npc_hunter
npc_hunter
is a point entity available in Half-Life 2: Episode Two. It is a three-legged synth that is large enough to be imposing, but small enough to enter buildings.
Entity description
Hunters are armed with flechette cannons, which fire bursts of needle-like projectiles that stick to physics props and explode a few seconds later. They can also lash out with one of their front legs or impale with their mandibles (seen beneath the "eyes"). They are one of the few NPCs who can perform dynamic interactions, throwing citizens (and anyone with citizen animations) to the ground and crushing their spines.
Hunters take less damage from bullets (multipled by 0.6 by default), slightly less damage from buckshot (shotgun) ammo (multiplied by 0.5 by default), and even less damage from citizens, Alyx, etc. (multiplied by 0.3 by default). Multipliers are controlled by sk_hunter_citizen_damage_scale
, sk_hunter_buckshot_damage_scale
, and sk_hunter_bullet_damage_scale
respectively. An exception to this rule is the 357, which actually multiplies damage by 1.16. Hunters also take more damage while charging, multiplied by sk_hunter_charge_damage_scale
and set to 2.0 by default. Hunters can be killed instantaneously with energy balls fired from the AR2.

In Half-Life 2: Episode Two, hunters are introduced when one of them ambushes Alyx and critically wounds her. They make several appearances throughout the game, largely in their own packs or fighting alongside Combine soldiers. They travel with striders in the ending battle, protecting them from Magnusson devices.
KeyValues
- Strider to Follow
<targetname>
- The name of the strider that this hunter should escort. They will follow the strider closely in combat and shoot down incoming Magnusson devices.
CBaseCombatCharacter:
CAI_BaseNPC:
DamageFilter:
|
Flags
- Wait Till Seen : [1]
- Prevents this NPC from seeing (or being seen) until it enters a player's viewcone.
- Gag : [2]
- Won't make IDLE sounds until it's angry.
- Fall to ground (unchecked means teleport to ground) : [4]
- Drop Healthkit : [8]
- Causes this NPC to drop an item_healthvial upon dying.
- Efficient : [16]
- Don't acquire enemies or avoid obstacles
- Wait For Script : [128]
- Forces this NPC to "wait" in an idle state until it finishes playing a scripted_sequence.
- Long Visibility/Shoot : [256]
- By default, increases a NPC's sight range to
6,000
units and allows it to attack from anywhere within that distance.
- Fade Corpse : [512]
- Think outside PVS : [1024]
- Allows this NPC to run its regular AI outside of any player's PVS.
- Template NPC : [2048]
- Marks this NPC as a template for entities like npc_template_maker. The NPC will not spawn on its own. This is not needed for point_template.
- Do Alternate collision for this NPC (player avoidance) : [4096]
- Don't drop weapons : [8192]
- Ignore player push : [16384] (in all games since
)
- Entity won't give way to player.
Inputs
FollowStrider <targetname>
- Sets the name of the strider the Hunter should escort.
SetMinigunTarget <targetname>
- Forces the Hunter to shoot its flechette cannon at the specified target
SetMinigunTime <float>
- How long the Hunter will spend firing its flechette cannon after receiving the above input.
UseSiegeTargets <string>
- The name of any npc_bullseyes to shoot at when I can't shoot at the player. Uses a single targetname that can be a wildcard.
EnableShooting
DisableShooting
- If a Hunter cannot shoot, it will try to use its melee attacks.
EnableSquadShootDelay
DisableSquadShootDelay
- Enables/disables a delay between ranged attacks from members of one Hunter squad.
EnableUnplantedShooting
DisableUnplantedShooting
- Used mainly for scripted attacks against bullseyes. Enables the hunter to shoot without having to plant its legs in the ground first. Remember to disable afterwards!
Crouch
Stand
- Crouch down / return to standing
EnableCrouchWalk
DisableCrouchWalk
- Unused. Prevented/allowed Hunters to move while crouched.
DoPhysicsBlast
- Hunter will instantly do the defensive physics blast. (Non-functional)
CAI_BaseNPC:
- ActivateSpeedModifier !FGD
- DisableSpeedModifier !FGD
- Break
- Smash into pieces. If this is not possible, disappear.
- BecomeRagdoll (in all games since
)
- Remove itself and instantly become a ragdoll with zero force (just go limp). OnDeath, etc. outputs will NOT be fired.
- ForceInteractionWithNPC <string> <string> (in all games since
)
- Force the NPC to use a dynamic interaction with another NPC. Syntax is <targetname> <dynamic interaction>.
- ForgetEntity <targetname>
- Clears out the NPC's knowledge of a named entity.
- UpdateEnemyMemory (in all games since
)
- Update (or create) this NPC's memory of of the given entity.
- GagEnable
- GagDisable
- Gagged NPCs won't speak (or moan, caw, etc.) unless made to be a choreographed scene.
- HolsterWeapon (in all games since
)
- UnholsterWeapon (in all games since
)
- Force the NPC to holster or unholster their weapon. Ignored if the NPC is scripting or if the NPC doesn't use weapons.
- HolsterAndDestroyWeapon (in all games since
)
- Same as
HolsterWeapon
, except the weapon is destroyed once it has been concealed.
- IgnoreDangerSounds <float>
- Ignore danger sounds for the specified number of seconds.
- InsideTransition !FGD
- OutsideTransition !FGD
- SetBodyGroup <integer>
- HACK: Sets this NPC's body group (from 0–n).
- SetEnemyFilter <string>
- SetHealth <integer>
- Set the NPC's health.
- SetMaxLookDistance <float> (only in
)
- Sets the maximum look distance for the NPC. Defaults are 2048 and 6000 for long range NPCs.
- SetRelationship <string|targetname or classname> <string|disposition> <int|rank>
- Changes whether this NPC likes or dislikes certain others. Used like the ai_relationship entity, with this NPC as the subject.
- Values for
disposition
are:D_HT
: HateD_FR
: FearD_LI
: LikeD_NU
: Neutral
- SetSquad <string>
- Change the name of this NPC's squad. Leaving the parameter blank will remove the NPC from any existing squad.
- StartScripting
- StopScripting
- Enter/exit scripting state, where NPCs ignore a variety of stimulus that would make them break out of their scripts. They ignore danger sounds, ignore +Use, don't idle speak or respond to other NPCs' idle speech, and so on.
- Wake
- Wakes up the NPC if it is sleeping.
CBaseCombatCharacter:
- KilledNPC !FGD
- Tells the entity it killed something. Despite the name, this can include a player. This input will be automatically sent by the victim when they die.
- physdamagescale <float>
- Scales damage energy when this character is hit by a physics object. With a value of 0 the NPC will take no damage from physics.
DamageFilter:
Outputs
|