Hornet (Q2)

Hornet
Health	2,000
Attack Damage	Hornet Twin Chainguns: 6 per bullet Rocket Launcher: 50 per rocket Guardian Hornet Twin Hyperblaster: 2 per bolt Rocket Launcher: 35 per rocket
Found in	Quake II Quake II 64 Quake II PSX Call of the Machine
[Source]

The Hornet is a boss enemy in Quake II. It is a large flying Strogg with a humanoid head and torso, insect-like legs dangling down, and armed with twin Chain Guns capable of sustained fire, and an underslung rocket launcher which will fire a salvo of four rockets at once. It has a substantial amount of health, even greater than that of the Super Tank, and only surpassed by the strongest boss enemies.

Three Hornets are encountered in the original Quake II campaign. The first Hornet is guarding the Big Gun in Unit 7 and serves as a boss fight, like the Super Tank that protected the laser security grid in Grid Control. Another is found in the secret level Comm Satellite, and the third is encountered in the Inner Hangar. Hornets don't appear in The Reckoning or Ground Zero, but they do appear in both of the two console ports of Quake II; in the Nintendo 64 version, two Hornets serve as the final boss, and in the Playstation version a single Hornet is encountered in Defense Command. Two bosses in the Call of the Machine expansion are based upon the Hornet.

There are in fact two "versions" of the Hornet. The Hornets which comprise the final bosses of the Nintendo 64 version are equipped with different weapon systems, and this version of the Hornet was used again in Call of the Machine. This alternate version looks identical to the original Hornet, and does not seem to have an official "name" as such to distinguish it from the original Hornet; this article refers to it as the Guardian Hornet, in reference to the player's mission at the end of the Nintendo 64 campaign to defeat the "Guardians".

Behaviour and attacks[]

Original Hornet[]

Twin Chain Gun: Both Chainguns fire simultaneously in a sustained volley, each bullet doing 6 damage per hit. They can be dodged by continually strafing in the original, but in the 2023 remaster they are more effective against a strafing target. However, the two guns are positioned wide apart from each other and the two bullet streams originate from those two points, so a player taking cover might still be visible to one of the chain guns.

Rocket Launcher: Fires a salvo of four rockets at once, each dealing 50 damage for a potential total of 200. In the original game all four rockets will be aimed directly at the player's current position, so if they are consistently strafing then the rockets will miss. However, in the 2023 remaster, the Hornet is capable of firing these rockets in a spread and can "lead" its rockets towards the direction a player is strafing towards, which makes it considerably more difficult to dodge by strafing.

Guardian Hornet[]

Twin Hyperblaster: Instead of the original chainguns, the Guardian Hornet wields a pair of Hyperblasters. These will fire two rapid-fire streams of bolts dealing 2 damage per hit, and can be reliably dodged by strafing. Note that the Guardian Hornet looks identical to the original Hornet, and so it appears as though it is still equipped with the original chainguns.

Rocket Launcher: The rocket launcher of the Guardian Hornet fires a stream of individual rockets in sequence, rather than a salvo of four rockets simultaneously. Furthermore, these rockets are weaker than those fired by the original Hornet, dealing 35 damage per hit rather than 50.

In the original game, the Hornet is susceptible to infighting; it may deliberately infight with the Flyers accompanying it, should one of them accidentally hit the other. However, this is no longer the case in the 2023 remaster.

Two bosses in Call of the Machine are based upon the Hornet. The Gate Warden encountered in the Death Gate is essentially a Hornet with 4000 health instead of 2000. However, if playing on Easy or Medium difficulty, it is a Guardian Hornet. The Servitor of Creation encountered in the Temple of the Creator is a Guardian Hornet with 2500 health.

Strategies[]

