I made a guide on the alien and marine and felt pretty satisfied by those. I didn't do a guide on the predator because I felt this class is already extremely overpowered and if you can't win with the predator, well, I don't really know what to tell you. But I got to thinking that there are some tricks of the trade that could be shared, so I wanted to point out some basic strategies and advantages/disadvantages with this class.

I want to preface this guide by saying that I'm by no means a good predator player and I usually tend to avoid playing it. But for the sake of completion, I'll share the little I know about this class.

Part 1 will cover basic elements of gameplay such as the controls, weapons, advantages, disadvantages, and basic strategies.

As with my other guides, I'll start out with the controls. The predator has more commands than the alien but fewer than the marine. Nevertheless, it's imperative that you bind your controls effectively so you can select what you want as soon as possible. Here I'll outline my controls so you can get an idea of how I use the predator.

Forward: W
Backward: S
Strafe Left: A
Strafe Right: D
Walk: Left Shift
Crouch: Left Cntl
Jump: Space
Operate: E and W
Fire Primary: Mouse1
Fire Secondary: Mouse2
Next Weapon: Unbound
Previous Weapon: Unbound
Flashback Weapon: Unbound
Cloak: Caps Lock
Cycle Vision Mode Forward: Mouse Wheel Up
Reverse Cycle Vision Mode (uMod only): X
Grappling Hook: Left Shift
Zoom In: Z and Mouse3
Zoom Out: Mouse Wheel Down
Taunt: R
Say: ~ (tilde)
Species Say: Y
Show Scores: Tab
ID_PLAYER: Q

As with the other species, I have most of the commands located around the WASD setup. A couple of things to note: I never use a next/previous/flashback weapon key. Unlike the marine, the predator always has his weapons available and I prefer to simply use the number keys to change weapons. My vision mode button is Mouse Wheel Up so I can freely change vision modes as I'm moving in any direction. uMod gives the predator the ability to cycle vision modes in reverse (e.g. Blue to Normal, Green to Red, etc.), which I set to X because I can still hit it while strafe-running via the thumb. Cloak is set to Caps Lock so I can turn it on/off with my fifth finger whilst moving in any direction. I set both Walk and Grappling Hook to Left Shift because the only instance you'd really use walk is not when you have the grappling hook, and vice versa. I switch vision modes much more often than I use the zoom ability, but I still bound the zoom in and out abilities to the mouse scroll wheel (the former being actually pressing the Mouse3 button). The last option, ID_PLAYER, is a custom command that allows you to identify player names (only relevant in multiplayer). I find this fairly useful; you can bind this to anything by opening the SAY box, deleting "SAY," and type BIND X ID_PLAYER where X is whatever button you want it to be.

The predator has a ton of advantages and for good reason is considered the best/strongest/most OP class. Here I'll outline the predator's basic advantages.

HEALTH: This is the most obvious, the predator can take more punishment than the marine and alien combined. His health is astronomical compared to either of the other two species and, paired with the ability to heal at any time, makes the predator a sheer tank. Even with lousy weapons he would be a beast to take down but all of the predator's weapons have the ability to instantly kill marines or aliens. This makes the predator one tough ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. The predator also takes no falling damage; aside from a couple of instant death pits in the single player campaign, you will never have to worry about falling from too great a height.

SPEED: This is another pretty clear advantage. The predator easily outruns the marine and can also outrun aliens provided the player knows the map and knows how to move properly. In the right hands, a predator can be uncatchable.

STRENGTH: The predator has access to some of the most destructive weapons in the game. All of his weapons can kill a marine and/or alien in one hit. This, combined with his ability to heal at any time and take three times the amount of damage as either the marine or alien, is what gives the predator his reputation for being OP.

HEALING: The medicomp is a tool that can heal you to full health at the cost of 20 energy ticks. Unless a server bans this, you will always have access to this nifty device.

OUTFITTING: The predator has some pretty effective tools and never, I repeat, NEVER, has to find them to acquire them. This goes for weapons, the cloaking ability, and the mask, which affords vision modes and the ability to zoom in and out.

VISION MODES: As with the alien, the predator has the ability to detect each of the different species. Unlike the alien, however, the predator can only see one species highlighted at a time. This is both a blessing and a curse. Enemies stand out incredibly strongly from the background color, but if there are enemy aliens, marines, and predators running around (or even just aliens and marines), it can be a bit of a pain to aim at species that blend into the background. A bit of good news though; the predator can see through the dark better than the alien's navigation mode and the marine's image intensifier.

CLOAKING: The predator's cloaking device, which can never be banned or removed, reflects light around him, rendering him partially invisible. This doesn't affect aliens since they can always see a predator's aura. It's more effective against marines, especially in the dark, because marines never get a vision mode that can highlight species. It can be somewhat effective against predators if they're using a vision mode that isn't PredTech; otherwise, a cloaked pred is still visible, albeit slightly less so, in PredTech vision.

