Best way to kill Zeks?

[Duskmare]

Assuming stealth has failed what's the best way to deal with these horrible things? The grenades have weird throwing arcs and bounce somewhat unpredictably, so I can rarely land one just behind the shield. The mines could be better but every time I've come across zeks loads have spawned, rather than just one or two, and I'd run out of mines really quickly.

Maybe there's a weapon I haven't unlocked yet that's better for them...

How do other people deal with them?

[Roadie]

they still take rad damage even if the shield blocks it.

[Haru]

grenades, rad spikes, rocket launcher
upgraded kittys are nice too

[LupisLight]

I typically just use my scrambler (is not blocked by thier shield), but Rad spiker works too. If I haven't unlocked the scrambler yet, I tend to treat them like Screws: Avoid, or trap them somewhere; the Rifter works great for this purpose, of course.

I also do this thing where I pick them up with the rifter, drop a bushwhacker, then put them down near it to blow them up.

[aub]

Originally posted by LupisLight:

I typically just use my scrambler (is not blocked by thier shield), but Rad spiker works too. If I haven't unlocked the scrambler yet, I tend to treat them like Screws: Avoid, or trap them somewhere; the Rifter works great for this purpose, of course.

I also do this thing where I pick them up with the rifter, drop a bushwhacker, then put them down near it to blow them up.

It is a little hard to treat them like screws since they're fast, and often in large numbers, but that's generally good advice.

When using a grenade, I find it's better to aim further back rather than try to throw it precisely behind them. The blast radius is surprisingly large.

[Duskmare]

Originally posted by Knightmon X:

they still take rad damage even if the shield blocks it.

Good to know. I've not got the rad spikes yet but I tried the toxic ones and it didn't work so I would have assumed they wouldn't too.

Originally posted by LupisLight:

I typically just use my scrambler (is not blocked by thier shield), but Rad spiker works too. If I haven't unlocked the scrambler yet, I tend to treat them like Screws: Avoid, or trap them somewhere; the Rifter works great for this purpose, of course.

I also do this thing where I pick them up with the rifter, drop a bushwhacker, then put them down near it to blow them up.

Good advice. I could use the rifter more and that would work pretty well. Thanks!

[HealthBar]

As people have said, Rad Spiker is the most convenient tool against Zecs. Rad Spiker doesn't require flanking, and it permanently removes the afflicted target. Very concise, straightforward and super effective.

Scrambler may even be better than Rad Spiker too. No flanking required, plus it even mind-controls Zecs. But mind-controlling Zecs may not be always reliable, as it can create unwanted situations such as Zecs triggering Tourist explosions or waking up Secbots while you are near them.

The less effective (but still good) methods are Clusterflak, Upgraded Kittybot and Toaster. Their projectiles still need to flank the barriers, but the flak weapons spawn a lot of flaks and they scatter so randomly it is basically impossible to entirely miss the Zecs. Meanwhile, Toaster gives you more angles to flank them, and in most cases keeps you safe from return-fire if a window is between you and them.

And finally, traditional explosives and most firearms require you to flank Zecs in an old-fashioned way. While definitely viable, they aren't as convenient as the others.

However, Spiker can be selected if Rad Spiker is unavailable; Spiker can deal with multiple Zecs without drawing their attention, and will be proven useful if there are many Zecs on mission site. You probably don't want 4 Zecs to immediately turn around and look at your location because of a single gunshot.
Nebulator is an another good choice thanks to its large splash radius and damage. But it will be difficult to kill Zecs if they are not close enough for anticipating projectile traversal and impact location (especially on same ground level).

[davidnelsonnm]

Sometimes the best offense is a good defense - let the Zecs whack themselves against my Bouncer. If I can sneak in a grenade or a rad spike I do so, great.

The Zecs don't seem to have any other instinct than full frontal assault on you, and they never seem to back off despite the Bouncer return splash damage.

[FraGmenToR]

I found the bouncer to be pretty effective. She just wrecks herself then. The rifter is also decent - just plonk her on a hazard or in a locked room.