Brawler:
Description - If a Predator has great strength, speed, and endurance, it trains to become a Brawler. The Brawler is both a tireless scout and vicious front-line fighter. It is revered for its bravery and its ability to successfully attack any kind of foe at close range, no matter how dangerous it might be.
Default Weapon - Wrist BladesAs a matter of pride and honor, the Brawler relies upon one weapon only - its wrist blades. To many Predators, this is a humble weapon, but in truth, it is quite formidable, possessing a sharpness and strength achieved by no species save the Predators. Through its wrist blades, a skilled Brawler is a whirlwind of destruction, slicing, dismembering, and gutting enemies with alarming rapidity.
Characteristics - Channeled Fury Once a Brawler starts attacking an opponent, it uses its training to channel its battle rage into an unrelenting stream of ruthless, cleaving blows. Only the largest, most skilled, or most heavily armored opponents can withstand this attack and actually fight back. Lesser enemies can only try to survive the assault or run from it, but not counterattack.
Characteristics - Lightning Reflexes The Brawler is quick enough to strike leaping Facehuggers mid-flight. This knocks the Facehugger away and often kills it in the process. While a Brawler's reflexes are quick enough to protect it from any number of uncoordinated Facehugger attacks, they cannot protect the Brawler from being overwhelmed by multiple Facehuggers attacking simultaneously.
Upgrade - Glory Strike The veteran Brawler develops an uncanny ability to deliver the perfect blow amid its furious onslaught. Such a strike does extreme damage and is frequently accompanied by the Brawler's hallmark battle cry. When a Brawler delivers a killing blow in this way, it is often spectacular - Brawlers are known to decapitate their enemies in a single strike as a method of demoralizing their subsequent victims.
Strengths - The Brawler is an excellent all-around combatant. Its savage assault prevents most smaller enemies from counterattacking or escaping and its armor-slicing claws are potent against larger, more heavily armored opponents. In numbers, Brawlers can bring down almost any enemy, though sometimes without the cost efficiency of more specialized Predators. The Brawler's speed and durability also make it an excellent scout; it can often survive surprise encounters with even heavy resistance.
Weaknesses - For all its strength and speed, the Brawler is still only a conventional melee fighter, and one that is frequently outnumbered by its enemies. It can be overwhelmed by multiple melee attackers engaging it simultaneously. Experienced Brawlers are particularly wary of even small groups of close assault Marines, such as the Infantry and the Flamethrower Marine.
Hunter:
Description - As its name implies, the Hunter excels at attacking its prey from range. It is dangerous whether playing the lone assassin or providing massed fire support for front line combatants. Predator vision mode enhancements are particularly useful for the Hunter, since they allow it to take maximum advantage of its long range plasma caster and strike targets from beyond their field of view.
Default Weapon - Plasma CasterThe plasma caster is a long-range energy projector capable of guiding armor-penetrating plasma bolts at distant targets. Moreover, the weapon's bolts explode in a burst of plasma shrapnel that damages other enemies near the point of impact. By default, the weapon's attack range is greater than the Hunter's visual range. Predator vision modes change this relationship, however, enabling the Hunter to act as a sniper.
Upgrade - Omni Caster A bio-scanner and a multi-barreled firing mechanism enables this weapon to analyze targets and attack them with various types of plasma munitions. There are three kinds: 1) burst plasma, 2) fire plasma, and 3) dark plasma. Burst plasma is identical to that fired by the plasma caster. Fire plasma ignites targets. And dark plasma causes a controlled energy reaction that correlates its damage to the mass of a target, enabling the weapon to kill any enemy with a limited number of hits.
Strengths - The Hunter is best used with Predator vision upgrades. With them, it can attack enemies from well outside their visual ranges - ideal for preemptive elimination of enemies that nulify the advantages of Predator cloaking. When upgraded, the Hunter's dark plasma is devastating against heavier "tank" enemies; no known opponent can survive more than ten shots from this munition. The weapon attempts to keep its target on fire, while striking it with whatever plasma causes the most damage.
