Nightmare

The Nightmare is a hostile Typhon organism that is encountered on Talos I and on Pytheas during the events of Prey (2017) and Prey: Mooncrash.

Overview
Nightmares are the biggest, strongest and most dangerous of all the Typhon, aside from the Apex. Created by Weavers, Nightmares are specialized Phantoms designed with the sole purpose of hunting down and exterminating Morgan Yu. The first Nightmare will begin tracking the player after they gain access to the Arboretum, and others will continue to appear at random throughout the game. After a Nightmare has been made aware of the presence of a player, it will trigger a quest in which the player must either kill or evade the Nightmare for 3 minutes. Evading the Nightmare will prevent it from reappearing for 20 minutes, while killing it will prolong the duration required for the Nightmare to spawn to 30 minutes. A player must break direct line of sight in order to successfully evade a Nightmare, and after successfully evading the Nightmare for the first time, January will mention a prototype satellite used in Psychotronics, beginning the Mixed Signals quest. A Nightmare will drop 30 Typhon Organs and 1 Typhon Cortex every time it is killed, with the latter requiring Necropsy in order to take.

Aggression and Spawn Conditions
After gaining access to the Arboretum, the Nightmare is capable of spawning in any location besides the Talos I Exterior and the G.U.T.S. If the player has installed any Typhon-related Neuromods, January will point to them as the cause for the sudden appearance of the creature. Despite January stating that Neuromod installation is the reason for the appearance of the Nightmare, Neuromod installation itself has no ability to control if a Nightmare will persue you during gameplay, and instead has a dramatic effect on when the Nightmare will appear.

Nightmares will have increasingly aggresive spawning behavior depending on if the player installs Typhon-based Neuromods in their playthrough. In an environment where the player installs minimal to no Typhon enhancements, the Nightmare will typically wait until you transition the level and will occasionally make its appearance known to the observant player by slightly shaking the station and causing a faint but audible roar. However, should the player spend too many neuromods on Typhon upgrades in too short of a time, the Nightmare will be highly likely to appear in the same level, spawning without warning and persuing the player almost immediately. It is advised to purchase Typhon-based Neuromod abilities sparingly, and to be ready to encounter a Nightmare whenever placing points into the upgrade tree.

In Prey: Mooncrash, Nightmares will also spawn on Pytheas after Peter has progressed enough in his job. Unlike the Nightmares encountered on Talos I, these Nightmares will permanently roam the base until they are destroyed, having no time limit to disappear. Strangely, there is also a Nightmare locked in a containment unit in Pytheas Labs, which cannot be released but can be scanned with a Psychoscope. It was likely created in captivity by a contained Weaver, as capturing a Nightmare is virtually impossible, but it is unknown why no data on it was shared with Psychotronics on Talos I.

Design
Nightmares look like much larger, less humanoid versions of phantoms. Like almost all Typhon, it is a mass of tentacles and shifting matter. They possess six white spots that can merge into one, which serve as makeshift eyes. The Nightmare's "head" is actually, in fact, four to six mandibles that have conjoined to form the shape; These mandibles will split apart and spread out when it unleashes its main attack, accompanied by a roar. It is capable of squeezing through standard doorways, and appears to only take a humanoid shape for combat purposes.

Quests

 * The Nightmare is Hunting You: (Repeatable, 3 minutes time limit)
 * Mixed Signals: Can attract and repel Nightmare when completed.