WEAPON DIVERSITY: The predator has quite the diversity of tools. From melee to sniping to tracking weapons, you'll usually have the right weapon for any given scenerio.

COMBAT-DRIVEN: The predator is probably the best outfitted of the three species for combat. Aliens have to be in melee range for any of their attacks to hit. Most marines are cannon fodder and can't do much damage except with pulse grenades at close or medium range; the minigunner specialist is really the only marine who's in any good condition to do damage and even he is vulnerable from the rear or anyone who can move faster than him. Predators, while they fare best in medium-sized spaces, aren't at all bad at either long-distance or short-distance encounters. Enemies will have a difficult time engaging you at any distance as long as you know which weapon to use for any scenerio.

RESOURCE RESUPPLY: Although the predator requires a few seconds to heal, recharging energy is instantaneous. All you have to do is run over a field charge orb to completely get all of your energy back. This gives you the ability to heal if you've run out of charge, or 4+ charged shoulder-cannon shots.

SNIPING: You have the ability to zoom in to three different ranges and the ability to zoom out regardless of weapon type you have out. And unlike the marine, who has no scoped weapons, the predator's speargun is the perfect sniper's tool. Although it requires precise aim, a shot anywhere on a marine or alien will kill it, plus it has zero delay upon firing (the shot hits instantaneously). The predator is the only species who can truly snipe.

LOCK-ON WEAPONS: The predator's mask also affords him the ability to lock on with either the shoulder cannon or smart disc as long as you're in the vision mode that highlights it. This means your shot can hit without your crosshair even being on the target! The shoulder cannon fires in a straight line where the target is at the point of firing, so with the delay, it is possible for your shot to miss. However, if it's a stationary or slow-moving target, you're almost guaranteed to hit. The smart disc, true to its name, will actually follow a moving target, which makes outrunning it nearly impossible. Due to this, it is frequently banned from servers and competitions.

MAP ADVANTAGES: The pred fares well in most maps. Unlike the alien (which requires space) and the marine (who succeeds in tight spaces, corners, and corridors), the predator performs well in medium-sized rooms, which comprise most multiplayer maps.

HIGH JUMP ABILITY: The predator has a longer jump than the marine, so he can cross certain gaps more easily than the marine. Additionally, the speargun allows for the predator to make long-distance jumps, allowing him to reach areas the marine can't even get close to.

The predator's disadvantages are not as extreme as those for the alien or marine, but it does have quite a few. Let's take a look.

SINGLE-SHOT ATTACKS: Unlike the marine, who has several weapons that can fire rapidly (the most noteworthy being the minigun), and the alien, who can rapid-fire the claws, the predator has no true rapid-fire weapons. The speargun can fire repeatedly, but you're pretty much guaranteed not to hit anything if you play this way. The wristblade primary fire and shoulder cannon primary fire can also be fired rapidly but it does so little damage that I guarantee you will not kill anything this way. The pistol is probably the only weapon that can realistically kill anything if you spam it, but since it's usually banned from servers, you can't rely on it.

SLOW ATTACKS: Along with being single-shot, the predator's attacks themselves are relatively slow. The wristblade takes at least a full second to charge, and it releases with about a third of a second delay. The shoulder cannon takes a second or two to charge. The speargun is technically the fastest-firing weapon, but again, if you're rapid firing the speargun, you're playing the predator wrong. This makes the predator dependent on precision, where every shot must count, because if you miss, you've opened yourself up to a counterattack for a second or two.

SLOW WEAPON-SWITCHING: This may seem like a minor point but in practice it is noticeable. The predator takes longer to switch between weapons than either the marine or alien (the alien doesn't even really switch weapons at all). It may be something like 0.5-1 second more than the marine, but that extra time is more time for an enemy to get a hit on you without you being able to hit back.

HEALING IS SLOW AND MAKES YOU VULNERABLE: While you can heal whenever you want, this feature comes with a caveat: healing takes about 5-6 seconds during which time you can't attack. This may not seem like a lot of time but it's definitely enough time for any species to kill you. Experienced preds will be able to outrun or outmaneouver enemy pursuants during this time but it doesn't change the fact that they're vulnerable.

RESOURCE-DEPENDENT: This is a HUGE disadvantage and should always be exploited when fighting a predator. This species is dependent on field charge for things such as cloaking, healing, and using energy weapons, as well as retrieving the disc. The most important one of these is healing; if a pred runs out of energy, he can't heal. This puts pressure on him to find an orb quickly or use an alternate strategy if he's weak. A resource that the predator can't get back is speargun ammo. Once you run out of your 30 shots, you ain't gettin' them back until you respawn. Although 30 shots seems like a lot, the fact that you can't replenish shots should make you conserve your ammo. As an alien, I've run predators out of both energy and speargun ammo, which essentially makes them useless as they flail their blades aimlessly. Learn from their mistakes and know how/when to conserve your resources.

