History DemonicSpiders / QuakeII

** The Weapon Guards introduced in the pack (Hyperblaster, Ripper and Laser) are relatively squishy but still have more armor than their more basic fellows, and their weapons can deal a surprising amount of damage -- the Laser Guard in particular with his continuous hitscan attack can cook your armor down to ragged scraps. They're often perched high up as stationary snipers, and corner peeking with the rocket launcher or railgun ''isn't'' overkill against them.

* The stalkers are small arachnid robots that only shoot a blaster bolt but can attack you from either the floor or the ceiling, [[StoneWall take two Railgun shots or three Super Shotgun point-blank shots to destroy]] (for comparison, the Gunner takes one Railgun shot or two Super Shotgun point-blank shots to fall), and can jump over any non {{hitscan}} attack. If there's a reason to use the ETF Rifle, it's these guys. [[spoiler:Have fun battling a bunch of them with the Black Widow Guardian spawning them constantly; the Invulnerability and Quad/Double Damage items that she's immune to are still invaluable to mop them up]].

* In the original ''Ground Zero'', the turrets. Taking these bastards out is a chore more than anything, and it severely detracts from the expansion pack's enjoyment. It's a testament that the while the 2023 remaster buffed several enemies, it instead ''{{nerf}}ed'' turrets to the ground. Let's count the ways:
** They're far too tough. You need at least three rockets or two railgun slugs to destroy one, and they resist environmental damage, as the turrets located in the otherwise deadly reactor area of "Waste Processing" can attest. The remaster reduced their health to where one rocket is enough.

* As of the 2023 remaster, Berserkers have gone from being the game's least intimidating enemies to ''[[VideoGame/QuakeI the Fiend reincarnate]]'', all thanks to the reintegration of one of their cut attacks: the GroundPound. With it, Berserkers can now leap whole corridors at lightning speed to close the gap, creating a damaging shockwave with a frankly ridiculous AOE radius upon landing. In certain maps, it's possible to bait Berserkers into leaping off into deadly areas such as slime/lava/bottomless pits, though the attack's considerable knockback makes it likely for you to get knocked off as well. They also now have a running hammer attack (another cut attack), which means they don't have to stop to attack you anymore.

** The [[BossInMookClothing Beta Class/Phalanx Gladiator]] has [[MadeOfIron MUCH higher health because of their Power Shield]], a [[{{BFG}} Phalanx Particle Cannon]] instead of the usual railgun (without the Gladiator's signature firing delay, too, and unlike the player it fires three mag slugs instead of two), and an extra painful clamp. In fact, the Beta Gladiator is tougher than the original game's Super Tank – and you only found two of those, in separate locations to boot – whereas the Beta Gladiator is possibly the third most common enemy in the final hub, only behind Gunners and Guards. The only saving graces are a) that it stands still while firing, making it a sitting duck of sorts, b) the three slugs are fired in a straight path instead of a spread formation like the player's Phalanx, making it easier to avoid (at least in non-hallway areas), and c) they drop more Mag Slugs than it takes to kill them. The 2023 remaster {{nerf}}ed them a bit by reducing the mag slugs to 2 and making them quite frail without their Power Shield.

** The pack's version of the Enforcer loses the warmup animation the original had, and attacks you instantly as if it were a Weapon Guard.
** The pack's version of the Tank fires rockets instantly instead of waiting until the turret is prepared and loaded (this after you found cover behind a wall from the already painful Blaster and Machinegun attacks) as if he were a Super Tank.
** The Weapon Guards introduced in the pack (Hyperblaster, Ripper and Laser) are relatively squishy but still have more armor than their more basic fellows, and their weapons can deal a surprising amount of damage, especially the Laser Guard. For the latter, corner peeking with the rocket launcher or railgun isn't overkill if you value your armor.

