Infighting
| “ | Q. Did I really see two monsters fighting each other? Probably. Some monsters hate one another almost as much as they hate you. You can use this to your advantage (exercise left up to the reader). | ” |
—Quake Manual | ||
Infighting is a phenomenon where two or more monstrous enemies assault each other as opposed to a player. Infighting occurs when an enemy accidentally hits another with its projectile, which causes the other to turn their attention away from a player to instead attack the first enemy. Once the first enemy is attacked, they will focus on attacking the opponent attacking them instead of the player. Enemies who exclusively fight using close-combat maneuvers (for example, the Knight) can never provoke an Infight. Infighting can be very useful for players focusing on conservation as they are not required to waste their Ammo, are provided with a distraction, and have one less threat to eliminate.
To intentionally provoke an infight, the player must find two different monsters, enemies of the same type will not turn on one another (note the Ogre and Ogre Marksman are considered different enemies and thus can infight with one another). The player should generally seek to put one enemy between them and a further enemy with ranged capabilities. The further enemy, often trying to hit the player with the ranged weapon, will accidentally hit the closer enemy, upon which the enemy hit by the projectile should turn on the one that attacked them last.
While an enemy is an infight, the player can usually conveniently approach the two combatants without injury as long as they avoid whatever projectiles are thrown. At this point, the player can potentially hit an enemy with the Axe. Attacking an enemy in an infight diverts the attention of said enemy back to the player. This can be quite useful in diverting the attention of a potentially stronger monster as the first monster will continue trying to attack them, resulting in the monster often getting confused on the opponent to attack.
Infighting can occur in both Quake and Quake 2. In Quake 2, flying enemies (Flyers, Icaruses and Technicians) don't infight with ground enemies, but may infight with other flying enemies. Furthermore, certain enemies are exempt from infighting altogether: Turrets, Medic Commanders and most bosses except for the Hornet. The 2023 remaster also makes Medics, Tanks, Tank Commanders and the Hornet exempt from infighting.
Gallery
Facts
- Unlike in Doom, in Quake the enemies can infight at any time, even after they are attacked by the player.
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