Lerk

This article is currently under construction.

Lerk

"SCREEEEEECH"
Kharaa
Personal Resources 21 (+3 per Evolution)
Health 150 (+2 per Biomass)	Armor 45 (50 / 55 / 60)
Energy 100 (110 / 120 / 130)
Respawns In:	10 seconds
Air Speed:	13 (13.5 / 14 / 14.5)
Ground Speed:	7.0 (7.5 / 8.0 / 8.5)
Crouch Speed:	2.8
Wall Speed:	1.4
Abilities and Upgrades
Abilities: Alien Vision, Evolve Menu, Hive Sight, Flight (Glide), Roost, Poison Bite, Spikes, Umbra, Spores
Evolutions: Carapace, Regeneration, Vampirism, Adrenaline, Celerity, Crush, Camouflage, Aura, Focus
Upgrades: Umbra at biomass 4, Spores at biomass 6
Miscellaneous
Buy From:	Evolve Menu
Purchase By:	Player
Gestation Time:	15 seconds

Introduction

The Lerk is a winged Alien lifeform that has the ability to inflict poisonous bites and shoot Marines from a distance with spikes.

Background

The Lerk's ability to fly and its relatively low res cost makes for a powerful early game lifeform. When the first Lerk is spotted on the field, Marines will usually be forced into researching Shotguns to counter them, if they haven't done so already. Although the Lerk requires a second Hive to receive it's support abilities (Spores and Umbra), It spawns with the ability of flight and poison bites, making for a fragile, yet formidable opponent.

Tactics

Lerks are the only Alien lifeform with the ability to fly and a ranged attack capable of significant damage. They are remarkably fragile however and engaging a group of Marines at close range will nearly always result in death.

Lerks should use their glide ability for silent flight to try to attack lone Marines from behind, inflicting as many bites as possible before making a hasty retreat. Marines that are already low on health may be more easily picked off by using spikes.

The speed and agility of a Lerk mean they are an excellent multi-role lifeform that can kill Marines, destroy Extractors or defend Hives from Marine incursions.

Later game Lerks should focus on providing support to higher Lifeforms (in particular Onoses) with Umbra and denying area control to Marines with liberal use of Spores.

Shotguns and Grenade Launchers are the most deadly weapons for Lerks, avoid close combat against them.

Protect Skulks biting resources, they will do wonders.

Lerks early game are the main harvester defenders: They can react quickly and kill lone aggressive marines more easily than skulks.

Tactical Summary - Lerk

Never engage head-on, engage from range if you can't attack from a position of surprise.
You are very fragile - keep moving at all times.
Make liberal use of Umbra and Spores when available.

Controls

Lerk Player Controls
Movement		Abilities		Contextual
W	Forward	Mouse 1	Attack	E	Use
A	Left	Mouse 2	Spikes	F	Alien Vision
S	Backward	1	Poison Bite	B	Evolve Menu
D	Right	2	Umbra	C	Map
Space	Flight (tap), Glide (hold)	3	Spores	X	Voice Overs Menu
Shift	Roost	V	Last Weapon
Ctrl	Crouch Diving

Movement

Main article: Movement techniques.

Lerk Movement
Gliding	Video
If you hold the Jump button Space you can glide in all directions with your current speed you gained by flapping Space
(Counter-)Strafe Mechanics
You do not gain a speedboost by using strafe keys, since you already gain high speed with a few quick flaps Space It is still important to use Counterstrafe as Lerk because your Lerk model and camera tilts. That has several advantages: Your wings move quicker around a corner (you get hit by less bullets) You can see where your lerk is moving more clearly and you can actually hit your targets while turning Your evasive movement is much harder to track
Crouch Diving
If you press the detach button Ctrl you can detach yourself from a wall or rapidly dive down without being forced to look down.
Flapping upwards
If you press the Jump button quickly Space without pressing the Forward button W you will gain height quickly while still maintaining any forward momentum you already had. While doing this you can turn in every direction allowing for better use of Spikes
Spiking Mines
The easiest way to spike a Mine and still be a harder target for a Marine is by quickly flying forwards ( W + Space ) and backwards ( S + Space ) for a second.

Abilities

Flight

The Lerk can spread its wings and soar into the air. While flying, the Lerk gains a move speed bonus.

Flight

Tap to gain height using energy. Hold to glide without using energy. Crouch to dive downwards. Speed bonus decreases over time.
Hotkey	Space
Energy	3
Speed	Base speed + 10.2

Additional information about movement techniques can be found in Movement.

Roost

Digs the Lerk's talons onto a nearby surface to stay in place.

Roost

Hotkey	Shift
Range	Melee
Targets	Walls, Props, Structures

Poison Bite

Bites a target and injects poison to deal damage over time to Marines.

Poison Bite

Poison damage affects Marine's Health only. Poison leaves Marines at 5 health. Poison effect is removed by Armory Resupply.
Hotkey	1 (slot), Mouse1 (attack)
Energy	5
Damage	60 + 6 per second
Type	Normal
Range	Melee
Fire Rate	0.3 seconds
Duration	5-6 seconds
Targets	Marines, Robots, Structures

Tip: Poison from a Lerk's bite will not kill a Marine, rather it will leave them at 5HP.

Spikes

Rapidly shoots spikes over long distances. Spikes deal extra damage to players.

Spikes

Against Players: Damage x 200% Spike projectile travels in a straight line. Spike projectile has a trail effect. Spikes create dust on impact.
Hotkey	Mouse2
Energy	1.4
Damage	6
Type	Puncture
Range	50
Fire Rate	0.07 seconds
Targets	Marines, Robots, Structures

Spores

Exhales Spore clouds that deal damage over time to Marines.

Spores

Spore damage affects Marines' Health only. Clouds will drift toward the ground. Clouds confuse Sentry turrets' targeting system. Clouds evaporate when burned by Flamethrower.
Hotkey	3 (slot), Mouse1 (attack)
TRes	20 (research 60 seconds)
Energy	27
Damage	15 per second
Type	Gas
Range	Melee
Radius	4
Fire Rate	0.36 seconds
Duration	4 seconds
Targets	Marines
Requires	Biomass level 4, Research Spores

Umbra

Shoots a puff of smoke that disperses into a large cloud, which reduces the damage of bullets entering the cloud by 25%.

Umbra

Reduces incoming bullet damage by 25% Umbra lingers on Kharaa lifeforms and structures for 2.5 seconds. Cloud evaporates when burned by Flamethrower.
Hotkey	2 (slot), Mouse1 (attack)
TRes	20 (research 45 seconds)
Energy	27
Range	17
Radius	6
Fire Rate	1 seconds
Duration	4 seconds seconds
Targets	Bullets, Railgun, Lifeforms, Structures, Grenades by Grenade Launcher
Requires	Biomass level 5, Research Umbra

Variants

The following images show all the variations of Lerk camouflage (skins) that you may see in the game.

Please note:

Not all variants are available for purchase.
Skins are purely cosmetic and offer no augmented or additional stats in-game.

Lerk Skin Variants
Normal
Shadow
Reaper

Camouflage variants & availability
Variant	Description	Acquisition	Notes
Normal	Default Camouflage.	Provided with game.	N/A
Shadow	Red eyes, Dark blue/purple skin, Extrusions on exo-skeletal features.	Originally part of the Reinforcement Program for Shadow Tier & above.	May also be found on the Steam Community Market.
Reaper	Red eyes, White skin, Black exo-skeletal features.	Requires Reaper DLC.	Released with the Reaper update.