* In the original ''Ground Zero''[[note]]the 2023 remaster {{nerf}}ed them considerably by adding a targeting laser that signposts their position, as well as weakening them to the point ''a single rocket'' is enough to take them down[[/note]] the turrets. Let's count the ways:
** They're far too tough. You need at least three rockets or two railgun slugs to destroy one, and they resist environmental damage, as the turrets located in the otherwise deadly reactor area of "Waste Processing" can attest.
** Their projectiles hurt. The Blaster turret, the weakest of the three variants, hits for a ridiculous ''20'' points of damage! Plus, they fire twice as fast as a stationary Gladiator, and save for the Railgun turret, they can LeadTheTarget.
** Deployed turrets are completely silent when not firing, so you'll only know one is around after they've fired, and by then there's no way to dodge.
** Once they're introduced, they are '''''EVERYWHERE''''', to the point where they break the regular gameplay flow and force the player on a PixelHunt if they want to stay alive (even more if there's a Medic Commander nearby).
** With all these considerations, taking these bastards out is a chore more than anything, and it severely detracts from the expansion pack's enjoyment.

** Unlike the main game, where they fall victim to GoddamnedBats, Gunners can aim their 4-grenade burst vertically. In the vanilla game, the monster isn't very dangerous since the fixed horizontal launch angle makes the grenades' trajectories predictable and easy to avoid, however, in this port, you'll come to find ''very quickly'' that when properly aimed, it's a huge burst of damage that comes with very little warning and is difficult to dodge.

* In the 2023 remaster, Berserkers gain one of their cut attacks: a GroundPound, allowing them to get closer to you. They also have a running hammer attack (another cut attack), which means they won't stop before attacking you anymore. These two attacks upgrade them to this status. In certain maps, this attack can be used against them by making them fall onto deadly areas such as slime or lava pits or even death zones, so there's that.

** The Beta Class Brains has Hookshot-like tentacles that deal more damage than the original, have ''much'' longer range, and pull you in when they hit instead of sending you away, and an optic laser beam that can roast you inside your armor if you face it for over two seconds. Oh and the 2023 Remaster replaced all regular Brains with them, so you'll see them in the base game too.

** The pack's version of the Enforcer loses the warmup animation the original had, and attacks you instantly as if it was a Weapon Guard.

* Take the Icarus, an already annoying (yet somewhat easy to take down) flying enemy of vanilla ''Quake II'' which shoots a bunch of bolts at you, add extra health and a Power Shield to it, make it a common enemy on par with the already annoying Flyers, and you get the appropriately named [[Literature/TheMetamorphoses Daedalus]]. If there's one reason to sacrifice Cells from your Power Shield and use [[ArmorPiercingAttack the Hyperblaster or the Plasma Beam]], it's this dude.
* In the original ''Ground Zero''[[note]]as the 2023 remaster {{nerf}}ed them considerably by adding a laser helping to see where they come from, as well as weakening them to the point ''a single rocket'' is enough to take them down[[/note]] the turrets. Let's count the ways:

* {{Downplayed}} with the Arachnid from the PSX version and the 2023 remaster. It has two railguns, it's sturdy, but it's quite inaccurate.

* Gladiators are MadeOfIron, have a hard-to-dodge railgun that chops off 50 health points, and their close-range claw deals a lot of damage. Their only saving grace is that their accuracy is a bit subpar for a [[SniperRifle Railgun]] wielder.
* Mutants are {{Lightning Bruiser}}s with a DeadlyLunge that can stunlock you to death with the recoil from their frantic claw slashes.
* [[EliteMooks Tank Commanders]], sturdier than the already hard Tank and with harder-hitting attacks, are extremely common in the City unit. Some source ports replace them with the regular Tank, drastically lowering the overall difficulty of the unit.

* In the 2023 remaster, Berserkers gain one of their cut attacks: a GroundPound, allowing them to get closer to you. They also have a running hammer attack (another cut attack), which means they won't stop before attacking you anymore. These two attacks upgrade them to this status.

** The Beta Class Iron Maiden is not too different from the default model, except she has homing missiles. In a mixed firefight, they're a priority target.

** The [[BossInMookClothing Beta Class Gladiator]] has [[MadeOfIron MUCH higher health because of their Power Shield]], a [[{{BFG}} Phalanx Particle Cannon]] instead of the usual railgun (without the Gladiator's signature firing delay, too, and unlike the player it fires three mag slugs instead of two), and an extra painful clamp. In fact, the Beta Gladiator is tougher than the original game's Super Tank – and you only found two of those, in separate locations to boot – whereas the Beta Gladiator is possibly the third most common enemy in the final hub, only behind Gunners and Guards. The only saving graces are a) that it stands still while firing, making it a sitting duck of sorts, b) the three slugs are fired in a straight path instead of a spread formation like the player's Phalanx, making it easier to avoid (at least in non-hallway areas), and c) they drop more Mag Slugs than it takes to kill them.

