Overview

The Puker's digestive acids drastically alter its appearance, melting and merging the flesh. The host's original legs have entwined, and a clump of intestines, nerves and muscles have grown down to form an additional leg. Its fingers have merged into three long claws on each hand. Its eyes are missing, and its jaw has fused with its neck, freezing its face in a hollow, blank stare. On its torso, the lungs are clearly visible and appear yellowish in color, storing a limited quantity of bile to be ejected from the mouth. What remains of the flesh on the Puker's body hangs loosely around its frame. The creature's constant, messy expulsion of said caustic fluids has melted away its facial features and the skin and muscle tissue of its torso, revealing its organs.

A sickening gurgling and choking sound forewarns one of an incoming Puker, this sound rising into a shriek as it prepares to lob acid at foes. The Puker is quite fast for its physical appearance, being able to charge quickly up to its victim and unleash a swift rain of acid.

The Puker has four forms of attack: first, it shoots a ball of corrosive bile over a long distance which burns victims and corrodes/rusts armor, preventing those who are hit by it from running. The Puker's second attack is a projected stream of bile towards its prey at a medium to close range. The third is a melee attack using its claws, and the fourth is a grapple attack in which the Puker grabs the victim by the head and arm before vomiting on their neck and mouth in order to remove their helmet. The Puker also sports a unique defense mechanism in which its severed appendages spurt corrosive fluid upon dismemberment.

In Dead Space 2 Multiplayer, the Puker has a six-second respawn timer. The Puker is a very deadly adversary; it has a chargeable puke attack which deals more damage the longer you hold it, but causes the Puker to move slower. When released, this charged attack can easily take out half an enemy's health, which is a death sentence for any damaged human players. It also possesses a very deadly and rapid melee attack, which, if used on an unsuspecting human, can bring them from full health to zero before they can even turn around or react. The best strategy is to hide in the corner with the charged puke, then release it on an unsuspecting approaching enemy and begin melee assault. 

The Enhanced Puker variant is stronger than the normal one. Besides the glowing eyes and slimy black and green skin tissue, the Enhanced variant looks exactly the same as the normal variant from Dead Space 2. Only two Enhanced Pukers are encountered in Dead Space 3, in the final chapter of the game, while three of them are fought in Dead Space 3: Awakened.

The normal Puker in Dead Space 3 differs significantly from its version in Dead Space 2. The basic body shape and form is the same, but it is now a strange green color and the creature is apparently much faster, reacts quicker and is more aggressive, even on lower difficulties. It uses the same form of attacks and groans in the same fashion as before. All of these variations may be due to the fact that they are aged longer, and much more decayed.

The Puker in Dead Space 3 appears to be wearing some sort of green clothing, most likely a S.C.A.F. uniform. The face has completely caved inside the skull, and the hands look much smoother than the fresh Puker variant's. The legs are intact and the creature does not have a third leg made up of intestines. It still has its host's right boot but the left leg has mutated completely into two toes. The rib cage is still visible with the lungs being turned into green jelly-like substance.

