can plug away shots and hits at it, relatively out of harms way. When the Hamster moves about you can typically stay on with little effort, but a leap or otherwise sufficient movement can make the player "slide" off.

The most notable issue when dealing with a Hamster is to keep distance, as their attack can only harm you at close range. Although, this is not always the case, as if a Hamster is equipped with a gun (notable in custom maps and the survival arena Sandswept), it can "spit out" bullets at you, though only if in direct line of fire.

Hamsters will typically spawn in the later stages of a match with players often somewhat prepared, though can still be surprising. In the map Desert Hills, a Hamster will spawn right off the bat, so be weary.