Hunter Killers

Updated for Hotfix #2

Information

Hunter Killers are meant to remind you that there's always a bigger fish when you step out of your league. They will spawn far from the player when triggered but rapidly close in since they are aware of the player's position at all times. The default Hunter Killer type is the Europan EOD Hunter Killer, but they come in different variants of the three factions. They can spawn instantly after certain conditions are met or spawn after a certain amount of enemies are killed by the player.

Trigger conditions summary

HKs spawn when either one of three hardcoded thresholds is met

Action	Solo Threshold	MP Threshold
Killing or damaging enemies (except tanks)	? Kills/damage	? Kills/damage
Opening any container	24	?
Looting quest items from storage containers large quest item Water	4	?

Noteworthy: Quest items looted from corpses do not trigger HKs. Exceptions may apply.

• Triggers ARE different in COOP, further testing is required to know what all is different.
• Quest items brought into the raid, dropped, and picked up will count too.
  • Repeatedly dropping and picking up the same item or moving them from (rig) container to container also counts.
• Quest item CR or XP value does not matter, the Picture will trigger HKs after 4 pickups, same as the much more expensive Weapon Tech.

To avoid early HK spawns, players are advised to keep track of the number of quest items they looted and containers they opened.
To maximize value gained outside of HK mode, it is recommended to prioritize high value containers, like drone debris, Exo debris, turret debris or feral (unarmed) cyborg supplies, damaged weapons and non-quest Large Items. Ironically, due the high value of damaged weapons and large items and their total disconnect from the HK mechanic, Heavy Equipment Gunrunner Rig and The Rack Rig, two of the three most expensiv rigs, are optimal for farming while trying to avoid HKs, something players may wish to do in the early stages of the game, at a time where they have no access to such rigs.

Item triggers

(Items brought in raid, dropped, and picked up will count too. repeatedly dropping and picking up the same item currently also counts)

• Looting a certain amount of specific items, presumably Quest Items found in storage containers, like Pictures for example.
• Grabbing 4 or more Water Barrels. - COOP Triggers: 2 people in lobby = 2 waters to trigger, 3 people in lobby = 2 waters to trigger, 4 people in lobby = 1 water to trigger.
• Grabbing 4 or more Data Cache. - COOP Triggers: 2 people in lobby = [WIP] Data Cache to trigger, 3 people in lobby = [WIP] Data Cache to trigger, 4 people in lobby = [WIP] Data Cache to trigger.
• Grabbing 5 or more Pictures. - COOP Triggers: 2 people in lobby = [WIP] Pictures to trigger, 3 people in lobby = [WIP] Pictures to trigger, 4 people in lobby = [WIP] Pictures to trigger.
• Grabbing 5 or more Neuro Uplinks. - COOP Triggers: 2 people in lobby = [WIP] Neuro Uplinks to trigger, 3 people in lobby [WIP] Neuro Uplinks to trigger, 4 people in lobby = [WIP] Neuro Uplinks to trigger.
• Precision Components
• Weapon Tech - COOP Triggers: 2 people in lobby = 2 weapon tech to trigger. 3 people in lobby = 2 weapon tech to trigger.
• Europan Portable Targeting System
• Both Battle Plans and Teddy Bears, although from Scrapyard Nexus, a map without Hunter Killers, trigger a HK spawn after moving them from container to container 4 times. Testing Documentation
• any possible combination of the above

Large Item Trigger

Triggers

No

• Gacha
• Lockbox
• Explosives
• Pilot
• Mystical Tech Totem

Yes

• Eurasian Supply Crate
• Spare Parts
• Mech Parts

Trigger Threshold

Solo

• The threshold to trigger HKs seems to always be exactly 4
• While the threshold seems to always be the same, the time it takes for the HK Warning to show after the fourth pick up appears to vary between 0 to 5 seconds
• After the text notification, there appears to be an additional ~10-second grace period before HKs actually spawn and begin hunting the player. This is also the moment the sound notification plays and the red blinking tracker appears on the player's rig.

Documentation

Items that don't trigger

• Recorded Audio - picked up 30 times without any trigger.
• Hard Drive - picked up 30 times without any trigger.
• Telemetry - picked up 100 times without any trigger.
• High Tech Tool Set - picked up 40 times without any trigger.
• Glue gun - picked up 40 times without any trigger.

