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"The deep dig teams were some of our brightest archeologists and soldiers. What happend to them down here... has served as a cautionary tale to us all. What drove them to such extreme behavior? To such depravity and violence?"
—Dr. Earl Serrano about the "witnesses" who would later transform into the Hunters.

The Hunters were Regenerator-type Necromorphs encountered by Isaac Clarke on Tau Volantis. They resembled the Hunter created by Dr. Mercer and the Ubermorph, and shared the same regenerating abilities.

From various logs and game clues, it was implied that these Hunters were what became of the members of the Deep Dig Team on Tau Volantis following their close contact with the Markers and their subsequent deaths.

Overview[]

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Concept art of the Hunters, showing their resemblance to the Ubermorph.

In basic body shape, the Hunters resembled the original Hunter more closely than the Ubermorph. However, they maintained the same smooth skin as the Ubermorph, although they had large gashes in their abdomens and appeared to have Marker Symbols inscribed on their bodies. This latter trait suggests that they were former members of the Deep Dig team, whose logs stated that when they had no surface to scrawl Marker script on, they would use their own flesh. The Witness Suit, which was confirmed to be the suit worn by the Deep Dig team, was covered with the same symbols.

The Hunters also appeared to have the same five yellow "eyes" seen on other Necromorph forms such as the Ubermorph, the Hive Mind and the Brethren Moons, though in a much less prominent manner.

History[]

Deadspace3 artifact storage regenerator

A Hunter on Tau Volantis.

The Hunters were created sometime during the S.C.A.F. expedition to Tau Volantis when the members of the Deep Dig Team dug into the surface of the planet. They eventually went insane due to all the Markers and claimed to be "witnesses of the truth", scrawling Marker symbols on their own flesh when no other surface was present. They eventually died and mutated into Regenerators, before being contained in small transfer boxes and delivered to the CMS Terra Nova and some warehouses on Tau Volantis. However, the Scenario Five order was initiated and the captured Hunters were left undisturbed.

Two hundred years later, Isaac Clarke and Sgt. John Carver cleared the cargo on the Terra Nova's tram tracks, accidentally letting the Hunters loose on the ship. When they reached the Terra Nova's cargo hold, the first of these creatures freed itself from its tube, initiating a chase. Not long after the first encounter, a second Hunter came out of a vent and also gave chase to the duo. They reached the tram station and activated the tram's services, but had to fend off the assault of both Hunters and some Leapers until the tram arrived. The duo then set off to the Aft station; however, the Hunters still gave chase, especially after Ellie Langford accidentally began the launch procedure and was unable to undo the action. As the CMS Crozier proceeded to launch out of the station, hordes of various Necromorphs and Hunters appeared and attacked Isaac and Carver. The duo finally went to the engine room and found explosives jarred in the gears. They made use of the auto-cannons set in place there and began unjarring the gears. As they did so, the Hunters along with the Slashers as backup made their final attempt at killing them. The beasts met their end at the hands of the auto-cannons.

On Tau Volantis, Isaac encountered the Hunters in the Marker Containment areas underneath the surface. They appeared to be locked in their tubes, but more appeared from the ventilation ducts and attacked Isaac and Carver. When Isaac and Carver reached the small room containing the Suit Kiosk, Bench and an elevator, three Hunters appeared and chased the duo in a gauntlet run until they both escaped and returned to the underbelly of Tau Volantis.

Combat Strategy[]

Due to their regenerative abilities, killing them with regular weapons is outright impossible. The best you can hope for is to temporarily slow them down by blasting off their legs or disarm them in the same fashion. The Line Gun, Shotgun, Hydraulic Bayonet, or any weapon utilizing one of those three attachments are most effective, especially when paired with a Stasis Coating attachment. Much like the Ubermorph and original Hunter, the best thing to do is completely dismember the Necromorph before putting it into stasis. If you are out of stasis and/or low on ammunition, concentrate on the legs of the Hunter, as this forces it to crawl towards Isaac, greatly slowing it down, albeit for a short period of time. If there are multiple Hunters, then stay calm and use a powerful, area damage weapon to stay safe.

