Ravager

The Ravager is a new Chimeran strain that first appears in Resistance 2.

Resistance 2
The Ravager is a much larger and more muscular version of a Hybrid, which tower over soldiers by several feet, and deal a large amount of psychological damage because of their sheer size, and especially their faces, which are hideous even by Chimeran standards. Ravagers are armed with a plasma-like firing weapon and a large, portable shield. In addition to their weaponry, Ravagers are excellent melee fighters and will often charge full speed at the player with shields still up which can do quite a bit of damage. They are almost always accompanied by Hybrids or another Ravager. They are considered to be the toughest regular Chimera strain infantry on the front lines, even more so than Steelheads.

Ravagers wear heavy, extremely tough armor, which gives the Ravager excellent defense, but the bulky armor also makes it difficult for a Ravager to turn - if a Ravager were to run at the player and that player side-steps, it will take several seconds for the Ravager to stop and turn around, while the player can safely fire away at the Ravager's back. Also, Ravagers are also armed with a Brute Minigun instead of using their shields and plasma cannons. Ravagers are deployed mostly solo or either in small squads, the largest groups being as big as 5, and when together, are usually led by a larger Ravager (these Ravagers are probably Primarchs or Overseers due to them being significantly stronger than the others). An example of this was in Cocodrie, when Hale and his squad were escorting the fission bomb on to the Chimeran shuttle, a large amount of enemies being led by three Ravagers stormed down the bridge, with the lead Ravager being the largest and most skilled.

Resistance 3
Ravagers will reappear in Resistance 3, and are revamped with a more threatening appearance.

Minigun Variant
The most common form of Ravager is the portable shield variant, however a more rare form is the brute minigun variant. These Ravagers do not possess a shield, but make up for it with even more health. For example, in the superhuman difficulty cooperative, a regular Ravager armed with the portable shield takes about 255 exp. of damage to kill, yet the minigun variant takes well over 300 exp. of damage to kill (in co-op, the minigun variants that guard the containment block in Axbridge, can apparently take almost 400 exp. of damage on Superhuman, which is unheard of coming from a regular Chimeran strain). The minigun may also be a symbol of authority or prestige, since only the toughest Ravagers, Primarchs and Overseers may wield it. The minigun variants are deployed in even smaller numbers, usually solo, sometimes in pairs.

Early Variant
There is an early variant strain of the Ravager known as a Brute in Resistance Retribution. Only in Retribution, that the Brutes use a slightly different chaingun which is possibly the prototype to the Brute Minigun. They are also noticeably much slimmer than a Ravager.

Strategy
The best way to kill Ravagers are by just shooting them while avoiding fire, or if you have a L23 Fareye, you can use the Fareye's alternate fire to slow the perception of time and give the Ravager a good headshot which will instantly kill it. The Auger is also a choice weapon, because you could either hide behind cover and fire away, or simply shoot through its shield as it approaches, but if a Fareye is in hand, it is always the best choice. One other way is to use grenades, either 2-3 Fragmentation Grenades or a Spider Grenade. The Wraith is great to counter the Ravager, since it has a shield and a high rate of fire. It is recommended to never take a Ravager on superhuman head on unless one has a heavy duty weapon such as the LAARK with the player because the chances of survival are much slimmer compared to the other strains. The Marksman is also a good choice as one burst of fire to the head will easily bring down even the toughest of Ravagers. Another more entertaining way to bring down a Ravager on Co-op is to play as the Spec Ops with the Invisibility Berserk. Once the Berserk is activated, go behind the Ravager and Melee it in the back. Its not as effective and more dangerous than landing a Headshot but is more entertaining.

Downloadable Content
For Resistance 2's Competitive Mode, in March 2009 an online skin for the Ravager was released for online play. They can not be customized with Heatstacks and Armor and can only be played as when being on a Chimera team. The skin is also scaled down so that the size doesn't make it easier to see.

Resistance 2

 * One of the last checkpoints in the last level aboard the Chimeran Flagship, as Hale makes his way to Daedalus, a commanding Ravager can be seen through the Fareye's scope with a large group of Chimera comprised of several Elite Hybrids and Steelheads. The Ravager, who is apparently the leader, is shown shouting (in Chimeran language) at one of the Elite Hybrids and then striking it across its face which sends it sprawling to the floor, killed instantly. This is the only time a chimera is seen attacking one of its own kind.


 * Also on the last level, while Hale is chasing the Chimera that took the fission bomb, he comes across 2 Ravagers and a Titan. One of the Ravagers is seen turning around from Blake's body, which has numerous holes in his chest, implying that Blake was killed by a Ravager (the reason being probably that Blake ran out of ammo, which he stated, and tried to fight the Ravager hand-to-hand, and was killed).