Predictor

Predictors belong to the Nebula Pillar, so they only exist once the Lunatic Cultist has been beaten and the Lunar Events are running. They spawn inside the pillar's zone, alongside the rest of that roster, and a small handful can be active at any one time. Clear the pillar and they stop coming.

It shuffles along at walking pace until it has a clear view of you, then plants itself and hangs four spikes in the air around its body for about a second and a half before flinging the set at you in a tight cone. That pause is the only warning you get and it is a generous one. Move sideways during it and the whole volley goes past you, since the spread is aimed where you were standing when it locked on.

It also cannot fire while it is off the ground. Anything that knocks it airborne, or a fight taken on broken terrain where it keeps stepping off ledges, buys you free seconds.

Damage resets its attack timer to almost nothing rather than interrupting it, so chipping at one from across the arena provokes an immediate volley instead of stalling it. Either commit and kill it quickly or leave it alone until you can. Poking at one while you fight something else is the worst of both.

Once the spikes are out they are going, whatever happens next. Hiding behind blocks does not call off the volley, it only means the spikes bury themselves in the wall you chose, and killing the predictor outright does not recall the ones already floating. If you see the spikes rise, commit to movement rather than to cover.

• For all the name promises, it does no leading whatsoever. It shoots at where you are, not where you are going.
• The name and the oversized head are both nudging at the 1987 alien hunter film.
• It shares a sprite base with the Selenian, Stargazer and Vortexian, and it went by Nebula Soldier for one patch.