Weaknesses - While the Hunter is an excellent choice when used from standoff range, it is less useful in close combat. The Hunter has neither the rate of fire nor the armor to survive long against close range melee attackers. It should be particularly wary of Runners, since they are able to get into melee range quickly. Against Marines, the Hunter should strive to remain undetected as much as possible. Massed Marine fire at range can make short work of a Hunter that has been caught off guard.
Spear Master:
Description - Among Predators, the Spear Master is recognized for its superior combat agility, mental focus, and dedication to craft. A Spear Master is one with its weapon, wielding it with a sublime grace seemingly impossible in the imperfect world of practical reality. It can keep a single enemy at bay indefinitely, send a horde of attackers hurling backwards with a single blow, or assassinate prey by surprise with a single, perfectly placed impalement attack.
Default Weapon - Spear (Combistick)The Spear Master wields a single weapon - its spear. It is exceedingly sharp and resilient, though it does not have the armor-cleaving abilities of a wrist blade. The spear's advantage is that it can parry melee attacks, smacking aside claw and tooth as if they were hardly relevant. This only works on less skilled or smaller opponents, however - a sweeping Ravager hull blade simply cannot be stopped by a creature as small as a Predator no matter how skilled it might be.
Characteristics - Whirlwind Battle Method When a Spear Master is surrounded by attackers, it executes its whirlwind battle method. This sweeping, spinning attack lands a blow on each enemy around the Spear Master - a blow of sufficient strength to parry most attacks and send smaller targets flying. However, it requires a fair amount of room to execute without causing collateral damage, so the Spear Master refrains from performing it when too close to more than a handful of allies.
Characteristics - Impalement Battle Method If the Spear Master attacks an enemy while undetected through cloaking, it is able to deliver a critical strike of unmatched strength. The Spear Master relies on its extensive training to deliver a deep, impaling blow in a way that sidesteps its opponent's armor entirely. Whether through an eye slit or a soft juncture between chitinous plates, this blow often kills its opponent outright.
Characteristics - Phoenix Armor As a rite of passage, every aspiring Spear Master must kill a Vy'drach (Phoenix) with only a spear. This winged beast lives in the infernal deserts of the Predator homeworld, surviving hear and radiation strong enough to bake most life forms. If the Predator kills the Vy'drach, its hide is fashioned into armor its nemesis wears for life. Like the Vy'drach itself, this armor is uniquely resilient to fire, energy, and radiation.
Characteristics - Conductive Recharge A special armor-working process applied to the conductive vessels in Vy'drach scales enables the Spear Master to recharge its energy supply when struck by fire or energy-based attacks.
Characteristics - Lightning Reflexes The Spear Master is quick enough to strike leaping Facehuggers mid-flight. This knocks the Facehugger away and often kills it in the process. While a Spear Master's reflexes are quick enough to protect it from any number of uncoordinated Facehugger attacks, they cannot protect the Spear Master from being overwhelmed by multiple Facehuggers attacking simultaneously.
Upgrade - Plasma Glaive Veteran Spear Masters acquire the deadly plasma glaive as a symbol of their status. This double-bladed weapon seethes with white hot plasma that burns through enemy armor, giving it greater penetrating power than a standard spear. The plasma glaive automatically increases its power output in proportion to the number of enemies it is striking. During the execution of a whirlwind battle method, this power output calibration can add significantly to the overall damage inflicted.
Strengths - Against Aliens, the Spear Master is the premier "crowd control" combatant. It is able to wade into a sea of lesser Aliens and leave a trail of dead in its wake. Against Marines and Aliens alike, the Spear Master is useful for safely killing small numbers of enemies with hit-and-run assassination attacks. The Spear Master's phoenix armor also makes it ideal for countering Flamethrower Marines and upgraded SADAR Troopers. The Spear Master is feared by some Predators for its near immunity to plasma weaponry.
