The Hunter

"So that's a Hunter, huh? What's he gonna do, go for a jog at me?"

- Nick

The Hunter, also referred to as the "hoodie", "crazy legs", "leaper", "punk-ass" and the "sweatshirt wearing wuss", is an agile Special Infected whose mutation has granted it an incredible strength, awareness and dexterity. Its role in both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 is to punish and eliminate Survivors who have wandered or are drawn away from their comrades.

Appearance
The Hunter always appears in a dark hooded sweatshirt and dark brown sweatpants. Its hood is always pulled down, disguising its lack of eyes. The limbs of its outfit are battened down by duct tape, in a manner similar to practitioners of Parkour.

Hunters are primarily identified by their distinctive growl, or the screams and snarls they emit when pouncing, clawing or when they have sighted a Survivor. They are, however, the only Special Infected which do not make any noise while in a neutral pose.

Extent of Mutations
The Hunter is the least visibly mutated Special Infected, and still superficially resembles a human. Its strain of the Infection has however granted it an increase in lower body strength that, while not creating massive muscle growth as in the case of the Tank, has given it the ability to jump and pounce long distances and rapidly scale the sides of buildings with ease. Decreased pain response visible in all sufferers of the Infection also results in the Hunter not suffering from lactase buildup from its overexertion. The Hunter also lacks eyes. Whether this is due to its strain of the Infection or through an unrelated injury is not known.

The extent of damage to the Hunter's sight suggest its other senses are far more developed than those of typical Infected, allowing it to hunt with far greater efficiency. It is possible that the screeching noises it makes and the growling are its own echolocation method. It might also use scent to tell the Survivors apart from Infected. As with the other Special Infected, it is not distracted by such high frequency noises as pipe bombs or car alarms going off.

Abilities
The Hunter has two attacks: a claw attack which does 6 damage in Normal and Versus Mode, and a pouncing attack, which pins down a helpless Survivor while the Hunter claws at them. The Hunter will not stop until it has killed the Survivor, been killed itself, or been knocked off. The actual pounce itself will also cause damage, if the Hunter manages to pounce upon the Survivor from a great enough distance. The maximum pounce damage that can be caused is 25, which makes it the most powerful individual attack in the game which can be caused by a playable non-Tank Infected.

When a player takes control of the Hunter in Versus mode, the Hunter's pounce ability is measured by meters from where the player crouches down. The time it takes for its jump to charge is 2-3 seconds.

Appearance
As with all the original Special Infected, the Hunter received a change of appearance in Left 4 Dead 2. Part of its outfit have been ripped away, revealing skin heavily disfigured by clusters of boils and scratches, similar to that of the Smoker. Its left wrist remains wrapped in tape and fragments of its sleeves. It has lost its shoes, and its feet seem to be covered in a mixture of mud, blood and pus, and its jacket now has much more blood spattered upon it. Its fingernails have grown in length, giving its hands a closer resemblance to animal claws. Its hoodie also now has a front zipper.

The Hunters' signifying scream of seeing a Survivor is different, higher in pitch than the previous version; however, one of its original screams is still featured in Left 4 Dead 2.

It seems likely that most of the differences in the Hunters' appearance in Left 4 Dead 2 were caused by the Hunter itself, clawing at its restrictive taping and clothes in an effort to remove them. However, the growth of its nails, its amplified scream and the increase of disfiguration upon its skin does suggest that the Hunter has mutated further from its manifestation in Left 4 Dead.

Abilities
The Hunter has received a considerable buff over its iteration in Left 4 Dead:
 * Its ripping attack upon Survivors it has pinned is significantly faster. The Hunter can incapacitate a Survivor from full health in about 10 seconds and kill an incapacitated Survivor in 15 if undisturbed on Versus mode.
 * The knock-back it causes upon Survivors in close proximity to those it has pounced is longer, although Survivors who are knocked back into walls or other obstacles recover faster.
 * The Hunter's roll, an old ability in Left 4 Dead which was removed, has been brought back. Essentially this means if the Hunter is not knocked into a wall or obstacle, or isn't hit again, it will perform a back roll and be ready to pounce again in about a second. The Hunter can perform this move in any and all game modes.

