Greater Cultist

The Greater Cultist is a common cybernetic enemy in Ion Fury. He is armed with a Ion bow and makes frequent use of its alternate fire mode, even at long range. He is recognizable from afar by his red cape and deep augmented voice. They make a distinct bow charging sound while attacking, giving you a simple indication of hiding away from their line of sight or bear the consequences of it.

Scary thing about them is, they're one of a kind enemy to wipe you right away with a single well charged bolt barrage from long, hard to react distances as difficulty scales up. Always be on the move when dealing with them at the open or try to take cover right away when you heard them charging their bow, however it Is posible if you have a good reaction Time, to duck when the cultist have fired a shot, since they aim mostly at your upper body, if you crouch while the shot Is mid air the shot May go above you (does not work if the cultist Is too above your position, since the shot will go downwards, it can hit you anyway) that way you can keep shooting the cultist if you want to finish him as soon as possible or if there Is no cover and the área is too narrow ti Dodge it can be used as a last way to prevent taking damage. When noticed, Greater Cultist will try to take cover or attempt steers depending upon the presence of obstacles between him and target; if there are solid obstacles from his sightline, he'll keep his position else, he may choose to cover distance by going closer to pelt you with charged bolts. Their movement speed, reaction time, single shot accuracy and bow charge speed scale up with difficulty, while delay between bolt barrages and decision making for chase or cover also get shorter. When killed, they have a small chance of dropping Ion bow quiver to replenish your bolt ammunition.

He can be killed by two buckshot Disperser blasts from medium distances, or just one if at close range and aimed at the head. A well aimed, precise headshot from a 12-gauge shell at close distance also has a chance to gib them right away and drop armor shards on their death as a reward. As they appear in all kinds of elevated areas and ambush you from distance instead of approaching right in front of you, best retaliation answer is generally secondary fire of Loverboy to clear them as you enter their line of sight. At very long distances where Loverboy does not lock-on to targets a few manually aimed magnum shots might decapitate them, else Ion bow can dispatch them at range one by one.

In a crowded close range ambush, Disperser grenades proven to be superior to clear their porches if you have no where to hide or cover from their charged bolts. It rarely worths using Chain gun, Clusterpuck or Bowling bombs against them as it would be an overkill or waste but at rare occassions due to their advantageous positioning and being at the vicinity of stronger enemies they must be immediately dispatched for a recovery. If you manage to turn them into gibs by any explosive, Disperser or Chain gun headshots, they'll reward you with armor shards on death just like other cybernetic henchmen.

While having low-medium hit points, being lit on fire by Penetrator or being tazed by Electrifryer or Ion bow bodyshots do not faze them and they'll recover from stun and flinch states fairly quick compared to their lesser counter-part enemies. They'll keep charging their bow in hopes to deal damage before them succumb to the fire and shake off taze effects to charge up theirs right away.

Trivia

 * Although they were present in the initial release of the Preview Campaign, the crossbow could not be picked up from dead greater cultists nor otherwise until the Heskel's House of Horrors update.