* The stalkers are small arachnid robots that only shoot a blaster bolt but can attack you from either the floor or the ceiling, [[StoneWall take two Railgun shots or three Super Shotgun point-blank shots to destroy]] (for comparison, the Gunner takes one Railgun shot or two Super Shotgun point-blank shots to fall), and can jump over any non {{hitscan}} attack[[note]]the only truly effective weapons to take them down aside of the {{BFG}}10K are the Chainfist, Machinegun, Chaingun, Plasma Beam and Railgun[[/note]]. [[spoiler:Have fun battling a bunch of them with the Black Widow Guardian spawning them constantly; the Invulnerability and Quad/Double Damage items that she's immune to are still invaluable to mop them up]].
* Take the Icarus, an already annoying (yet somewhat easy to take down) flying enemy of vanilla ''Quake II'' which shoots a bunch of bolts at you, add extra health and a Power Shield to it, make it a common enemy on par with the already annoying Flyers, and you get the appropriately named [[Literature/TheMetamorphoses Daedalus]]. If there's one reason to use the [[ArmorPiercingAttack ETF rifle]], it's this dude.
* The turrets. Let's count the ways:

* The PSX version of II has an exclusive near-literal demonic spider, the Arachnid, which has dual railguns.

* In the 2023 remaster, taking a page from ''kmquake2'', ''ALL'' light and medium class ground-based enemies can now jump. They also actively hunt the player just by listening to their footsteps.
** Every enemy is now notably more aggressive as well. With projectile-based foes, this isn't so bad, but with hitscanners, you're going to take a ''lot'' of hits because they'll start blasting almost immediately after spotting you, and in several cases can do it on the run now, too. Foes that do use projectiles like Gunners or Tanks, however, also have a nasty habit of launching grenades and rockets respectively at your last known location, trying to bait a corner-dodging player into coming back out into a barrage of death.
* Parasites in general. A cybernetic quadrupedal creature that's MadeOfIron, fast and stealthy, often appears at close range, and quickly drains your health with its unavoidable tentacle attack. When you hear its footsteps nearby and you're low on health, you know you're about to get owned. Lord help you if two or more attack at once unless you're outside their attack range, in which case [[ArtificialStupidity they'll send off the tentacle anyways, making them perfectly still targets]].

** Light, Shotgun and Machinegun Guards, Enforcers, Gunners and Berserkers attack much faster, rarely have to reload, can duck your projectiles with uncanny skill, and can shoot while crouched.

** The Tanks' 3-shot blasters and rocket launchers now shoot constantly unless you break line of sight.

** The Beta Iron Maiden is not too different from the default model, except she has homing missiles. In a mixed firefight, they're a priority target.
** The Beta Brains has Hookshot-like tentacles that deal more damage than the original, have ''much'' longer range, and pull you in when they hit instead of sending you away, and an optic laser beam that can roast you inside your armor if you face it for over two seconds. Oh and the 2023 Remaster replaced all regular Brains with them, so you'll see them in the base game too.
** The [[BossInMookClothing Beta Gladiator]] has [[MadeOfIron MUCH higher health because of their Power Shield]], a [[{{BFG}} Phalanx Particle Cannon]] instead of the usual railgun (without the Gladiator's signature firing delay, too, and unlike the player it fires three mag slugs instead of two), and an extra painful clamp. In fact, the Beta Gladiator is tougher than the original game's Super Tank – and you only found two of those, in separate locations to boot – whereas the Beta Gladiator is possibly the third most common enemy in the final hub, only behind Gunners and Guards. The only saving graces are a) that it stands still while firing, making it a sitting duck of sorts, b) the three slugs are fired in a straight path instead of a spread formation like the player's Phalanx, making it easier to avoid (at least in non-hallway areas), and c) they drop more Mag Slugs than it takes to kill them.

