Husk

Husk
Base statistics:
Bounty: £17 Health: 600 (+60) Damage: 15
Movement speeds:
Walking: 115 Swimming: 102

The Husk is one of the few specimens with a ranged attack. The others are the Siren, the Patriarch, and to a much lesser extent, the Bloat. It can make its first appearance on the second wave, regardless of game length. Its main attack is a projectile fireball, whose speed is similar to that of the L.A.W's rocket and inflicts fire-based damage with afterburn. Its melee attack, which it smacks the player with its gun, deals the same damage as the Gorefast's. They are characterised by their resemblance to the Fleshpound, their 75% resistance to fire, and their slightly burnt exterior.

There is a unofficial, whitelisted, Husks-only mutator called Hellfire. The Husks it spawns however, have modified stats to prevent Firebug impunity.

Contents 1 Biology 1.1 Appearance 1.1.1 Events 1.2 Behaviour 1.3 Historic data 2 Background 3 Extermination 3.1 General Tips 3.2 Class-Specific Tactics 3.2.1 Field Medic 3.2.2 Support Specialist 3.2.3 Sharpshooter 3.2.4 Commando 3.2.5 Berserker 3.2.6 Firebug 3.2.7 Demolitions 3.3 Charts 3.3.1 Total health 3.3.2 Head health 3.3.3 Bounty 4 Gallery 5 External links

[edit] Biology

[edit] Appearance

The Husk's skin is a reddish-brown color and appears slightly burnt. There are several metal protrusions on its body, including several spiked rings in their left arm and lower legs. It appears to be wearing a type of gas mask in place over their mouth, possibly to protect its lungs from dangerous gases contained in its fuel pack, nailed directly to its back, behind the right shoulder; the weapon, a prototype fireball launcher, has been mounted onto their right arm, replacing its hand and wrist. It also appears to be wearing a tattered pair of brown shorts held on by a belt around its waist; the rest of its clothing may have burnt off in the past.

[edit] Events

During the Twisted Christmas update, it was re-skinned as a snowman. This skin depicts a stereotypical snowman, albeit slightly melted, complete with stick arms and legs. Its right arm seems to be a stick that can throw flaming "snowballs".

For the Summer Sideshow update, it was re-skinned as "The Incredible Mechanical Man" (Though the game officially labeled it as a "Huskotron"); this skin depicts a shiny golden robot with the Husk's weapon on its right arm and it spoke in a robotic voice either making crude fire-puns, advertisements for fire, or a safety persuasion of no smoking during the show. For the Halloween Sideshow event, it was re-skinned as The Incredible Mechanical Man, albeit with a pumpkin design painted onto it and dubbed "The Husk-O-Lantern". When aiming for a headshot on The Incredible Mechanical Man, players were required to aim for the tank on its back, not the head of the robot, to accomadate for the unchanged hitboxes of the specimen.

[edit] Behaviour

The Husk attempts to fire upon a player on sight. At long distances, a fireball hitting a nearby wall, or the distinctive explosive sound of the fireball doing so, is often the first sign of its presence. Though many of its shots miss by several metres, the Husk is capable of accurately predicting the player's path and landing a good shot. Upon spawning, The Husk steadily walks towards the players between shots and, when within range, will attempt to hit them with its gun. The rest of the time, it will pause to aim before firing. Unlike other specimens, the Husk has high resistance to fire.

[edit] Historic data

While the Husk did not appear in the mod, it bears a resemblance to a specimen from the mod found in the source files that never made it into the retail version – a modified version of a Fleshpound that wielded a machine-gun on one arm, dubbed the Fleshpound Chain-gunner. The Chain-gunner had a similar setup of metal apparatus as the Husk, but used the same base mesh of the Fleshpound from the mod. The behaviour patterns and animations on it were incomplete; when readying its weapon, it would just snap into place and glide on its path towards its target, not stopping. Pushing the player along the ground much like the Fleshpound, as opposed to what you would expect of a ranged foe; to stop moving whilst firing.