AWKWARD MOVEMENT: I may be the only one who's experienced this, but I notice that the box comprising the predator's space in the game world is larger than that of the marine or alien. You can see this by testing the stairwells in Hive; strafe-run down them as the alien, marine, and predator. Additionally, I often get stuck on things that I feel like I shouldn't, such as doors, corridors, walls, and fences. The momentum you get from jumping from a standstill also feels a little off. Basically the predator moves awkwardly and feels clunky, as it just feels a little too big for its shoes and tends to get stuck on things in the environment.

AFFECTED GREATLY BY LAG: This is a minor point but it's crucial in regard to the speargun. As with the alien's tail attack, lag will greatly hinder your performance with the speargun, which requires pinpoint accuracy and perfect timing. You may often find yourself missing shots that should hit or hitting shots that should miss, or you may see spears hovering randomly in the air instead of hitting their intended target. These experiences, attributable to lag, can be and have been not only incredibly frustrating but essentially game-ruining for players.

CLOAKING IS A WASTE: The quintessential feature of the stalking predator, the ability to bend light around him to make him nearly invisible to the naked eye, and...it's garbage. Seriously. Running around while cloaking gives your position away (other players can hear you), you're never truly invisible, and aliens and enemy predators can spot you provided they're in the right vision mode. I suppose that in the dark or against players with limited experience, the cloak can be somewhat effective, but against anyone else it's just a waste. Oh yeah, and using the speargun, medicomp, pistol, or disc deactivates the cloaking device, so unless you're only going to use the wristblade (which you're not) or shoulder cannon, which has a targeting laser easily spotted by others, it's just a waste of energy.

EASILY SPOTTED: Along with the above disadvantage, you can't ever truly hide if you're out in the middle of things, so there really isn't any point in trying. Aliens and enemy predators can spot you even if you're cloaked, and the marine's motion tracker and smartgun tracking mode can pick you up as well, so even with the cloaking device, you're spottable. On top of that, the speargun and shoulder cannon emit a red laser so you can be spotted by any species, even in total darkness. Simply put, you're always visible and can be easily spotted if you don't hide yourself or set up an ambush correctly.

SPECIES-SPECIFIC VISION MODES: This is less of a problem for experienced players, but it bears pointing out that the predator's mask can only highlight one species at a time. This is perfect for one-on-one scenerios, or matches with only one enemy species, but it can be a problem in a mixed-species deathmatch. You will either have to switch between vision modes or learn to spot the three different enemies in a single vision mode.

RESTRICTED WEAPONS: Not really a "disadvantage" per se, but this does limit the predator. The disc and predator pistol are almost universally prohibited from servers (hosted by experienced players) and tournaments. The disc is removed because of its cheap homing ability and the pistol is removed for its massive splash damage and basic inability to miss. While these are overpowered weapons that should be removed, it limits the predator to three basic weapons, the wristblade, speargun, and shoulder cannon. So instead of five weapons you have three, limiting your weapon diversity.

POINT VALUE: The predator is, rightfully so, worth the most number of points, so you're always at a disadvantage there. On the other hand, the predator probably should be worth something like 300 points instead of 150, but that's beside the point. Every other species is worth fewer points than you so if you die once, you've put yourself behind.

HIGH SKILL CEILING: This is probably the most abstract but ultimately the most important disadvantage with using the predator: it is the most difficult species to master. The speargun requires pinpoint accuracy, the wristblade requires excellent timing, and even getting the shoulder cannon to hit with the often-failing tracking system can be difficult. You'll also need to learn how to maneuver efficiently because you don't have the agility of an alien. You'll need to be able to flee from pursuers when you're trying to heal or regain field charge, and this means knowing the maps inside and out, as well as knowing how to trick other players. The predator is by far the best species IF you learn how to use it correctly, but it can be put down even by a single alien if you can't handle it right.

Keystroke: 1
Primary Fire: Weak, quick slash
Secondary Fire: Holding charges blades, letting go releases a strong, charged attack
Attack Damage (Primary): Low
Attake Damage (Secondary): High
Speed (Primary): Quick
Speed (Secondary): Slow
Range: Short
Notes: The predator will not hold the blade charged for more than about 7 seconds. Backstab does double damage.

