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Lerk
Cosmetic Variants:

Lerk
Normal Lerk

Shadow lerk
Shadow Lerk

Kodiak lerk
Kodiak Lerk

Reaper lerk
Reaper Lerk

Abyss lerk
Abyss Lerk

Nocturne lerk
Nocturne Lerk

Toxin lerk
Toxin Lerk

"SCREEEEEECH"
Kharaa Kharaa
Personal Resources
Icon personal resource neutral 21 (+3 per Evolution)
Health
180 (+2 per Biomass)
Armor
30 (42 + 1.00 per Biomass)
Energy
Icon resources energy neutral 100
Respawns In: 10 seconds
Base Field of View: 100°
Air Speed: 13 (13.5 / 14 / 14.5)
Ground Speed: 7.0 (7.5 / 8.0 / 8.5)
Crouch Speed: 2.8
Wall Speed: 1.4
Abilities and Upgrades
Abilities:
Alien Vision, Evolve Menu, Hive Sight, Flight (Glide), Roost, Poison Bite, Spikes, Spores, Umbra
Evolutions:
Carapace, Regeneration, Vampirism,
Adrenaline, Celerity, Crush,
Camouflage, Aura, Focus
Upgrades:
Spores at biomass 5, Umbra at biomass 6
Miscellaneous
Buy From: Evolve Menu
Purchase By: Player
Gestation Time: 15 seconds
Versatile support flyer. Can do damage over time with poisonous bite and ranged spikes. Can evolve choking spore cloud and protective umbra.

In-game description.

Introduction

The Lerk is a winged Alien lifeform that has the ability to inflict venomous bites and shoot Marines from a distance with spikes.

Background

The Lerk's ability to fly and its relatively low res cost makes for a powerful early game lifeform. When the first Lerk is spotted on the field, Marines will usually be forced into researching Shotguns to counter them, if they haven't done so already. Although the Lerk requires a second Hive to receive it's support abilities (Spores and Umbra), It spawns with the ability of flight and poison bites, making for a fragile, yet formidable opponent.

Tactics

  • Lerks are the only Alien lifeform with the ability to fly and a ranged attack capable of significant damage. They are remarkably fragile however and engaging a group of Marines at close range will nearly always result in death.
  • Lerks should use their glide ability for silent flight to try to attack lone Marines from behind, inflicting as many bites as possible before making a hasty retreat. Marines that are already low on health may be more easily picked off by using spikes.
  • The speed and agility of a Lerk mean they are an excellent multi-role lifeform that can kill Marines, destroy Extractors or defend Hives from Marine incursions.
  • Late game Lerks should focus on providing support to higher Lifeforms (in particular Onos) with Umbra and denying area control to Marines with liberal use of Spores.
  • Shotguns and Grenade Launchers are the most deadly weapons for Lerks, avoid close combat against them.
  • Protect Skulks biting resources, they will do wonders.
  • Lerks early game are the main harvester defenders: They can react quickly and kill lone aggressive marines more easily than skulks.

Tactical Summary - Lerk

  • Never engage head-on, engage from range if you can't attack from a position of surprise.
  • You are very fragile - keep moving at all times.
  • Make liberal use of Umbra and Spores when available.


Controls

Main article: Options
Lerk Player Controls
Lerk view
Movement Abilities Contextual
W
Forward
Mouse 1
Attack
E
Use
A
Left
Mouse 2
Spikes
F
Alien Vision
S
Backward
1
Poison Bite
B
Evolve Menu
D
Right
2
Umbra
C
Map
Space
Flight (tap), Glide (hold)
3
Spores
X
Voice Overs Menu
Shift
Roost
V
Last Weapon
Ctrl
Crouch Diving

Movement

Main article: Movement Techniques
Lerk Movement
Gliding Video
  • If you hold the Jump button
    Space
    you can glide in all directions with your current speed you gained by flapping
    Space
  • While gliding you can press the Move Special button
    Shift
    to reduce your speed to the point where you glide silently
Lerk-_Gliding_(NS2_Movement)

