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Image: Bend Studio / PlayStationOfficial screenshot from Bend Studio / PlayStation.
Runner
Runners are infected wolves that can outrun your bike and try to drag you off it. On the road, a well-timed pistol shot makes them back off, and on foot a shotgun is the cleanest answer.
- Threat
- Medium
- Type
- Animal
Appears in
- Searching for SomethingDeacon spots a NERO black helicopter and gives chase. You follow it on your bike, then fight off the threat at the landing site to take a NERO radio.
- Keeping SouvenirsDiamond Lake has a bounty on Anderson, a killer tied to the deserter Vasquez. You track him from Mazama Village and bring back proof that he is dead.
Good to know
- They can catch a moving bike and attack from either side.
- Bloody scars on the face and bald patches in the fur set them apart from healthy wolves.
- Each kill gives one Runner ear. Lost Lake pays 10 trust and 20 credits for it.
- They attack anything uninfected and will eat dead Freakers.
- Bullets, blunt hits and fire all work on them.
- Your first Runners show up in Searching for Something, a night chase after a NERO helicopter.
- Keeping Souvenirs, a Diamond Lake bounty, sends you into a Runner cave.
- Deacon's journal says dogs that bite a Freaker can turn into Runners.
How it behaves
Runners chase you down at a speed no Swarmer can match. On the bike they pull up alongside and lunge to knock you off. On foot they rush in as a pack. Speed is their whole threat, since their health is close to a normal wolf's.
How to beat it
On the bike, draw your pistol and wait until the reticle settles before you fire. A hit makes the Runner fall back for a moment. On foot, a shotgun blast as it closes is the surest kill. Keep something solid behind you so the pack cannot circle.
Where you meet it
They first appear in Searching for Something during the Finding NERO storyline. Keeping Souvenirs later sends you into a Runner den while tracking a bounty target.
Rewards
Runner ears pay ten times the trust of a Newt ear. A pack that chases you down is worth stopping to loot once it is dead.
More animals
Image: Bend Studio / PlayStationAnimalBear
Bears are big, tough animals that charge, bite and claw for heavy damage. You meet the first one while escorting Lisa in Lots of Sick People. After that they can turn up anywhere, so carry a strong rifle or a throwable.
- Animal
Crier
Criers are infected ravens that nest in trees and on power-line transformers in the south. They dive in erratic lines and keep coming from their nests, so destroy the nests before you waste ammo on the birds.
- Animal
Crows
Crows are ordinary birds found all over the map, and they never attack you. They matter for two reasons: their meat sells at camp kitchens, and a flock overhead often means Freakers or a Horde are close.
- Animal
Deer
Deer are harmless game animals that run when they notice you. Hunt them for meat to sell at camp kitchens, and Copeland walks you through tracking and gutting one early in the game.