Tactics
Fast and agile, this Special Infected will growl and scream to alert you of his presence. The Hunter is often used as a distraction by both AI and human Infected. Solo players fare especially badly against Hunters since their attack is often much harder to avoid than the tongue of a Smoker or the bile of a Boomer. Without timely intervention, Hunters kill very quickly. While Hunters are hurt by being on fire and will eventually die, any Survivor pounced on by a flaming Hunter will suffer much more damage from the attack (as of the last game update, only dynamic fire sources such as those created by molotov and gas cans add to the damage bonus). It is best to wait until a Survivor falls behind because they are wounded or just generally falling behind so you can pounce them and deal out max damage.

Survivors
General strategy:
 * Always have at least one buddy close at hand.
 * Listen for the distinctive growl the Hunter makes when crouched and ready to pounce. Once you hear the cues remind the other Survivors of the Hunter's presence to keep everyone on their toes. This may sound useless but it often prevents Survivors from taking unnecessary damage from Hunters.


 * Remember that the Hunter won't usually pounce as soon as he sees a Survivor, be it an AI controlled one or a player controlled one. Even the AI waits and bides its time. The cry does show you it is close by, though.
 * On expert the Hunter AI seems to be much smarter than the other difficulties and will often claw Survivors rather than pouncing on them. This does an extremely deadly amount of damage and should be avoided at all costs. Be careful as the Hunter will also sometimes try to blend into the horde and claw Survivors instead of pouncing.

Before pounce: After a Hunter has pounced your fellow Survivor:
 * Be warned, when on expert, even if you have full health it only takes about 9 seconds to kill you.
 * If the Hunter is outside pounce range, open fire. Head-shots are particularly effective.
 * Otherwise, throw a melee attack just as the Hunter starts his pounce. This will knock it back, stunning it, and you can finish it off with your choice of three additional melee attacks or weapon fire. (Takes a total of four melee attacks to kill a Hunter, and likewise a Smoker.)
 * If you manage to stop the Hunter mid-pounce (known as "dead stopping"), keep hitting him as this keeps him from doing anything. Definitely use this tactic when he is close to other Survivors to avoid friendly-fire. Note: Sometimes, when you dead stop an AI Hunter, he will claw you through the stun.
 * You will receive a visual notification that a fellow Survivor has been pounced on.
 * Shoot at the Hunter if you are far away and melee if you are close to it, friendly fire does not hurt a player while they are pinned down (although once the Hunter is off, they are then vulnerable to such).
 * If too far away and there is no Survivor closer than you are, go ahead and shoot.
 * A head shot with a shotgun or a sniper-type rifle will kill a Hunter in one shot.
 * Don't let walls stop you. If the only way to save a fellow Survivor is to shoot through a wall or ceiling, do it. The hunting rifle is particularly effective at this, although even pistols can punch through.

Infected
In Versus, you will spend more time as a Hunter than any other Infected. Coincidentally, the Hunter is also the hardest Special Infected to master, so the extra time spent pouncing pays off.

