How do I kill Working Joes with starting weapons?

I know you can set Working Joes on fire or taser them and then use the crowbar to smash them, but how can you kill a Working Joe using stuff in the early game?

alien-isolation

Best Answer

First and best answer: don't try.

They're extremely tough and they take a lot of whacks from your only early-game weapon, the Maintenance Jack, to bring down, however, their sight ranges are limited and their patrol patterns are, much like the Working Joe itself, simple (though perhaps not brilliantly so). If you're spotted, they can't go in vents (even though they may know you are in there) and don't tend to look under desks if you break line of sight for a bit beforehand.

However, there is an achievement on Steam for doing this, "My Turn Now," which involves killing a Working Joe with only the maintenance jack. Not, "the maintenance jack and a couple gadgets," [even if those gadgets don't do anything to a Working Joe] not, "the maintenance jack and a couple shots from the revolver"; all you are allowed to use is the Maintenance Jack, and it's a bit of a doozy. You will almost certainly get hit doing it and run a serious risk of death, but the best way I've found is to be persistent, pick the right environment, and have lots of materials on hand for medkits.

The right environment is one where you have fairly uninterrupted time to whale on a single Joe without attracting too much attention, plenty of opportunity to sneak up on your Joe and ability to break sight and hide (nearby vents are good for this), and finally and most obviously, one where you don't have to worry about the Alien, because this process is both loud and time-consuming.

It takes about 8 hits, from what I've seen, to down a Joe; way more than you will get in before it retaliates [my maximum "combo" on a wounded Joe was four, and that's only because the third hit staggered him, allowing me to slip in the fourth]. If you sneak up on it, you'll likely get between two and three solid hits in before it attacks you; either be ready to get out of reach or be fast enough on that E key to not take too much damage. Look at your healthbar (and listen for any unwanted company) and decide whether you should stick around or find a place to hide while you heal up. Just keep at it and, eventually, Joe will fall to the floor in a puddle of his own milk and pasta and you'll be left with an achievement as consolation for all those SCJ Injectors you just used.

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What is the easiest way to kill a working Joe?

Combat

The flamethrower will engulf the Working Joe in a layer of fire which will not kill them immediately, though it will cause substantial damage.

The shotgun is one of the most preferred weapons to use against a Working Joe: one or two shots to the head will render them incapacitated.

Can you stealth kill working Joes?

I killed one of the Working Joes like this, but got nothing for it because I used gadgets. 2) Sneak. This is obvious. Sneaking is the only way to do it, and you can only get off two hits from directly behind before it figures out you're there and tries to grab you.

How do you get past working Joes in alien isolation?

Can you kill the working joes with the ones in the orange suits? EMP grenades don't work on them but how about a stun then whack them with the wrench? Use pipe bombs or shotgun.

How to easily beat Working Joes (and the HazMat Working Joes)

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Images: Ivan Samkov, Eva Bronzini, Pixabay, Kosygin Leishangthem