Weapons: wristblades, combistick, plasma pistol, disc, netgun.

Weapons: wristblades, speargun, disc, remote bomb.

Weapons: wristblades, pistol, plasmacaster, netgun, remote bomb.

Weapons: wristblades, combistick, disc, netgun.

Weapons: wristblades, combistick, disc, energy flechette.

Wristblades are a standard but very competent weapon for all Predators. The standard attack consists of a slashing motion, but the alternate attack is a thrusting motion. Both are, of course, only effective at melee range. The Predator's wristblades make a good fallback weapon, when out of energy or spears.

The combistick is a very powerful melee weapon, although it has a longer reach than wristblades. The standard attack is a side-to-side slashing motion, whereas the alternate attack is a powerful overhead strike. The combistick does a large amount of damage, but since it is a bulky weapon it cannot be used frequently, making it more effective in one-on-one combat rather than against a horde of swarming Aliens. In one-on-one melee combat, the combistick can't be beat.

The plasma pistol is a rather effective medium range weapon. The primary fire mode lets loose a bolt of plasma; the secondary fire fires a barrage of three downward arcing bolts. A direct hit from a single bolt will dispatched most unarmed enemies; even with a near miss, the burst does splash damage to nearby victims. With this splash damage, at close range a barrage is devastating. Plasma bolts, however, will also injure Predators, so at point blank range the plasma pistol is a mixed blessing. The plasma pistol uses a fair amount of energy; sustained fire will let loose serious damage but will deplete the Predator's energy reserve quickly.

Spearguns are very powerful sniper weapons, when each spear does devastating damage. A spear hit is usually a one shot, one kill weapon. It is best used at range; at close quarters it is hard to get a bead on your target. Note that spears can actually be retrieved from your enemies; walk up to them to pick them up. The speargun has special significance since firing it does not uncloak the shooter. Speargun ammunition is somewhat hard to come by, so choose your shots wisely.

The plasmacaster is the classic Predator weapon, the one most recognizable from the movies. Plasmacasters are the standby weapon for Predators, because they are so effective. They acquire a lock and fire a bolt of plasma at an enemy. The lock is not perfect; if the target has significant lateral motion the plasma bolt can miss. The bolt, however, causes splash damage to nearby targets upon impacting a surface. The bolt can also be charged (causing it to consume more energy); this causes far greater damage, and can even widen the splash damage range. Firing the plasmacaster causes a cloaked Predator to immediately uncloak. This is the bread and butter of Predator hunting.

The disc is the one-shot-one-kill weapon in the Predator's arsenal. Any normal sized creature will fall to a disc hit (usually it cuts them in half). Once the disc manages a lock on a target, it will almost never miss. The disc is also unique because it is an object and must be retrieved; this can either be done by manually walking up to where it has ended up (usually stuck in a wall), or by hitting the disc recall button (which consumes energy). If you're having trouble finding your disc, try using the "Predtech" vision mode (green) where it should become easier to see. The disc, despite being powerful, is fairly slow and takes a long time to go out to its target (and then return should you hit the recall button). This makes it best for medium, long, and extreme range sniping, but not very effective at close quarters combat. The disc really comes into its own as a sniper weapon.

The netgun projects nets directly outward which will entangle a human or Alien if it is in the way. Both prey species can escape the net by knifing or clawing, but it takes a few seconds (particularly for the human since he will invariably have to change weapons), in which time the Predator can land an easy kill. The netgun is ideal when you have a medium range human or Alien and there are not too many other hostiles around.

The remote bomb is the Predator's answer to grenade. The bomb can be thrown anywhere (it sticks to surfaces like a human proximity grenade) and will detonate either if it touches a creature or it is triggered (with the alternate fire key). Since it behaves much like a controlled grenade, it has much the same uses: suppressive fire, mining a chokepoint, or just plain being tricky. The remote bomb is a grenade that can be triggered manually, though it is more powerful.

The energy flechette is a low-energy consumption rapid fire weapon, a Predator equivalent of a machine gun. Each flechette does little damage, but the Predator can deal them out rapidly and for an extended period, since each shot consumes very little energy. For a sustained rate of fire, the energy flechette can't be beat. But it takes a while to take down your enemy.

Predators in the mission pack have gained the ability to self-destruct. They do this by binding a special "weapon," which can only be activated when he has less than 10% of his health remaining. This makes it an opportunistic weapon of last resort, not effective as an offensive weapon. When activated, there is an audible countdown lasting a few seconds, accompanied by the obligatory Predator laugh, and then a detonation that will kill all nearby creatures; needless to say, the Predator himself is killed in the blast as well. When you hear the Predator laugh, be far away.

Predators have the unique ability to cloak. Cloaking makes them very difficult to see to normal vision modes, although they are still easily seen by other Predators in their "Predtech" vision mode, and Aliens in hunt mode (due to the green pheromone aura). To humans, however, they are very difficult to see, particularly against a complex background; in fact, the only thing that makes them easily distinguishable while cloaked is their laser glow when they are targeting you. Several types of weapon fire cause an automatic decloaking; in addition, stepping in water results in a short and also causes the Predator to decloak. Remember that cloaking is only effective against humans, but it is quite effective in that capacity.

The medicomp restores the Predator to full health, but uses about half the Predator's energy store. (If you have less than this, you'll have to use the energy sifter beforehand; you'll probably want to then use the energy sifter again afterwards to recharge your energy as well.) The Predator makes a fair amount of noise when healing, which can be heard by potential enemies. The medicomp, at least, can be used while in retreat, so the Predator can get the edge on healing himself before the next encounter.

The energy sift device allows the Predator to recharge its energy to full. This can be used any time, but it has some penalties associated with it. First, the Predator slows to a veritable crawl while using it. Second, it creates a light and sound show that are unmistakable and almost impossible to miss unless the sifting Predator is on the other side of the map or obscured by solid walls. Use the energy sift when things are quiet, and not before.

One of the more significant abilities of Predators is to use their vision modes, via their mask. During combat, their mask can be knocked off with a headshot, in which case the vision modes are unavailable.

Normal

This is the normal vision mode.

Infrared (blue)

The infrared mode is most effective at locating humans, who show up as reds, oranges, and yellows against the blue background. Aliens, however, are very difficult to see in this mode.

Electro (red)

The electromagnetic mode is best for aliens, who glow white against the red background. As with the infrared mode, it has its drawback: humans are very difficult to see in this mode.

Tech (green)

The final mode, the tech or "Predtech" mode, is for detecting other Predators and equipment, including powerups. Both fellow Predators and equipment glow a scintillating white in this vision mode. The only use that this mode has in multiplayer is that it makes the fallen disc easier to spot.

Predator boxes contain Predator equipment and ammunition. Like human boxes, they are indestructible.

The charge emitter is only available in single player.