Guide to Headshots with pictures.

[emotion666]

Sirens and Scrakes have durable heads. In game termes this mean they will never be decapitated unless they are already enough hurt and the headshot attack deal enough damage (compared to their full total health).

dude this 1-shoot kills him, even on hard 6-man team

when its a headshot kill both sirens and scrakes lose their head but with xbow strangely scrakes dont and sirens do it only occasionaly (but that might be because you dont always headshot her anyway do to tricky hitbox)

 

[Soanos]

dude this 1-shoot kills him, even on hard 6-man team

when its a headshot kill both sirens and scrakes lose their head but with xbow strangely scrakes dont and sirens do it only occasionaly (but that might be because you dont always headshot her anyway do to tricky hitbox)

Durableheads are a strange property with specimens, but I'd wager there is a possibility there is a modifier in it that gives the head a chance to be decapped on death. This most likely has something to do with remaining health.

 

[Epic Man]

It works!

It works!

Wow. I have pissed off quite a few Zerkers. =D

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US

 

[Nanostrike]

The problem is that the headshot can indeed do enough damage to KILL a Skrake/Siren, but won't always do enough damage beyond killing to 'Gib' the head and pop it, so you don't always get your satisfying head pop.

Also...yes this stuff works, but doesn't ANYONE feel that it's horrible to not have the hitboxes how they SHOULD be after six patches? You have to aim as if you were aiming to MISS the head on several specimens to score headshots. This is counter-intuitive and reeks of dodgy programming. And, biggest of all, looks unprofessional in a retail game. Please, TWI, fix the hitboxes!

 

[Double_Deagle]

I completely agree with nanostrike, this would just help the game in every way, make it feel more professional and help the immersion (it doesn't feel real aiming for thin air).

Also it would help new players who think they're getting headshots, but aren't.

 

[Wolfdust]

Please, TWI, fix the hitboxes!

I agree entirely.

It's ...so weird to not have headshots be head shots.

 

[Nanostrike]

I felt like a moron telling a newbie sharpshooter to aim BESIDE a Skrake's head. And worse yet, he thought I was joking... "Why would you have to aim beside his head for a headshot?" he asked. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard". And I had no choice but to agree with him there...

And the poor Sharpshooters who think the Lever Action Rifle is weak because when they CLEARLY hit a Gorefast DEAD ON IN THE FACE with it, they flinch backwards as if it was a shoulder hit, while an ACTUAL shoulder hit pops their head off...

 

[Nazarov]

I don't know why but it's much easier to get headshots with the pistol than rifle or handcannon. Is there a bullet spread effect or something?
I get headshots on Siren with pistol a lot more than I can with the rifle...
I actually popped skrake's head with a rifle...never seen that happen before with rifle...

 

[Nanostrike]

I don't know why but it's much easier to get headshots with the pistol than rifle or handcannon. Is there a bullet spread effect or something?
I get headshots on Siren with pistol a lot more than I can with the rifle...
I actually popped skrake's head with a rifle...never seen that happen before with rifle...

Yeah, there's bullet spread and that's why it's easier to get a Headshot from Bullpup/AK spray than a precise Handcannon/Lever Action Rifle shot if you aren't aiming at the EXACT right spot...

 

[Evilsod]

And the poor Sharpshooters who think the Lever Action Rifle is weak because when they CLEARLY hit a Gorefast DEAD ON IN THE FACE with it, they flinch backwards as if it was a shoulder hit, while an ACTUAL shoulder hit pops their head off...

I'm still in that category and probably will be until they fix the hitboxes. Sorry but theres something about not shooting the head on a headshot that just conflicts with my hand-eye coordination.

 

[brick_top1982]

Thanks!!! I mostly play support or commando, but every now and a gain I like to go medic with an xbow or sharpshooter and was never, EVER able to take out Scrakes quick enough.

Now I can. And that theory about the scrakes and the gorefast of why their hit box is the way it is, is something I totally agree with. That got me thinking about where the other hit boxes are on other zeds, and actually improved my sharpshooter abilities.

I think the theory is somewhere posted on the bottom of the second to last page

 

[Evilsod]

Scrakes are laughable now i actually know where the hell to shoot to headshot them. Was just dropping em like flies earlier when i decided to play Sharpshooter in a 6man Hard game. Took me a few tries before i figured it out, I didn't realise at first just how far away from the Scrakes head you have to aim to actually 'hit' it... its ridiculous.

The number of people who have been killed by Scrakes can be quite high and its probably because attempts to headshot them are completely flawed without prior knowledge.

 

[Nanostrike]

Which is dumb. "Headshot" shouldn't translate to "Aim at the air beside his head", period. Half the time, I see Sharpshooters owning Clots and such, but when Gorefasts and Skrakes come in, they assume that the weapons are weak because they can't 1-shot them or pop their heads because AIMING AT THE HEAD COUNTS AS A TORSO HIT!

That's why Shotguns and bursts from Auto weapons are often more effective at headshots than a freaking Sharpshooter weapon if you don't know how badly disjointed the hitboxes are...the fact that this hasn't been fixed after all these patches means one of two things...

1) Tripwire hasn't had the time and/or is utterly boggled by this and doesn't know how to fix it.
2) Tripwire knows, and is leaving it in to give "vets" an edge over new players.

Seeing as how they've done this before with both Skrake Stunning and Fleshpound Decaps, I'd say that number 2, although it's lame and frankly embarassing to have the headshot hitboxes so off, is what they're going for here...

A super-secret "insiders only" set of tips for the game, including stunning Skrakes, decapping fleshpounds, and getting headshots on Gorefasts/Skrakes, with all newbies being forced to learn the quirks of the game from the veterans or be absolutely unable to play. I really hope they haven't been trying to take the game in that direction as it'll turn into an elitist wankfest really quickly and alienate new players who are understandably confused that their "headshots" aren't doing anything.

And with this going retail, folks are DEFINITELY going to notice the horrible hitboxes in a big way. So if it's a technical issue, get it fixed, fast. And if it's not...re-evaluate why you're not fixing something that so blatantly needs it...

 

[Evilsod]

Couldn't agree more Nanostrike.

I still can't reliably decap Gorefasts because their quick move speed up close and horrible hitbox makes it so difficult to aim for. This is the biggest reason why the AK47 rapes the specimens so much. Its spread makes it so much more likely to hit the head and decap them whereas Sharpshooters are stuck wasting Pistol/Handcannon ammo on the 'torso' if they don't know about the retarded hitbox. There is no excuse for such shoddy/lazy coding of hitboxes in a game where headshots really make a difference.

Scrake Stunning i don't agree with. If you play Berserker and attempt to kill 1 at close range you SHOULD find this out easily. So its not really a vet thing. But Fleshpound decapping is just stupid. I will sorely miss it (literally) if Tripwire ever fix what is quite clearly a glitch, but the fact you can 1 hit kill a FP using the 9mm on any difficulty is yet another thing rendering the Sharpshooter less useful.

The Sharpshooter is massively under-appreciated. I disregarded it as nigh useless till i read up on some stuff about it here. 600% headshot damage on the Crossbow?! Scrake/Gorefast hitboxes screwed up? Lever-Action Rifle not utterly useless? 1 hitting Scrakes by hitting the air?