This is the predator's only weapon that doesn't rely on any kind of resource and cannot be banned from a server. It's the iconic blade from all the predator movies, used only for melee combat. Primary fire is useless except to quickly break objects, because it does essentially no damage. To do any damage, you have to charge up the blade with secondary fire. It functions similarly to the alien's tail, in that the longer you charge it up, the more damage it will do. When you release it, there is about a 0.3-0.4 second delay from releasing the mouse button and the attack actually hitting. This requires a TON of practice to get down in actual multiplayer combat and is by far the most difficult of the predator's weapons to use effectively, and therefore in my opinion, the most legitimate of the predator's weapons. Keep in mind that the predator can't keep the blade charged up for very long. A fully charged blade attack will kill a marine. It takes two fully charged attacks to kill an alien from the front, but only one from the back. It takes two fully charged attacks to kill a predator from the back.

Keystroke: 2
Primary Fire: Instantly fires a small spear (bolt) wherever the crosshair is.
Secondary Fire: None
Attack Damage: High
Speed: Instantaneous
Range: Long
Notes: Start with 30 spears that are non-replaceable.

The speargun is essentially a sniper rifle, requiring extreme accuracy but offering incredible firepower if you can get it to hit. You always start out with 30 spears and cannot find ammo pickups. An ammo counter is represented in blue predator numerals on the bottom left. Most new players spam the hell out of the speargun, and it's pretty hard not to hit something with 30 shots. However, this weapon is best saved for perfectly lined up shots. Although the speargun instantly kills a marine and alien at full health, it requires a lot of accuracy to use well. It takes only two shots to kill a predator. Also note that this weapon has significant recoil that can be used to boost you up if you time it right with jumps, but more on that later.

Keystroke: 3
Primary Fire: Tapping releases a weak mini-blast; holding charges up to release when you let go.
Secondary Fire: Charges the shoulder cannon, will be released when primary fire is tapped.
Attack Damage: Low-High based on amount charged
Speed: Medium
Range: Long (ideal range is Medium).
Notes: Locks on when in correct vision mode. Blast takes some time to travel through the air.

This is the big mama of the predator's arsenal if you know how to use it right. The primary fire shoots mini-shots that do next to no damage, so don't bother using it. What you have to do is charge the cannon (with either primary or secondary fire), which will do a ton of damage. The good thing about this weapon is that it has significant splash damage, allowing you to kill multiple enemies with a single shot, as well as killing enemies with area of effect damage. Only new players will be inexperienced enough to think that the lock-on is capable of always hitting a target. This may be the case against new players who simply run in a straight line towards you, but this isn't the case with anyone who knows how to move properly. More often than not, the targeting system will cause your shots to miss rather than hit, at least against anyone other than the minigunner. A way to counter this is to intentionally be in the wrong vision mode, OR fire your shot the instant you see the enemy on your screen before the targeting system locks on; if you fire before the system locks on, your shot will go where your crosshaor is instead of where the targeting system thinks the enemy is. While the shoulder cannon shot will not be affected by distance, it is a slow projectile that becomes more easily dodged the greater distance is put between the player and the target. As such, this weapon is best used at medium range, accurate and undodgeable yet not close enough to do splash damage to the player.

Keystroke: 4
Primary Fire: Heals predator to full health
Secondary Fire: Extinguishes flames
Attack Damage: n/a
Speed: Slow
Range: n/a
Notes: Requires 20 energy ticks.

This isn't a weapon, but it is selectable like one. The medicomp's only function is to heal you or extinguish flames. It takes at least 6-7 seconds for you to switch to this tool, use it, and switch back to a weapon, during which time you cannot attack. Practice up your running, dodging, swerving, zigzagging, and misdirecting because you'll need to use the predator's maneuverability to stay alive when players realize that you're defenseless.

Keystroke: 5
Primary Fire: Fires a slow-moving energy globule in an arc towards the ground.
Secondary Fire: n/a
Attack Damage: Medium-High
Speed: Medium
Range: Medium
Notes: Instant kill against aliens, deals massive AoE damage.

Fires a medium-sized ball of energy in an arc towards the ground. This weapon is pretty cheap against the class it was intended to be used against, the alien. Seeing as the alien needs to get into melee range to do any damage, it's very difficult for an alien to avoid dying from this attack. Because of its cheapness, it is usually banned from servers. If you do find yourself as a predator in a server that permits it, people shouldn't complain if you use the weapon against marines and other predators, as it does only medium damage to marines and little damage to preds. However, don't use it against aliens. I personally ban it from servers. In single-player, it's the ultimate weapon to cheese the game with when you're up against xenos, requiring little energy and killing any xeno it hits.

Keystroke: 6
Primary Fire: Releases disc
Secondary Fire: n/a
Attack Damage: Instant kill
Speed: Slow
Range: Long
Notes: Locks on when in correct vision mode; disc will follow enemies around corners.

