Daedalus

 

Daedalus
Health	450, plus Power Screen with 100 cells
Will gib when health is	-100 (to gib instantly)
Attack Damage	Twin Blaster: 1 per bolt
Drops	Cells
Found in	Ground Zero Call of the Machine
[Source]

“	This is a more powerful version of the Icarus. He shoots an upgraded Blaster from his shoulder-mounted lasers. He utilises the Power Screen to blunt the force of your attacks.	”
—Ground Zero Manual

The Daedalus is a new enemy introduced in the mission pack Ground Zero. The Daedalus is essentially an upgraded Icarus, having significantly more health and a forward-facing power screen for additional protection (like the Brains). Visually, it differs from the Icarus in that it has more green to it than the reddish coloured Icarus. The Daedalus is a fairly common enemy in Ground Zero, first appearing in the Eastern Warehouse in Unit 2.

With the release of the 2023 remaster, the Daedalus is encountered in Call of the Machine as well, although far less frequently than in Ground Zero.

Behaviour and attacks

Twin Blaster: The Daedalus fires a random number of bolts in each volley - but always an even number. Each individual bolt deals 1 damage, and they can be reliably dodged by strafing. Note that while the manual asserts that the weapon is upgraded and it looks different to the bolts fired by the Icarus, it actually has the same damage output as the Icarus.

Like the other flying Strogg in Quake II, a Daedalus will only infight with other flying Strogg, i.e. a Flyer, Technician or Icarus. Strogg on the ground might accidentally hit a Daedalus, or vice versa, but it won't cause them to deliberately start fighting each other.

Strategies

• The Daedalus is essentially an Icarus with much more health, and the general strategy against it isn't really any different compared to fighting an Icarus, although more powerful weaponry would be advisable. Most weapons are effective against it, but keep strafing to avoid its return fire. Its blaster might look more powerful than that of the Icarus but it actually has the same damage output - only 1 damage per hit, so the occasional bolt hitting you isn't a big problem so long as you dodge most of them.
• Tesla Mines are useful against a Daedalus. It'll take a Daedalus quite a while to destroy a Tesla due to its blaster being rather weak, and the Tesla will therefore have more time to fire its lightning than it would against most other enemies, and cause a lot of damage to the Daedalus before it is destroyed. On most difficulty settings, a single Tesla can quite reasonably destroy a Daedalus on its own; it is less likely on Nightmare difficulty since enemies don't flinch in pain on that setting, but it can still be a close thing. Once the Daedalus begins firing at the Tesla, you can contribute to the fight with your own weaponry. This tactic works better in the 2023 remaster; if performed correctly, you can attack the distracted Daedalus with the Blaster or even the Chainfist without it retaliating, and thereby destroy it without expending any ammunition beyond the one Tesla Mine. However, a safer strategy overall would be to switch to a stronger ranged weapon once the Daedalus is distracted.
• While the Daedalus has a lot of durability, its power screen only protects it from attacks to its front. If you're able to hit it from the side or rear (or even from beneath), your shots will count for more. This is helpful if you're able to approach a Daedalus before it spots you - the Railgun is especially effective in this case, due to its ability to inflict double damage to an idle target. In the 2023 remaster, the power screen takes additional damage from energy weapons - a Hyperblaster, Plasma Beam, BFG10K (against multiple Daedaluses) or even a Blaster (when facing single Daedalus if you want to conserve ammo) will be effective at taking it down. Only 100 of its health is power screen, so the advantage isn't too big, but it still allows the player to save a few cells.

Appearance statistics

Campaign	Easy	Medium	Hard/Nightmare
Quake II	-	-	-
The Reckoning	-	-	-
Ground Zero	27	35	68
Quake II 64	-	-	-
Quake II PSX	-	-	-
Call of the Machine	2	3	3

Death Message

• Player was blasted by a Daedalus

Trivia

• Unlike all other enemy variants introduced in the mission packs, the sounds that the Daedalus makes are different from its standard counterpart.
• The enemy is named after Daedalus from Greek mythology, the master craftsman who designed the Labyrinth to contain the Minotaur. Daedalus and his son Icarus were later imprisoned by King Minos of Crete. Daedalus fashioned wings for them both, so that they might attempt to escape by flight, but Icarus flew too close to the sun, causing the beeswax in his wings to melt and he fell to his death.

Sounds

Sounds
The Daedalus' jetpack engine
The Daedalus spotting an opponent
The Daedalus talking
The Daedalus being injured
The Daedalus being killed

Gallery

Daedalus's Shield

Daedalus' texture map

Daedalus' texture map when injured

Remastered model