Pack — deadspace

"The Pack. Before the outbreak, the Sprawl contained a lively population of youth, who contributed to the community's vibrant energy. Now, as the Pack, they move as one, engulfing their prey, leaving nothing in the wake of their destructive path."

—Official Bestiary

The Pack refers to a group of Necromorphs that attack their prey using overwhelming numbers. They are encountered in Dead Space 2, where they were created from the bodies of human children, and in Dead Space 3: Awakened, where their origin is unknown.

Overview

Dead_Space_The_Pack_(normal_and_dementia)_Necromorph_Sound_Effects_HD — Dead Space The Pack (normal and dementia) Necromorph Sound Effects HD

Pack sound effects

To say that the Pack is made up of individuals is not entirely correct; rather, they act as a predatory gestalt with each member working with others surrounding it to act as a greater whole. Only in very rare occasions are these Necromorphs ever encountered one at a time.

Compared to other Necromorphs, the extent of mutation invested in each member of the Pack is minimal, showing a certain economy of recombination not before encountered. Made from intact, largely undamaged adolescent corpses, each member of the Pack still shows signs of how it died, with the abdominal injuries ripped open and the desiccated, colorless skin. Whatever is left of the fingers are reinforced and lengthened into stiff, bony claws suitable for slashing, rending, and stabbing. The wrist has likewise been reinforced, the palm and fingers elongated for gripping and ripping. The shoulder blades have been extended outward from the rib cage, and dense muscle and tendon mass ripples in the new cavity, running down the length of the arms, enhancing their strength. These particular mutations let the Pack tear their victims limb from limb.

Beyond the previously mentioned changes, there are few other major transformations, and the disfigurement around the mouth, nose, and eyes looks to have stopped before it was fully formed. The soft tissues of the lips and nose have been sloughed away, and the teeth only show the most passing changes. The lower jaws are overstuffed with large, peg-like protrusions, while the upper jaw is filled with a barely organized row of fangs. The eyes have simply atrophied into their sockets.

The rest of the Pack remains unchanged, and for reasons unknown this seems to have rendered the creatures extremely vulnerable to injury compared to other Necromorphs. A single low caliber Pulse Rifle round is able to cause dismemberment, and even cut the Pack in half at the torso. This evidences a highly stressed or poorly maintained skeletal system and connective tissue network.

Perhaps due to this fragility, the Pack attacks by overwhelming its prey with numbers and sheer ferocity. Moving fast and constantly shrieking, sections of the Pack maintain cohesion via auditory cues, rushing into an area and sweeping over their victims in a storm of violence from all sides.

They are notorious for still using their childlike vocals to scream at their victims, most likely causing disorientation, confusion, and panic. The Pack will continue to barrage their prey with their terrifying screams in addition to their clawing and slashing, making the pack one of the most terrifying and loud Necromorphs on the Sprawl.

The Pack as they appear in . — The Pack as they appear in *Dead Space 3: Awakened*.

The Pack is replaced by the Feeders in Dead Space 3, who share similar fragility, tactics, and fighting style, but are taller, skinnier, and blind. However, they do appear in Dead Space 3: Awakened with an entirely new look.

In Dead Space 2 Multiplayer, the Pack has a three-second respawn timer. Their purpose, when controlled by a player, is the same as a computer-controlled one, to leap about and ambush unsuspecting prey. The best tactic to utilise as the Pack is to take advantage of their high maneuverability to dodge and/or prevent predictable enemy lines of fire. They are weak just like in single player, but if used correctly, they can be a very deadly adversary. It is often recommended for Pack players to team up together, as their frighteningly rapid respawn timer makes them a constantly-advancing threat to the enemy team, and when travelling in pairs can make extremely short work of any lone human player.

Strategy

Consider using Kinesis, as the Pack are so weak that throwing a dead Pack member at a live one will kill it on Hardcore difficulty. Large suitcases and such will dispatch a pack even on Hard Core. Small chairs or pieces as such will not. Also, one can attempt to kill the closest one, grab its dead body, and throw to the next closest one, continuing it as there will be more dead bodies to throw. This only works when there are few in numbers, but helps conserve ammo.
In an encounter, keep an ear out for the signature low-pitched scream made by a Pack member, signaling the end of their onslaught. The member letting out this cry is usually the last creature in a Pack ambush.
The Pack generally attempt to scramble behind Isaac, making them very difficult to engage in the middle of an ambush site. Attempting to funnel them into a single direction will make it much easier to take them out.
Stasis is a viable counter to the Pack and its rapid movements, but should primarily be used to give you time to get your back against a wall in order to funnel them.
The Pack are very fragile Necromorphs, so weapons that fire rapidly or do area damage are highly advised.
They are extremely susceptible to melee, with one hit resulting in its death. However while other Pack members are around melee is a bad idea. They will swarm you, getting in slashes and damaging grapples.
One fast and effective way to destroy a large amount of Pack members is to Stasis a member, and then use the Javelin Gun alternate fire while the corpse is slowly flying backward. This creates a kill zone that other members will rush into. This conserves ammo and is also a good way to get Shock Therapy.
Another quick achievement can be obtained if you have Ripper with you. Funnel them and use its primary fire. It will cut up any Pack members in front of you, including ones jumping at you from a distance. This can be used to get Lawnmower Man.
There is some trouble in getting every item possible from the Pack. When there are too many corpses in the game and the camera turns away, they begin to disappear even if they don't drop loot. Weapons good at making sure you get every credit, Med Pack, and bit of ammo are the Flamethrower, Pulse Rifle, Ripper, and Plasma Cutter when the special is fully upgraded.
In multiplayer, the Pack will quickly become the most infuriating and frequently encountered opponent. Save stasis almost exclusively for unfavorable encounters with them.
Also, despite being one hit melee kills in the campaign, trying to kill a Pack member with your swing in multiplayer is a bad idea. They are still weak to the stomp, however. Should you be out of ammo in a worst-case scenario, stasis it and introduce it to the bottom of your boot - you have nothing to lose by trying.
While the Pack does exhibit the intelligence of a "pack mentality", they exhibit almost no other intelligence, especially that of dodging. The best way to deal with the Pack and save ammo is to deploy a Ripper blade and move it lazily left and right. The Pack tends to leap to their death, jumping right into the blade as they attempt to attack you. Entire hordes can be dealt with like this using 2-3 ripper blades.
The Force Gun is devastating to The Pack. It is easy to kill them all quickly with this gun, even on Hardcore.
Use melee as a last resort. When almost out of ammo, try to get out of the surrounding pack members by stomping or meleeing them.
If you are surrounded by them, using the Contact Beam's Alt- Fire is very effective, as it will kill any Pack member it hits instantly.

