If you want to survive Ellie’s journey through The Last of Us Part 2, then you’ll need to learn how to kill Shamblers. A new type of infected, Shamblers are pustule-like humans that have become walking clouds of death. Introduced after Ellie visits the television station, Shamblers are an area of denial enemy that can deal a lot of incremental damage if you run through their spore cloud. This can make them very difficult to deal with, especially on higher difficulty settings. For those having trouble consistently putting down these foes here are some tips for killing Shamblers.
Can You Stealth Kill Shamblers?
Unfortunately no, Shamblers are immune to any type of melee stealth kill. This is most likely due to their design since they thrive on close-quarters combat. While it’s possible to bring one down with a well-placed arrow to the head, this method was wildly inconsistent during my testing. Because of this, you will need to adjust your strategy for dealing with the other infected before engaging the Shambler.
How to Kill Shamblers
While you can certainly use any firearm to kill the Shambler, I had the most success using the Trap Mine in combination with either the rifle or Hunting Pistol. Both deal high damage, allowing you to quickly bring this enemy down. Trap Mines are especially good against them since Shamblers will always charge straight at you. Exploit this and put mines in their way, allowing you to either outright kill or maim them.
Shotguns may seem like a great tool, but you ideally don’t want them that close. Yes, this scattergun does a lot of damage, but the Shambler’s spore clouds are quite large and you will absolutely take damage if you go all-in on close-quarters fighting. Instead, keep moving and only turn to fight the Shambler when you have a few meters of free space. Aim for the head that’s disgustingly embedded into its upper torso. The revolver is also good against these enemies if you increased its damage and stability.
When fighting Shamblers and other foes, use Molotovs to slow down any Runners that would normally rush you. Additionally, try to avoid melee kills, as the animations are pretty lengthy which allows the Shambler to usually close the distance. If you have to melee an enemy, try to just knock them away to create space so you can run. Unless you are sure the Shambler is far away, it’s always better to keep any infected away so you can properly deal with high priority threats.
Alternatively, you can always sneak around the Shamblers and avoid combat entirely. Unlike the Clickers, Shamblers aren’t blind and can spot you. This means you’ll want to be extra cautious when skulking around an abandoned store or base. My personal method is to stealth kill every enemy I possibly can and then use Trap Mine to finish off the lone Shambler. With the exception of two encounters, there’s typically only one Shambler per fight so use this to your advantage.
As long as you thin the herd and exploit the Shambler’s overly predictable attacks you can easily bring this foe down. Just make sure to always have an exit plan, the last thing you want is to be cornered in a room with these infected!