Weaknesses - The Spear Master lacks the strength to deflect the strikes of any Alien larger than a Warrior. These enemies make quick work of the Spear Master, particularly when attacking in numbers. The Spear Master should also avoid transbreed Aliens that have been frenzied by a War Empress. They are abnormally strong and cannot be fended. Against Marines, the Spear Master is vulnerable to massed fire and often cannot inflict casualties fast enough to prevent terminal retaliation.
Stalker:
Description - The Stalker is the Predator equivalent of the Marine Sniper; it has the largest range of any Predator and it is the stealthiest, in that it can maintain cloaked status for far longer periods than the others. Like the Hunter, the Stalker strongly benefits from enhanced vision mode upgrades, since its weapon significantly outranges its default field of view.
Default Weapon - Spear Gun The Stalker's spear gun is an unusually potent weapon. First, it enables the Stalker to fire at opponents from extreme range. Second, its strike is hard to trace to its firing point - the weapon's impact reveals firing direction, but little else. Third, it produces no detectable phenomena at its firing point, enabling the Stalker to fire at enemies from close range without fear of being detected.
Characteristics - Deep Infiltration The Stalker wears a unique low-energy suit with microweave optical channeling that enables it to stay cloaked for far longer than if it used the conventional Predator cloaking mechanism. This benefit comes at a price, however, as the suit is fragile, provides no armor, and prevents the Stalker from moving quickly.
Characteristics - Telescoptics The Stalker gains significantly greater benefits from vision mode upgrades than other Predators, enabling it to scout for prey at extreme distances.
Upgrade - Bleeder Spears When upgraded, the Stalker's weapon becomes a monstrous thing, designed to enhance the drama of the hunt at the cruel expense of its victims. Standard spears are replaced with "bleeder spears", hideously barbed harpoons that drain their victims' vital fluid levels to just above the point of death. This makes prey more satisfying to hunt; bringing once mighty prey to a pathetic state, bleeding profusely, almost crawling to escape - to many Predators, this is the essence of an epic hunt.
Strengths - When commanded properly, the Stalker is devastating. It can severely degrade enemies from long range while cloaked, all but eliminating their ability to respond in any meaningful fashion. The upgraded Stalker is even better at this role, since it can slay an entire platoon of Marines on its own, by bleeding them to just above the point of death before delivering a round of finishing blows.
Weaknesses - While exceedingly powerful in many ways, the Stalker has weaknesses to match. It has no armor, moves slowly, and is the most physically frail of Predators. Its spears are deadly, but they have little ability to penetrate even moderately hardened armors. Robotic enemies are quite dangerous to the Stalker, since they typically have hard armor and ignore weapons that cause bleeding in organic creatures. Cloak detectors are also a danger, as detection often means death to the Stalker.
Disc Master:
Description - Predators giften with exceptional intelligence and focus become Disc Masters, warriors that mentally command their discs to strike multiple targets simultaneously. When basking in the full glory of battle, a single Disc Master routinely keeps three discs aloft at once, each of which can attack three targets before returning home. While other Predators are attacking a single target, the Disc Master is attacking nine, a feat that does not go unnoticed by its fellow clan members.
Default Weapon - Disc The Predator disc is dangerous because of its capabilities against large numbers of enemies. It has a razor sharp edge, unerring mental guidance systems, and the ability to continue flight after its initial impact. Because of these attributes, a competent Disc Master can be expected to quickly damage many targets, no matter how agile they might be. Moreover, the disc is initially thrown with sufficient force to drive back those opponents without substantial armor or large size.
Upgrade - Nanovibronic Edge When upgraded, the Disc Master gains a set of nine nanovibronic discs. These discs possess a high-speed molecular chainsaw around their circumference that can tear through even hardened composite armors. Worse, each Disc Master is trained in the art of Ka'Ri, or "death from within". This involves embedding three nanovibronic discs in an armored opponent and activating each disc's "haywire mode". Needless to say, few enemies fare well with berserk ripping machines embedded in their internals.
Strengths - The Disc Master is best employed in a support role against enemies that are easily disrupted by the initial impact of each disc. Most Marines and all Aliens less powerful than a Predalien fall into this category. When upgraded, the Disc Master becomes an excellent all-around support Predator, stunning or tearing apart light and heavy enemies alike. This capability only magnifies in numbers - a large group can unleash a veritable hurricane of discs few enemies can penetrate.