Strategy

 * The Nightmare almost always has a near-full awareness meter. This provides a tricky situation on attempting to avoid it, as it will be able to fuzzily track you down should you do anything even remotely conspicuous, but it can also benefit the player by constantly revealing the location of the Nightmare.
 * The GLOO Cannon is not recommended for combat, as the Nightmare has no trouble breaking free of GLOO. A better use for this is to allow more time to scan a Nightmare without retaliation.
 * The Disruptor Stun Gun is not recommended in any case, as the stun effect is almost non-existent against the Nightmare.
 * Chaining several Recycler Charges seems to be an effective method of killing a Nightmare, especially on higher difficulty settings.
 * Combat Focus effectively increases the player's movement speed and rate of fire relative to the slow-motion enemies, plus granting increased damage and critical strike chance bonuses, allowing the Nightmare to be gunned down without taking any damage when taking advantage of obstacles. It can also be used as an alternative to Phase Shift in order to put some distance between the player and the Nightmare, at the cost of not leaving behind a distracting duplicate.
 * Mimicking a turret or operator allows the player to protect themselves as their own health is immune to damage while mimicking an object at the cost of 2 psi per second. The player should exercise caution, as the object can break and force you out of morph prematurely.
 * The Main Elevator in the Talos I Lobby can shield the player from any Typhon that might be pursuing them. While this may be an effective measure at evading combat, one should keep in mind that the Nightmare does not despawn unless the respective timer has expired, and thus will be present until the player either provokes the Nightmare or enters a new area.
 * Turrets are not an effective way of killing a Nightmare, as they are easily broken or disabled and usually can't output enough damage to reasonably accommodate for the cost of repairing/printing them. However, should one find an abundance of turrets that aren't in direct need of repair, they can be used to kill the Nightmare if one manages to trap it within firing range and prevent it from attacking the turret. A good example of this is the entrance to Crew Quarters in the Arboretum, in the doorway between the security station and storage room. The Arboretum has a large number of turrets dotted around, and most are readily accessible. This position will prevent the Nightmare from fighting them effectively, and the high number of turrets will rapidly drain its health.
 * The Nightmare is not immune to Mindjack. It allows the player to escape and hide while causing the Nightmare to sweep the area for any other Typhon that might be accompanying it. Alternatively, mindjacking an accompanying Typhon will distract the Nightmare and allow you to do damage to or escape it.
 * If possible, mindjack a Telepath - their means of attack all have psi-nullifying abilities, which will disable the Nightmare's homing orb attack. Furthermore, they are themselves airborne, and so can remain out of reach of the creature's melee attacks. In the right circumstances, a Telepath could possibly defeat a Nightmare single-handedly.
 * The Weaver or Technopath is a somewhat viable alternative, as the Weaver's shield can repel the Nightmare while generating Cystoids to attack it, while the Technopath can generate electrical nodes that damage the Nightmare over time, as well as get turrets in a better position to attack the Nightmare. They are both also capable of levitation, and thus can avoid the Nightmare's melee attack. However, neither has the means to counter or evade a homing orb barrage, so a player should rely on these only as backup, and not the main damage dealer if one seeks to vanquish the Nightmare.
 * Kinetic Blast is a very effective psionic ability when it comes to taking down the Nightmare. While Superthermal and Electrostatic Burst by themselves might not be quite as effective, when combined they can devastate a Nightmare in mere moments. The downside of this strategy is the heavy cost of Psi points, making it nonviable in situations where the player's Psi reserves are running low.
 * Psychoshock is a great offensive and defensive tool, as it can deal a sizeable amount of damage to the Nightmare while also preventing it from using its only ranged attack, allowing the player to follow up with their weapon of choice or escape to a more desirable location.
 * If possible, barricade a doorway with large items using the leverage ability, keeping yourself out of its melee range and blocking its energy balls. A more viable strategy is to find a door with a Manual Lockdown button beside it, as no Typhon is capable of breaching a locked down door during gameplay.
 * The Nightmare will not disappear if there is a direct line of sight between it and the player, regardless of whether or not the timer has ran out. This makes it imperative that the player breaks line of sight should they be seeking to avoid the creature.
 * It can be handy for the player to keep in mind the location of nearby Operators in order to restore their health, armor or psi respectively.
 * Hacking Corrupted Operators can offer a slight advantage for the player, as they can put up quite the distraction. One should not expect this distraction to last, however, due to the low health and requirement that a Corrupted Operator get close to its target in order to deal damage.
 * Military Operators are naturally aggressive to all enemies, excluding Walther Dahl and Technopaths that get too close. Because of the sheer amount of operators that spawn during Dahl's takeover, it isn't uncommon to see grand battles between Nightmares and Military Operators, and the Operators will almost always win the confrontation.
 * After completing the Mixed Signals optional objective, the player will have access to two audio recordings that will allow the summoning or repelling of a Nightmare at will. However, these should not be seen as a permanent solution for the Nightmare, as they can only be used a total of 4 times.
 * The Nightmare is too large to be able to fit into tight spots, and thus will not be able to pursue the player into smaller areas such as maintenance tunnels or under tables.
 * Phantom Shift is a good way of distracting a Nightmare, as it leaves behind a duplicate that distracts the beast, leaving it open for heavy damage or allowing you to sneak away out of combat. Keep in mind that the duplicate only lasts for 4 seconds (8 if fully upgraded).
 * The Nightmare cannot enter a Grav Shaft. This means that it has no way of accessing the upper area of some levels if they don't happen to have stairs, such as the upper floor in the Neuromod Division or the Luxury Suites. You can use this to keep a distance advantage over it, either to assist in attacking it in combat or help in evading the creature.
 * The Q-beam, if sufficiently upgraded, is a viable weapon for taking out a Nightmare. Because the creature is so massive, the player will not need to be as precise with the beam in order to cause the Nightmare to erupt. However, because of the nature of the weapon requiring the player to focus-fire without too much interruption and the slowdown while firing the Q-Beam preventing effective evasive maneuvering, it can be quite the double-edged sword. It is not recommended to take on a Nightmare with this weapon unless equipped with the proper experience.
 * The Nightmare cannot spawn in zero-gravity environments, such as the Talos I Exterior or the G.U.T.S, and will die instantly if a player manages to force a Nightmare into such an environment.
 * This can be utilized by the player should they find themselves chased by a Nightmare in the reactor chamber, as resetting gravity will kill it along with any other Typhon that are unable to levitate.
 * The Shotgun is beyond any doubt one of the strongest weapons the player can use against the Nightmare without the use of Psi abilities or Recyclers. Though it is not wise to tackle the beast without upgrades, it is not necessary for the Shotgun to have any in order to have a noticeable damage output. A noticeable downside is the requirement to get close to the Nightmare, but a fully upgraded shotgun alone is enough to kill a Nightmare.
 * While the Silenced Pistol is not recommended for taking on a Nightmare due to its abysmal damage output against the creature, the Golden Gun variant offers quite the range alternative to most non-Psi weapons on this list. Consider reserving this weapon for if you run out of other options or don't want to use any other resources.
 * The Nightmare's main attack is a trio of homing orbs. These do a lot of damage and deal damage in a radius around the impact point. However, the homing ability is very loose; they are unable to make too sharp a turn and thus are likely to run into any obstacles you happen to put between yourself and the creature.
 * The Last Chance chipset can offer greater survivability when dealing with the creature, as the Nightmare only needs one good shot at the player to put an end to their run. The ability to survive fatal damage regardless of the attack with a five-second cooldown takes away some of the difficulty of the encounter.


