is there an actual way to counter bracken?

[sarahs<3]

I've already tried all recommendations, just seems to be completely random outcomes everytime
1. look at it until it retreats and then look away
2. look back and forth
3. stare at it
4. run
5. stare at it corner of screen
pls help

[uye]

shovel and zap gun, or two shovels and one sacrifice; only takes three-ish hits to kill them

how you actually de-agro a bracken im not sure myself, i've always just glanced at it then look away, that works most of the time

[Trevor Drakenor]

There is that, staring at it the way you do with enderman in minecraft do work. But if someone look at it for too long it will start killing the ♥♥♥♥ out of you and everyone else without any stalking or creeping happening. Hints I heard is to look at it briefly, and then look away. Then occasionally look back to see if its still there as you find your way to loot in building.

Dont let it get too close either, once it get close no amount of looking at it will save you since its already hugging your back. (Unless you got out in time before it snap your neck.) If somebody see it while it is hugging your back, it also makes it kill faster without it toying with you.

[kurama]

If you see a bracken, look at it for 0.5-1 seconds then stop looking and then he will back off and he will stalk again, if he stalks you again, look at it for 0.5-1 seconds then look back, rinse and repeat.

If you are aware that there is a bracken around you, its best to always be alert around your surroundings.

Honestly after playing the game for a while, the bracken is the easiest to deal with (in terms of avoiding of getting killed, and there are no coilheads around). Me and the bois just hunt brackens for a living after getting us killed multiple times when we were still new to the game.

[KishiPhio]

Originally posted by FleetDash:

I've already tried all recommendations, just seems to be completely random outcomes everytime
1. look at it until it retreats and then look away
2. look back and forth
3. stare at it
4. run
5. stare at it corner of screen
pls help

Most of these recomendations is playing with RNG...
And I will tell you why these don't work most of the time so you have an idea what not to do.

You have to look at the Bracken for a very brief time, if you did, it WILL stop tracking you
until the next stalking begins.

If you:
-look at it until it retreats; chances are you've looked too much, it will enter berserk and follow you.
-Look back and forth; You stare too much, the Bracken will not like that.
-Stare at it; Do not. A Bracken is NOT a Coilhead, pretty much the opposite.
-Run; If you do not look at it before running, he will go as fast as you, maybe even more and your neck will snap before you can have another look around.
-Stare at it corner of screen; As said with the first word, DO NOT stare. Even in the corner.

the Bracken plays with your curiosity. You HAVE to look at it to not get attacked, but the second you saw him, you have to stop looking and continue with your business.
If you're like "I wonder where he went", turn back and look at him again, just because you're curious of what he's doing, this will eventually kill you.

He can also hide in corners, mostly behind doors for example so be very cautious when entering rooms
Once you've looked at him once very briefly, he will stop stalking, he will come back incessantly, just follow procedure again.

[Akameka]

as soon as you've seen him, look away.
he will retreat. If you hear him growl though, drop your heavy gear and run for your life, cause he got angered. He will abandon chase really fast if you only saw him for one second though.

The way it works :
- You entrer facility --> Braken enter hunt mode. He goes toward the nearest player.
- See braken --> either triger retreat mode or stareoff mode. If you stop to stare, braken stop stareoff --> retreat mode
- each 0.2s you see a Bracken will increase an anger counter. The counter will rise up indefinitely. As soon as you get over 1 on the counter value, the Braken can enter "Angry" mode, with a probability that will goes up as the anger counter increase.
- Anger mode --> Braken advance toward the closest player even if looked at, and kill him before going to retreat mode again. When in anger mode, anger reduce by 1 each second, until the counter reach 0. be warned, staring while in anger mod STILL increase the counter, so the braken will never cease to chase if he is observed.
- Anger counter reach 0 --> braken go back in retreat mode.
- After some time, the braken go back in hunt mode.