Primary Attack: Pounce (short to medium range)
Secondary Attack: Claw (short range)
Strengths: Human-sized; hides easily; movement difficult to target; very fast attack
Weaknesses: Useless at range; very poor health
Audible Clues: A guttural growling
Description : The Hunter can scale walls with incredible speed, leap great distances, and—if it manages to pounce - rip Survivors apart with its claws.
Once a Hunter has pounced on a Survivor, it will keep attacking until that Survivor is dead, or until a teammate shoots or Melee Shoves it off.
Hunters are incredibly fast and quiet, and will make short work of a Survivor straggling behind the other teammates.
Tactics For Survivors
- Did you wander away from the herd? Then expect a Hunter attack, which can be quickly nullified if friends are nearby. However, expect a bloody death if your team has become less cohesive and has moved apart from one another.
- Hunters attack quickly and mostly without your having the chance to accurately repel the fiends. However, this fast-moving foe growls and leaps, giving you (and a friend backing you up) the chance to react, especially if the Hunter is lining up an attack, or attempting to hide. Just like the Charger, once the pounce connects, the victim is prone and helpless. It only takes about ten seconds to become incapacitated.
- Fortunately, Hunters are extremely weak at range, allowing you to tag them in the head (with some precise shooting) before they can scamper into pouncing range. This is the optimal spot for a Hunter takedown. If you can’t avoid the pounce, try a Melee Shove to repel the beast away from you. Follow it up with gunfire or melee attacks and don’t stop until the Infected crumples.
- Help a pounced victim right away (a rescued but wounded friend is better than an incapacitated one). Hack at it with Melee Weapons if you’re close enough, as it can’t attack the rescuer. Shoot its head at range. It has a relatively weak constitution compared to tougher foes, so try for a single headshot kill.
Tactics For Hunted
- The Hunter is one of the few Special Infected that has a more “human-like” appearance, and is able to blend in with groups of Common Infected (up to a point), as well as lurk in shadows. Use this to your advantage, so you can line up the most accurate pounce possible.
- Like a wolf stalking a lamb, only attempt to savage a Survivor that is on their own because you’re easily killed when you strike near a group of humans, unless they are already under attack. If this is the case, back up other Special Infected by causing a distraction, or leap on a foe already firing at another Special Infected attack that’s under way.
- Humans venture away from their group (and are ripe for a pounce) when they are investigating new areas, are returning to grab items or Health they already found, or when they think they’re safe because they’re running to a Safe Room. Make them pay for this lack of fear! If you can coordinate an attack with a second Special Infected, you can lay waste to a pair of Survivors without being counterattacked easily.
- As with other Special Infected, you should use your pounce at the optimal moment. Try leaping down from above or behind bushes instead of simply waiting in a crouched position. Running in to claw a foe who is close to death can be a better use of your attacks. Also, gauge your distance. If you can achieve a pounce attack from a long way away, you inflict more damage when you connect.
- Survivors covered in Bile are a delicious treat for the Hunter, as the summoned Common Infected create a shield that allows the Hunter to savage a pounced victim. The rescuers have to fight through the Horde, which adds valuable slaughtering time to your attack.