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This article appeared in Quake II  

!Q2-Mutant
Mutant
Health

300

Will gib when health is

-120

Attack Damage

Leap: 40-50
Claw: 10-15

Found in

Quake II
Ground Zero
Quake II 64
Call of the Machine

[Source]


Comments: Run.

—Quake 2 Manual

In Quake II, the Mutant is a large hostile creature that only uses melee attacks, leaping at its target and slashing them. It is not a Strogg as such, apparently having no cybernetic parts. It's notable for being one of few known examples of native Stroggos fauna (others being the Barracuda Shark and the Gekk) to have survived the global industrialization programs of the Strogg, which has heavily polluted so much of Stroggos.

Mutants are not common enemies in the original game. They are first encountered in the Guard House and they inhabit the mines of Unit 4. No Mutants are found in The Reckoning and only a single one can be found in Ground Zero, hidden in a secret area. They appear in one level of the Nintendo 64 version of Quake II, but not the Playstation version.

With the release of the 2023 remaster, they are a common enemy in the Call of the Machine expansion, although many of the Mutants in Call of the Machine have less health than normal. There is also a boss enemy in Call of the Machine based upon the Mutant.

Behaviour and attacks[]

Leap: Mutants can leap directly at their foe from a distance. This attack occurs quickly and with very little warning, and inflicts 40-50 damage if it connects. It is possible to dodge it by strafing. However, in the 2023 remaster, the leap has a shorter range and doesn't jump as high.

Claws: Once in melee range, a Mutant will repeatedly claw its target. Its attack pattern is a double claw strike, each strike dealing 10-15 damage if it connects, but if its target remains in melee range then the Mutant will simply keep repeating the claw strike.

Mutants are among the fastest enemies in the game, and having no ranged weaponry they will attempt to close the distance to their target as quickly as they can. If they manage to trap their target in a corner, then they can quickly repeat their claw attack to deal damage more quickly than any other melee attack used by the Strogg.

Strategies[]

  • In the original game, the Mutant can be viewed as a stronger version of the Berserker - being faster, having more health and damage output, and with the ability to suddenly leap at you from a distance. However, it's still not all that challenging of a foe if you keep your distance from it. The Chain Gun or Hyperblaster can put it down quickly; the Super Shotgun is effective if you are willing to risk close-range combat. Explosives are unwise because the Mutant will be rushing towards you and might suddenly leap at you, causing you to be hit with your own splash damage.
  • In the 2023 remaster, they are less powerful on an individual basis due to their leap attack being nerfed. However, they are encountered in much larger numbers in the Call of the Machine expansion than they were in the original game, swarming and potentially surrounding the player. When large numbers are encountered, it may be wise to use a power-up such as Double Damage or Dualfire Damage to increase your damage output, or perhaps the BFG10K, to kill the Mutants as quickly as possible and avoid becoming surrounded.

Appearance statistics[]

Campaign Easy Medium Hard/Nightmare
Quake II 12 13 15
The Reckoning - - -
Ground Zero 1 1 1
Quake II 64 5 5 5
Quake II PSX - - -
Call of the Machine* 95 107 113

*Some of the Mutants in Call of the Machine have less health than normal. There is also a boss enemy called the Bloodstarved Mutant which is essentially a large Mutant with much more health than normal.

Sounds[]

Sounds
The Mutant being idle
The Mutant spotting an opponent
The Mutant being injured
The Mutant being killed

Death Message[]

  • Player was clawed by a Mutant

Trivia[]

  • The Mutant is reminiscent of the Fiend from the first Quake game, having a similar set of attacks and general appearance.
  • Like Enforcers, the corpses of Mutants tend to attract flies (or at least, whatever fly-like organisms exist on Stroggos).

Gallery[]

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