Strategy

• It is always recommended to engage the Puker from a distance or at least put some space between you and it, considering that it is one of the slowest Necromorphs you will encounter. If you choose to attack the Puker up close, it is advised that you Stasis it in order to stunt its reflexes; otherwise, you run the risk of falling victim to the Puker's grab attack and caustic arterial spray.
• Pukers do not display any particular weak spots that can be exploited to Isaac's advantage, so the best way to dispose of them is to utterly rip them apart.
• Decapitation of the Puker successfully renders it unable to grab Isaac at close quarters, as well as hinders the Puker from projecting vomit over large distances for a short time. However, it does not permanently prevent it from spraying, spewing, and/or otherwise projecting vomit at close range. Always make an effort to dispatch the limbs first. Keep in mind also that if you manage to cut both its legs out, it may attempt to crawl toward you.
  • Shooting off a Puker's head in Dead Space 3 permanently robs it of the ability to shoot its debilitating bile at the player.
• The Puker can withstand serious punishment, even surviving without its legs, arms, and head all at one time, and still manage to puke. This makes explosive weaponry such as an electrified javelin a preferred choice of weapon, as they can do massive damage in a short period of time while giving the Puker a smaller window to retaliate.
• It is a good idea to always stay on the move when engaging Pukers, in order to deal with risk of being slowed down. As these Pukers usually attack with other Necromorphs, you would likely be overwhelmed swiftly.
• Pukers won't always die when their arms are cut off. Keep this in mind when fighting a large group of Necromorphs: make sure it's down before moving on. However, dismembering both arms does prevent the Puker from using its melee attack, which can be devastatingly powerful on harder difficulties.
• Pukers do have an Enhanced form which appears dark and slimy, doing more damage and moving much faster than normal variants. Players should always make a conscious effort to neutralize Enhanced Pukers first, as the last thing one needs is a bunch of Slashers or Exploders coming at you when you can not run.
• Pukers will spit bile globs from a distance that will not only hurt any Necromorph in its path, but can also be grabbed with Kinesis and hurled at other Necromorphs to do extreme damage. If you grab the bile glob that the Puker spits at you and use Kinesis to launch it right back, it's usually an instant kill even with the Enhanced forms, and even on Zealot difficulty.
• If Isaac is hit with a bile glob, he will recoil for a moment and his movements will slowed down greatly, giving other Necromorphs in close proximity an opportunity to strike. Therefore, it would be wise for players to keep their Stasis energy at its maximum capacity.
•  A good counter for above is using a Contact Beam's secondary fire.  If timed right, it will knock out any Puker and any nearby Necromorph. Fully upgrading the secondary fire further increases the effectiveness of it, slowing/killing Necromorphs and makes it easier to grab blades of the dead ones. Be wary of ranged attacks, however.
• Despite its emphasis on ranged attacks, the Puker has a fatally surprising output of melee damage in single player and multiplayer alike. No matter how much damage you have inflicted on it, avoid the temptation to try and finish it off with melee as it can kill Isaac with two swats even with a fully upgraded RIG on Zealot mode.
• Although the bile glob does no damage whatsoever to Isaac, even on higher difficulties, it is a death sentence for almost any Necromorph. It is not uncommon in later levels for errant Puker-attacks to instantly destroy Enhanced Slashers. If there is a Puker in the area, don't be afraid to try keeping a Necromorph or two between Isaac and the creature. It can prove to be quite an amusing strategy, while also sparing the player's ammunition and other supplies. Keep in mind when doing this, however, that one may need to use stasis to ensure minimized chances of the Necromorphs evading the projectile.
• When dismembered, a Puker's vomit will jet out of the severed limb for a second or two. This has the same effect as the vomit attack (removes 2-3 health sections of your RIG on Zealot) and is extremely dangerous on higher difficulties if you have the misfortune to be close to a Puker.
• You can pick up bodies with Kinesis to protect yourself from the Puker's vomit.
• In Dead Space 2, Pukers seem to be unaffacted by the throwback abilities of Force Gun, although necromorph will still take damage. It is recommended to not use this weapon against Pukers. The issue is, however, resolved in Dead Space 3, making Pukers vulnarable to any weaponry with throwback.
• A Puker's grapple attack is very damaging and can severely damage Isaac, even on the easier difficulties. Being grabbed by an Enhanced Puker with an unupgraded RIG is usually fatal, and even if Isaac manages to fend off the creature he would still be left with a bare sliver of health which, seeing how the Puker can survive being driven off, it would be able to finish off Isaac with ease. This makes it highly advisable to keep your distance from a Puker.
• A Puker can engage you at nearly any range with its hindering bile globs, as long as there is a clear way between you and it. Going behind sufficient cover will negate its attack, and will prompt it to try to get closer or to find an opening.
• During the Ubermorph confrontation, Pukers should be given the highest possible priority, since they can easily slow you down and make you waste Stasis and ammo simply trying to keep the Ubermorph and its allies from gutting you. The only target that would take priority away from the Pukers would be the Ubermorph if it rears its claws back, as this will be a finishing move to Isaac.
  • Pukers CAN be used to Isaac's advantage, however, as if the Ubermorph happens to get struck by a vomit projectile, it will be instantly dismembered.

