Husk

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.

Biology

Appearance

The Husk's flesh appears to be badly burnt, with the skin seared brown and bleeding profusely. There are several metal protrusions on its body, including several spiked rings in their left arm and lower legs. It wears 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. The fuel appears to be transferred directly to the launcher appendage through it's veins and arteries, with molten, white-hot fire showing through the skin on it's right flank. 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.

Behavour

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.

Statistics

See the specimen modifiers page for explanations of each field, as well as calculating for multiple players.

	Beginner	Normal	Hard	Suicidal	Hell on earth
Bounty	£34	£17	£14
£11
Health	300 (100*)	600 (200*)	810 (270*)
1050 (350*)
Damage	4	15	18
26
Speed	109	115	132
149
Range	30
* Head health

Extermination Tactics

In General

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 (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. Jumping after they have fired helps tremendously.
• It is possible to stun a Husk right before it shoots, causing the shot to be cancelled.
• NEVER move directly towards or away from Husks. They will hit you every time.

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.

In solo mode (or going for a more direct approach in multiplayer), the Medic can:

• • Charge the Husk with their MP7M, MP5M, and/or M7A3M medic guns, going for headshots
  • Use an Axe or Katana to either get headhits or back hits
  • Use the or an off-perk Sharpshooter weapon to headshot the Husk from a distance.

Support Specialist

In close range, 2-3 body shots 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. In a hallway, it is possible to kill a Husk and mobs close to it with a single shot from a Vlad 9000, due to the ricocheting ability of the weapon. However, this is dicey and should not be heavily relied upon.

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.

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.

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.

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, however. 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 Trenchgun will also kill a Husk on most difficulties.

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

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 bio-programming. The Husk was fitted with a steel brace that supported the backpack 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.