** The pack's version of the Tank fires rockets instantly instead of waiting until the turret is prepared and loaded (this after you found cover behind a wall from the already painful Blaster and Machinegun attacks), as if he were a Super Tank.
** The Weapon Guards introduced in the pack (Hyperblaster, Ripper and Laser) are relatively squishy but still have more armor than their more basic fellows, and their weapons can deal surprising amount of damage, especially the Laser Guard's. For the latter, corner peeking with the rocket launcher or railgun is definitely not overkill if you value your armor.

* ''All'' the monsters have the ability to jump over obstacles. Forget about them being locked to a plane like it happened in the vanilla game and ''The Reckoning''.
* The stalkers are small arachnid robots which only shoot a blaster bolt but can attack you from either the floor or the ceiling, [[StoneWall take two Railgun shots or three Super Shotgun point-blank shots to destroy]] (for comparison, the Gunner takes one Railgun shot or two Super Shotgun point-blank shots to fall), and can jump over any non {{hitscan}} attack[[note]]the only truly effective weapons to take them down aside of the {{BFG}}10K are the Chainfist, Machinegun, Chaingun, Plasma Beam and Railgun[[/note]]. [[spoiler:Have fun battling a bunch of them with the Black Widow Guardian spawning them constantly; the Invulnerability and Quad/Double Damage items that she's immune to are still invaluable to mop them up]].

** Once they're introduced, they are '''''EVERYWHERE''''', to the point where they break the regular gameplay flow and force the player on a PixelHunt if they want to stay alive (even moreso if there's a Medic Commander nearby).

* And if you are annoyed at the turret, allow us to introduce you to the game's number one EliteMook: the [[ShootTheMedicFirst Medic Commander]], the mook that justifies the use of the {{BFG}}10K. Stronger and sturdier than the already annoying Medic, with an upgraded laser attack, and most importantly the ability to [[EnemySummoner summon other enemy classes]] to the battlefield, ranging from Weapon Guards to Gunners to other Medics. If there's a huge bunch of enemies around, make no mistake, there's one around and you need to clear him with a BFG shot before the summoned Strogg outgun you. Some source ports replace the Medic Commanders with regular Medics, drastically reducing the difficulty of the levels those are in and showing you how bastardly difficult they are.

* The PSX version of II has an exclusive near-literal demonic spider, the Arachnid, who has dual railguns.
* The source port [[http://www.markshan.com/knightmare/ kmquake2]] shows what happens when the already difficult monsters of the game are given even more flexibility and freedom to execute their attacks. Suffice to say, Creator/NightdiveStudios took more than a few pages from the mod for their 2023 remaster:
** ''All'' light and medium-class monsters can jump. This includes the already difficult-to-engage Berserker, since it can now chase you regardless of whatever obstacle they find.
** Unlike the main game, where they fall victim of GoddamnedBats, Gunners can aim their 4-grenade burst vertically. In the vanilla game, the monster isn't very dangerous since the fixed horizontal launch angle makes the grenades' trajectories predictable and easy to avoid, however, in this port you'll come to find ''very quickly'' that when properly aimed, it's a huge burst of damage that comes with very little warning and is difficult to dodge.

** The Beta Brains has Hookshot-like tentacles that deal more damage than the original, have ''much'' longer range, and pull you in when they hit instead of sending you away, and an optic laser beam that can roast you inside your armor if you face it for over two seconds.

** Brains in the remaster now pack full on power shields instead of just defense from the front, which combined with the universally heightened aggression on all enemies means they'll be happy to sap your health and armor away rather rapidly while you're scrambling to break those shields and kill them.

* The source port [[http://www.markshan.com/knightmare/ kmquake2]] shows what happens when the already difficult monsters of the game are given even more flexibility and freedom to execute their attacks:

** The Weapon Guards introduced in the pack (Hyperblaster, Ripper and Laser) are relateively squishy but still have more armor than their more basic fellows, and their weapons can deal surprising amount of damage, especially the Laser Guard's. For the latter, corner peeking with the rocket launcher or railgun is definitely not overkill if you value your armor.

* Gladiators are MadeOfIron, have a hard-to-dodge railgun that chops off 50 health points, and their close-range claw deals a lot of damage. Their only saving grace is that their accuracy is a bit subpar for a [[SniperRifle Railgun]][[ColdSniper -handling]] entity.
* Mutants are {{Lightning Bruiser}}s with a DeadlyLunge that can stunlock you to death with the recoil from their frantic claw slashes.