 * The Nightmare is tall enough for the player to slide under. While this can be used to get behind the creature quickly, it is not a recommended strategy, as the Nightmare's melee attacks deal an absurd amount of damage, being able to one-shot the player almost instantly in harder difficulty settings.

Trivia

 * The Nightmare is reminiscent of the Nemesis-T Type Bio Organic Weapon from the Resident Evil franchise - Both are biological monstrosities created with the specific purpose of ruthlessly hunting down and executing their target (The entirety of S.T.A.R.S. for Nemesis, Morgan Yu for the Nightmare). Both can also be defeated or evaded, but will regardless find their way to the protagonist again. A key difference is that there is only one Nemesis, whereas it is heavily implied that there are multiple Nightmares being created aboard Talos I.
 * With this in mind, one can draw parallels between the Nightmare and Metroid's SA-X, seeing as they are both created by an alien species with no ability to emphathize with other creatures in order to counter a specific threat to their ecology and both have multiple instances aboard their respective space station that the protagonist has the pleasure of encountering.
 * The Nightmare was likely named due to its purpose of specifically hunting down Morgan. The player can either avoid it or kill it, however it will always eventually come back, essentially filling the role as a, "recurring nightmare."
 * The Nightmare's associated side quest is the only side quest in the game that can be repeated many times. When it respawns and notices your presence, the countdown timer and side quest will start.
 * A Nightmare's harvested Typhon Cortex strongly resembles a human brain in form.

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