General Strategy:
 * Hunters have few hit points, so never attack a group of two or more Survivors on your own (unless they are distracted, such as by a horde of Common Infected). Lone wolves are the bread-and-butter of the Hunter; pounce them first. If you hold off on attacking players, they may become more spread out and placid, possibly enough to pounce and do more damage before their friends can assist. Sometimes Survivor will run ahead of the group and trigger a panic event or cause a Tank to spawn. Take advantage of this to either pounce on the loner or attempt to attack the 3 members left farther back as they attempt to rush up ahead. This rule also applies to players that take their time or get lost. Also keep an eye out for Survivors who back track to get a first-aid kit or another useful item back at either a weapon cache or the safe room. Teach them the hard lesson of why going solo is not a bright idea.
 * A Hunter's pounce in Versus mode will knock back close-by Survivors, thus breaking up their formation. This can also push Survivors off of ledges and leave them helpless. Utilize this!
 * Hunters only make noise when crouched, and let out a shriek when making eye contact with a Survivor. So if you are near Survivors and don't want to get shot, stand up and you remain and stay well hidden and you will be silent. You also move faster when standing. Instead of pouncing, try to do hit and run tactic. Simply run up to a Survivors' back, claw, and run away. This is especially effective when a Survivor is low on health! If a Survivor has gone down twice, a simple claw will kill them instantly. It's best to save pounces for when you are on high ledges to try and gain the extra pounce damage.
 * The Hunter bonus pounce damage is based on the distance between your launch-point and the point where you hit the Survivor, therefore launching straight up or down is not the most effective pounce. Instead, perch on the highest place you can get to, such as the top of a roof, a vent, water tower, or a fire escape. Be sure the Survivors cannot see you and then propel yourself up and forward at a 45 degree angle. You have some limited control in the air and can somewhat guide yourself to your target once airborne. Twenty plus damage pounces are not as hard as they seem once you become better acquainted with the pounce mechanic, 25 extra damage is the maximum. This is a good way to instantly "incapacitate on pounce" a Survivor who has less health than the damage dealt, even before he begins his ripping attack.
 * Use the wall jump technique whenever you can. The wall jump is when you pounce towards a wall and turn so you are facing away from the wall. Now, as you hit the wall, pounce again. You should now be flying away from the wall. This type of jump has no slight cool down that the Hunter gets from pouncing along the ground, so you can move incredibly fast. By using this ability to jump repeatedly one can wall jump all the way up the elevator shaft in No Mercy. This tactic can be used properly for quick escapes and high damage pounces, which are plentiful on The Apartments in No Mercy and some spots in Dead Air. Also, it can freak the crap out of the human players, and they will waste ammo trying to hit you, because the wall jump makes you way too fast to hit. Here are a few videos to help with this: video to teach you the basics of wall jumping, then once you mastered the wall jump you can performseveral tricks to use against your Survivor foes.
 * Target Survivors outlined in red, indicating that their health is low. Instead of pouncing on a weak Survivor, try clawing them. Once they're down, pounce on another Survivor to be even more effective.
 * "Hiding" behind or standing in front of cars with alarms and Witches is as malicious as it is effective at tricking the other players to shoot both you and the hazard. They either will not notice the Witch or think they can pull off shooting you, but once they've fired one shot, the Witch will stand up and attack the Survivor who shot you, and you can pounce on the other which is shooting the Witch. Another tactic is to wait for the Witch to notice the Survivors. Scratch her and her rage will be at its peak so the very moment they cross her path, they're dead.
 * As most average Survivor groups end up splitting into pairs, always try to team up with the other Hunter player to pin two Survivors at once. There will normally be distance between those pinned and the other Survivors, who may be distracted by something else, giving the Hunters a few more seconds to deal damage.
 * As long as you hold down the crouch key ( PC users), you can pounce continuously, though you obviously need to make sure you are hitting a surface.
 * Continuously pouncing is a great way to distract the enemy team if you're waiting for your teammates to spawn. Simply pounce randomly and let them waste their time trying to shoot you. This works best in large areas where the Survivors are likely to miss.
 * On levels with miniguns, you can quickly teach the Survivors why manning the Mini-gun is a bad idea, especially if they are alone.
 * After getting knocked off your victim, immediately run for cover. If you're lucky, the Survivors will be distracted, and you'll get away in one piece, gaining another valuable opportunity for pouncing on them. However, if you feel death is imminent, attempt to scratch the Survivors and swipe off a few more precious chunks of their life.
 * Go for people covered in bile. It will pin them down and leave them helpless for the horde. The horde also serves as a meat shield in this case (don't count on them too much, however, as most weapon fire penetrates multiple targets if they are lined up). If three Survivors have been covered in bile, it is better to pounce the clean Survivor as bile obscures vision and the horde will prevent them from getting to you. The Boomer's victims are unable to see the aura surrounding their teammates while they're covered, so they won't be able to see the pounced victim until the initial blindness wears off.
 * Before the March 11th update, flaming Hunters dealt 10 extra damage per second, unlike a non flaming Hunter which doesn't start dealing damage as soon as it pounces. With the update, the damage done is significantly reduced, and the effect is only present if the Hunter was caught on fire from a dynamic source, not a static source. However, Hunters will slowly burn to death so only set yourself alight for aggressive attacks on groups.
 * Don't melee people who are being strangled by a Smoker, as your claw will damage (and may break) the tongue.
 * Try not to steal any kills from Smokers (pouncing on a grabbed Survivor). Protect the Smoker by pouncing would-be rescuers. However at the same time you could sacrifice yourself by taking the Survivor, giving the Smoker a chance to flee to safety.
 * If your team has microphones, there is a spot where a Hunter and Smoker can instant kill on Dead Air. On chapter one, when the Survivors exit the greenhouse, have a Smoker hide on the roof across the plank then have them snag one, pulling them over the edge. If the Hunter then pounces that Survivor, it will cause the Survivor to fall through the gap and die. Another way is to have the Smoker hide in the alley below the plank between the two buildings, and have them attempt to pull a Survivor as they cross. Have a Hunter as back up if anyone attempts to rescue the constricted Survivor. If a Hunter manages to pounce the Survivor currently smoked over the long fall gap, the Survivor will die upon contact with the ground. This is because there is no place for the Survivor to climb back up to his or her fellow teammates.
 * Most importantly, you are part of a team. Ask for backup from your fellow Infected. This will often allow you to do massive damage while the Survivors are preoccupied with your teammates. Pouncing is best while your fellow Infected are alive. If you are alone and your teammates are respawning, simply pouncing wildly in front of the Survivors can prove to be an ample distraction, as you will be difficult to hit if constantly moving. This should give your teammates time to spawn and organize a coordinated strike.
 * In Left 4 Dead 2, you can pounce a Jockey's victim buying the Jockey recharge time.
 * Pounce on a Survivor on a Spitter's acid patch to deal huge amounts of damage, even if you are killed, your victim will keep getting damage