Trivia

• In some of the earlier concept art of the Puker, it had Slasher-like blade arms. In the finished game, a Puker has three-clawed hands that it uses to grab and manipulate its prey, notable through the death scene and first in-game encounter with the Puker.
• In addition to horrible wretching and splashing sounds, the developers used a number of colors that make humans naturally uncomfortable such as olive green, pale red, and off-white to color the Puker's vomit, intensifying its impact on players.
• Because the Puker's acidic spit slows down the player, making them vulnerable to other Necromorph attacks, one could consider it the Necromorph's version of Stasis, although to a much lesser extent; as the afflicted victim can still perform other actions as usual, the only hampering they suffer is the loss of movement speed.
• The Puker in Dead Space 2 is much less agile than the rest of its Necromorph brethren, as whenever it emerges from a vent, it will fall or stumble onto the ground, slamming its head face first into the ground before slowly rising to its feet several seconds later. This can be used to the player's advantage, as Isaac can score a direct hit with the Javelin Gun or the Contact Beam without risking injury. With the Enhanced variant, however, Isaac may not have a high chance to do this.
• The Puker is the only Necromorph to have such a large variety of attacks, ranging from a simple spitball to a relentless spray of vomit.
• Both the normal and Enhanced Puker variants explode in a dazzling explosion of their own bile if hit by a Hand Cannon.
• The Puker's melee attack in Multiplayer differs from the campaign. Instead of slow swipes with its claws like in the campaign, it will instead flail its arms around in a fast, windmill-like fashion.
• One of the Puker's death scenes is similar to that of the Novistadors from Resident Evil 4, resulting in the player's face being melted. It's also similar to Reptile's fatality Acid Yak in the Mortal Kombat franchise; both vomit acid into the mouth of another person, making the latter vomit before dying.
• The Puker's legs in Dead Space 3 are its real ones, not made from intestines. However, Enhanced Pukers will have the intestine leg, though this does not hinder their new speed and aggression.
• Whereas there was rarely more than one Puker per encounter in Dead Space 2, there are times a pack of Pukers can spawn in Dead Space 3, forcing the player to keep a constant lookout for projectiles.
• The face of a Puker in Dead Space 3 strongly resembles that of a Lurker in Silent Hill: Homecoming, most notably the vertical slit on the face.

Death Scenes

• If Isaac, or Carver in DS3 co-op and Gabe in Severed fails to repel the grapple initiated by the Puker, it will overpower him and proceed to vomit its highly acidic bile on his helmet and neck, dissolving the airtight bond to his suit and allowing the Puker to tear off Isaac's/Carver's helmet. With his head vulnerable, the Puker then vomits into his mouth and down his esophagus, thoroughly devastating Isaac's/Carver's face and internal organs. He will struggle to regurgitate the vomit before collapsing on the floor, claimed by an inescapable death. This death scene is also present in Dead Space 3.
• If Isaac/Gabe/Carver is very low on health and manage to get killed by the acid spray from the corpse of a dismembered Puker, they will be thrown backwards and their corpses will automatically be ripped apart.
• If the player does manage to fend the Puker off by completing the QTE, Isaac/Carver will grab its head and bust it off over his forearm, throwing the Puker back and giving him an opportunity to finish it off.
• If the Puker successfully executes a Sprawl Security Member in multiplayer, the Puker will deliver one final splash of puke to his face and tear off his head. Otherwise, the Security Personel will repel the Puker in the same way that Isaac does in the campaign via busting its head over his arm, except it will die when its head comes off.

Gallery

Original concept art of the Puker's face.

The Puker as seen in Dead Space 2's Dementia Trailer.

Full body overview of the Dead Space 2 Puker.

Mummified Dead Space 3 variant.

The Puker's death scene.

The Puker in-game.

Enhanced Puker encountered in Dead Space 2.

A Puker spitting at Isaac.

A Puker attacking Isaac.

A Puker executing Isaac.

A legless Puker.

A Puker featured in the multiplayer trailer.

A Puker's acid is highly corrosive and easily burns through skin. (In-game render of Isaac's face after getting it melted)

Dead Space 2 variant render.

Dead Space 3 variant render.

Puker death animation.

Sources

Videos