Ah, the notorious "smart" disc. This weapon not only locks on to an enemy when you're in the vision mode that highlights that species, but it tracks the enemy around corners, behind barriers, and even into other rooms. It's a very difficult weapon to dodge and instantly kills anything it hits. It is possible for it to get stuck in a wall, and if this happens you'll automatically switch to the speargun. You can get it back by running over it or using the "recall disc" button. This weapon is so ridiculously cheap that it should've never been implemented into multiplayer the way it's currently programmed. Always ban it from your servers. If it's not banned, just don't use it.

The predator is probably the easiest to succeed with from the start, at least if you're playing against other newbies. On an even skill level (an alien vs. marine vs. predator all on the same level), the predator pretty much always comes out on top. This is because he has the most health out of all the species, has a lot of instant kill weapons, and is very agile and mobile. Most preds can usually get a higher kill to death ratio just by sheer strength+health+speed. However, if you're new to the game and you find yourself up against seasoned players or veterans, they can easily hand your ass to you on a platter if you use the same simple techniques against them as you do with newbies. So here I'll outline some of the important strategies if you find yourself dying as a pred over and over against what you'd expect to be a one-sided fight in your favor.

LEARN THE WEAPONS: This is an obvious one. Knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each weapon will help you plan accordingly to each situation. In practice, some weapons are great for most situations, others are essentially useless, and others are only useful in certain situations. Also, some weapons are considered cheap (or "noob") weapons by the community at large. Knowing not to use the pistol or disc in a competitive game (or even better, banning them from your server) will help you earn the respect of more experienced players.

LEARN THE MAPS: This is another obvious tip. Those who succeed know the maps inside and out. It always pays dividends to know where each path leads, where the dark zones are, where the good camping spots are, where the orbs are, and even where each vent/tunnel leads and where the marine pickups are. If you keep finding yourself outresourced, it's because you don't know where things are yet, so explore the maps on your own. You can set the number of players to 1 so only you will be in the map.

ALWAYS KEEP MOVING: Even though you're a tank and you require precision, a moving target is always harder to hit than a stationary one. Unless you're camping in a corner, you should always be moving, even if it's just in circles. Along with this, you should jump, too, which will make you harder to hit. Just be aware that other players can hear you jump.

DESTROY PICKUPS: This applies when facing off against marines and other predators. Let's talk marines first; destroying health packs will severely limit any marine. Standards will be limited if you destroy the good weapons such as the minigun and SADAR. Against predators you can pick up orbs for yourself or destroy them from long range. Doing this will keep you with the resources instead of your enemy.

DON'T RELY ON THE CLOAK: I know it's tempting to cloak a lot, but in any situation other than against marines in a dark map, the cloak doesn't really offer much in the way of help. Don't get me wrong, you can use the cloak, and I even recommend using it when up against only marines. However, don't think that you're ever invisible, because you're not. The most you can hope to do with the cloak is get the drop on an enemy and that's pretty much it.

KNOW WHEN TO HEAL: As long as the medicomp is enabled, you can heal any time you want. This tips the scales in your favor but you have to know when to heal. In casual matches, I often heal after kills or if I'm below half-health and am at immediate risk of dying. This is often seen as cheap because it basically ensures that if an enemy can't kill you immediately, he'll never be able to kill you. In one-on-one situations, an alien can't do this, and even though a marine technically can, he's so weak that one shot will usually kill him anyway, and since he's slower than a predator or alien, he often can't outrun one long enough to find a medkit. If you want to be more fair, you could allow yourself to heal only after securing a kill, so you can't switch to the medicomp until you've killed your opponent. This is in my opinion a much more honorable way of playing since taking down a predator as anything but a minigunner is usually a chore in the first place.

ALWAYS LISTEN: This is a strategy that applies to all species. Know what sounds to listen for so you have a general idea of where other players are. This includes taunts, jumps, firing a weapon, cloaking, falling, taking damage, and even footsteps from just running.

The predator has some unique and interesting features that deserve to be mentioned, so let's take a brief look.

TROPHY HUNTER: The game never explains this, but the predator can actually collect enemy heads as trophies. All you have to do is switch to the wristblade, line up the enemy head in the center of your screen, and perform a charged blade attack on it. If you did it correctly, the head will disappear and the predator will roar. You can do this on any species: marine, alien, or predator. There's no real point in doing it in multiplayer except for fun. In single-player, you can unlock various cheat modes by collecting a certain number of trophies in specific levels. Check out my guide on obtaining the cheat modes to find out more.

SPEAR-JUMPING: The speargun's recoil is significant enough that if you fire at the ground and jump at the same time, you'll get shot up into the air. While this may seem like just a funny quirk, you can actually reach a lot of areas that the pred normally isn't supposed to get to. With this tactic, you can hide more effectively and put yourself in a better position to get kills or run away more effectively, especially if other marines or predators can't follow you. Below is a video showing some (not even all!) of the places you can get to with spear-leaping.