** Light, Shotgun and Machinegun Guards, Enforcers, Gunners and Berserkers attack much faster, rarely have to reload, and can duck your projectiles with uncanny skill, not to mention they can shoot while encroached.

* The turrets, the Blaster turret in particular. For one, they're far too tough - you need at least three rockets or two railgun slugs to destroy one. Secondly, their projectiles hurt (the Blaster turret, the weakest of the three variants, hits for a ridiculous ''20'' points of damage!), they fire twice as fast as a stationary Gladiator, and save for the Railgun turret, they can LeadTheTarget. Number three, deployed ones are completely silent when not firing, so you'll only know one is around after they've fired, and by then there's no way to dodge. And worst of all, they are '''''EVERYWHERE''''', to the point where they break the regular gameplay flow and force the player on a PixelHunt if they want to stay alive. Taking these bastards out is a chore more than anything, and it severely detracts from the expansion pack's enjoyment.
* And if you are annoyed at the turret, allow us to introduce you to the game's number one EliteMook: the [[ShootTheMedicFirst Medic Commander]]. Stronger and sturdier than the already annoying Medic, with an upgraded laser attack, and most importantly the ability to [[EnemySummoner summon other enemy classes]] to the battlefield, ranging from Weapon Guards to Gunners to other Medics. If there's a huge bunch of enemies around, make no mistake, there's one around and you need to clear him with a BFG shot before the summoned Strogg outgun you. Some source ports replace the Medic Commanders with regular Medics, highly reducing the difficulty of the levels those are in and showing you how bastardly difficult they are.

* The stalkers are small arachnid robots which only shoot a blaster bolt but can attack you from either the floor or the ceiling, [[StoneWall take two Railgun shots to destroy]], and can jump over any non {{hitscan}} attack[[note]]the only truly effective weapons to take them down aside of the {{BFG}}10K are the Chainfist, Machinegun, Chaingun, Plasma Beam and Railgun[[/note]]. [[spoiler:Have fun battling a bunch of them with the Black Widow Guardian spawning them constantly; the Invulnerability and Quad/Double Damage items that she's immune to are still invaluable to mop them up]].

** Unlike the main game, where they fall victim of GoddamnedBats, Gunners can aim their 6-grenade burst vertically. In the vanilla game, the monster isn't very dangerous since the fixed horizontal launch angle makes the grenades' trajectories predictable and easy to avoid, however, in this port you'll come to find ''very quickly'' that when properly aimed, it's a huge burst of damage that comes with very little warning and is difficult to dodge.

* Parasites in general. A cybernetic quadrupedal creature that's MadeOfIron, fast and stealthy, often appears at close range, and quickly drains your health with its unavoidable tentacle attack. When you hear it's footsteps nearby and you're low on health, you know you're about to get owned. Lord help you if two or more attack at once unless you're outside their attack range, in which case [[ArtificialStupidity they'll send off the tentacle anyways, making them perfectly still targets]].

** ''All'' light and medium-class monsters can jump. This includes the already difficult-to-engage Berserker, since it can now chase you regardless of whatever objective they find.

* Gladiators are also MadeOfIron, and have a hard-to-dodge railgun that chops off 50 health points.
* Gunners have to be respected in source ports (such as [[http://www.markshan.com/knightmare/ kmquake2]]) where they can actually aim their grenades vertically. A full grenade burst in the vanilla game isn't very dangerous since the fixed horizontal launch angle makes the grenades' trajectories predictable and easy to avoid, but in said ports you'll come to find ''very quickly'' that when properly aimed, it's a huge burst of damage that comes with very little warning and is difficult to dodge.

* [[EliteMooks Tank Commanders]], sturdier than the already hard Tank and with harder-hitting attacks, are extremely common in the City unit. Some source ports replace them with the Tank, drastically lowering the overall difficulty of the unit.

* '''All''' [[UndergroundMonkey Beta Class enemies]]. Finding one is a good way to know that you're in for a WORLD of hurt.

