Antlion Soldier
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 | The title of this article is conjectural.
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| Antlion Soldier | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Affiliation | |
| Type |
Insect |
| Personal information | |
| Health |
30 |
| Attack(s) |
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| Game information | |
| Entity |
npc_antlion |
| Designer(s) | |
- "Oh... Antlions... Now I know I'm not in heaven."
- ―Alyx Vance[src]
The Antlion Soldier (see below for a note regarding the name), simply known as Antlion, is the most common Antlion subspecies to be found on Earth, and the first species to be met by Gordon Freeman during his trip along the Coast.
Contents |
[edit] Overview
The Antlion Soldier is a four legged creature that seem to be around 3 feet (90 cm) tall, although Sheckley suggests it is 5 feet (1.50 meters). They are also commonly green-colored with tints of tan, purple, and yellow. Underneath an Antlion's carapace are wings which allow it to fly short distances. Antlions have a triangular shaped head which possess sharp mandibles. All Antlions species are blind and do not have eyes, and instead rely on keen senses of smell and vibration to find their way around.
[edit] Behavior and skills
Antlions are rapacious pack predators. Their favored method of accosting prey is to bury themselves in soft sand, sense for vibrations around them, then emerge and ambush the intruder. They usually form swarms so large that even a well-armed opponent will be quickly overwhelmed. Although they are blind they are extremely sensitive to vibration, which allows them to follow their enemies wherever they go once detected. This sensitivity can be turned against them; Thumpers, machines which pound the ground rhythmically, overload their senses causing them discomfort and preventing them from advancing on prey near them.
Antlions attack with their sharp claws and teeth. Those fleeing on foot or seeking higher ground will find no sanctuary from them; they will fly at opponents above or a distance away from them. They will fearlessly attack and pursue their target regardless of hazards they are faced with, and will continue charging even as fellow Antlions die in front of them. This includes charging into moving vehicles and into water, despite the fact they cannot swim. Antlions are both fiercely territorial and invasive. They will sweep into neighboring territory if it is not properly protected.
[edit] Pheromones
Common Antlions seem to defer overall leadership to Antlion Guards, who direct them through the use of pheromones. Harvesting Pheropods (through an unhygienic extraction method practiced by Vortigaunts) from the body of an Antlion Guard will allow a user to control the common Antlions. Users can command Antlions to follow by applying pressure to the pod. The user can also make Antlions move to a certain spot by throwing the pod to that spot. A note about these pods is that they do not provide protection against other Antlion Guards.
Antlions make excellent shock troops, once a pod is thrown, the antlions will charge at an incredible speed and take out whoever is in the immediate vicinity of where the pod landed. The Antlions can kill Combine Soldiers in one hit, and seem to be able to take more punishment than those not directed through the use of a pheromone pod. Any Antlion killed will quickly respawn, even when there are no burrows around (albeit it will take much longer than if there was a burrow) and will act on their own, attacking anyone who poses of a threat toward them. They are quite smart, for example, they will fly up to take on defended machine guns by utilizing flanking maneuvers.
[edit] Tactics
- Antlions are generally easy to kill, but are almost always encountered in numbers. Often once one has been killed, another will emerge from sand or a burrow. Antlion burrows can be blocked with large objects such as cars.
- The best way to kill Antlions is from a distance, as their melee attacks are quite powerful, and will cause the player to flinch, making their weapon aim awry.
- Antlions can be knocked over with the Gravity Gun, exposing their more vulnerable undersides, a fact they can take advantage of by switching to a secondary weapon to finish them off. It is possible to kill an Antlion by punting them repeatedly with the gravity gun, but it takes many hits and is not a practical form of attack. Although when , for example, moving a car to block a Antlion burrow, the Gravity Gun can be used to keep distance between the player and them.
- If the player has Pheropods, they can control Antlions. If trouble is met through an area guarded with Sentry Turrets or soldiers, Antlions can be used as a distraction. Antlions make very good area testers. Pheropods can be thrown ahead if an area is probably dangerous, and Antlions will often run straight through laser tripwires too.
- Antlions in Episode Two are generally not infinite in number, as was the case in Half-Life 2 and Episode One. Stepping on their Grubs will not summon them, as was suggested in press releases - Valve removed the feature believing it would make the game (and the achievement for stepping on all 333 grubs) too hard.
- Antlions will drown if lured into water by the player. This is useful when they are first encountered.
[edit] Behind the scenes
- The original Antlion skin was orange and did not have any green to it. However, it did have butterfly-like spots on its wings.
- The name "Antlion Soldier" used on the wiki is not given in any official source; it was merely chosen to easily differentiate the common Antlion to the others, based on the similarities with the names given to the different real world ant classes and their related purposes.
[edit] Trivia
- The Antlion Soldier characteristic of sensing prey through feeling vibrations through the ground, then burrowing up and attacking said prey, is reminiscent of other fictional creature's characteristics such as the Sandworm from the Dune series and the Graboid from the Tremors film series.
- They are also strongly similar in appearance to the Warrior Bug from the Starship Troopers film series.
- Antlion Soldiers are coded to kill Combine Soldiers in one hit. This is not true for Metrocops, since Antlions were not intended to appear in the same locations as the latter.
[edit] Gallery
[edit] Pre-release
 Concept art. |
 Movement study. |
 Ditto. |
 Antlion going through a collapsed Nova Prospekt wall. |
 The original cut yellow skin (also known as sand antlion). |
 Early screenshot of Antlions (with another cut sand skin) near the Beta Depot. |
 Overwatch Soldiers battling Antlions in cell block B4 in the Beta Nova Prospekt. |
 Antlion swarming the Gunship Bays at the foot of the Beta Depot. |
 First Antlion Hill model. |
 Second Antlion Hill model. |
[edit] Retail
Skin 1. |
 Skin 2. |
 Skin 3. |
 Skin 4. |
 Jumping animation. |
 Third and final Antlion Hill model. |
 Nova Prospekt Prison Guards fighting Antlions in the laundry room of block C1 in Nova Prospekt. |
[edit] List of appearances
- Half-Life 2 (First appearance)
- Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar
- Half-Life 2: Episode One
- Half-Life 2: Episode Two
[edit] Notes and references
| Antlions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Retail Antlions | Antlion Grub · Antlion Guard · Antlion Guardian · Antlion Soldier · Antlion Worker · Antlion Detector · Pheropods · Victory Mine | |
| Cut Antlions | Antlion King | |
