Quake II/Enemies

Quake II Enemies (Strogg Types)
This page describes the Enemies (Strogg Types) that you will be fighting in Quake II, in order of appearance in the game.

Light Guard
All three Guard varieties in the game are essentially cannon fodder. The Light Guard is the easiest of the three, being armed with a weak energy blaster. He'll go down with just two blaster shots (one if you surprise him from behind!) or a direct hit with your shotgun. You can identify the light guard from the prosthetic blaster on his right arm with bright blue accents, his red and gray armor, and his red shoulder plates. Depending on the route you take in the first level, either the Light Guard or the Shotgun Guard is the first enemy you will encounter in Quake II. The Light Guard, like his Shotgun and Machinegun Guard cousins, will sometimes try to squeeze off a couple of final shots in a 'last stand' after being knocked down. If you notice him about the enter this animation, the best thing is to gib him and put him out of his misery.

Shotgun Guard
The Shotgun Guard looks the same as the Light Guard, except with a light gray armor and a shotgun soldered onto its arm. Like the Light Guard, it has little health and can be killed with just three hits from your starting blaster. Posing little threat alone, it can still challenging in groups. Its shotgun is a hitscan weapon with a high degree of accuracy and a direct hit can knock a couple dozen points off your health/armor. If you encounter multiple ones of them at once, watch your back and make sure to have a strategy ready for dealing with them one by one so you don't get overwhelmed. This situation can be especially challenging on nightmare (Hard+) difficulty when he doesn't go into pain frames but just keeps running at you and firing.

Machinegun Guard
The Machinegun Guard is like the other two, with a bit more health than the Shotgun Guard, gold and dark gray armor, and a prosthetic machine gun for an arm. His attacks are easier to avoid than the Shotgun Guard's, meaning you should be able to dispatch him without too much difficulty. If you run into a pack of them, the bullets from several machine guns at once can sting a bit, so try to corner them and pick them off one by one.

Enforcer
The Enforcer's right forearm has been replaced by a chaingun, which he uses for ranged attacks and also as a club in melee attacks. A direct spray of bullets from him can hurt badly. The best strategy is to run up to him to trigger his club attack, sink a shotgun round or two in, back off and repeat (try not to let him pummel you in the process). That way he'll never get to fire his minigun. Watch out for his death animation: even if you blow his head clean off, he can still go down spraying bullets all around. A nice gruesome touch is that flies will almost immediately gather around the corpse of a dead Enforcer, giving a sense of the stench on Stroggos.

Flyer
The Flyer has two wing-mounted blasters that it will use for ranged attacks. If you get close, it will try to slice you with the blades on the tips of its wings. It is a relatively weak enemy and will explode after a single Super Shotgun blast. If you encounter a group of them, whip out your Grenade Launcher or Rocket Launcher and enjoy the satisfying spectacle of blowing up three or four of these guys at once.

Gunner
The Gunner is one of the coolest enemies in the game and the most fun to fight. He will attack with either his grenade launcher or his machinegun. The grenade launcher fires bouncy grenades similar to the Ogre's from Quake. He'll often send several of them at once at you and dodging them will keep you on your toes. Any of your guns is good for taking him out: you can get up close and personal with your Super Shotgun, Chaingun, or Hyperblaster, or if you maintain some distance between yourself and him, you can effectively frag him with both the Rocket Launcher and Grenade Launcher, too.

Parasite
The Parasite is another cool but challenging enemy. Best described as a "Strogg Dog". It launches a probe attack that's really hard to avoid and literally sucks the life out of you through exsanguination. The best strategy, when possible, is to keep it at a distance beyond where its probe can reach and lob some grenades or rockets at it, or else finish it off quickly with your Chaingun. Like the Shotgun Guard, the Parasite is hard to deal with on Hard+ difficulty due to its probe attack not being interrupted by pain frames.

Barracuda Shark
A mutant fish, like a piranha, that lives in Stroggos' lakes and sewers. They attack by biting or swishing their tails. but don't do much damage. The Super Shotgun can turn them into a pile of gibs in just one well-placed hit.

Technician
The Technician looks essentially like a brain in a vat. It is clearly a kind of Strogg repair bot and is often found in areas with machinery or computer equipment. It is the most benign and slow-moving enemy in the game. Its primary attack is blaster fire that doesn't do much damage. If you get too close, it has a pincer tool on the side that it can also use as a melee weapon. It does have some health, and can swallow a couple of Rockets or Super Shotgun blasts before exploding.