DISC-THIEF: It is actually possible to steal a disc from another predator or have your disc stolen from you. If this happens, you won't be able to recall it, until (I think) the player who stole it dies or you die. Additionally, if you steal a disc, you will have two or if you steal more, you'll have even more! It's a bit hard to explain, but I'll try my best.

The only way to steal a disc is to be a predator (and obviously it must be permitted on the server). The disc first must be stuck in a wall. Switch to your disc and stay in normal vision mode. This will ensure that it doesn't come back to you straight away. Get close to the wall where the disc is and throw your disc such that there is enough space so that it will come back to you (it won't get stuck in a wall and you won't have to recall it). A good example of this is the large outdoor area in Subway. Once your disc is in the air, put yourself up against the wall and in front of the disc. Now move backwards and against the wall until you move across the stuck disc. If you do it right, you'll pick up the disc from the wall. Now when your disc returns to you, you'll have two! What can you do with two discs? Well, you can throw two of them consecutively and they both should come back to you. The other player's disc will be un-recallable, however, the other player may be able to get it back once he/she dies or once the disc-thief dies.

EXTRA HEALTH/ENERGY: I already made a guide on this, but I suppose it deserves to be mentioned here as well. The predator numerals on either side of the HUD don't actually represent your true health and energy. You actually have 6 extra ticks for each, which the game doesn't represent visually. If you read my guide, I demonstrate how you can tell this to be the case. Why Rebellion chose to do this I have no idea.

Part 2 will cover more in-depth strategies on dealing with the different species.

In principle, the predator is a stealth and ambush class. Its slow speed in changing weapons, slow rate of fire, and slow healing time require it to have significant time and space isolated or hidden from players. The extreme power and single-shot nature of its weapons make it ideal for one-on-one scenerios, especially luring a lone enemy into a deathtrap. Like the alien, the predator can exploit the map's darkness or unconventional space to get the drop on an unsuspecting player. The ability to spear-jump may have been intentionally added to afford the predator unconventional spaces from which to snipe or camp. The cloaking ability can be heard by other players when the predator is moving and in close proximity, however, it is silent when the predator is stationary. The predator is relatively fast, but the weapons require such accuracy that aiming suffers significantly when moving.

The predator may be ideal for one-on-one scenerios, but against groups it is completely impractical. It doesn't make multi-kills as consistently as the marine, and its resource dependence doesn't allow it to go a long time before needing to reacquire energy. Additionally, in a group setting, players know that the predator is worth the most number of points, and therefore most of the attention will be on him. With numerous sources of damage, even if relatively light, it will make it difficult to concentrate on a single target, which is what the predator is designed to be: a stalker focused on one individual at a time. Large groups will also throw off the shoulder cannon's targeting system, making it even more impractical. On top of all this, the larger space that the predator takes up makes it slightly more difficult to navigate through spaces.

The predator is, in a way, the antithesis of the marine. The marine always comes up short in one-on-one match-ups, but in large groups it becomes the ideal species, since it's able to rack up multiple kills with ease. By contrast, the predator is always the stronger species when pitted against a single enemy, but in large groups he becomes unwieldy and difficult to use effectively. A spray-and-pray tactic that works for the marine will not work for a species that only uses slow firing, single-shot weapons and moves awkwardly.

I think of the marine as sort of a turret and the predator as a sniper. A sniper sets himself up to take out one target at a time, and as such is highly specialized to deal with battles individually (vision modes, single-shot weapons, targeting system, etc.). He makes it so that he's difficult to be picked off by a lone warrior, but when being chased around by a group of enemies, he stands little chance of survival. A turret, on the other hand, is very easy to get around when it's merely scanning the scene. It's easy to sneak up on and get a kill from behind and also easy to take down from the front if it hasn't started going yet. But once it gets going, it shreds everything in its wake.

This should give you some idea of how to think of the predator in AvP. Now, this would be a nearly perfect analogy if Rebellion hadn't buffed the predator up to ridiculous proportions. As it stands, the predator is able to fare somewhat well in groups, given his absurdly high health, maneuverability, and healing ability. You may see predators holding their own against a couple marines and aliens, and you might think that the greater number of targets means you have a better chance of hitting something. That's true, but only up to a point. You can't rely on a spray-and-pray tactic like the marine and hope you eventually hit something.