Weapons with Stasis Coating and rapid fire effects are very useful. Shotguns with Stasis Coatings are probably the best, dismembering, knocking back, and slowing down the Tau Volantis Hunters all at once. Automatic weapons, such as the Bullpup Rifle, with Stasis Coating attached to it, will dismember them in no time.

The only real way to destroy Tau Volantis Hunters for good is by using stationary turrets, such as the auto-cannons in the room where Isaac and Carver must unjam the gears. Interestingly, the Hunters can withstand the fire from the shuttle engines in the CMS Terra Nova, unlike the first Hunter encountered on the USG Ishimura.

Death Scenes[]

  • Dead_Space_3_I_Brutal_Regenerator_death_I

    Dead Space 3 I Brutal Regenerator death I

    The Tau Volantis Hunters have the same death sequences as the original Hunter and Ubermorph. A Regenerator will rear its blades back, if Isaac or Carver is hit by this attack while low on health, the Tau Volantis Hunter will sink both of its blades through his torso, lift him up, then violently stab him two times. It then bisects him at the waist and cuts off his left arm, and lowers the victim. Isaac or Carver will struggle to hold up his right arm, almost as if pleading to it. The Hunter then cuts his head off and finally slices him in half.
  • If Isaac or Carver is slashed with the Tau Volantis Hunter's blade while he has moderately low health, whatever part of him is hit will be torn off as he dies.

Trivia[]

  • Unlike the original Hunter but similar to the Ubermorph, there is no explanation as to what led to the creation of the Tau Volantis Hunters as opposed to standard Necromorphs. However, in various hints and logs, it is stated that the Tau Volantis Hunters were once some of the S.C.A.F. deep dig team members, who ventured deep into the dark recesses of Tau Volantis and were directly exposed to the planet's Red Markers. Whether this has anything to do with the Hunters' transformation, however, is unknown.
  • Dead Space 3 is the first game to feature more than one regenerating Necromorph at once.
  • What look like human thumbs can be made out on the creature's pincers.
  • If players look carefully as they remove the cargo clearing the tram on the Terra Nova, they can see one of the Hunters in a pod being lifted away by the crane clearing the cargo. Isaac later meets the aforementioned Hunter on the Cargo Deck.
  • The Artifact Storage optional mission in Chapter 17 takes you into the anti-gravity chambers and later on a storage with four caged Hunters. As they shake and ruffle in their glass casing, they are unable to attack while Isaac and Carver are in the same room. Once the room is left, two Regenerators will pursue you until you leave the anti-gravity chambers. All four also appear on a small gauntlet-run to the elevator back to the surface.
    • There also seemed to be an Enhanced variant of these creatures. In the same optional mission, what appears to be a black and green Regenerator with a tentacled lower jaw can be seen trapped in a tube, although it never attacks.
      • If that indeed was an Enhanced Hunter, then this would make the Tau Volantis Hunters the first ever Regenerator Necromorphs in the series to have an Enhanced form.
  • Oddly, whenever the death scene plays out, it is cut short with the screen running red with blood just as the Tau Volantis Hunter cuts Isaac's or Carver's head off and the player can faintly see the creature proceeding to dismember his legs. It is unknown if this is an error on the game developers' part, and however many death scenes it has affected.
  • The Tau Volantis Hunter is first encountered in Chapter 5 of Dead Space 3, much like the first Hunter who appears in Chapter 5 of the original game.
  • If a player steps inside the tram once it is opened, the Hunter(s) will begin walking around idly, a behavior shown by Necromorphs unable to identify any hostile targets in the area. Should one step out and in the tram, the Hunter(s) will face the player and sharpen their blades, but never engage. 
  • The regenerative qualities of the Tau Volantis Hunters makes them highly helpful in obtaining the "Then We Doubled It!" achievement/trophy. Simply cut their limbs off, then let them regenerate and repeat the process, though this takes a lot of time and usually results in tremendous ammo wastage.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Videos[]

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Dead Space Hunter Ubermorph Regenerator Necromorph Sound Effects HD-0

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Dead Space 3 - First Encounter with The Regenerator

Dead_Space_3_-_Captured_Regenerator_Ubermorph_Hunter

Dead Space 3 - Captured Regenerator Ubermorph Hunter

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