Walkers

Walkers are the main antagonists in No Man's Land and are present in most missions.

## Walker's Basic Behavior

All walkers behave according to the following rules.

It is worth noting that the game animation will sometimes appear to show things happening in a different order to the rules lined out below. This is simply a graphical issue, usually having to do with the fact that the game's graphic engine prefers to keep walkers and survivors still while showning the different popups affecting them.

#### Alert modes

* Walkers have 3 alert modes:
	+ **Unaware**: The Walker does not move. If alerted by sound, they will become wandering. There will be a small sign above the walker's head indicating it can hear the sound (note that this is the same sign as for proximity). Unaware walkers can safely be passed.
	+ **Wandering**: The Walker moves around the map in random directions.
	+ **Aggressive**: The walker always walks towards a survivor, and will attack it if it reaches it.
		- Note that in maps with Freemen/Raiders, these will be considered targets in the same way as your survivors.
	+ A unaware or wandering walker that gets within *close range* to a survivor will become aggressive. There will be a small sign above the walker's head indicating this. The distance is 3 tiles in a straight line sideways, except for fast walkers that will be alerted if 4 tiles away.
	+ If you try to walk past a non-unaware walker, the line will turn red to warn you that there is a risk of the walker being able to hit you. The chance is 15%, and each walker you pass gets to try to hit you.
		- Some leader traits (like Huntsman Daryl's Prowl or Beta's Herd) will allow you to pass walkers without risking getting hit
		- Crippled, herded, stunned or walkers lured by a flare can be passed safely (but not rooted walkers)

### Walker Order of Action

* Walkers perform their turn (move and/or attack) in sequence, one-by-one, with each walker completing its turn before the next walker starts its actions.
* The **closest** walker (see distance chart below) will always act first, followed by the second closest, etc. Note that by closest it means closest to any survivor (including Freemen).
	+ So, a walker directly to the next to a survivor will act before a walker one step directly to the right away, which will act before one being one step diagonally away from the survivor.
	+ If two walkers are at equal priority to move, the order is based on relative "age", i.e. the walker having been the longest time on the map moves first. Think of it as the initial walkers on the map having rank 1,2,3 etc, and walkers spawning later getting continually higher numbers
	+ If walkers are equally close and having spawned at the same time, the order will still be predetermined depending on which walker is first in the game engine's walker array, but it is usually not practically possible to determine the order in advance.
* Note that status effects like herded, crippled etc do not have any impact on the order of action, nor do the survivor portrait order impact it in any way.

### Walker movement

* The walker will first designate its target (based on distance, and if several targets are at equal distance, on portrait order), after it will make a full move (if needed) to reach it. If, after completing its movement, it standing next to the target, an attack will be made on the closest target.
	+ Note that fences, hard corners and other obstacles are considered as blocking an attack, so a walker next to its target, but with a fence in between, will try to move around the fence (or just move randomly, if the fence blocks access to the survivor).
	+ There was a bug during game versions 5.8-5.9 where walkers can attack through fences, so if it ends its turn next to its target on the other side of a fence, it will attack. This was fixed in game update 6.0.
	+ Note that Line of Sight (LOS) might affect the target designation. Scroll down for more info on LOS.
	+ Raiders/Freemen are considered targets in the same way as survivors, but only if they are within *close range* of the walkers.
* If the walker already is next to a target, it will not move but will attack
	+ There is a known bug (?) where walkers sometimes will move. The mechanics of this behavior is not known.
* Walkers usually only move 2 spaces maximum, either sideways or diagonally (fast walkers can move 3 tiles in any direction, while crippled walkers or walkers starting the round influenced by Tyreese's circles can only move 1 step).
	+ If the walker needs to make one straight move and one diagonal move, it will prefer to move diagonally first, then straight. Note that this consideration is done for its whole path - i.e. if a walker needs to move 8 steps sideways and 1 step diagonally to eventually reach its target, it will make the diagonal moves as its very first move.
	+ Walkers do not have any penalty for moving though other walkers, so adjacent walkers will not impact the movement choice as it does for your survivors
	+ The below illustration shows how walkers will move towards their target, assuming there are no obstacles:
* The walker will try to reach its target by moving, to the closest unoccupied tile next to the target. If the walker cannot reach the target tile in one turn, it will try to get closer to their target during their movement turn.
* They will never make a move which makes their end position further away than where they started.
* If two paths are equally close, walkers will move according to predetermined rules as shown below in section "walker movement preference".
	+ Walkers have a preference for movement over standing still so they will make sideways moves to positions equally close. This usually happens if the hero is already surrounded by walkers.
* When the walker cannot possibly reach the target due to a blocking obstacle, it will move around randomly usually in an up and right direction
	+ a. Other walkers are not considered obstacles.
	+ b. Typical example of obstacles are closed gates and doors.
	+ c. Other survivors are also considered obstacles.
	+ d. Impassable tiles (disregarding the map edges). If the passable tiles next to the target are already occupied by walkers, and the target survivor is also standing next to an impassable tile that would otherwise be selected as the target tile, the walkers will move away.
* Walkers have a preference of whom to attack:
	+ Walkers always attack the closest survivors (see distance chart below). Note that this might not be the same as the chosen target when the walker started its move.
	+ Note that the distance is calculated using Pythagoras' theorem, and obstacles do not have any impact on this calculation.
	+ If there are multiple survivors at equal distance, then the walker will prioritize the survivor based by the portrait order, with the team leader having the highest priority, the middle portrait next, and the bottom portrait the lowest priority.
	+ If the walker did not reach its intended target it will not attack, even if there is another survivor next to it.