Against good, smart players, succeeding as the predator will require precision, maneuverability, map knowledge, and stealth. You won't need to deprive marines of resources that much because you should be able to ambush them or catch them off-guard anyway. You can easily chase down one enemy but if you've found yourself surrounded by a group of good players, you aren't going to last long. Pick your targets, engage in one fight at a time, set yourself up for ambushes, monitor your energy, heal when you have a chance, and flee from a fight if you need to. All too often, players get cocky when playing as the predator as they feel the superior firepower and health gives them the ability to try and take on everybody. It's when they do this that they usually (and hopefully) get taken down.

This match-up depends heavily on the map. An alien usually fares very poorly against a predator in enclosed maps like Hive or Leadworks, while faring comparably better in larger maps like Subway or Nostromo. The main thing to keep in mind as a predator is that, against a skilled alien, you can't rely on the shoulder-cannon's lock-on system nor can you realistically rely on the blade (unless you've trained it for hours upon hours). This means you'll either need to use a different vision mode for the shoulder cannon or learn how to fire accurately before the targeting system locks on. Good aliens (to say nothing of great ones) can easily throw off the shoulder cannon's targeting system and get you to waste your energy as they keep the orbs destroyed. This limits your ability to heal and forces you to be extremely accurate with the speargun. Using the wristblade against a good alien is usually a death sentence unless you're good at running away and healing every time you're close to dying.

There are only a few strategies I can give when dealing with an experienced alien in an environment that favors them. The first is to always keep the shoulder cannon charged, and when an alien comes at you with a melee attack, aim at the floor and try to kill them with the blast or splash damage. They're guaranteed to come close to you (they have to in order to get a kill), so that can be the time to try and take them out; just remember that the splash damage can kill you too. Another method is to just work on your aim with the speargun; it'll take practice but I've seen players take down speed-tricking aliens with the speargun. Another thing you can do is hide in an area where you're basically guaranteed to take them down with a shoulder cannon blast, such as a corridor or small room. Aliens suck in corridors, and yeah, while this is camping, I thought I'd at least mention it.

The predator is always a formidable opponent against a marine and unless you're up against an insanely good player, you'll usually have an advantage here. Marines are the slowest species and are very fragile. However, for the sake of completion, I'll run through the weapons list to give you some ideas of what to expect and how to counter them.

Pistol(s): *Snore*.

Flamethrower: *Also snore*. Remember that you can extinguish flames with the medicomp's secondary fire. But you shouldn't need to.

Pulse Rifle: Three direct hits with pulse rifle grenades will kill you. This should still give you more than enough time to take down a pulse rifle user, though.

Skeeter: As with every other species, although the skeeter can one-hit kill you, avoiding this one is pretty easy. The skeeter's charge-up sound is very loud and distinct, so when you hear it, get as far away from the user as you can.

Smartgun: Now we're getting somewhere! I've seen the smartgun used effectively against predators (and in fact have done so myself). Grzegorz pointed out to me that the hitbox for the tracking system's range is somewhat large, and the smartgun absolutely shreds predators. Of course, the tracking system (or the user) will need to be able to hit you first, so moving around like mad is your best guarantee that you won't get a scratch on you. Easier said than done in some maps, but smartgunners are still slow, so unless they catch you off guard, they're easily disposed of.

Grenade Launcher: This deserves a mention because in MvP fights, the grenade launcher is a viable weapon. It takes three standard grenades or proximity mines to take you down, but that's not what we're concerned about. What's important are the fragmentation grenades. You know, those grenades that always miss, never seem to get kills, and are generally just considered a waste? Well here is the only time when they have some use to the marine, because a direct hit from a fragmentation grenade will instantly kill a predator, even at full health. Yeah, it's awesome. Fortunately for the pred, fragmentation grenades are incredibly difficult to aim, and since they roll around a lot and can potentially be spotted before they detonate, you can avoid them somewhat easily. Additionally, I've never seen anyone rely on frag grenades against a predator, so even if you get killed once or twice with it, it's not something you'll likely encounter much, if at all.

SADAR: AvP's rocket launcher packs a hell of a punch against preds, with one direct shot instantly killing them. Although this sounds good in theory, and although the SADAR fires like a normal rocket launcher, it's rarely used effectively against preds because it takes up a huge part of the right side of the screen and getting a direct hit on a fast-moving predator, especially a cloaked one, is a very difficult thing to do. If you find yourself up against a SADAR user, however, engage at long distance and make sure to always keep moving. You're easily destroyed if you stop for even a split second to aim.

Minigun: This is the most viable of the marine's weapons against you and is definitely the most difficult to take on. However, this doesn't necessarily mean it's difficult to take on. A minigunner must be stationary to use the minigun, which sets him up perfectly for a shot with with the shoulder cannon. Many players (myself included) also use wristblades against minigunners because they're stationary. The only time they may give you trouble is if they put themselves in an obscure corner and have extremely good accuracy. I've also seen good minigunners jump around a lot and take potshots when they can. One direct burst is all they need to kill you. The map also plays an important factor in the match-up. Hadley's Hope, Office, Lab 14, Hive, and even Compound have ideal places for the minigunner to set up shop and wait for you to pass by for them to kill you. The charged shoulder cannon is still your best option, the speargun isn't terrible if you can avoid being seen long enough to hit them, and the wristblade can work if you can manage to pull it off.

