- easily mistaken for shamblers
- twitchy
Bursters are usually hiding among throngs of shamblers, and you’d be just fine assuming every shambler is actually a burster in my opinion, since that may just well save your life one day. Bursters look exactly the same as shamblers, but if you pay close enough attention to one you’ll probably catch it twitching at some point.
Why are bursters scary? They do exactly what their name implies: they will run at you with a burst of speed once they get close enough to you, and if you aren’t ready for it – well, I hope you can take a bit of a beating. Thankfully, maybe because of how twitchy they are, they don’t share the same tendency as shamblers to grab and take you down, but you can bet if a shambler does get you, bursters will be the next several zed on you before you can get back up – if you get back up.
Like the other zed most common in the horde, if you find yourself in a bad way before the zed have spotted you, it’s probably just safest to stay quiet and out of sight. If you’re alone and a good sprinter you can outrun a burster easily -since they only unleash their bursts of speed in spats- if you need to alert your settlement.