Neophyte

Neophytes are entry-level Gatekeepers, the newer initiates of GATE who have not yet specialized. They appear as hostile humanoid enemies and can be encountered standing guard or patrolling a confined area, either alone or alongside other Gatekeepers. They are aggressive toward all entities, including Order soldiers, the player, and deployable objects placed by the player.

Despite their low rank, Neophytes are tougher than their Order counterparts and can be annoying to fight because of their Hardlight Shields and their tendency to inflict bleed with their weapons. Their shield is their main defense, so they are most vulnerable before it activates or after it has been disabled by sustained combat. If you can land a surprise attack or keep pressure on them long enough to force the shield down, they become much easier to finish.

In combat, close-range strafing can help when dealing with a single Neophyte, but fighting several at once is much riskier and usually calls for disengaging and re-engaging them one by one. Acid damage is especially effective against them, and accurate acid-based attacks can quickly put them down. Attacks that disable Hardlight Shields are also valuable when facing a shielded group.

Neophytes drop the following rewards:

• Arcane Scrap
• 5.56 Ammo
• Smashed GATE NVGs
• Lodestone Fragment
• Gutnic Rifle

Their harvestable drops are:

• Human Arm (Military)
• Kevlar Scrap
• Human Skull

According to the GATE Compendium, Neophytes are drawn from a wide range of recruits, including military hospitals, special forces dropouts, seminaries, and even psych wards. GATE’s goal is to stabilize unstable recruits and turn them into living weapons, which fits their role as disciplined but dangerous frontline personnel.