| “ | It shall not escape- hostile- wretched intruder! | ” |
| — Combat Bot, when alerted | ||
A Combat Bot is a steam-driven robot, the mainstay of the automated Mechanist forces. It is equipped with a mobile gun for ranged combat and a gripper arm.
Tactics[]
Like all other Mechanist robots, it is immune to most weapons; only explosive charges can damage and destroy it. Two well aimed water arrows, or one Gas Arrow are able to take the robot out of function when hitting the steam boiler on the backside, although the gas arrow should be saved for other occasions. Flash bombs will temporarily blind the robot, and 18 blackjack hits will disable it. Like the rest of the robots, the bodies can be broken down to 'corpses'.
From the robot's point of view. Note the aiming lens.
Due to a flaw in the bulky design, the robots can be used to kill themselves. First, a bot must be on active alert. Next, stand behind a pillar or wall, where the eye can still see Garrett, but the gun on its left when facing it is concealed. The robot will fire the gun, and the round will bounce back and explode on the robot. Two to three hits will destroy the robot, but it will create a large amount of noise. This can be especially helpful when facing groups of three or more on the final mission, Soulforge, in the second Thief game.
A cannonball
The machines can also be destroyed by blackjacking while pressing continually against them; as the cannon arm is extended before firing, it will actually fire behind Garrett. This method is not recommended against multiple robots for obvious reasons.