Death Scenes

The_Pack_Death_Animation_-_Dead_Space_2_(HD,_60_FPS) — The Pack Death Animation - Dead Space 2 (HD, 60 FPS)

Shadow_Pack_Death_Animation_-_Dead_Space_2_(HD,_60_FPS) — Shadow Pack Death Animation - Dead Space 2 (HD, 60 FPS)

If Isaac manages to survive a grapple from a Pack member, he will hold the Necromorph up, use his gun to deliver 2 blows knocking its head off and throw its dead body away.
In multiplayer, the Security Team share the same action, however, the time to bring the Pack up is reduced, and there is only 1 blow to knock its head off, likely to prevent other players from having too much of an advantage.
If Isaac fails to dispatch the Necromorph quickly enough, a Pack member will bite his arm and rip it off. After Isaac collapses to the floor screaming in pain, he goes to look up at the Necromorph as it rears back and decapitates him in one swift motion with its claws. As the head is thrown off-screen with great momentum, Isaac collapses for a final time, signaling death. The Security Team in multiplayer share this death.
In multiplayer, if a Security member is executed by a headless Pack member, his arm will seemingly just fall off, showing the biting animation with a headless Pack, before the player's head gets knocked off. If a Pack member fails to execute a Security member, the player will still attempt to knock the headless Pack's head off.
If Isaac runs out of health while being attacked by the Pack at the end of the game, one of the Pack will jump on his back, forcing him down, then another member of the Pack holds Isaac's arm and rips it off; then a third member of the Pack holds Isaac's head and rips it off while a fourth rips off his remaining arm. It is currently unknown if it is possible for this death scene to occur to Carver during his attempt to face his inner demons in one of the co-op only missions

Trivia

During the last fight of Dead Space 2 against "Nicole", there appears to be a more shadowy version of the Pack. They still have the same general shape and share the same attacks, but they appear to be just shadows with tentacles flailing out of their face.
When a Pack member is shot, they will scream like a young child.
The Pack members were intended to be very weak creatures (due to their frail stature), and thus, simpler dismemberment is effective on them. Their strength comes purely in numbers.
It is easiest to earn the "My Boom Stick" and "Lawnmower Man" Achievements/Trophies with the Pack.
The Pack's sounds were made with many panicking children's screams and then distorting them.
Up to four of the Pack can be played in multiplayer, that is, if all four players choose to play as one.
The Pack can be seen in the Dead Space: Ignition poster.
A member of the Pack's health is so low that even an impact from another dead body (or any object thrown with Kinesis) will cause an instant death.
The Pack are not featured in Dead Space 3, having been replaced by the Feeder, although the more shadowy version faced in the final boss fight of Dead Space 2 is seen in a similar role for John Carver and Isaac Clarke's hallucinations in Dead Space 3 and Dead Space 3: Awakened. The Pack makes a true return in Dead Space 3: Awakened, appearing more skeletal with very little muscle or skin.
- It has been hypothesized that the Awakened version of the Pack was not created from human children, but rather from the aliens native to Tau Volantis, as their faces and features are completely different from those of a human child.
As seen in the gallery below, early concept art for the Pack in Dead Space 2 depicted them much closer to normal human children, even including the children's clothes. An unused texture was also found for the Pack in Dead Space 2's game files; it resembles a young girl with brown hair tied into two short pigtails, wearing what is assumed to be the Titan Elementary School's uniform, a green collared shirt and dark pants with basic gray shoes. The model also has a panda bear themed backpack. The girl's arms have long, boney claws from the fingers and she is drenched head-to-toe in blood, while the face is the same as a child's but with an agitated expression. No other mutations are on this model. According to Ben Wanat, the team determined that these early versions of the Pack were far too disturbing as the human child parts were too "intact", and ultimately they decided to use a more abstract design.