Bone Ball

The Bone Ball is an enemy encountered in The Nameless City. It makes its first appearance in E3M4: Crypt of the Flesh and appears several times afterward, notably in E3M7: Homecoming.

Appearance
Bone Balls appear as a hard, bony sphere with several spikes sticking out of it. It is covered in red orifices that it uses as a means of attack and is capable of flight.

Tactical Analysis
When a player is spotted, Bone Balls will begin to spin rapidly, emitting a continuous distorted scream. It will spew skulls with blood trails from its orifices, with the scale of skulls produced increasing as it is hit. If idle, a Bone Ball will fire its skulls in random directions, but these can be slightly directed towards the player's position if it is within line of sight. The skulls are high-damage, and can deplete a player's healthy quickly if they are not careful.

Fortunately, most of the skulls are generally easy to dodge. Bone Balls are most deadly when in enclosed spaces, so an effective means of dealing with them is drawing them out into an open area. While Bone Balls have high health (1000hp), three shots from the Hunting Rifle is enough to take one down. Since Bone Balls usually move away from the player when in the air, weapons with range such as the Assault Rifle and Crossbow also work well against them.