Having clearly transcended to something many of us cannot comprehend, R.E.P.O.‘s Alien has a primary goal to lift us up like a motivational speech, just to then force us back down to a unforgiving reality.
Here is our full guide on how to deal with the Mentalist in R.E.P.O.
What does the Alien do in R.E.P.O.?
The Alien, known officially in R.E.P.O. as the Mentalist, can appear across all maps. He’s a levitating alien with a large head, exposing his brain to flex on us. The Mentalist picks you up and throws you into the ground, and you cannot move or equip anything during this attack. The area of effect is around two meters in circumference where he activates anti-gravity. This lifts whatever is inside its dome-like radius for a few seconds before slamming everything inside downwards.
The Alien doesn’t only attack players, either. If valuables are picked up inside his impact radius, then they will also lift and come crashing down, lowering their value or destroying them completely. This makes the Alien not only a lethal threat, as each slam deals 50 damage (killing you in two hits if you haven’t upgraded your health), but he can set your game back tremendously (much like the Rugrat, Gnome, or Animal).
How to evade the Alien in R.E.P.O.
You can easily use stealth to avoid the Alien. He will have a much harder time spotting you underneath furniture as he’s levitating at all times. You can also hide behind doors and any cover you can find to let the Alien pass you. The main issue is moving your valuables into the C.A.R.T. without being spotted. The Alien will always get close before he attacks, so create a two to three meter distance between yourself and the Mentalist. This way it cannot use its attack. Keep your head on a constant swivel as this monster, similar to the Robe, is hard to hear if it’s coming up behind you.
Our final survival tip is to equip either a Shockwave Mine or Stun Grenade when the Alien is fast-approaching. If you don’t have the stamina to retreat, hold the throwable and press “E” to activate it. You will likely get lifted in the air by the Alien, but so will your throwable. This will disrupt the Alien’s attack by staggering and hurting him all at once. The same can be achieved by playing with friends, as they can save you from your head bouncing off the floor by attacking the Mentalist when he is lifting you into the air.
Can you kill the Mentalist?
Yes. There are multiple ways to take the Alien out of action. You can kill the Mentalist with two bullets from the Gun. However, we don’t recommend this unless the Mentalist is the strongest monster on the level you’re currently exploring. It’s better to save your bullets for persistent, stronger threats like the Robe, Headman, Trudge, even the Bowtie. You also need a Recharge Drone and a healthy amount of Energy Crystals to keep weapons like the Gun fully charged for repeated use.
Therefore, we highly recommend a Tranq Gun to stun this creature, and a melee weapon such as the Frying Pan or Baseball Bat to kill the Alien when he’s stunned. Alternatively, you can use throwables (Mines or Grenades), centered around stunning and staggering to take this monster temporarily out of the action. This effect lasts as long as the Tranq Gun, but costs far less, giving you the option to either run or fight with a melee weapon. You cannot attack this monster while it’s being stunned by a Stun Mine, as it will knock you down, too.
