Hunter Slime (Slime Rancher)

* Slime Rancher
* Secret Style

* Can occasionally attempt to pounce at the player, indicated by wiggling before making a jump in her direction. The Slime will turn invisible during its wiggle, leaving only its eyes and mouth visible.
* Hunter Largo variants are always feral when created.
* Hunter Largos will go feral again if they are sufficiently agitated, either from hunger or other sources.
* Feral Hunter Largos can be calmed with Food or with the Taming Bell

The **Hunter Slime** is a relatively rare Slime that inhabits The Moss Blanket and The Glass Desert. While the pure slimes themselves are docile and pose no threat to the player, their Largo variants are always in a feral state when created, and if tamed can turn feral again when sufficiently agitated.

Hunter Slimes are one of the four feline-based slimes, along with Taming Bells, Lucky Slimes and Saber Slimes.

## Slimepedia Entry

***Slimeology:***

*The Hunter Slime is the wild cousin of the tabby slime. A much more capable creature than the playful tabbies, the hunter slime excels at stalking the chickens of the Far, Far Range.*

*A hunter slime's slimological makeup allows for a natural cloaking ability that renders it almost completely invisible. Their only tell is in their giant, almond eyes, which can often be seen hovering in the dark. This effect is often described by unsuspecting ranchers as 'aaaahhhhHHH!'*

***Rancher Risks:***

*A hunter slime has keen senses and can detect its prey from great distances. This makes finding a good location for their corrals challenging.*

*Additionally, the wild nature of the hunter is also passed on to any largos formed from its plorts. A newly created hunter largo will always be feral! A prepared rancher knows that breeding hunter largos should always be done slowly, with a few chickens on hand to calm them down.*

***Plortonomics:***

*Amazingly, a serum can be made from hunter slime plorts that can actually render a person invisible! The effect only lasts for about a day, but this serum is nonetheless incredibly popular back on Earth as many people find its effects very soothing.*

*Sometimes you feel like you just want to disappear for a while. But then about a day goes by and you realize that not only did you miss being seen, but others missed seeing you too.*

## Tips

* To find the Hunter Slime, it is recommended to find them within Mushroom Lake of The Moss Blanket or in the specific oasis in The Glass Desert. However, due to the large abundance of slimes and food variety in both locations it may be possible for them to already become a largo when you find them at the spot.
* Due to the Hunter Slime's rarity and difficulty finding them when invisible, the most guaranteed way to obtain Hunter Largos for your ranch without snaring their Gordos is to obtain their plorts from a subsection of The Moss Blanket called Feral Path, since feral Hunter Largos spawn in abundance there.
* Be wary of their Largos. Freshly-transformed Hunter Largos will always be feral and calmed Largos can go Feral again when agitated enough. Feed them, or use a Taming Bell to calm it down.
* Hunter Slimes make a distinctive muffled whooshing sound when they turn invisible. Listening for that sound could help you find one!
	+ They are easier to see with high-quality shaders, as they warp the background.
* Hunter Slimes can detect a meal from long distances, and because of that, you need to either get High Walls or Air Net upgrade on their corrals or place the food far enough so that it doesn't know whether it is nearby.
* Since their primary diet is Meat, turning them into a Largo that has a favourite Fruit or Veggie is recommended.

## Changelog

* **1.4.2** - Fixed an issue with hunter largo mouths.
* **(Unknown)** - Saber Hunter largos now appropriately go invisible when readying a pounce.
* **1.4.0** - *(Undocumented)* Hunter Largos now correctly pounce towards the player.
* **1.3.0** - Fixed bug where some slimes (and especially Hunter Largos) stayed happy and calm and were not becoming agitated, even under the most extreme circumstances.
* **0.6.0** - A bug where especially agitated feral Hunters would immediately turn feral again when calmed by the Taming bell was fixed.
* **0.5.0** - Hunter Largos that get sufficiently agitated will revert to their feral form.
* **0.3.5** - Hunter Slimes are remade and added into the game.
	+ **0.3.5b** - Their spawn rates have been slightly increased.
	+ **0.3.5c** - A grammatical error in its Slimepedia entry was fixed.
* **Before 0.2.0** - Implementation of Hunter Slimes into the game's code, though unfinished. They borrow their model from the Tabby Slime and their plorts are untextured and unsellable.

## Origin

The Hunter Slime may be based on the European wildcat, a species of small cats with a reputation for being near-impossible to raise as pets. Like the Hunter Slime, they are often found in forests, typically have dark fur, and sport a bushy tail. This is in contrast to the Tabby Slime which is based on the African wildcat, a species of small cat which is the ancestor of the domestic cat. Conceptually, the Hunter Slime may draw some inspiration from the Cheshire Cat, due to its ability to turn invisible while still showing its eyes and mouth.

The Hunter Slime's Secret Style - Cheshire - directly references Disney's Cheshire Cat.

## Trivia

* The Hunter Slime spawns in zones where Tabby Slimes can also spawn.
* A Hunter Slime or Largo's Pounce does not count towards the Boop! achievement.
* The Cocoa Slime Lamp does not sport the Hunter Slime's unique face.
* Before its release, its tooltip stated: ***"Like a wolf in slime's clothing... that looks more like a cat, really."***