If the walker needs to walk around an obstacle, and it has two options that are equally good, it will always deviate according to this pattern:

#### Walker movement preference

The rule of thumb is that walkers normally prefer **Right + Up + Left + Down**, **except** when moving directly towards right, when they prefer to move down instead of up.

#### Line of Sight & Close Range

All Walkers always know where all survivors are, and will move towards the closest target as outlined above. However, at *close range*, Line of Sight will also impact the targeting decision.

Close range is the same as the walker's alert range, which is 2-3 tiles for most walkers and 3-4 tiles for Fast walkers and Metalheads:

If a survivor is within close range of the walker but completely hidden behind a obstacle, another visible survivor within close range will be targeted instead. So in the picture below on the left, survivors A and B are both hidden behind a wall. Survivor C is also within short range, so it will be the designated target, even though it is further away than both A and B. On the picture below to the right, the survivor C is outside the walker's close range, so will not be considered and instead the closest target (B) will be targeted (with A or B being actually attacked based on portrait order).

## Types of Walkers

Walkers' damage and health depends on their level, which increases steadily from level 1-53. At level 54 there is a big jump in damage, which means that especially the Master Missions in the late stage of the Challenge means that a hit from a walker will usually guarantee that you get into struggle with the walker. No mission will start at a level above 54, but the threat counter will keep spawning walkers of higher and higher levels, but their stats will not increase after level 60.

In the Last Stand there are also **Elite** walkers, which have doubled health and 50% more damage than their regular versions.

Walkers damage variation is always 10%.

### Normal Walkers

This walker is the game's default walker, featuring only the basics of a walker.

*Normal walker. Dangerous in groups.*

### Armored Walkers

Armored walkers are a type of Walker which still carry their body armor and helmets around.

For that reason, they are Bullet Proof. **It means that there is a very high chance (75%) your ranged attack against them will result in a Body Shot**, regardless of which level they are. These walkers are marked with a police shield sign.

Armored walkers have more health compared to normal walkers, so combined with their high resistance to ranged weapons, they are a very tough enemy for any ranged class.

*Bullets are less likely to be effective.*

### Tank Walkers

**Their attacks are capable of stunning your survivors for 1 turn** – be careful when approaching them in close quarters combat (or use stun resist armor)! **Also, keep in mind that their attacks are always Non-bodyshot.** Note that Tanks' Critical Attacks do the same damage as normal attacks.

**Their massive amount of Health makes it difficult to kill them quickly**.

*Strong. Can stun you with one punch.*

### Spiked Walkers

Spiked walkers are big walkers with spikes pushed through their bodies. **They have high health and are stun and herd resistant.** Also, keep in mind that **their attacks are always Non-bodyshot.**

**Attacks by spiked walkers cause your survivor to bleed.** If your survivor enters a struggle with a spiked walker, **they die immediately** (unless protected by the Commonwealth Armor support).

*A massive, hulking walker pierced through with rusted metal spikes. Attacks are always non-body shots.*

### Goo Walkers

**Goo walkers** are tank walkers that have absorbed a lot of water becoming bloated and gooey. They have **high health** and are **stun and herd resistant**. Their attacks stun survivors for 1 turn. Also, keep in mind that **their attacks are always Non-bodyshot**.

When killed with ranged attacks, Goo walkers have a chance to explode causing threat. The explosion doesn’t deal any damage but stuns all survivors, heroes and human enemies in the range of the explosion.

*A strong walker, ready to burst if punctured with great force. Attacks are always non-body shots.*

### Metalhead Walkers

These terrifying walkers are covered in steel, making them **resistant to damage** (25% Damage Reduction, and 25% resistance to all ranged attacks). Additionally, the metal coating allows them to deflect the shots of Hunter and Assault survivors, **so while they will take some damage from those classes, the bullets won't penetrate to the walkers standing behind them.**

*Fortified and damage resistant, bullets ricochet off their metal-coated upper bodies.*

Metalheads were introduced in the 3.0 Update (December 2018).

### Exploder Walkers

These are former soldiers who carry explosives on their belts and are marked by a grenade icon. This walker has higher health, but will explode immediately if hit by a ranged attack (and never if hit by a melee attack).

Explosions have a chance to ignite any surviving walkers in the range and make them burning walkers. Other exploding walkers in the radius explode in a chain reaction.

Notice that explosions also **cause threat** so be careful whether you trigger an explosion in overwatch or not.

*Shoot to explode the walker, or use hand-to-hand for a silent takedown. Damages everyone within the explosion radius.*

### Fast Walkers

This walker can move 3 spaces away (including 3 steps diagonally).

*More agile than other walkers.*

### Commonwealth Walkers

*Resistant to status effects. Resistance falls based on their HP:*

* 100-75% HP = 100% Status effect resistance - 4 red dots
* 75-50% HP = 75% Status effect resistance - 3 red dots
* 50-25% HP = 50% Status effect resistance - 2 red dots
* 25-0% HP = 25% Status effect resistance - 1 red dot