Lerk- Gliding (NS2 Movement)

(Counter-)Strafe Mechanics
  • You do not gain a speedboost by using strafe keys, since you already gain high speed with a few quick flaps
    Space
It is still important to use Counterstrafe as Lerk because your Lerk model and camera tilts. That has several advantages:
  1. Your wings move quicker around a corner (you get hit by less bullets)
  2. You can see where your lerk is moving more clearly and you can actually hit your targets while turning
  3. Your evasive movement is much harder to track
Lerk-_(Counter)-Strafing_(NS2_Movement)

Lerk- (Counter)-Strafing (NS2 Movement)

Crouch Diving
  • If you press the detach button
    Ctrl
    you can detach yourself from a wall or rapidly dive down without being forced to look down.
Lerk_Crouchdiving_2_(NS2_Movement)

Lerk Crouchdiving 2 (NS2 Movement)

Flapping upwards
  • If you press the Jump button quickly
    Space
    without pressing the Forward button
    W
you will gain height quickly while still maintaining any forward momentum you already had.
While doing this you can turn in every direction allowing for better use of Spikes
Lerk-_Flapping_Upwards_(NS2_Movement)

Lerk- Flapping Upwards (NS2 Movement)

Spiking Mines
  • The easiest way to spike a Mine and still be a harder target for a Marine is by quickly flying forwards (
    W
    +
    Space
    ) and backwards (
    S
    +
    Space
    ) for a second.
Lerk_Spiking_Mines_(NS2_Movement)

Lerk Spiking Mines (NS2 Movement)

Abilities

Player Abilities

Alien Player Abilities

Alien Vision

Alien Vision
Aura icon
Toggle Alien Vision mode to highlight all units and structures in white, and the terrain in orange.
  • Brightness is affected by lighting in the room.
  • Red emergency lighting and complete darkness are considered as the same brightness level.
Hotkey
F
Targets Players, Units, Structures, Terrain
All Kharaa lifeforms possess hypersensitive retinas that allow Alien Vision (or Dark Vision), which changes the lifeform's perspective in order to distinguish between organisms, structures, and the terrain.

Evolve Menu

Evolve Menu
Evolve menu icon
Opens the Evolve Menu to purchase different Kharaa lifeforms and available Traits using Personal Resources.
Hotkey
B
Targets Lifeforms
Requires Valid ground to spawn player Egg
The Evolve Menu allows Kharaa players to select different lifeforms and unlocked Traits to evolve using Personal Resources. It contains information about each lifeform, such as name, cost, Health, Armor, abilities, effects of each Trait, and more.

Hive Sight

Hive Sight
Hive sight icon
Hive Sight highlights all players and structures in an orange glow. When nearby, Kharaa players can see each other through walls.
  • Parasited targets are visible through walls and glow more brightly.
Range 30
Targets Players, Units, Structures

Hive Sight is an innate passive ability for all Kharaa lifeforms. All nearby visible players, units and structures will be highlighted in an orange glow at all times. Friendly players will also be visible through walls, allowing players to coordinate and position themselves against incoming Frontiersmen forces.

Flight

Flight
Icon flight
  • Tap to gain height using energy.
  • Hold to glide without using energy.
  • Crouch to dive downwards.
  • Speed bonus decreases over time.
Hotkey
Space
Energy Icon resources energy neutral 3
Speed Base speed + 10.2
The Lerk can spread its wings and soar into the air. While flying, the Lerk gains a move speed bonus.
Additional information about movement techniques can be found in Movement.

Roost

Roost
Roost slot
Attaches yourself a wall or ceiling
Hotkey
Shift
Range Melee
Targets Walls, Props, Structures
Digs the Lerk's talons onto a nearby surface to stay in place.

