Retch

— **Retch description**

**Retches** are bloated mutated zombies. They belong to the Reeker family of the Ridden, which also include the Basic Reeker, Exploder, and Shredder variants. All Reeker variants feature a morbidly-inflated body that explodes on death, leading to disastrous effects for any Cleaner unfortunate enough to be caught in it.

## Overview

All Reeker variants can be effective at close range and confined spaces, each with access to a melee attack and a death explosion.

The Retch is most effective at longer range. It possess a long-ranged vomit attack which causes it to spew a stream of caustic acid. This acid can deal direct damage to targets it hits, and temporarily leaves small pools of acid in the environment which will damage victims walking through it. The Retch is the most vulnerable Reeker variant and has a slightly weaker melee attack.
Upon death, the Retch's body releases an acid that deals damage to everyone standing in the impacted area.

### Abilities

**Melee Attack**
—Heavy-Hitting melee swipes.

The Retch strikes the Cleaner with its fist.

**Vomit**
—A stream of vomit spewed forward at high speed, creating pools of acid.

The Retch spews a stream of highly corrosive acid at the Cleaners. The attack leaves a temporary caustic puddle in the environment that deals damage to Cleaners who walk on it. The Retch will have movement penalties for a few seconds, after puking.

**Charge**
—Charge forward at high speed, damaging and stumbling into everything in the way.

### Upgrades (Swarm Mode only):

For the Reeker/Retch/Exploder/Shredder upgrades see it here.

## Strategy

* **Maintain a safe distance away from it.** Melee weapons, while effective at killing them, are ill-advised to use against a Retch as the player will put themselves in proximity of the inevitable death explosion.
* **Target the head.** The Retch has a prominent growth *on its head* that presents a distinct weak point. Keep shooting at it for an effective kill.
* **Avoid and exploit the vomit's trajectory.** The Retch's vomit attack covers a great distance and leaves a damaging puddle wherever it lands. This is especially dangerous when you are in a confined space as you have less freedom to avoid it, so always try to fight the Retch while out in the open. *Sprinting* perpendicular (left or right) to the trajectory can help avoid the vomit, sometimes completely.
* **Kill it quick or mark it.** Retches typically retreat after using their vomit ability. It is best to kill it as soon as possible to avoid further vomiting. Marking it would be useful for coordination or tracking. Upon its cooldown refreshing, they will return to be in range of the Cleaners.
	+ They also almost always spawn on strategically located areas such as a higher ground, farther away in an open area, or just anywhere that would be hard to reach immediately. It would be effective to search those areas upon detecting Retch warning indicators. The vomit attack is also one of the quickest ways for the Retch to expose its own position, so be sure to tag it from wherever it attacks from.
* **Maneuver the Charge.** The Retch's Charging ability is only in a straight line and can't go above/on top of obstacles. Moving to the left or right rather than the same direction of its path is most effective of dodging it, and quickly securing its demise while also avoiding the death explosion.

## Notes

* Due to their appearance and abilities, all Reekers bear a striking resemblance to Boomers from the *Left 4 Dead* series. In contrast, Reekers are physically tougher than those stipulated above and can endure far more damage before exploding.
	+ In particular, the Retch's vomit attack is very similar in function and appearance to that of a Boomer's.
	+ Additionally, the caustic damage of the Retch's vomit is very similar to the Spitter's acid attack from the aforementioned game's sequel. Both of their attacks also linger on the ground for a set duration and serve as hazardous traps for the player team.

* The Retch share one same thing with the Stalker, and the Crusher. Which is their weakspot being on their head.
	+ Both the Retch and Exploder share the same health pool in every difficulty, except in swarm mode.
	+ Unlike Exploder and Reeker, the Retch leave pool of stomach acid instead of slowing pus.

## Gallery

Retch concept art by Gue Yang.Retch vomit concept art by Justin Cherry.Retch vomit concept art by Justin Cherry.Promotional material featuring lore text of the Retch.Retch charging towards to the survivors.The Retch vomiting onto the player.Attack of the Exploder, Tallboy, and RetchThe Retch shown with its ability, in the (nearest) right side on the Mutations icon.Justin Cherry Realtime VFX 2021 - -Reel 1 of 6 -Retch & TallboyVFX Reel featuring the Retch by Justin Cherry.