The Last of Us Part 1features a wide variety of enemies that Joel and Ellie must overcome on their journey across the country in search of the Fireflies. Militaristic soldiers, Hunters, and Cannibals all threaten the lives of the protagonists, but no human enemy comes close to the danger posed by the infected – the bloodthirsty, ravenous remains of those infected withThe Last of Us’Cordyceps Brain Infection.
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Omnipresent throughout the game,The Last of Us Part 1’s cunninginfectedcome in a variety of shapes and sizes with every stage of infection, each more aggressive and dangerous than the last.This guide will show players how best to deal with Runners; the most recently infected of the fungal undead and the most commonly encountered among them.
How To Deal With Runners In Combat
The most common variety of infected, and are the first of their kind that the player will meet; Runners are almost always found aroundother infected inThe Last of Us Part 1. Fortunately, they are the most easily dealt with as they act like the classic zombie –running head-on at the player and taking a few swings.
In open combat,Runners will likely try toswarm the player in hordes, attempting to close distance to reach melee range. In this situation, without access to more powerful weaponry, keep running to make distance and try tofunnel them togetherwhere they can be taken out all at once with acarefully timed Molotov or Nail Bomb.
As always,the bestLast of Usweaponsfor Runner encounters are theshort-range Shotgun, Shorty, and Flamethrower. For players more confident in landing shots, the9mm pistol can make quick work of Runnerswith a well-placed headshot. Usingthe Hunting Rifle, Revolver, or El Diablo isn’t particularly recommended, as those weapons are better saved for dispatchingThe Last of Us Part 1’s more powerful enemies. If all else fails, players can rely upon their limited durabilitymelee weapons to interrupt their attacks.
How To Deal With Runners In Stealth
Runners are one of the few infected thatstill retain their eyesight, therefore, it’s important toprioritize taking them out firstwhen approaching a groupstealthily inThe Last of Us. Like human enemies, they willstick to set patrol pathsthat can easily be tracked with Listen Mode, where they can besneaked up on and strangled, or taken out with an arrow.
Occasionally, players will come acrosshibernating Runners that will hunch over, not paying attention to their surroundings. These can be directly approached in stealth and strangledwithout having to worry about lines of sight.
The Last of Us Part 1is currently available for PS5, and is in development for PC.
