Combine Charger

For other uses, see Charger (disambiguation).

Combine Charger
General information
Faction	Combine Overwatch
Type	Transhuman soldier
Individual information
Weapon(s)	Heavy Shotgun Stun Baton (used once)
Equipment	Shield Vocoder Radio Heavy Armor Gas mask Health Pen Satchels
Game information
Entity	npc_combine_s
Voiced by	Michael Schwalbe

 

"Ready to hammer in three... two... one..."

― Combine Charger

The Combine Charger, also called the Combine Heavy and referred to as Wallhammer in Combine terminology, is a specialized transhuman soldier class of the Combine Overwatch introduced in Half-Life: Alyx.

Overview

Combine Chargers are very large enemies, with heavy armor plating covering their shoulders, chests and thighs and a gorget to protect their necks. Acting as special units, Chargers are either deployed as a member of a squad or operates solo. They are equipped with a Heavy Shotgun and are capable of using a device mounted on their left forearms to generate a shield which, unlike other Combine Force Field technology, can block non-organic matter such as bullets and shrapnel. This device can also momentarily blind the player with a bright flash, leaving them open to attack. Chargers are unable to shoot through their own shields and therefore are forced to deactivate them to return fire on enemies. One of these units incapacitates Alyx Vance and her father Eli with a Stun Baton during a raid on their safe house. They are also sometimes seen carrying Health Pens, despite not visibly using them.

When a Wallhammer is killed by shooting it at the head, some parts or even the entire mask will fall off, revealing the surgical enhancements the Combine made. The head underneath the mask is the same as the Grunt

Tactics

As their code name "Wallhammer" suggests, the Chargers' tactics comprise of both the "wall" which refers to their shield and the "hammer" which refers to their strategy of charging. Like Suppressors, Chargers act as "tanks", being able to dish out and receive high amounts of damage. They can easily kill a player who underestimates them and fails to use cover and the right weapons or tactics. However, while Suppressors hang back to provide covering fire, Chargers specialize in pushing forward to directly assault and put pressure on their enemy. The Heavy Shotgun is capable of removing a large chunk of the player's health in one shot, but its firing and reloading rates are low which, along with the Chargers' relatively slower responses, can be exploited to the player's advantage. When being attacked, Chargers will put up their shields while continuing their advance, and will often emit a flash when they see the player, so it is advised not to waste ammunition on the shield and stay behind cover. Despite the Chargers' heavy armor, they are highly vulnerable to attacks from grenades and the shotgun. Chargers' shoulder armor is bulletproof, but their thigh armor is not, making it a vulnerable point alongside the head the player should prioritize.

Related Achievements

Half-Life: Alyx
	Indirect Approach
	Kill a Combine Heavy while their shield is up.

Behind the scenes

The Combine Charger acts as a spiritual precursor to the Shotgun Soldiers of the previous games, not only wielding a Shotgun but also following the same "charge" flanking role that they performed. The unused Combine Soldier model includes placeholder texture variations for several different soldier classes, among these being a Shotgun Soldier class which may have been an early form of the Charger.

In the game files, Combine Chargers have several unused lines and animations for swapping out their Heavy Shotgun for a Stun Baton, respectively dubbed "mode 1" and "mode 2". While their shield is deployed, they would pull out a baton, sprint at an opponent, and attempt to either stun them or perform a fake-out attack. The Charger also was to have a Tau Cannon charging attack as part of the functionality of his weapon.

Gallery

Pre-release

• 

  Concept art for Half-Life: Alyx of a Shotgunner class.

• 

  Concepts for Combine characters with an Charger-like unit second from the right.

• 

  Ditto.

• 

  Unused Combine Soldier model with placeholder Shotgun Soldier texture.

Retail

• 

  The first encountered Charger.

• 

  A Charger with his shield activated.

• 

  A Charger restrains Eli during an interrogation by an Ordinal.

• 

  The Charger shocks him with his baton.

• 

  Standing outside of the Northern Star.

• 

  A Charger reloads his Heavy Shotgun.

• 

  Close-up of the shield device.

List of appearances

Combine OverWiki has a list of quotes for Combine Charger.

Combine OverWiki has more images related to Combine Charger.

• Half-Life: Alyx