The Escort S2 Mechanical Unit, otherwise known as the Lynx(Ru: Рысь), is a type of Machine in Generation Zero. Controlled by the Soviet Union, Lynxes are light-infantry machines that attack in groups, making them the Soviet equivalent to the Runner. They may also be seen supporting a Wolf, another Soviet machine that Lynxes usually deploy from.
Physiology[]
The Lynx is a ballbot, which is a robot that locomotes using a sphere and series of motors to rotate it around. Said locomotive ball occupies more than three-quarters of the Lynx's body.
The remainder of the Lynx comprises of a C-shaped top section with an optic lens at the front, a combustion engine & weapons platform at the rear, and low-mounted guard rails connecting them.
Abilities[]
Scout[]
Ranged
Each Lynx can only have one ranged weapon
- Burst Assault Rifle
- A standard weapon that fires in a three-round burst.
Melee
- Buzzsaw
- The Lynx deploys a spinning circular blade from the front before rushing down in a straight line towards the player in medium range combat.
- Once the Lynx has deployed its buzzsaw, it cannot be retracted. (Likely an animation glitch)
Soldier[]
Ranged
- Burst Assault Rifle
- As mentioned above.
- Multi-grenade launcher
- Lobs a volley of three high explosive grenades that explode on impact, knocking players off their feet.
Melee
- Buzzsaw
- As mentioned above.
Spetsnaz[]
Ranged
- Burst Assault Rifle
- As mentioned above.
- Multi-grenade launcher
- As mentioned above.
- Flamethrower
- Like an Apocalypse Hunter, sprays a stream of ignited napalm that inflicts burning damage. The flamethrower can also leave burning patches on the ground which can inflict burns if walked over.
Melee
- Buzzsaw
- As mentioned above.
Weak Points[]
- The engine drives are located behind the Lynx's inner shoulders. They're protected by armor on the front but exposed from behind.
- There is an optic in its eyes socket on the front. Shooting it will blind the Lynx.
- Its locomotive ball can be shot at to inflict heavy damage. It's heavily protected by armored railing on all sides.
- A small red fuel cell is located behind the Lynx. Destroying it will cause an explosion, but its miniature size make it difficult to hit accurately.
Strategy[]
- Lynxes are not designed with defense in mind. Although they have true weak points, their small health pools make killing them effortless, even on Spetsnaz classes. Therefore, shooting Lynxes at all is the most effective strategy against them.
- Being an infantry style enemy, Lynxes possess an astounding ability to swarm and overrun. The burst fire makes them deadly in groups in an open area.
- A strategy to deal with a large group is to target one at a time with a medium range weapon, as a spray and pray mentality will fail in the middle range.
- Lynxes possess erratic movement tactics, making scoped rifles difficult to use effectively on them during combat. Usage at the start of combat can be very rewarding however, as the Lynxes begin the erratic movement pattern once close to the player and begin combat by moving in a predictable line towards the player to get closer.
Trivia[]
- see wolf trivia for info on what the Russians were doing here in sweden
- "Spetsnaz" means "Special Forces" in Russian.
- "Ballbots" (robots that locomote via a spherical ball & system of wheels to drive them) did not exist until the decades following the events of Generation Zero. The first successful ballbot was developed at Carnegie Mellon University in 2005, simply called the "CMU Ballbot".
- Ironically, Lynxes are named after felines or medium-sized wild cat genus Lynx. but they are deployed from Wolves, which are named after canines.
- The weapons that the Lynx are carrying are based on real life weapons.
- The burst AR is a combination of the AK 74 with no grip and trigger with a PKM box mag on the right. This combination wouldn’t really exist in real life due to the trigger missing.
- The burst grenade launcher is based on the Russian AGS-17 "Plamya" ("Flame") automatic grenade launcher that has the ability to be turned into a mortar.
- The Flamethrower is based on the LPO-50 Flamethrower.
- There's a visual glitch that renders the locomotive ball of a destroyed Lynx as orbiting Earth at an extremely high velocity (i.e., it keeps translating at an unviewable high speed in one direction and somehow keeps returning to its original point to continue the cycle).
- "лилия" in the military designation of the wolf means "Lily" in Russian.
- The coloring of all Soviet robots, Lynxes and Wolves in particular, are much more geared towards camouflage. Scout class Soviet bots are found commonly in the middle regions, colored dark green to match the forested northern regions of Mountain and Farmlands. Soldier class are practically everywhere, and their coloring reflects their position as the infantry difficulty class. They are not intended to be sneaky. Spetsnaz, the special forces class, are the best colored for their environments. Found nigh-exclusively in the northmost regions near Soviet landfall, the pale, white coloring fits the snowy landscape perfectly.
Gallery[]
Scout Rival
A Lynx armed with a grenade launcher.
Close up on the burst AR