The Stridsmaskin 30 "Järven" (ENG: Fighting Machine 30 "The Wolverine"), otherwise known as the Runner or occasionally Dog, is a type of machine in Generation Zero. Canine in appearance and in behavior, Runners will travel in packs at great speed & distances toward threats using back-mounted weaponry.
Physiology[]
The Runner's anatomy is stupefyingly borrowed from canids and similar real-life robots such as the Big Dog and Spot series from Boston Dynamics. They are quadrupedal with canine legs, a head section protruding from the front, and a hunched midsection. On top of the Runner's dorsal are its fuel cell & primary weapon.
Despite its canine appearance, Runners do not have tails.
Abilities[]
Prototype(aka PT-03)[]
Ranged
- Submachine Gun
- The Runner will fire a burst of low damage rounds.
Melee
- Melee Jump Attack
- The Runner runs towards a player, jumps up until chest height and releases a shockwave that will damage all players in a small radius in addition to knocking down those who don't have the "Steady Feet" skill (left Survivor tree, fourth skill).
Military[]
Ranged
Note: A Runner will only have one long range weapon. For Military Runners, it's one of the following:
- Submachine Gun
- As mentioned before.
- Anti-Personnel Shotgun
- The Runner moves into medium range, aims their shotgun at the player and shoots a burst of shots. This is fairly easy to dodge and takes a long time to reload but deals a lot of damage if it hits.
Melee
- Melee Jump Attack
- As mentioned before.
FNIX[]
Ranged
Note: A Runner will only have one long range weapon. For FNIX Runners, it's one of the following:
- Submachine Gun
- Anti-Personnel Shotgun
- Small Rocket Launcher
- The Runner will aim at a player, indicated by a red colored light beam reaching from under the rocket launcher attachment to the player. After it has locked on for a while, it will shoot a slow moving rocket the direction it's aiming. There is a small window of time between when the Runner stops moving its aiming point and the shot when the targeted player can move out of the way. Alternately if the Runner can be made to flinch or stagger its aiming process will be interrupted.
Melee
- Melee Jump Attack
Apocalypse[]
Ranged
- Poisoned SMG
- The Apocalypse Runner fires a large burst of poisoned SMG rounds at a player. When hit, the player will be irradiated and will take damage over time for a few seconds.
Melee
- Melee Jump Attack
Weak Points[]
Runners are quickly destroyed due to their exposed weak points, so they should be targeted first in a fight.
- Aiming for the fuel tank on their back will in most cases destroy them in one shot by all Hunting Rifles, Sniper and the .44 Magnus. Other weapons may need two shots before they explode and die. Starting from Military class, higher class Runners will have an armor plate covering up the front of the fuel cell, leaving the fuel cell barely exposed when facing it from the front. This can be circumvented by shooting the plate off or circling around the Runner. Destroying the fuel cell will remove the chance of it dropping a Small Fuel Cell.
- The head is also one of their more critical weak points. Although higher classes would have more armor, it is easily destroyed.
Be aware that when you aim for this weak point, you're also lowering your chance of getting specific loot off the machine, in this case Vision Modules. - Their core drive is located on their upper torso. It is mostly protected in the front, especially the head, but they're exposed on the side.
- Around the core drive are three hydraulic pumps. However, they are small in size and can be difficult to shoot.
- Their hind contains the drive axle which can be destroyed. It is the least protected component as much as the fuel tank.
- Runners are terrible against shotguns no matter the variant. One or two good blasts in close range should be enough to send it to meet FNIX. Birdshot and Buckshot seem to work best.
- Melee Weapons are a good choice against Runners, killing them in one blow most of the time, but exposing the player to the Runner's Melee Attack. The Melee Jump can be avoided by killing it while it is charging or strafing around the Runner as it jumps.
Story[]
A diary of an unknown writer.
Ran into more of those dog-like robots today. We were scavenging for scraps and leftovers in someone’s old shed when we heard movement outside. Of course my idiot of a friend had to stick his head out to investigate and was immediately detected by one of those things despite it being pitch black outside. One of them must have had some way of seeing in the dark.
We were pinned down, had to make a run for it or risk dying in that shed. Turns out there were more than one of them waiting for us. I swear, I could hear the bullets whizz past my face. Starting to think they move in packs, this is the third time we’ve been forced to flee from several at once.
Also turns out you don’t want to get too close to them. One charged me as I ran past, managed to knock me to the ground. Scraped my arm up real good on the pavement, but thankfully the gang noticed and managed to down it quickly. That didn’t seem to deter the rest though, so we ran as fast as we could. Thinking of calling them Runners.
Trivia[]
- Another translation of Jarven is "The Wolverine".
- The first enemy you encounter in the game will be a Prototype Runner.
- The shotguns carried by Military Class Runners resemble the revolving drum magazines of SRM Arms model 1216 shotguns, with the main difference being it shaped as an octagon rather than a 4-tubed shape.
- Placing a fuel cell in such an obvious & easy-to-shoot-at location on a war robot makes it very easy to incapacitate, and the game reflects this reality. If the Runner was employed in a real military application, this design flaw would not be tolerated.
Gallery[]