All in all, the predator comes out on top in any MvP match-up, assuming default scoring. You have better vision, a cloaking device, a targeting system that has a mid- to high- success rate, higher health, higher agility, the ability to heal whenever you want, and you never need to collect your weapons.

Alright kiddies, here it is. PvP. As I've said before, the predator is the strongest species and the most ideal choice for any one-on-one match-up. The marine and alien both pale in comparison to the predator on their own. So it's only natural that you'd want to go pred to maximize your chance of winning. Well, news flash, that's what everyone else is thinking too, so a PvP match is inevitable. Trust me, a predator is the ONLY species you'll want to be when pitted against another predator, and you actually want to win.

There are two ways to play PvP: MAK-style and KOTH-style.

MAK-Style: MAK stands for Medicomp After Kill. If both players agree to play this way, they don't heal until after a kill is secured. This makes the fights take a lot less time and base them more around actually hitting your target than depriving them of resources. Two speargun hits will kill a predator, and that's usually what I stick with. I personally find wristblade fights fun, and trying to get a backstab against another wristblader can be thrilling. You need to have three successful fully-charged shoulder cannon blasts to kill a pred, and while this can be interesting (since the targeting system against preds is unreliable at best), I personally don't find it as fun as the speargun or wristblade. If possible, I HIGHLY SUGGEST that both players agree to play MAK-style if they play PvP.

KOTH-Style: This method of play allows both players to heal any time they want. These kinds of PvPs are long, grueling, and often painful and mentally draining/vexing, arduous matches. I do pretty much everything in my power to avoid them. Why? Because predators have the most health in the first place and only one kind of external resource that they need to resupply. Hence, this kind of battle usually involves trying to deprive the other predator of field charge and speargun ammo. It entails running from orb to orb, grabbing energy and healing as much as possible to drain the other player of both energy and speargun ammo. It involves a lot of running and outmaneuvering the other player, and relies extremely heavily on moving seamlessly through the map. While MAK style usually ends up with one predator actually reaching the score limit, this style usually has the opposite effect. If both players are good, there will be as few kills as possible, because they will try their hardest to lose the other player and buy enough time to heal. This method relies on outsmarting the other player and securing a kill, even if only one (because 150-0 is still a win) when you've deprived them of resources. If this is the way you're playing, the best weapon to use is the shoulder cannon because you can resupply it endlessly. You have to be on top of the ball here, making sure the other player never gets field charge. Once you've put the pressure on enough, you can go in for the kill. As I said before, this is a very taxing and even stressful way of playing. The best maps for this have only one orb (Nostromo, Office, Lab 14, and Massacre), and these can potentially be fun. Hive, Subway, Statue, Leadworks, Hadley's Hope, Elevator, and Compound have two, and can be pretty stressful. Sewer and Meat Factory have three and are a serious pain, while Jockey has 11 so you can forget about it.

I'm by no means a good predator player, nor do I even like the predator, and I had to restrain myself from interjecting with the problems I have with the class. All experienced players, even those who mainly play the pred, will tell you that this class is ridiculously overpowered and unbalanced in comparison with the alien and marine. Its health should at least be halved so that it's forced to rely on stealth instead of being actually somewhat decent at group engagements. And considering that two of its five weapons are so overpowered that they have to be banned from servers tells you something about how much Rebellion favored this class over the others. If you want my honest opinion, I think that the way the game is now, the shoulder cannon should be banned too; either that or the medicomp. But I digress. The predator is a class of specialization, perhaps even overspecialization, and its disadvantages should have been more pronounced. There was a lot that I didn't include, either because I didn't want to or because they're things I don't know. Naturally, other players may offer different or better insight into this species than I've done. Strategies that work for them may work better for you than what I've written here. The above is simply an articulation of what I've observed and experienced. But don't let this suffice to be enough for you. There's a whole world out there waiting to be experienced, so don't just read about it, live it.

This guide was written solely by me, Olde (Olde72 on GOG). You can (and should!) use this guide and share it with others. However, you should not distribute it while giving authorial credit to either yourself, someone else, or to nobody at all. You may quote from it at length but please do not post the entirety as a guide on any other forum or site without my express permission. I also reserve the right to remove or modify this guide at any time and/or make it unavailable, with or without providing a reason.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave a comment below and I will try to respond as quickly as possible. You can also contact me via Steam, YouTube, and GOG.

Thanks for reading and enjoy playing!