[edit] Background

The Husk was part of a cybernetic enhancing experiment, in which the specimens underwent multiple procedures to create a soldier that could incorporate technology and utilize advanced bioprogamming. The Husk was fitted with a steel brace that supported the backcase for its fireball launcher, and given yellow cybernetic eyes that allowed it to computer-lock on to foes. After several attempts to train the specimens with the weapon, and failing, the scientists of Horzine simply removed the right arm and set the cannon on a nerve controlled platform.

Although they were generally considered a success, they were labeled as too dull to function properly as soldiers because of their simplistic programming, often times shooting each other when there were no other targets. When the London Breakout was initiated, hundreds of Husks were "re-booted", and walked out with their unfinished directives, which was lock on to the first living thing it found, and destroy it. It was the Husks that led the carnage in the break out, blasting the police cars and bystanders out of the way as the horde of specimens flooded out of the labs.

[edit] Extermination

[edit] General Tips

• Husks have the ability to accurately lead their shots and hit moving players consistently. Shuffling in place by quickly strafing in opposite directions is often enough to confuse the Husk and cause most of his shots to miss by large.

• The Husk must stop to fire its weapon, at which point a player who isn't the target can blow them sky-high with a grenade or two, or a volley of bullets.

• The Husk's shots take one second to charge up before firing. Use this to your advantage by faking it out by moving the opposite direction you were moving before(Ex. go right if you were going left). This will throw the Husk's aim off and will cause it to miss you, if done right.

• It is possible to stun a Husk right before it shoots, causing the shot to be canceled.

• NEVER move directly towards or away from Husks. They will hit you every time.

[edit] Class-Specific Tactics

[edit] Field Medic

• A Medic's durable armor allows them to to tank the Husk's shots, protecting their more vulnerable teammates, until they are eliminated.

• If the medic wishes to take a more direct role in elimination, or in solo mode; the Medic can either charge the Husk with their MP7 or MP5 Medic Guns, going for headshots, use an Axe or Katana to either get headhits or backhits, or use the M7A3 or an off-perk Sharpshooter weapon to headshot the Husk from a distance.

[edit] Support Specialist

• In close range, 2-3 bodyshots from any shotgun will kill a Husk, while a point-blank headshot from all shotguns, except the AA-12, will instantly kill them.

• It is also possible to kill the husk, and generally any mob near or behind them, with a close-range alt-fire Hunting Shotgun blast.

[edit] Sharpshooter

A high-ranked Sharpshooter can kill a Husk in one hit with the Lever-Action Rifle or M14EBR, or 2-3 headshots with the Handcannon, .44 Magnum, or MK23, on most difficulties.

• The Sharpshooter's ability to kill a Husk from a distance with either the lever-action or the crossbow, with one shot, can be used to nip the potential problem in the bud. In a team setting, Husks should be one of the Sharpshooter's primary focuses in any situation, due to their ranged attacks.

[edit] Commando

• At close range, unload on the Husks's head full-auto with any assault rifle.

• At a distance, a higher-powered rifle, such as the SCAR-MK17, or the FN-FAL, can be used to snipe the Husk's head, or simply going for body shots with burst-fire to quickly eliminate it.

[edit] Berserker

• At close range, Husks can easily be decapitated with a head shot, or stunned with a body shot from most weapons in the Berserker's arsenal, with the exceptions of the Machete, the Knife, and, on higher difficulties or lower perk ranks, the Katana.

• At a distance, Husks can be quite a pain to deal with, given the Berserker's melee nature. In this situation, a Berserker can either just ignore the Husk and dodge its fireballs while leaving it to ranged teammates, or use an off-perk weapon, such as the Lever-Action Rifle, to eliminate the Husk from a distance.

• If the Husk is surrounded by smaller enemies, such as Clots or Crawlers, it is still advised to eliminate the Husk, due to the fact that he will manage to do more damage to you while you are distracted by the clots and crawlers. In the case you do not have a long range weapon, it may be wise to stun the Husk (If you have a weapon capable of doing so), then deal with the horde around him, which can minimize damage, and finish the Husk with a heavy attack, such as the Axe.