It is suspected that non-quest items and quest items looted from enemies do not trigger HKs

Other triggers

• Killing a certain amount of enemies
  • e.g. wiping out an Exo and support squad
  • Shooting or destroying tanks will not trigger HKs nor count toward triggering them if the player has already killed or destroyed other units
• Opening 24 containers (Can be the same container opened 24 times) (Same amount in COOP with 2 players, further testing is required)

Locations

• Scrapyard Nexus and Underground Cemetery do not feature Hunter Killers.
• The HK Variant of Euruskan Grabbers will not spawn on Mech Trenches
• EOD HKs will not spawn during Night Shift

Variants

	Europan EOD HunterKiller HP: 3700 Speed: Slow Damage: 64	Use their slow speed to your advantage, they can be easily outrun. If multiple units spawn (which is common on Scorched Enclave and Ashen Mesa, fight them one at a time--they can easily be staggered by shooting at them. Lure them into other enemies to distract or potentially kill them. Shoot them in the legs with a GL-19 (freezes/stun-locks them for approximately 3-5 seconds, bug). Shoot them with a Grenade Launcher, XM25, or a M79 1 time (Can be anywhere as long as the 40MM directly hits any body part or if it hits 1-2 feet away). This will often instantly kill them. Can be one-shotted to the head with an Anti Material Rifle, such as the NTW-20 and the GM6 roughly 20 rounds of regular rifles like the AK/M4A1/RPK are enough to kill them. So mag-dumping a whole magazine in close quarters usually works.
	Europan Medium Mech HunterKiller HP: 168,750 Speed: Medium Damage: 8750 with Long-Rifle, 300 with Rear Minigun, 60 with Quadguns	Run! Lure them into other enemies/enemy groups to potentially distract it to get away safely. When it opens fire, try sprinting and jumping as a last resort. It can help to not get hit and take reduced splash damage.
	Euruskan Stalker HunterKiller HP: 1,000,000,000 (Yes) Speed: Very Fast Damage: 900 (891) with Stomp, 600 (594) With swipe	Use its large size to your advantage. It won't be able to follow you everywhere like in tight buildings. It can walk through large doorways, but not small ones. Shooting is a waste of time and does not help. You need to do 2,600 dmg for a 2.5s stagger. Run from side to side and jump a lot. This way, it will (most likely) not be able to grab you with its instakill animation and even miss a lot of its regular attacks. If possible, distract it by deploying a 20mm turret or an IED Using the Pneumatic Jump Equipment is extremely helpful as you can reach higher ground easily and can avoid its by constantly jumping when there is nowhere else to go.
	Euruskan OrgaMech HunterKiller HP: 100,000,000 Speed: Very Slow Damage: One-shots Melee only Will start to charge when close to enemies or the player	Shooting is pointless. Although they may seem daunting, their slow speed in combination with the lack of ranged weapons makes OrgaMechs some of the least threatening units/HKs next to maybe tanks in-game. Simply keep track of their location and enjoy the free protection from Europan units. Maps: Scorched Enclave Ashen Mesa
	Euruskan Shield Officer HP: Unknown Speed: Slow Melee only Will start to charge when close to enemies or the player	Shooting is pointless. Similar to OrgaMechs, their lack of ranged weapons and slow speed don't make them as threatening as other HKs, but keep track of their location. Maps: Mech Trenches
	Euruskan Toothy Mech HunterKiller HP: 100,000,000 Speed: Very slow Damage: 8750 with railgun, 300 with shoulder machine gun	Also Run! When it opens fire, try sprinting and jumping as a last resort. It can help to not get hit and take reduced splash damage.
	Eurasian Scrambler HunterKiller HP: 550 Speed: Very fast Damage: 133	They can easily be eliminated because of their low HP and melee-only attacks. A high-capacity, fully automatic weapon will make you virtually invulnerable to them as long as you have ammo and keep a distance with them. Two melee strikes are now required to kill them. Doing so without taking damage is very difficult.

Trivia

• As all aggroed units do, HKs will alert nearby unaware allies of the player's location.
• It seems that there currently is a bug with Europan EODs that will stun them for 3-5 seconds when shot with a GL-19

Massive thanks to:
@Finka
@Lingen
@Lioxen
@GhostOP
@Dustin1280
@JingleBoopem
@AMSpider
@Captain Devil- Imperium Of Cults
@chopsticks
@CMDR HunterIII

This page wouldn't have been possible without all their help!