Weaknesses - For all its skill at degrading throngs of enemies in combat, the Disc Master is actually fairly weak in one-on-one or front-line combat. It is not as tough as other Predators, and its standard discs have little ability to damage or stun armored opponents. It is for these reasons that Disc Masters are taught to rely upon peers for defense. That, and the hard-earned battle wisdom that it is better to kill one enemy than damage ten, since the dead one cannot strike back....
Vanguard:
Description - A clan's most seasoned close combat veterans become Vanguards. The Vanguard has both the honor and the responsibility of leading the clans melee assaults. Unlike other melee Predators, the Vanguard is well armored and carries an advanced weapon of awesome potency: the plasma scythe. The scythe's energy blade cannot be stopped by normal matter - a crucial attribute - given that the Vanguard is honor bound to directly engage the clan's most dangerous enemies.
Default Weapon - Plasma Scythe According to Predator law, this eminently dangerous weapon can only be wielded by those who have earned the right to bear it. When it strikes, its blade leaves wounds filled with seething dark plasma. Dark plasma triggers a controlled energy reaction that causes damage in proportion to the mass of the target, enabling the weapon to kill any enemy, regardless of its power, with no more than four hits.
Upgrade - Killscreen Generator Given its duty to lead the charge against even technically advanced enemies, the Vanguard requires a defensive system to protect against enemy fire. That system is the killscreen generator. This projection spines on this weapon emit unstable streams of dark plasma particles that vaporize incoming enemy projectiles. The killscreen can only vaporize so much mass per unit time, however, enabling enemies to overwhelm the system with large numbers of projectiles.
Strengths - The Vanguard is best used to attack large or heavily armored targets like purebreed Aliens. Regardless of strength, no enemy can withstand four closely timed plasma scythe strikes. Hence, four Vanguards make for a particularly lethal heavy assault force, since they can kill any single enemy almost instantly. When upgraded, the Vanguard additionally becomes an excellent defensive choice, shielding other Predators from enemy fire and even leaping Facehuggers.
Weaknesses - While its weapon does massive damage, it is heavy and requires great effort and time to swing. As such, the Vanguard is ill-equipped to deal with large numbers of lighter fast-attack enemies. And though the killscreen is an excellent defensive mechanism, weapons with high fire rates or large projectiles can easily overwhelm it. In fact, combat shotguns and torrent cannons fire so many projectiles that the killscreen does not even attempt to counter them.
Hydra:
Description - The Hydra is a military-grade heavy assault Predator, designed to wade into fierce engagements and methodically crush enemy resistance. Because its guided electroshock missiles are particularly damaging to enemies with advanced sensors, the Hydra is an excellent shock trooper, in that it excels at killing enemies that counteract Predator cloaking.
Default Weapon - Electroshock Missile Battery The Hydra's weapon is its back-mounted personal missile battery, which rapidly fires guided electroshock missiles at enemies within a 360 degree arc. These missiles unerringly seek their target before delivering an armor-penetrating electroshock plasma warhead. This warhead jolts the sensory systems of whatever target it hits, causing extra damage to non-Predator enemies with particularly advanced detection capabilities.
Characteristics - Hydra Shock Barrage If a Hydra is engaging more than a handful of enemies, it may determine that it is necessary to unleash a full-scale missile barrage. When this happens, the Hydra fires a missile at every target within its visual range, frequently resulting in a truly overwhelming storm of projectiles. Given the energy requirements it places on the Hydra's systems, this maneuver can only be performed periodically, and even then, only when the Hydra is not cloaked.
Characteristics - Tactical Supremacy Armor Like all military-grade Predators, the Hydra wears tactical supremacy armor. This widely feared protective suit provides its wearer with substantial defenses against kinetic, fire, and acid damage. Its exceptional hardness also deflects outright any projectiles not specifically designed to penetrate armor. Consequently, enemies must make a concentrated effort to defeat any Predators possessing this defensive system.
