Quick Links
As individuals, R.E.P.O.’s Gnomes and Bangers aren’t especially threatening (although a single Banger is probably a bit more trouble than one Gnome). However, as a new player soon learns, the real threat of these enemies is their numbers and quick respawn time.
R.E.P.O. Looting Guide
Read some tips and tricks to help you and your team start looting like pros in R.E.P.O. and, for a time, appease the Taxman.
Read on to learn some strategies to help fight back these nuisances without getting chewed up or blown to pieces.
The Basics of Gnomes
Gnomes are one of four (assuming you aren’tusing mods) Danger Level 1 enemies that are primarily a threat purely because they travel in packs; an individual Gnome is extremely lightweight, deals only a modest 10 damage per attack, and has so little health that even a single hit from any damage source seems to kill it. Gnomes are quite fast and, once they have spotted you, they usually can’t be outrun unless you have upgraded your speed or are somehow able to use your environment to your advantage. In testing, they seemed either unable to open doors or at least very much struggled to do so.
Gnomes are also bullies; they will sometimes target valuables that you’ve collected and attempt to smash them up.They can do this even if they also spot a semibot nearby; a pack of Gnomes near your C.A.R.T. should be viewed as a big problem that needs to be solvedfastor there’s a good chance you’re about to lose thousands of dollars in value.
One final trait of Gnomes to note is that theyrapidlyrespawn once you have completed all your extractions and are supposed to leave on the truck; they will spawn back into the level basically as soon as they die.
The Basics of Bangers
Bangers are a Danger Level 2 enemy. These enemies look like walking skulls packed with explosives and, as their name implies, are deadly suicide bombers. They are abithardier than gnomes, while also moving slower. They spawn in groups of three and, like gnomes, travel with the group they spawn in.
When Bangers spot a semibot, they will charge them, lighting their fuse. This starts a timer that will end in a detonation that deals heavy (typically lethal) damage to those close by.You can tell when a Banger is close to detonating as the sound of their lit fuse will shift, as if it’s burning more quickly.In either lit state, this fuse won’t go out; a lit Bangerwillexplode. However, the explosion if a Banger is killed via damage through something like slamming them against the floor is much smaller and far less deadly.
In testing, it appeared Bangers fuses more rapidly turn to their “near detonation” state if you get close to them. This isn’t necessarily a negative if you know you have a good pool of Stamina and some distance ahead of you; just make sure you’re either getting away or throwing the Banger somewhere it can’t hurt anyone the moment you start hearing that faster fuse sound. Testing also seemed to show Bangers have a faster than standard respawn time, although it didn’t seem they respawn as quickly as Gnomes do.
Dealing With These Tiny Menaces
Because Gnomes and Bangers are so light, they can be picked up without anyStrength upgrades.For Gnomes, this is the go-to strategy. Their speed and method of attack means they are almost inevitably going to stay in rangeof their target once aggressive, with their extreme fragility being their major weakness. You’remeantto rapidly smash Gnomes, rather than attempt to outrun them or spend too much time trying to avoid them. Using any type of weapon against Gnomes is almost always going to be a waste and is likely going to be slower anyway.
Advanced (or lucky) players can also get double kills against Gnomes by smashing one Gnome into another, although this is fairly difficult given their speed and size. It’s usually more efficient to just try to pick them up as quickly as you can, flick them away, and then pick up the next until you’ve cleared the area. If an area seems to have an endless supply of Gnomes nearby, this is typically due to their rapid respawn time and the fact they’re spawning near enough that they instantly or nearly instantly spot you while you’re mid-fight.
How to Access the Store’s Secret Room in R.E.P.O.
Learn about the secret room in R.E.P.O.’s stores, positioned above your head and (maybe) holding an explosive present for robotic explorers.
Of these two enemies, Bangers are more challenging (hence being a Danger Level 2 enemy in the spawn pool, rather than Danger Level 1 Gnomes). However, they’re still highly manageable if you don’t panic. When Bangers turn aggressive, you should make your presence known to anyone else and tell them Bangers are nearby (barring obvious cases where that’s too dangerous, like ifthe Huntsmanis nearby). Then decide the best way to handle them.
Grabbing Bangers can be intimidating because they will eventually explode (and do so pretty quickly if you approach them). However, this is still a highly valid strategy, especially if you are near pits, as tossing a Banger into a pit completely neutralizes the threat as long as your timing isn’t so bad that it explodes mid-toss.Even without a pit nearby, picking up a Banger and quickly tossing it away is still probably going to mean it detonates out of range as long as your throw is moderately good; the Banger is almost certainly going to enter its “near detonation” phase, only to be thrown away and stunned. Just verify you’re still jogging away after the throw, just to be safe. You can also try to bang them against the floor until they die, greatly reducing the size of their explosion, but make sure they aren’t near detonation if you decide to do so.
If you’re nervous about grabbing a Banger or just can’t for any reason, they’re also pretty easy to outrun as long as you don’t hit a dead end.As touched on earlier, you usually want to try and bait out a detonation if you’re taking this approach, finding a good spot to start running and then intentionally getting close so they run their fuses hot. If lit Bangers are on your tail, you just need to keep moving away, and they’ll usually pop off a safe distance away. If you think you’re about to get trapped in a dead end, keep in mind they also cannot explode without first entering the “near detonation” state and running down the rest of the fuse. Sometimes it’s better to runthrougha pack of Bangers rather than allow their fuses to keep running down, only to suddenly be trapped somewhere with Bangers that are now nearly ready to detonate.
R.E.P.O. Hunting Guide: The Trudge
R.E.P.O.’s Trudge is arguably its toughest foe, with a huge health pool and massive damage potential. Today, learn how to kill it.
