Infant Shock Troopers will forcibly launch the same type of spore when squeezed, and can thus be used as a Spore Launcher weapon. Shock Troopers also have the ability to regurgitate and throw spore grenades, which they tend to use against distant or concealed enemies. If it nears a player that already has a Shock Roach, it will attack in a similar way to a headcrab before dying.
The Shock Roach cannot survive without a living host for very long if its Shock Trooper dies, it will detach itself and pursue a new host. The Shock Roach fires bolts of electricity, which it constantly recharges on its own. Their primary weapon is the Shock Roach a living creature, similar to the Alien Grunts' hive-hand. This eye is apparently part of a common morphology between Race X creatures - every Race X alien with a large eye (including the Pit Worm) has two eyelids which regularly blink horizontally across the eyeball and what appears to be "tentacles" surrounding their mouth (which is under the head). They have a single large eye, whereas Vortigaunts have six. Their skin is pale blue, and is not mottled or patchy like the skin of Xen creatures. Their bodies are covered in plate-like sections, similar in appearance to insect exoskeletons. Physically, they are humanoid with four arms and have a posture that makes them vaguely resemble Vortigaunts. Shock Troopers are the most intelligent of the Race X aliens. Some Pit Drones appear not to be capable of the head spine attack and, on closer inspection, have no spines in their head. They have two forms of attack: firing their head-spines when at long range, or charging towards the target to deliver a deadly slash with their claws. Fast and fairly intelligent, they tend to appear in groups of five or six, and are capable of making flanking movements and quickly surrounding their prey. They are short bipedal creatures with yellowish-tan skin and a small head which sports rows of sharp spines.Ī Pit Drone's arms end in long scythe-like claws, which it can use to make vicious attacks. Pit Drones are the first type of Race X aliens encountered in the game.