• Multiple Husks can be an issue, it is advised to run away when faced with a horde and more than one Husk as a Berserker. Allow your team to either: Pick off the Husks, or kill the Horde so you can close the gap and eliminate the Husks. Your resistance to damage should be abused to a degree in order to dispatch them, so you can reduce the frustration and damage Husks can cause.

[edit] Firebug

• The Husk is of little or no threat to Rank 3 or up Firebugs at range, thanks to the Firebug's resistance to fire. One of the Firebug's primary weapon, the Flamethrower, is poorly suited to killing the Husk due to its own 75% resistance to fire; but doing so could earn you the achievement 'Flaming Hell, That Was Close'. Firebugs aren't totally immune to damage from Husks however, as their melee attacks can still cause them damage.

• Husks have no resistance to burn damage from the MAC-10. Three full ignites from the MAC-10 is enough to kill a Husk on 6-player Hell on Earth difficulty.

• For lower-ranked Firebugs, it's possible to just charge a Husk with the MAC-10, using the bullet damage to quickly decapitate the Husk.

• A single headshot from a fully-charged Husk-Ball Launcher will kill or stun a Husk, dependent on the difficulty and number of players on the server. Killing several Husks with the Husk FireBall Launcher could earn you the achievement 'Burning Irony'. Two point-blank headshots from a Dragon's Breath Trenchgun will also kill a Husk on most difficulties.

[edit] Demolitions

• A Demolitions is very capable of killing Husks. It only takes 2~4 grenades, dependent on perk level and other factors, to kill a Husk with bodyshots. High-ranked Demolitions can even stun a Husk with a bodyshot. A single headshot from a grenade could be enough to kill a Husk on any difficulty.

• A headshot or direct bodyshot with the L.A.W will be enough to kill a Husk on any difficulty.

[edit] Charts

[edit] Total health

The base hit points of the Husk is 600; its total health on normal with one player, and for every additional player 60 hit points is added. This figure is then multiplied by 0.5 on beginner, 1 on normal, 1.35 on hard, 1.55 for suicidal, and 1.75 for hell on earth.

Players	Beginner	Normal	Hard	Suicidal	Hell on Earth
1	300	600	810	930	1050
2	330	660	891	1023	1155
3	360	720	972	1116	1260
4	390	780	1053	1209	1365
5	420	840	1134	1302	1470
6	450	900	1215	1395	1575

[edit] Head health

The base hit points of the Husk's head is 200; its total health on normal with one player, and for every additional player 10 hit points is added. This figure is then multiplied by 0.5 on beginner, 1 on normal, 1.35 on hard, 1.55 for suicidal, and 1.75 for hell on earth.

Players	Beginner	Normal	Hard	Suicidal	Hell on Earth
1	100	200	270	310	350
2	105	210	284	326	368
3	110	220	297	341	385
4	115	230	311	357	403
5	120	240	324	372	420
6	125	250	338	388	438

[edit] Bounty

Beginner	Normal	Hard	Suicidal	Hell on Earth
£34	£17	£14	£11

[edit] Gallery

• 

  The main menu splash screen of the Husk.

• 

  The Snow Husk.

• 

  The main menu splash screen of the Husk during the Summer Sideshow event.

• 

  The main menu splash screen of the Husk during the Summer Sideshow event.

• 

  The main menu splash screen of the Husk during the Halloween Sideshow event.

• 

  The main menu splash screen of the Husk during the Hillbilly Horror event.

• 

  The main menu splash screen of the Husk during the Hillbilly Horror event.

[edit] External links

• Hellfire - Husks only - Tripwire Interactive Forums
• Fleshpound Chaingunner Mutator - Tripwire Interactive Forums

Characters

Humans Character packs (Original • Outbreak • Nightfall • Postmortem • London's Finest • Steampunk • Steampunk 2 • Urban Nightmare • Harold Lott • The Chickenator Pack • D.A.R. • Promotional) • Trader Specimens Clot • Crawler • Gorefast • Stalker • Bloat • Husk • Siren • Scrake • Fleshpound • Patriarch Related Extermination tactics (Scrake • Fleshpound • Patriarch) • Vocal responces (Squad • Trader • Patriarch)