* When you play the game on Hard, even the game's common enemies become Demonic Spiders. For starters, [[NoSell the Strogg lose their ability to flinch]] on [[HarderThanHard Hard+/Nightmare]]. Light, Shotgun and Machinegun Guards, Enforcers, Gunners and Berserkers attack much faster, rarely have to reload, and can duck your projectiles with uncanny skill, not to mention they can shoot while encroached. The game's larger enemies can almost rapid-fire their weapons, and are even more resistant to being stunned. Most notable are the Tanks, whose 3-shot blasters and rocket launchers now shoot constantly unless you break line of sight.

* When you play the game on Hard, even the game's common enemies become Demonic Spiders. Light, Shotgun and Machinegun Guards, Enforcers, Gunners and Berserkers attack much faster, rarely have to reload, and can duck your projectiles with uncanny skill. The game's larger enemies can almost rapid-fire their weapons, and are even more resistant to being stunned. Most notable are the Tanks, whose 3-shot blasters and rocket launchers now shoot constantly unless you break line of sight.

* Parasites in general. A cybernetic quadripedal creature that's MadeOfIron, fast and stealthy, often appears at close range, and quickly drains your health with its unavoidable tentacle attack. When you hear it's footsteps nearby and you're low on health, you know you're about to get owned. Lord help you if two or more attack at once unless you're outside their attack range, in which case [[ArtificialStupidity they'll send off the tentacle anyways, making them perfectly still targets]].

* Gunners have to be respected in source ports (such as [[http://www.markshan.com/knightmare/ kmquake2]]) where they can actually aim their grenades vertically.

* Tank Commanders are extremely common in the City unit. Sturdier than the already hard Tank, and with harder-hitting attacks. Some source ports replace them with the Tank, drastically lowering the overall difficulty of the unit.

** The Beta Iron Maiden has homing missiles.
** The Beta Brains has Hookshot-like tentacles that deal more damage than the original and pull you in when they hit instead of sending you away, and an optic laser beam that can roast you inside your armor if you face it for over two seconds.
** The [[BossInMookClothing Beta Gladiator]] has [[MadeOfIron MUCH higher health because of their Power Shield]], a [[{{BFG}} Phalanx Particle Cannon]] instead of the usual railgun (without the Gladiator's signature firing delay, too, and unlike the player it fires three mag slugs instead of two), and an extra painful clamp. In fact, the Beta Gladiator is tougher than the original game's Super Tank, and you only found two of those, in separate locations to boot - whereas the Beta Gladiator is possibly the third most common enemy in the final hub, only behind Gunners and Guards. The only saving grace is that it stands still while firing, making it a sitting duck of sorts, and the three slugs are fired in a straight path instead of a spread formation like the player's Phalanx, making it easier to avoid (at least in non-hallway areas).

** The Weapon Guards introduced in the pack, the Hyperblaster, Ripper and Laser Guards, all of which have extra armor than their vanilla fellows, thus requiring extra hits to bring them down.

* The stalkers are small arachnid robots which only shoot a blaster bolt but can attack you from either the floor or the ceiling, take two Railgun shots to destroy, and can jump over any non {{hitscan}} attack[[note]]The only truly effective weapons to take them down aside of the {{BFG}}10K are the Chainfist, Machinegun, Chaingun, Plasma Beam and Railgun[[/note]]. [[spoiler:Have fun battling a bunch of them with the Black Widow Guardian spawning them constantly... without you being able to use the Quad Damage, Invulnerability and Double Damage to your favor]].
* Take the Icarus, an already annoying (yet somewhat easy to take down) flying enemy of vanilla ''Quake II'' which shoots a bunch of bolts at you, add it extra health and a Power Shield, make it a common enemy on par with the already annoying Flyers, and you get the appropriately named [[Literature/TheMetamorphoses Daedalus]].

* If you are annoyed at the turret, allow us to introduce you to the game's number one EliteMook: the [[ShootTheMedicFirst Medic Commander]]. Stronger and sturdier than the already annoying Medic, with an upgraded laser attack, and most importantly the ability to [[EnemySummoner summon other enemy classes]] to the battlefield, ranging from Weapon Guards to Gunners to other Medics. If there's a huge bunch of enemies around, make no mistake, there's one around and you need to clear him with a BFG shot before the summoned Strogg outgun you. Some source ports replace the Medic Commanders with regular Medics, highly reducing the difficulty of the levels those are in and showing you how bastardly difficult they are.

