Hunter

Predators are alien hunters in the pursuit of honor. They were originally introduced as a launch feature for the then-new mixed game mode back when Mushroom Station was the sole map in rotation, and have since been demoted to gimmick status. While they're currently one of the least common antagonists, they still make an appearance from time to time.

Your gear

Use the Order Hunting Gear ability to retrieve your items. You'll find yourself well-equipped to go hunting. A mask with built-in thermal vision (contains a voice changer as well) and a cloaking device are helpful to spot and approach targets without being detected. Your shoes work very much like galoshes and prevent you from slipping on blood, gibs and other wet surfaces. As far as weaponry goes, you can then engage them with a laser rifle at long range or take them down with your hunting spear. The spear is a potent melee weapon and causes bleeding, and it can be thrown for an instant stun.

You also have a trophy belt for storing the skulls of your victims. A microbomb implant ensures that you won't have to endure the dishonour of being captured alive by mere prey.

Objectives

You are tasked with collecting a certain number of skulls as trophies. Some kills are more honorable than others, which means it can be rewarding to single out worthy opponents:

Job	Value
Clown	-1
Cluwne	-1
Monkey	0
Ordinary human	1
Security Officer	2
Vice Officer	2
Detective	2
Head of Personnel	2
Traitor	2
Other antagonists	2
Head of Security	3
Captain	3
Vampire	3
Wizard	3
Changeling	4
Werewolf	4
Predator	5
Macho Man	7
Omnitraitor	10

To add a skull to your collection, use the Take Trophy ability on a corpse or severed head. This will gib the target and drop all of their items (along with the skull) on the ground. Make sure you pick up the skull, the ability does not do it for you. You can examine skulls to see their exact value, and there's also the Check Trophy Value command that shows you the combined value of all skulls in your possession.

Abilities

• Significant stamina boost. You also throw somewhat more powerful punches than an ordinary crew member.
• You run faster than humans and cyborgs, ideal for hit-and-run attacks.
• Handcuffs and shackles are not a problem, since you can rip them apart instantly.
  • You can order your hunting gear when stunned and handcuffed, destroying the cuffs and cancelling out all stun effects to boot. Very situational, but it can be a nasty surprise for security if you haven't revealed your true nature yet.
• Almost every door can be pried open, breaking it permanently as if emagged.
  • Wearing an ID card overrides this ability if you could open the door in question normally.
• Predators can imitate voices with the mask's built-in voice changer. Since they "snarl" every sentence, it's generally not a very useful piece of equipment, however.

Things to know

• You don't have any special melee attacks (aside from the bonus damage) or stun resistance, and you're just as vulnerable to injuries, toxins and diseases as everybody else.
• Combined with the lack of health regeneration, you will probably want to avoid close combat unless you have the upper hand.
• Since you aren't immune to suffocation, don't forget to hook up internals to your mask when necessary.
• Wear the trophy belt around the waist, you'll probably fail the objective if you don't.
• By default, predators count as non-human for the AI and guardbuddies can see through disguises.

Tips

• The trophy belt works like any other and can hold tiny and small items, not just skulls. Unlike them, however, this includes normal-sized items (e.g. guns) as well!
• The laser rifle recharges automatically, so you aren't dependent on rechargers.
• Keep the restrictions of the cloaking device in mind. Interactions with adjacent tiles (firing your gun, trying to pry open a door, etc.) will decloak you.
  • Throwing stuff (e.g. the spear) or pulling people around doesn't disrupt the cloak.
  • If you are on the same tile, you can pick up items or attack somebody without decloaking. Be careful not to stab yourself!
• Disguises are worthwhile, but not exactly very honourable.

Conclusion

Ultimately, predators are extremely conspicuous, hated by everybody (and the AI in particular) and have no special melee attacks to speak of. You may want to play them like a traitor with fancy starting gear. Stick to the maintenance tunnels, pry open doors to various areas to gain access and prevent the AI from bolting you in. Pick off the crew one by one. The mask improves your vision in the dark, use this to your advantage to spot new prey or evade pursuers. Don't be afraid to retreat when the situation calls for it, it's better to face the enemy later under favourable circumstances than to immediately lose your spear to an assistant and then die horribly to the first passing crew member with thermals. If you're confident in your fighting abilities, a less stealthy approach may also do the trick for you.