Excavator

Gutterman
Attributes
Appearance	Giant yellow machine with a hatch that takes extra damage. Has a Jackhammer.
Attack Damage	45 (Jackhammer Pulse) 30 (Stomp)35 (Punch
Health	30
Damage Modifiers	Hatch - 150% A Guttertank's punch - 400%
Weight?Weight determines the behavior of the enemy. Whiplash reels Light enemies towards the player. Light to Medium enemies are affected by magnet pull. Light to Medium-heavy enemies are susceptible to knockback. Superheavy enemies cannot be dashed and slid through.	Super-heavy
Susceptible to fall damage	No
Other/Misc	Tanky anti-air and rocket pressure enemy that will spiral out of control if left unattended, requiring cover or close range combat to counter.

Guttermen are Greater Machines that made their first appearance in the mission [ 7-2: LIGHT UP THE NIGHT ]

Appearance

Guttermen are bulky humanoid machines. Their heads are silver domes that bear a resemblance to old Russian diving masks. Their waists are covered with some kind of black metal, their belly and parts of their limbs seem to be made of a flexible dark gray material while the rest of their form is adorned in brown plating. Red lines, markings and lights detail their bodies.

Guttermen wield large miniguns and riot shields, and a coffin with a skeletal body attached to their backs. This was noticed before they were added to the game, concretely, during one of the parry flashes at 0:27 in their release showcase.

Combat

Guttermen will slowly move towards V1 while firing their miniguns. They are inaccurate at first, but their tracking will gradually improve the longer they are allowed to fire away at the player.

The shields attached to their left arms are completely impervious to all attacks, and Guttermen will attempt to bash the player with them should they get too close. However, with a hit anywhere on them, their shields can be broken with a Knuckleblaster punch/blast, Jackhammer's primary fire, parried landmine or a dying Mindflayer, if they are present, awarding the [+GUARD BREAK], and, depending on the way the shield is destroyed: [+DISRESPECT] from Knuckleblaster, [+SERVED] from a landmine, and [+STRIKE!] from a Mindflayer style bonuses and healing V1 much like a parry. Shattering their only means of defense increases any damage inflicted on them, while also prompting them to track the player faster. It also allows their melee attack to be parried by the Feedbacker, if they are not in their enraged state.

Attacks

The Gutterman's primary means of attack is its minigun. It shoots a concentrated spray of hit-scan bullets that track V1 and fire at a rate of roughly 15 shots per second, and although their aim is imprecise at first, their tracking will gradually improve until it is nigh impossible to evade their bullets. This in turn prevents the use of rocket riding due to its ability to destroy them. Tossing a coin into the trajectory of the bullets results in a [+CHARGEBACK] style bonus, and the projectile bounces off the coin like a normal Revolver shot, though this does far less damage than simply shooting the coin yourself. Doing this too much will make the Gutterman stop shooting until the player stops tossing coins.

If the player wanders too close to a Gutterman, it will attempt to repel them by bashing them with their left arm, halting their firing for a brief moment. If their shield has been destroyed, this attack can be parried. Note that this does not reset their tracking. When breaking Gutterman's line of sight, the tracking is reset.

Upon death, it flops on its front and creates a small non-damaging shockwave, launching the nearby enemies and the player in the air. Most enemies and bosses standing in front of Gutterman will be instantly killed, giving the [+PANCAKED] Style Bonus, similarly to a falling Malicious Face. The Gutterman's corpse doesn't disappear and can be grappled into. A Screwdriver shot also can be planted in the corpse, with the exception being the coffin and shield (if it hasn't been destroyed).

Difficulty Changes

• BRUTAL
  • Guttermen will enrage when their shields break and both move faster and track more precisely. Their punches are unparriable while enraged.
    • After their enraged state is over, parrying the Gutterman after its shield was broken will cause it to enrage again.

The Cyber Grind

Guttermen are very high priority targets in the Cyber Grind, especially in large numbers. If several are present, it's imperative to play around cover and if the arena changes layouts that provide next to none of it, it'd instead be better to improvise their main form of attack to incidentally weaken other enemies. They also make a high risk, high reward one-time weapon for instantly crushing other dangerous threats such as the Insurrectionist or several Swordsmachines.

Terminal Data

For more information, see Terminal.

TYPE: GREATER MACHINE

DATA:

Built in the early days of the Final War, the Guttermen were one of the first successful experiments in using blood as a fuel source, as well as the first automatons to be deployed in wide-scale conflict.

During the War's first phase, an era of trench warfare, these seemingly unstoppable walls were airdropped into enemy trenches, which they would then slowly and systematically clear out as all opposing soldiers would have to choose between being minced by the Gutterman, or running out of the trench and getting mowed down by machine gun fire.

Researchers had not yet found a way to keep blood inside the machine fresh, so a live fuel source was strapped inside, kept alive by minimal life support, before the Guttermen were welded shut. Although publically these fuel sources were claimed to be volunteer patriots, most were deserters, battle-fatigued returnees or prisoners of war.

Forces from far beyond took notice of the cruelty man was capable of, and the suffering of these human blood supplies served as an inspiration for the creation of Mannequins.

STRATEGY:

- The shield is a Gutterman's main defense. Destroying it with the Knuckleblaster or a Landmine will cause them to take increased damage.

- Although slow at first, their tracking will improve the longer they maintain line of sight. It's best not to stay out in the open for too long.

- Once the shield has been broken, the Gutterman's punches can be parried, which resets their tracking.

- A Gutterman's corpse can be ground slammed to cause a large explosion that damages surrounding enemies and launches the attacker high in the air.

Rending Apart

The Gutterman's shield can be destroyed by one hit of the Knuckleblaster, the Alternate Shotgun, or with a parried Landmine, netting the [+GUARD BREAK] Style Bonus. After that, its melee punch will become parriable and will reset its minigun tracking speed each time you parry it. In intense combat situations, the Knuckleblaster's shockwave can also be used to destroy the shield.

After the Gutterman is dead, you can ground slam its corpse (specifically the coffin on its back) to cause a massive explosion that will launch you in the air. The explosion will not damage you. In the Cyber Grind, it's corpse will instead instantly detonate upon hitting the floor, similar to how the corpse of a Malicious Face will instantly break.

The shield is not as airtight as it initially seems, as the S.R.S. Cannon Rocket Launcher and Screwdriver Railcannon can both entirely bypass it. Furthermore, there is a small area right in the middle of the four square slabs where shots from the Revolvers or Electric Railcannon can damage the Gutterman while still deflecting back off. Using the Railcannon's piercing Hitstop, this shot can be deflected off of a Coin right back into the shield. With precise positioning and timing, this can be chained several times for a near-instakill.

Be careful when shooting projectiles at or near a Gutterman, as their minigun can cause your projectiles to detonate, doing nothing to your intended target at best and blowing up in your face at worst.