* The stalkers are small arachnid robots which only shoot a blaster bolt but can attack you from either the floor or the ceiling and take two Railgun shots to destroy. [[spoiler:Have fun battling a bunch of them with the Black Widow Guardian spawning them constantly... without you being able to use the Quad Damage, Invulnerability and Double Damage to your favor]].

** The [[BossInMookClothing Beta Gladiator]] has [[MadeOfIron MUCH higher health because of their new shield]], a [[{{BFG}} Phalanx Particle Cannon]] instead of the usual railgun (without the Gladiator's signature firing delay, too, and unlike the player it can fire three slugs in a straight path), and an extra painful clamp. In fact, the Beta Gladiator is tougher than the original game's Super Tank, and you only found two of those, in separate locations to boot - whereas the Beta Gladiator is possibly the third most common enemy in the final hub, only behind Gunners and Guards. The only saving grace is that it stands still while firing, making it a sitting duck of sorts.

** The [[BossInMookClothing Beta Gladiator]] has [[MadeOfIron MUCH higher health because of their new shield]], a [[{{BFG}} Phalanx Particle Cannon]] instead of the usual railgun (without the Gladiator's signature firing delay, too), and an extra painful clamp. In fact, the Beta Gladiator is tougher than the original game's Super Tank, and you only found two of those, in separate locations to boot - whereas the Beta Gladiator is possibly the third most common enemy in the final hub, only behind Gunners and Guards.
* The pack's version of the Enforcer loses the warmup animation the original had, and attacks you instantly as if he were a Weapon Guard.
* The pack's version of the Tank fires rockets instantly instead of waiting until the turret is prepared and loaded (this after you found cover behind a wall from the already painful Blaster and Machinegun attacks), as if he were a Super Tank.
* The Weapon Guards introduced in the pack, the Hyperblaster, Ripper and Laser Guards, all of which have extra armor than their vanilla fellows, thus requiring extra hits to bring them down.

!! Vanilla Quake II

** The Beta Iron Maiden has homing missiles

* The turrets, the blaster turret in particular. For one, they're far too tough - you need at least three rockets or two railgun slugs to destroy one. Secondly, their projectiles hurt (the Blaster turret, the weakest of the three variants, hits for a ridiculous ''20'' points of damage!), they fire twice as fast as a stationary Gladiator, and save for the railgun turret, they can LeadTheTarget. Number three, deployed ones are completely silent when not firing, so you'll only know one is around after they've fired, and by then there's no way to dodge. And worst of all, they are '''''EVERYWHERE''''', to the point where they break the regular gameplay flow and force the player on a PixelHunt if they want to stay alive. Taking these bastards out is a chore more than anything, and it severely detracts from the expansion pack's enjoyment.
* If you are annoyed at the turret, allow us to introduce you to the game's number one EliteMook: the [[ShootTheMedicFirst Medic Commander]]. Stronger and sturdier than the already annoying Medic, and with an upgraded laser attack. But what makes a MC a DS is the ability to [[EnemySummoner summon other enemy classes]] to the battlefield, ranging from Weapon Guards to Gunners to other Medics. If there's a huge bunch of enemies around, make no mistake, there's one around and you need to clear him with a BFG shot before the summoned Strogg outgun you.

* Gunners have to be respected in source ports where they can actually aim their grenades vertically.

* The turrets trump all in the frustration factor, the blaster turret in particular. There's a ''score'' of reasons why they're demonic spiders. For one, they're far too tough - you need at least three rockets or two railgun slugs to destroy one. Secondly, their projectiles hurt (the Blaster turret, the weakest of the three variants, hits for a ridiculous ''20'' points of damage!), they fire twice as fast as a stationary Gladiator, and save for the railgun turret, they can LeadTheTarget. Number three, deployed ones are completely silent when not firing, so you'll only know one is around after they've fired, and by then there's no way to dodge. And worst of all, they are '''''fucking EVERYWHERE''''', to the point where they break the regular gameplay flow and force the player on a PixelHunt if they want to stay alive. Taking these bastards out is a chore more than anything, and it severely detracts from the expansion pack's enjoyment.