Hunter Tips and Tricks Gameplay
This is a video on useful information and tactics for Hunters. Credits go to Criken. thumb|300px|left

Good ambush spots
Generally any high location such as the roof of a building, a fire escape, or a lamp post will do significant damage to a Survivor if pounced on. Here are some level specific areas that will decide a Survivor's fate.

No Mercy

 * Pounce on the last Survivor before they enter the hole into the sewers.
 * Try pouncing on any Survivors coming up the ladder in front of the Hospital. If you aim it right you can do one of two things: You could cause the Survivor to fall to the ground, further damaging them. Or you could block the hole forcing the other Survivors to shoot at you from below.
 * In the Hospital, after the elevator, pouncing in on a close group could cause Survivors close to the edge to fall off or hang on for their life.
 * On the Rooftop Finale, pounce the last Survivor before they jump off the roof of the elevator shaft.

Death Toll

 * At the beginning of the first chapter, at the top of the ledge to the right of the spawn point provides ample opportunity for 25-point pounces, and runs along a good portion of the map.
 * The watch tower at the beginning of The Church. The steeple is also a good spot for a high damage pounce; however you're completely exposed to sniper fire. You can also use this in The Town.
 * During the finale, hang out on the roof with the Smoker. This provides you with tactical opportunities, such as when a Tank shows up and the Survivors are distracted.

Dead Air

 * On The Crane, being on the top of the actual crane.
 * On the finale, there is a lamp leaning behind the plane. You cannot run up it; however you can pounce your way to the top which is just high enough to do a good amount of damage. However like the steeple, you are completely noticeable up here so don't hang out here too much or you'll be dead before you get the chance to attack.

Blood Harvest

 * On The Woods, pouncing from the rock formation near the beginning or the tops of any trees.
 * On The Tunnel, pounce on any lone Survivors that might have stayed in the rooms above the scaffolds. It will take Survivors a while to get to you and free their comrade.
 * Pouncing from the top of The Bridge.
 * On the Farmhouse Finale, pounce the last Survivor before they go into the cornfield.

Survivors
NOTE: Jump Shot and Dead Stop can be achieved together if you head shot the Hunter while he is pouncing.