Upgrade - Warhead Swarm When upgrades, the Hydra fires electroshock missiles with multiple warheads. When a missile nears its target, it checks to see whether other enemies are within range of its warheads. If so, the missile splits into as many as three separate sub-missiles, each capable of independently striking a different target. This upgrade can cause a Hydra shock barrage to release a mind-boggling number of independent warheads.
Strengths - The Hydra is a dangerous combatant in most circumstances, though it excels at attacking groups of tough enemies from range. Its tactical supremacy armor gives it excellent staying power when outnumbered, and its shock barrage naturally inflicts tremendous amounts of damage in these situations. The Hydra is also an excellent shock trooper, using its electroshock missiles to destroy cloak detectors and thereby enable other Predators to engage in a sustained, invisible assault.
Weaknesses - Like other heavy combatants, the Hydra is vulnerable to enemies specifically designed to fill the "anti-tank" role; Snipers, SADAR Troopers, and Ravagers are all dangerous to the Hydra. While enabling surprising agility given the protection it provides, tactical supremacy armor still slows its wearer down, meaning that the Hydra often cannot escape if odds turn against it. The Hydra cannot fire while moving either, making fleeing particularly dangerous.
Blazer:
Description - The Blazer is a military-grade heavy support trooper capable of rapidly turning its surroundings into a raging firestorm. Its arcing inferno beam ignites most enemies it touches, causing severe fire damage. No other known personal-scale weapon system has the ability to achieve the overall damage output of which the Blazer is capable.
Default Weapon - Blazer The blazer is a shoulder-mounted energy projector that fires a sweeping inferno beam. Hotter than many stars at its core, an inferno beam works by instantly heating objects it touches to the point of spontaneous combustion. Given this ability, the weapon is designed to hit as many enemies as possible by sweeping in large arcs across its primary target. Since it does not need to be aimed with much precision, the Blazer can continue to fire even while on the move.
Characteristics - Tactical Supremacy Armor Like all military-grade Predators, the Blazer wears tactical supremacy armor. This widely feared protective suit provides its wearer with substantial defenses against kinetic, fire, and acid damage. Its exceptional hardness also deflects outright any projectiles not specifically designed to penetrate armor. Consequently, enemies must make a concentrated effort to defeat any Predators possessing this defensive system.
Upgrade - Dual Blazers When upgraded, the Blazer Predator mounts a set of two linked blazers, one on each shoulder. The dual blazers coordinate their fire in order to maximize the damage they inflict, by keeping as many enemies on fire as possible. With this upgrade, a single Blazer Predator can set an entire enemy platoon on fire in seconds.
Strengths - The Blazer excels at spreading large quantities of damage across multiple targets. This works particularly well against ranged enemies, since they often arrange themselves in ways that are easy for the Blazer to strafe. The Blazer's ability to fire on the move is critical for attacking melee enemies, since it enables the Predator to run from them while continuing its strafing. Finally, tactical supremacy armor ensures that killing even a single Blazer requires sustained, coordinated effort.
Weaknesses - Since its attack is heat based, the Blazer is less than effective against enemies with fire resistance. It also has trouble with tight clusters of enemies, since its heat beam cannot pass through targets and therefore often fails to reach behind the front lines. Like the Hydra, the Blazer is vulnerable to enemies that have powerful "anti-tank" capabilities.
Predgun:
Description - The PredGun is an autonomous mobile defensive platform used by the Predators to guard their Shrine. To succeed in its role, the platform mounts a heavy plasma cannon capable of inflicting substantial damage on the largest and most armored of enemies.
Default Weapon - Heavy Plasma Cannon The heavy plasma cannon fires oversized, armor-penetrating plasma bolts capable of causing extreme damage to whatever target they strike. Like other burst plasma bolts, the projectiles from the heavy plasma cannon detonate upon impact, showering the surrounding area with damaging plasma shrapnel. To achieve its remarkable hitting power, this weapon trades away some of the fire rate and range of the standard plasma caster.
