Needler

From Silent Hill Wiki

Needler is the name of a monster in Silent Hill: Homecoming. It appears humanoid, but its arms and legs are replaced with very sharp blades which it uses to walk around, as well as to attack. These blades are grafted onto the severed wrists and ankles of the creature. However, its legs are double-jointed. It seems as though its head had been removed, especially evident as it approaches Alex. However, its sharp-mawed mouth is located between its legs. Alex Shepherd first encounters them in the Grand Hotel's elevator, where four of them attack Alex in succession by breaking through the elevator's walls and attempting to pierce him in the confined space.

Character

It is wise to try to eliminate them with a firearm rather than melee combat when in groups. Two to four head shots will be enough to defeat them. Facing a lone Needler is a rather easy process.

If the player chooses to use melee weapons to fight a Needler, they should wait for the enemy to attack and quickly evade to one of it's sides and proceed to attack with the players choice of an Axe or Crowbar. It is possible to defeat the Needler with a single axe hit. This can be achieved by walking straight into him, dodging and immediately unleashing a single heavy attack.

The Axe gives out greater damage at a slower pace, but the Crowbar still deals a good bit of damage at an alarming rate. A suggestion would be to use the Crowbar and a set of Heavy attacks, along with timed dodging. In doing so, you will be able to quickly dispatch of the Needler with a stun kill.

Attacking Needlers that are hanging from the ceiling is exceedingly more difficult, and it's best to wait for them to return to the ground. They can block attacks and gunshots using their blades if attacked from the front. They can also grab Alex if he is close and attempt a high damage attack. When you kill the first of these you get the achievement "To the Point".

Symbolism

Its head is located between its legs, a design choice that, when combined with its reclining posture and stirrup-like leg blades, may be intended to viscerally symbolize childbirth--a constant theme in the Silent Hill series, and a particularly emergent theme in Silent Hill: Homecoming.