Trivia

 * When you are pounced by a Hunter, you are still able to pick up objects if you are close enough. For instance, if you are pounced near an ammo cache, you can pick up ammo.
 * Inspiration for the Hunter's design may have come from the Parkour culture, a type of martial arts that allows its practitioners to move fluidly and effortlessly through an environment, often overcoming seemingly impossible obstacles. Some traceurs are seen with the sleeves and hems of clothing taped down to prevent air resistance. Also, during Versus, if controlled by a player, it can perform Parkour from a building's wall to another. An example is in the Dead Air campaign, Construction Site)
 * Though its hood always hides its face, the Hunter's face is still visible, you just need one to die and fall at the right angle to see dim outlines of its eyes. If however you happen to get it angled to make it lay on a table facing upwards and head hanging over the end, You can look into his hood by crouching and getting as close as possible that you can see through the hood. It reveals that he has empty eye sockets, and you are able to see the exposed meat and what’s left of the skin around it. This indicates that his other senses may have hyper-developed, especially his sense of hearing and smelling (possibly into a form of echolocation, which may explain why the Hunter screams all the time,) as Versus demonstrates that the Hunter has some ability to see, although this may be to balance out gameplay, considering it would be very difficult to play versus with no ability to see.
 * The Hunter lets out a pained scream when he falls from a very high place.
 * Strangely, Survivors can still heal someone that is being pounced by a Hunter. If proceeded, the pounced Survivor will get some health. This may be a glitch.
 * Some of the Hunter's growls are very similar to those of the Headcrab zombies from the Half Life series, and possibly are recycled.
 * The Hunter's screams are also re-used and modified sounds from the beta version of the Stalkers from Half-Life 2.
 * The Hunter, in Single-player, can throw himself out of harm's way when attacked from a distance. This ability does not require him to crouch. In Versus mode this ability is not normally available to player zombies. However through manipulation of Console commands,(Entering "mp_gamemode versus" then changing to the infected team and finally resetting mp_gamemode to "coop") this ability becomes available in Single player - defaulting to the "Fire" key while standing. The jump appears identical to The Hunter's Pounce attack, with different (Pained) sounds, and results in Survivors being pushed as if hit by a Survivor's melee attack. This becomes an effective tactic in areas of No Mercy where falls from high places can incapacitate or even kill Survivors.
 * The other playable Special Infected, human-controlled Infected can revive incapacitated Survivors through use of the same button that a Survivor would use. (This glitch was removed in an early update for PCs)
 * In Versus mode, playing as a Hunter on the Boathouse Finale in the water, crouch down, and pounce; you will reach the top of the water, and fall back. If you pounce someone, and get knocked off, without being killed, you will have a difficult time getting away.
 * The Hunter is the only Special Infected that does not have a node that spawns it in the commentary.
 * Occasionally, when a Hunter is around, Francis might say "I smell a Hunter". This could just be an insult, but it could also hint that Infected have distinctive odors as they also do the same with other Special Infected. Due to the amount of blood on its sweatshirt, it may smell like a mixture of blood, dirt, and sweat, or something similar.
 * The Hunter and the Witch were the only Special Infected that did not appear in the Left 4 Dead 2 Zombie Survival Guide trailer.
 * Sometimes after knocking a Hunter off a Survivor, he will glitch and simply glide across the floor while still acting as if he were attacking the Survivor.
 * A common glitch is sometimes when a Hunter is killed after pouncing a Survivor, you'll still hear clawing sounds and seeing blood coming from thin-air.
 * According to a very early trailer, the Hunter's scream played and the horde were attracted. In the Sound Files, there is are sounds either used for the hunters lunge, and two other lunge sounds, one low pitched, one seeming more 'human'. this has pointed fans to believe that the Hunter's current scream(not including those added in Left 4 Dead 2) originally came from the cut infected, the Screamer.
 * The grunts a Hunter makes while clawing are entitled zombiedog_attack(number). This has lead to speculation about the existence of an Infected Dog in early versions of left 4 dead. However no other evidence exists supporting this theory.

Behind the Scenes
The Hunter has an unused animation of it hanging upside-down. It is unknown how this was supposed to be done in-game, as no pre-release footage shows the Hunter doing this.

Originally, when a Hunter pounced a player, there would be no special visual indicators (such as the red light around the player).

The Hunter's ability was originally become invisible. It did this when backed up against a wall, then the pounce ability can be used. For some reason, it was cut to just leaping. It also could regenerate, but was cut along with the invisibility.

During development, you used to be able to jump off Survivors after you pounced them by holding crouch then primary fire again. This was cut, although some modded servers turned it on.