- "Primarily a support unit to buff other Archæans, it can make itself and other units invisible."
— Site description
Lurkers are Tier 3 Archæans that appear in Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction. They are capable of making themselves and other enemies invisible.
Background[]
A Lurker can be identified by the flower-like carapace surrounding its head. These hardened plates protect the weak point within its head and are impervious to most forms of damage.
The Lurker is capable of activating the photoactive cells that cover itself and all Archæans. These cells have the ability to reflect, refract and emit electromagnetic radiation of various wavelengths. The Lurker taps into these abilties by controlling its own chromatophores and that of others, enabling it to bend visible light around them. This allows a Lurker to effectively make itself and other Archæans nearly undetectable to the naked eye. By cloaking itself and nearby allies, a Lurker can effectively ambush threats within its environment.
Lurkers are fully capable of close-quarters combat. When alerted, it will unfold its carapace plates to unleash a howl, exposing its head to ballistic damage. It will then rush towards threats, immediately closing its carapace plates. Should any distance be gained between between a Lurker thereafter, it will cloak itself and attempt to use flanking tactics.
Mutations within infested environments have also resulted in some Archæans being granted the ability to activate their photoactive cells without the need of a Lurker.
Gameplay[]
Lurkers are able to cloak themselves and nearby Archæans, making them nearly invisible. As a result, unsuspecting players can find themselves inadvertently alerting enemies to their location. This cloaking ability makes them an extremely dangerous threat when paired with a cloaked Breacher or Smasher.
When unalerted, they will actively patrol areas and will frequently cloak themselves and other enemies. Their flower-esque carapace will also open up from time to time, revealing their vulnerable head. Once alerted, they will uncloak and rush players. This can prove to be problematic as they will close their carapace plates, leaving players unable to effectively damage them.
While difficult to see, the space around cloaked Lurkers and Archæans is distorted and can be recognized through careful observation. Lurkers and cloaked enemies can be scanned through the use of the Recon Drone, Scan Grenade, Scan Mine, Recon Vapor Device, and IQ's upgraded Spectre which is unlocked at Operator level 7.
However, these gadgets will not uncloak them. Instead, alerting them or using explosives or firearms will cause them to unloak. The Paralysis Grenade is particularly effective in unloaking a Lurker and not killing it which is needed to complete the the Specialized Reveal Study in the Alaska region.
While the spawning of Lurkers is random, they are more likely to spawn in the third subzone of an incursion on the Cautious difficulty. Cloaked Archæans is a Parasite Mutation found on higher difficulties which allow enemies to cloak without needing a Lurker nearby.
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