A slow but powerful bruiser whose grappling hook makes her one of the most mobile survivors in the game despite her description. Loader's Charged Gauntlet scales with movement speed, making her grapple momentum directly convert into burst damage. She has the highest potential single-hit damage of any base game survivor.
Loader's kit revolves around a single mechanical insight: Charged Gauntlet damage scales with movement speed. Every skill in her kit is either a tool for generating momentum or a way to convert that momentum into damage. The grapple is not just mobility - it is her damage amplifier.
Loader is unlocked by completing the Guidance Offline challenge in Siren's Call. Any survivor can complete the unlock - you do not need to already have Loader. Siren's Call is one of the two possible Stage 4 maps.
Reach Siren's Call - one of the two possible Stage 4 maps alongside Abyssal Depths.
Find and destroy 6 Alloy Vulture nests scattered across the map. Each nest is a blue egg-shaped object. Chat messages track your progress as nests are destroyed.
Destroying the 6th nest spawns the Alloy Worship Unit boss in the large open area near the cylindrical pillar.
Defeat the Alloy Worship Unit. When it reaches 50% HP it generates a shield and drops blue circles that explode for 400% damage after 5 seconds. Stay mobile and aerial to avoid them.
Defeating the Alloy Worship Unit completes Guidance Offline and permanently unlocks Loader.
The Alloy Worship Unit is an airborne boss that drops orb clusters at 50% HP. Bring a survivor with strong ranged damage and good mobility. Captain, Railgunner, or Huntress all work well. Stay airborne as much as possible during the second phase to avoid the exploding blue circles.
Loader's item priorities split into two categories: movement speed items (which directly increase Charged Gauntlet damage) and damage amplifiers (which stack multiplicatively on her already enormous hit values). Kjaro's and Runald's Bands are her best-in-slot uncommons since every gauntlet hit exceeds the 400% threshold to proc them.
Movement speed directly increases Charged Gauntlet damage - the faster Loader is moving when she punches, the harder it hits. Every speed item is both a mobility and a damage upgrade simultaneously.
20% damage bonus to enemies within 13m. Loader operates entirely in melee range, meaning Focus Crystal is always active. Stacks multiplicatively with other damage bonuses.
75% bonus to enemies above 90% HP. Loader's opening Charged Gauntlet hits fresh enemies at full health, activating Crowbar on every important high-damage punch.
Adds an extra Grapple Fist or Spiked Fist charge. Loader's mobility is grapple-dependent, so extra grapple charges meaningfully increase both movement and combat options.
Attack speed increases how quickly Knuckleboom generates Scrap Barrier stacks. More swings means faster barrier generation between Charged Gauntlet cooldowns.
Hits above 400% damage trigger a flame tornado for 300% damage. Loader's Charged Gauntlet, Thunder Gauntlet, and Spiked Fist all easily exceed this threshold, triggering the band on every meaningful hit.
Hits above 400% damage trigger an ice blast for 250% damage. Pairs with Kjaro's Band - both proc on the same high-damage hits, doubling the bonus damage on every Charged Gauntlet strike.
Increases jump height and creates a kinetic explosion on landing dealing up to 10000% damage scaling with fall distance. Loader can reach extreme heights with grapple chains, generating enormous H3AD-5T damage on descent.
Rerolls all random effects for favorable outcomes. Kjaro's and Runald's Bands both have proc conditions that benefit from Clover's luck reroll, increasing their activation rate.
Loader's core gameplay loop is: grapple to build momentum, release at maximum swing speed, and land a fully charged Charged Gauntlet. The grapple swing is not just for travel - it is damage setup. Between gauntlet cooldowns, use Knuckleboom to generate Scrap Barrier and maintain melee pressure.
Secondary: Spiked Fist once unlocked - same grapple mobility plus 320% damage and a stun. Utility: Charged Gauntlet - default, keep it. Special: Thunderslam once unlocked for the lower 5s cooldown and AoE combo potential over M551 Pylon's 20s cooldown.
Grapple momentum into Charged Gauntlet: Grapple to a high point, let your swing build speed, then release and immediately charge the gauntlet. Release the punch at peak velocity for the maximum damage window. This is Loader's primary burst combo and can one-shot most elite enemies once you have a few speed items.
Pylon as mid-air anchor: Throw M551 Pylon then immediately grapple it before it settles. This lets you maintain aerial positioning with no terrain required and keeps you mobile for follow-up grapple swings.
H3AD-5T v2 synergy: Loader can reach enormous heights by chaining grapples upward. Dive from max height with H3AD-5T v2 for explosion damage that scales up to 10,000%, then combine with a Charged Gauntlet during the descent for a two-hit combo that deletes almost any enemy.
Scrap Barrier management: Keep Knuckleboom swings going between gauntlet cooldowns. Each hit generates 5% barrier, meaning 20 consecutive hits theoretically caps your barrier. Against sustained damage this matters more than raw HP.
Complete the Guidance Offline challenge by reaching Siren's Call (Stage 4), destroying 6 Alloy Vulture nests across the map, and defeating the Alloy Worship Unit boss that spawns. Any survivor can complete this - you do not need Loader first.
Loader is widely considered one of the strongest survivors in the game. She has high base HP, 20 armor, fall damage immunity, self-healing via Scrap Barrier, grapple mobility comparable to the fastest survivors, and a Charged Gauntlet that can delete bosses in a single hit. She scales excellently into late loops and requires minimal items to be effective.
Charged Gauntlet deals 600% at minimum charge and up to 2700% at full charge. The damage scales further with movement speed - the faster Loader is moving when she releases the punch, the higher the damage. This is why grapple momentum and movement speed items are so important. Combining a full grapple swing with a fully charged gauntlet release is her maximum burst window.
Prioritise Paul's Goat Hoof and movement speed items first since they directly increase Charged Gauntlet damage. Add Focus Crystal and Crowbar for damage amplification on opening hits. Kjaro's and Runald's Bands are top uncommon pickups since every gauntlet hit exceeds their 400% threshold. H3AD-5T v2 is her best legendary - combine with grapple height for enormous explosion damage on descent.
Yes. Spiked Fist has the same grapple mobility as Grapple Fist plus 320% damage and a stun on the initial hit. It pulls light enemies toward you rather than pulling you toward them, which is useful for grouping. The only advantage of Grapple Fist is that it costs nothing to use if you miss. Once Spiked Fist is unlocked it should replace Grapple Fist in almost all situations.