Snork

The  is a mutated human that appears in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha and all canon S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games.

"It seems these creatures were human at some point, though it is difficult to imagine what conditions could turn a human being into such disgusting beast. Snorks are insane creatures leading a beast's life and differing little from other carnivorous monsters in the Zone. They move on all fours in long jumps, constantly sniffing the ground in hope of picking up the scent of prey. They hunt carefully, in a calculated manner, frequently setting up ambushes. Thanks to its uncanny reflexes and powerful muscles, the snork can approach the victim, pin it down in one long, accurate jump, and tear it to shreds in a matter of seconds. Strips of army uniforms and other clothing are occasionally found on their bodies. It stands to reason that they are all that's left of missing military stalkers."

- Encyclopedia description

Overview
It seems these creatures were human at some point, though it is difficult to imagine what conditions could turn a human being into such disgusting beasts. Snorks are insane creatures, leading a beast's life and differing little from other carnivorous monsters in the Zone. They move on all fours in long jumps, constantly sniffing the ground in hopes of picking up the scent of prey. They hunt carefully, in a calculated manner, frequently setting up ambushes. Thanks to its uncanny reflexes and powerful muscles, the snork can approach the victim, pin it down in one long, accurate jump, and tear it to shreds in a matter of seconds. Strips of army uniforms and other clothing are occasionally found on their bodies. It stands to reason that they are all that's left of missing military stalkers.

Biology

 * Overall, the snork is 90-95% similar to a human. It has the same general shape and no drastic modifications like claws or tentacles. Its skin is dark gray, covered with both lesions and open wounds, most notably an exposed spine on its back. However, despite the ragged appearance, a snork has incredibly powerful muscles and reflexes.


 * On the downside, the snork has poor eyesight (its field of vision is obstructed by the gas mask, and is hindered even more by the cracked lenses of their mask), but a brilliant sense of smell (its nose is the filter hose for the gas mask), which it uses to locate its prey. When not attacking, it slowly crawls on all fours across the ground, its spine unable to support its weight when standing upright. However, when attacking, it is surprisingly fast, thanks to mutated tendons in its feet. A snork can make long leaps to reach its target, and attack them with an incredibly fast series of kicks with their boot-claded feet.


 * The snork cannot talk, its vocal chords were destroyed beyond recognition. It communicates with growls, which vary in intensity and volume, the loudest being, of course, the one preceding an attack. Curiously, the lips on the mouth of a snork are missing. It's quite possible that in a desperate fit of hunger or insanity, the snork bit them off itself, condemning these mutants to forever show their cannibalistic grin.

Uses

 * The occasionally spawned Snork foot is an essential ingredient in the synthesis of the Rock artifact.

Gameplay

 * The Snork in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha exhibits all of the signalling behaviour seen in canon S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games and has an equally powerful kick.
 * Resistance to bullet wounds appears to be lessened in LA, although the snork's back is quite resistant.
 * All specimens are weak to headshots and may be sniped if the opportunity presents itself.
 * More usually, the player 'gets noticed' and the snork either prepares to spring (presenting further, brief, headshot opportunities); or it lollops in for the kill.
 * With the above noted, the player's best options are to prepare beforehand by maximizing their rupture protection with an eye on bleeding parameters. With a 100%+ rupture protection, the knife might be a preferred option against a pack attack.
 * Should this strategy be inconvenient due to resource deficiencies, the recommended fall-back option would be to use a pump-action shotgun.
 * Alternative play would center around shooting the opponent from outside of its gulag (if limited to one) or trying to draw it into secondary conflict with another inimical mutant (e.g. a Controller)
 * A respawning pack exist on the road between the two Military Warehouses exits on Radar. These can be encouraged to expire in the nearby Whirligig anomaly cluster with associated Artifact Spawns. The snorks' likelihood of yielding a body part will be unaffected.

Trivia

 * There are well over two dozen inhabiting the Pripyat Underground as of v1.4000+.