Berserker
One of the most iconic enemies of Quake II, known for saying "Trespasser!" when spotting the player. He has a claw and a hammer attack that can send you flying (this can be a ticket to a lava/slime death, so watch out on ledges or bridges!). He'll run at you very fast and in a zig-zag motion, so using rockets or grenades isn't a good idea due to splash damage. You can also easily waste Slugs trying to take him out up close with your railgun (it's easier at a distance). Better to use your Super Shotgun, Chaingun, or an energy weapon with faster-moving projectiles.

Tank
The tank is the beefiest enemy in Quake II in terms of total HP and its attacks do a lot of damage. You'll want to prioritize keeping a distance and avoiding its fire (alternately blaster, machine gun, and shoulder-fired rockets – the latter have a very cool firing animation). The Chaingun, Railgun, Rocket Launcher, Grenade Launcher, and Hyperblaster are your friends in fighting a Tank. It takes about 7 grenade or rockets, or 5 railgun hits, to finish him off. Once you get used to his attack pattern, however, the tank isn't really a huge threat, and dealing with them will become quite routine.

Gladiator
The Gladiator has a railgun attack that you should do everything to avoid, because it can kill an unarmored player with full health in 2–3 shots. He doesn't fire exactly at the player's current position, but rather where you were standing a couple of seconds earlier, so you have time to get out of the way. There's a short wind-up period with a characteristic sounds before the Gladiator fires his railgun, serving as a warning of sorts. Getting up close to him will activate his melee attack with his big metal claw. This is easier to avoid and less damaging than the railgun, so as with the Enforcer, the best thing to do is to run up to him, back off, and fire, repeatedly until he is on the ground.

Medic
Fighting a Medic is no big deal. He has no melee attack, he's slow to bring up his weapon, his rate of fire is low and three blasts from the Super Shotgun will take him down. Shots from his blaster will only cost you two health points each but after he has fired two he rests the weapon on his left arm and fires a sustained stream of damage that will use up a score or more. Keep him under fire and don't let him do that. When he dies he may drop a pack of cells. Medics are a much bigger problem when they show up and you're not there to fight them. In that case, they'll wander around reviving Strogg that you've previously killed and you will have to fight them all over again. This is particularly troublesome when a Medic revives a tough opponent that cost you a powerup (if you stoop to use them) or significant health, armor and ammo to take down. You can prevent this by pulverizing (gibbing) the corpses of Strogg enemies before moving on, so Medics have nothing on which to work. You can use your Blaster to conserve ammunition, but this takes time. Another approach is to follow the walkthroughs which will tell you where the Medics turn up and kill them before they can unpack their little black bags.

Icarus
The Icarus is the third flying monster in the game (apart from the Flyer and the Technician), and probably the toughest of the three. Basically any of your weapons, except maybe the Grenade Launcher, will be effective against him. He only has a single blaster attack that doesn't do a ton of damage, but you'll still want to avoid it, especially if facing several at once. As a reward for your labors you'll get a neat death animation where the Icarus tumbles to the ground, inverts, and explodes. It's not clear why he does this, perhaps it's supposed to protect Strogg flying technology. If you're quick enough, you can also try to gib him in midair before he reaches the ground, which is good sport.

Mutant
Stroggos 'wildlife', if you please. The Mutant is a brown monster with the agility (and appearance) of Quake's Fiend. It has a jump attack as well as a claw attack, both of which hurt a lot. If you see it lunge at you, try to dodge it if you can. The Super Shotgun or Hyperblaster are the most effective weapons against the Mutant. Using explosives isn't recommended because of its fast movement speed and tendency to get close to the player. It attracts flies like the Enforcer after it is dead.

Brain
Like the Technician, the brain is often found in areas of levels with computers or other equipment and thus seems to have been a kind of repair/service bot. He has a front-facing energy shield that can take a lot of damage (three full Super Shotgun blasts) before giving in. Thus, you should either use an explosive (rockets/grenades) or try to get behind him to circumvent the shield. The Brain has a tentacle attack that is surprisingly painful, so try not to get to close to it, either.

Iron Maiden
The only female Strogg (judging by appearances…). Iron Maidens fire rockets at the player from a distance and will attack with their hands (claws?) if you get too close. They are slow moving and thus vulnerable to grenades or rockets. You can also use your Railgun to good effect on them.

Tank Commander
The Tank Commander is a dressed-up and slightly tougher version of the Tank that appears only in the City unit. Use the same tactics as for the ordinary Tank.

Table of Enemies by Level
&dagger; &Dagger; These levels also have "boss" enemies, not included in the table.

? TO DO : Identify missing enemies in these levels!