The Hunter

The Hunter is an agile Infected who can climb walls, leap off of walls, and jump over rooftops, similar to 28 Days Later Infected and Half-Life 2 ' s Fast Zombie. Hunters are primarily identified by a distinctive growl, or the screams they emit when pouncing or when they have sighted a Survivor. This boss infected has two attacks: a claw attack which does about 10 (6 in the latest update) damage (making it a viable tactic to use in the right situations), and a pouncing attack, which pins down a helpless survivor while the Hunter claws at them. The Hunter will not stop until either their victim is dead, or they have been knocked off (either by a melee attack from survivor, which would stun them momentarily, or killed by gunfire). However, it is very weak, and it can only take a few bullets before dying. Up to three Hunters are allowed on the Infected team while playing Versus.

When a player takes control of the Hunter in Versus mode, the Hunter's pounce ability is measured by a meter that is started when the player crouches down. This was chosen instead of the Hunter becoming invisible once backed up against a wall or a similar piece of cover, more than likely to balance gameplay. The Hunter's power should not be mistaken, however. Two Hunters can incapacitate a Survivor with full health in about five seconds, though they should stay behind the Survivor so they don't take any damage themselves.

Extent of Mutations
The Hunter has been heavily mutated under this strain of the Infection. It has gained an increase in strength that, while not creating massive muscles as in the case of the Tank, has granted it the ability to jump far distances and rapidly scale the sides of buildings with ease. It has developed a far better vision than typical infected, allowing it to do what its namesake suggests, hunt, with far greater efficiency. Though its mentality is similar to that of the typical infected, it's not distracted by such things as the flashing lights of pipe bombs nor is it apparently attracted by such things as car alarms going off.

Tactics
Fast and agile like the Hunters of Resident Evil, this boss-infected will whisper dark phrases and growl 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, any survivor pounced on by a flaming hunter will suffer much more damage from the attack.

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.
 * 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.

Before pounce:
 * 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 two additional melee attacks or weapon fire.

After a Hunter has pounced your fellow survivor:
 * 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 well placed head-shot can instantly kill the Hunter.
 * 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 rifle is particularly effective at this, although even pistols can punch through.

Infected

 * Hunters have few hitpoints, so never attack a group of two or more survivors on your own (unless they are distracted, such as by a mob of infected).
 * Lone wolves are the bread-and-butter of the hunter, eat them first.
 * The Hunter bonus pounce damage is based on how far you traveled horizontally, therefore launching straight up or down is not the most effective pounce. Instead, climb on top of a roof or chimney a bit away from the survivors (such as on a rooftop on the other side of the street), and 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.
 * Look for survivors outlined in red. The red indicates that their health is low, making them easy targets.
 * Instead of pouncing on a weak survivor, try clawing it. Once it quickly goes 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.
 * As most average survivor groups end up slighty splitting into pairs always try to team up with the other hunter player to pin two surviors at once with normally a gap between those pinned and the other pair that are normally distracted by something else giving a few more vital seconds for the hunters to do extra damage.Also with the hunters working in pairs this should ensure that if a group has fell to two surviours that they wont get much further without them being took out.
 * So long as you hold down the crouch key, you can pounce continuously.
 * To pounce continuously, all you need to do is make sure that as you hit a surface, you're facing into open space.
 * The "surface" can be a wall. In fact you can climb up to a roof by bouncing off walls (jump off walls by placing your back against the wall in your jump, and jump again).
 * If you mess up (i.e.: pounce forward while facing a wall), the pounce meter charges up quickly as long as you keep holding the pounce key.
 * On levels with mini-guns, 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 the survivors are distracted, you'll get away with it and gain a valuable second opportunity for pouncing on them.
 * If instead you stick around and try using the claw attack, you'll discover that it's actually quite effective.
 * 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 it too much, however, as most weapon fire penetrates multiple targets if they are lined up)
 * If three people are boomered, it is better to pounce the clean survivor as being boomered decreases vision and the infected meat shield 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.
 * If the survivors keep knocking you off before you can deal any damage, try silently running up to a survivor and using the Hunter's melee attack.
 * Hitting them in the back does extra damage.
 * Pouncing them from a high place does extra damage, also, up to a maxium of one fourth of their health.
 * If the survivors are in a defensible position (read: closet) and are spamming melee, claws are more effective than pouncing.
 * Setting yourself on fire before a pounce does extra damage to the Survivor, but you will slowly take damage from the flames.
 * Don't melee people who are being strangled by a Smoker, as your claw will damage (and may break) the tongue.
 * Don't kill steal from Smokers. Protect them by pouncing would-be rescuers.
 * In versus mode, Hunters have a small knockback on their pounce. Try pouncing groups near ledges for hilarious results.
 * The Hunter will scream when it sees a Survivor. Keep this in mind, as the scream will cause the Survivors to be aware of the Hunter's presence.
 * A good tactic when playing as the hunter, is to position yourself behind the witch, and then duck. A survivor or group of survivors will approach. They either will not notice the Witch or think they can pull of 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.
 * As of the most recent update, hunters can no longer anger the witch into attacking by pouncing at her
 * 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.
 * Generally, there is usually a loose cannon in all survivor teams, the person that runs ahead of the group and triggers a panic event or 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.
 * The same rule applies to players that take their time or get lost. Or have to back track to get a Med 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.
 * It is faster to continually pounce up climbable surfaces, rather than climbing normally.

Survivors
Jump Shot Headshot a Hunter while he's leaping.

Dead Stop Punch a Hunter as he is pouncing.

Hunter Punter Shove a Hunter off of a pinned and helpless Survivor.

Infected
Double Jump Pounce two different Survivors on one life as a Hunter.