• The first encounter with a Hornet is in the Big Gun. When the Hornet appears, up to three Flyers will also arrive to back it up. The fight can be made much easier by the use of an Invulnerability or Quad Damage, but it isn't necessary. It's best to use cover against the Hornet, so you can take the elevator to the upper level where two pillars and provide cover - however, once the Hornet gets close, the pillars are not large enough to reliably hide you from both of its chain guns, so position yourself carefully. It's not a bad idea to open with a BFG10K shot aimed at the Hornet, dealing heavy damage to the boss and probably obliterating the nearby Flyers as well, thereby making the fight simpler. Once the Flyers are down, take pot shots at the Hornet in between its own attacks (the Super Shotgun and Railgun is a good choice here) and take cover when it does attack. A trick you can pull in this encounter is to approach the exit door and then immediately return to the starting room as soon as you hear the alarm; you can re-enter the starting room before the door locks, which will allow you to take pot-shots from this room; more cover is available here than in the chamber where the Hornet first appears.
• The second encounter takes place in the secret level Comm Satellite. Once you destroy the computer panel and deactivate the forcefields, you can reach the satellite dish area where the Hornet awaits. It is possible to trap the Hornet underneath the falling satellite dish, but it requires jumping to reach all four buttons with the Hornet attacking you all the while, so it's rather unwise. A safer strategy is just to fire potshots around the corner with the Railgun; the Hornet is too big to pursue you into the corridor, so it isn't a particularly challenging fight.
• The third and final one lurks within the Inner Hangar. He comes in from the roof, but cannot pursue you into the room from which you first see him, so it is a simple matter to use cover, pop out to take a shot (the Super Shotgun is perfectly adequate for this job) then return to cover to avoid his return fire. Both of the Hornet's weapon systems have a brief pre-fire delay, so you have time to pop out and take your shot then return to cover before its return fire. Keep doing this regularly and soon, it'll be lights out for him.
• Two Guardian Hornets and two Tank Commanders serve as the final boss of Quake II 64, found in the Command Core. The weapons of the Guardian Hornet are easier to avoid by strafing, so it is quite valid to engage them in open ground while strafing and firing a powerful weapon such as the Chain Gun or Hyperblaster. Alternatively, using cover for "peekaboo" attacks remains an option.
• Two boss enemies in Call of the Machine are based upon the Hornet; the first is the Gate Warden encountered in the Death Gate. This has 4000 health, twice the amount of a regular Hornet. On Easy and Medium difficulty, it is a Guardian Hornet. This fight takes place in a circular arena with very little cover, other than four small containment pods. Furthermore, each time the Gate Warden has taken a significant amount of damage, a door around the arena open to release three Mutants; this process happens three times throughout the battle. When the Gate Warden is nearly defeated, a large number of Light Guards will appear. The containment pods can be used for cover to make "peekaboo" attacks on the Warden, but the player does need to contend with a wave of three Mutants each time the Warden's health deteriorates a certain amount, as well as to be ready to face a large wave of Light Guards near the end of the battle. This fight is a good time to use the Invulnerability obtained in The Casali Effect, if the player still has it. Otherwise, the player would probably be best advised to use the containment pods for cover while performing "peekaboo" attacks with the Super Shotgun, but be ready to switch to the Chain Gun each time a wave of Mutants appears, or perhaps the BFG10K. Tesla Mines can also be used to distract and delay the approaching Mutants, buying you time to shoot them before they reach melee range with you, but you will need to throw your Teslas as (or preferably before) the door opens. If the player does have the Invulnerability and wishes to use it for this fight, then the best approach is to use the Super Shotgun for "peekaboo" attacks until the Gate Warden is down to 75% of its starting health, at which point the first Mutants will appear. Use the Invulnerability now, and then focus on the Gate Warden until it is destroyed (the Rocket Launcher is ideal here; simply keep shooting the Warden at point-blank range and the splash damage will probably kill a lot of the Mutants as well). It's possible to kill the Warden and still have around 5-10 seconds left with your Invulnerability, time enough to finish off any remaining Mutants and the Light Guards - perhaps with a BFG10K shot.
• The second Hornet boss enemy in Call of the Machine is the first Servitor of Creation in Temple of the Creator. This Guardian Hornet is initially encountered alone, but once it has taken a certain amount of damage, the second Servitor of Creation appears (this one is essentially a Super Tank) and the player must contend with both at once. Furthermore, four doors around the arena will open each time the Servitors have taken a certain amount of damage, releasing Light Guards and Beta Class Gladiators (the number of which depends on the difficulty level). There is a way to make this fight much easier, which involves the use of rocket jumping; the player can drop into the arena, get the Hornet Servitor's attention, and then retreat back to the passage they dropped in from and rocket jump back into it. From there it is a simple matter to kill both Servitors and the minions from the passageway.

Appearance statistics[]

*Two more are found in a bonus level, not part of the main Quake II 64 campaign; see Twists section below.

Twists[]

• After completing the Nintendo 64 version of Quake II, the player is given a password which allows access to a special challenge. This level is called Twists and is based upon a multiplayer map. The player has a short amount of time in which to defeat four Gladiators and two Guardian Hornets. This level can also be accessed via the 2023 Remaster's PC port of the Quake II 64 campaign, by typing the following in the console: map n64/dm4

Trivia[]

• If the player moves directly underneath a Hornet and stays still, the Hornet is likely to start spinning around in place very quickly. This doesn't affect its accuracy and does nothing to help you defeat a Hornet, but it's fun to watch.
• The story of the Nintendo 64 port of Quake II can be interpreted as a recon mission taking place before the main invasion seen in Quake II, The Reckoning and Ground Zero. We could therefore speculate that the Hornets found in the Command Core are an earlier version of the Hornet, which would explain why they are equipped with less powerful weaponry; we could also suppose that the Hornet found in the Temple of the Creator is an older being.

Gallery[]

Hornet wanders around.

Hornet's texture map

Hornet's texture map when injured

Hornet as it appears in the PS1 version.

The back side of the Hornet from the PS1 version.

Remastered model

Sounds[]