Characteristics - Autonomous Redeployment A key advantage of the PredGun over the Marine Sentry Gun is its ability to pack itself up, move to a new area, and redeploy there - all without any external intervention. Like the Sentry Gun, however, the PredGun cannot fire while in its packed state.
Characteristics - Integrated Self Healing The PredGun is made of "smart" materials that are capable of healing themselves when coordinated by the platform's regeneration management subsystem. This healing cannot occut while the PredGun is sustaining damage, but proceeds with surprising speed when the PredGun remains unmolested for any length of time.
Strengths - The PredGun is designed to protect the Predator Shrine by complementing the Shrine's offensive capabilities. While the Shrine is capable of inflicting sustained damage across a number of lighter enemies, the PredGun is designed to stop heavier attackers. Like the Hunter's plasma caster, the PredGun benefits greatly from enhanced Predator vision modes. With them, the PredGun can outrange many cloak-defeating sensors, enabling cloaked Predators stationed behind it to remain undetected.
Weaknesses - The PredGun has several weaknesses. First, it cannot counterattack while moving, making it vulnerable during transit. Second, the PredGun moves slowly, making it less successful at operating on highly fluid front lines. Third, its slow fire rate makes it vulnerable to being overwhelmed by large numbers of lighter enemies.
Shrine:
Description - The Shrine is an autonomous support platform that Predators rely upon to call in reinforcements. It is mobile, reasonably well armed, and very tough.
Default Weapon - Fireliner The Shrine is equipped with a fireliner, a multi-beam heat weapon related to the blazer. Unlike the blazer, the fireliner focuses small "beamlets" on different enemy weak points, heating them to the point of combustion. Overall, the fireliner spreads its pool of beamlets across as many enemies as possible, to maximize the number of opponents suffering from ongoing burns. Like the blazer, the fireliner can fire on the move.
Characteristics - Drop Site Transceiver The Shrine enables Predators to call in reinforcements and field upgrades so that they might continue the hunt after suffering losses. In addition to transmitting requests to an orbiting HuntMaster ship, the Shrine serves as a drop site beacon, so that Predator drop pods can land in an area immediately relevant to an ongoing hunt. Since Predators consider requiring rescue more than vaguely dishonorable, clan leaders are keenly aware that losing their last Shrine often means failure and death.
Characteristics - Energy Infuser The Shrine can rapidly recharge the energy supply of nearby Predators from an internal pool of energy it maintains. It has sufficient output to sustain several cloaked Predators without loss, but more will cause it to slowly lose its energy store until it eventually runs dry. The Shrine can refill its own energy supply at a much higher rate if there are no ongoing drains on its charging system, meaning that it is far more energy efficient to periodically recharge Predators than to continually sustain them.
Characteristics - Integrated Self Healing Like the PredGun, the Shrine is made of "smart" materials that are capable of healing themselves when coordinated by the Shrine's regeneration management subsystem. This healing cannot occut while the Shrine is sustaining damage, but proceeds with surprising speed when the Shrine remains unmolested for any length of time.
Strengths - The Shrine is best kept well protected and at a safe distance from heavy combat. While tought and powerfully armed, it is the Predators' sole means of acquiring both reinforcements and field upgrades. In the eventuality that it is attacked, the Shrine is best used to assist supporting PredGuns by degrading nearby enemies with its fireliner. When sufficiently protected, the Shrine serves well as a forward operational base by delivering reinforcements very close to the point of need.
Weaknesses - The primary weakness of the Shrine is that it is a single point of failure for the Predators' ability to maintain field strength while on the hunt. As such, veteran Predator clan leaders typically deploy multiple PredGuns for protection and sometimes even order spare Shrines to remain prepared for contingencies. Besides its inherent criticality, the Shrine has two other weaknesses: 1) its slow speed, and 2) the fireliner's inability to completely dispatch multiple enemies quickly.
Keep in mind these are from a strategy game and thus might not be valid canon.
Author
Topic: The Crossover Thread (Read 95215 times)