Poison Bite

Poison Bite
Poison Bite Slot
  • Poison damage affects Marine's Health only.
  • Poison leaves Marines at 5 health.
  • Poison effect is removed by Armory Resupply.
Hotkey
1
(slot),
Mouse1
(attack)
Energy Icon resources energy neutral 5
Damage 60 + 6 per second
Type Normal
Range Melee
Fire Rate 0.3 seconds
Duration 5-6 seconds
Targets Marines, Robots, Structures
Bites a target and injects poison to deal damage over time to Marines.
It is unknown why scientists named this ability Poison Bite despite it obviously being a Venom Bite. Maybe they didn't know the difference between the two just like when they named all weapon magazines clips.
Check green Tip: Poison from a Lerk's bite will not kill a Marine, rather it will leave them at 5HP.

Spikes

Spikes
Spikes slot
  • Against Players: Damage x 200%
  • Spike projectile travels in a straight line.
  • Spike projectile has a trail effect.
  • Spikes create dust on impact.
Hotkey
Mouse2
Energy Icon resources energy neutral 1.4
Damage 5
Type Puncture
Range 50
Fire Rate 0.07 seconds
Spread 3.3 degree
Targets Marines, Robots, Structures
Rapidly shoots spikes over long distances. Spikes deal extra damage to players.

Spores

Spores
Spores slot
  • Spore damage affects Marines' Health only.
  • Clouds will drift toward the ground.
  • Clouds confuse Sentry turrets' targeting system.
  • Clouds evaporate when burned by Flamethrower.
Hotkey
3
(slot),
Mouse1
(attack)
TRes Icon team resource neutral 20 to research
Research Time 60 seconds
Energy Icon resources energy neutral 27
Damage 15 per second
Type Gas
Range Melee
Radius 4
Fire Rate 0.36 seconds
Duration 4 seconds
Targets Marines
Requires Biomass level 6, Research Spores
Exhales Spore clouds that deal damage over time to Marines.

Umbra

Umbra
Umbra slot
  • Reduces incoming bullet damage by 20%
  • Umbra lingers on Kharaa lifeforms and structures for 2.5 seconds.
  • Cloud evaporates when burned by Flamethrower.
Hotkey
2
(slot),
Mouse1
(attack)
TRes Icon team resource neutral 30 to research
Research Time 75 seconds
Energy Icon resources energy neutral 27
Range 17
Radius 6
Fire Rate 1 seconds
Duration 2.5 seconds
Targets Bullets, Railgun, Lifeforms, Structures, Grenades by Grenade Launcher
Requires Biomass level 6, Research Umbra
Shoots a puff of smoke that disperses into a large cloud, which reduces the damage of projectiles entering the cloud by 20%. This includes the Assault Rifle, Heavy Machine Gun, Grenade Launcher and bot Exosuit weapons.

Variants

The following images show all the variations of Lerk camouflage (skins) that you may see in the game.

Info Info:  • Not all variants are available for purchase.

          • Skins are purely cosmetic and offer no augmented or additional stats in-game.

Camouflage variants & availability
Variant Description Acquisition Notes
Normal Default camouflage. Provided with game. N/A
Shadow Red eyes, dark blue/purple skin, extrusions on exo-skeletal features. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Originally part of the Reinforcement Program for Shadow Tier & above, and completed with the Merry Gorgemas! update (Build 336).
Kodiak Green eyes, jungle effect skin. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Released with the Kodiak update, and completed with the Merry Gorgemas! update (Build 336).
Reaper Red eyes, white skin, black exo-skeletal features. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Released with the Reaper update, and completed with the Merry Gorgemas! update (Build 336).
Abyss Blue eyes, blue skin. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Was originally awarded for playing on Metro at its release. The set was completed with the Merry Gorgemas! update (Build 336).
Nocturne Purple eyes and tails. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Release with the Nocturne DLC as part of the NS2 5 year anniversary update (Build 319).
Toxin Green glowing eyes, green patches of skin and green belly. Can be bought in the Customization Screen in-game. Released with the Catalyst update (Build 324).


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