In Quake II, the Tank Commander is a more powerful version of the Tank, having more health than the original. Like the regular Tank, the Tank Commander is armed with a powerful Blaster, Machine Gun and a rapid-firing Rocket Launcher. Its overall shape is the same, although it has black and red armor, insignia on its chest and a more metallic-looking head.

They first appear in Unit 9, having replaced the regular Tank at this point in the game. They appear again in The Reckoning and Ground Zero, though less frequently than in the original game.

Two Tank Commanders and two Hornets serve as the final boss of Quake II 64; however these Tank Commanders have 1500 health instead of the usual 1000. Call of the Machine also includes a unique boss enemy called the Commander, who is based upon the Tank Commander but with 2000 health, a power shield, and homing rockets.

Behaviour and attacks

Machine Gun: The Tank Commander's machine gun fires in a wide horizontal arc in the player's general direction and then back again. Each bullet deals 20 damage if it hits. If the player is far away from the Tank Commander, then only one or two bullets are likely to hit, but at close range this attack can cause catastrophic damage. The machine gun has less of a delay before firing than the other two weapon systems, giving the player less time to react.

Blaster: The Tank Commander's blaster fires three bolts in a row directly towards its target, dealing 30 damage per hit. If the target remains in the Tank Commander's view, it may sometimes fire a longer volley. The bolts can be reliably dodged by strafing.

Rocket Launcher: The Tank Commander's rapid-firing rocket launcher is capable of firing a barrage of rockets at its target, each capable of dealing 50 damage if they hit, and dealing splash damage as well. In the original game, the rockets will be aimed directly towards the player's current position, but in the 2023 remaster the Tank Commander can "lead" its shots somewhat against a strafing player. The volley is usually three rockets, but if the target remains in its view then the Tank Commander sometimes launches a longer stream of more rockets. The rocket launcher has a longer pre-fire delay than the other two weapon systems, giving the player more time to react.

In the mission pack Ground Zero and the 2023 remaster, the Tank Commander will usually follow-up any of its three attacks with a volley from its rocket launcher (or the blaster in the 2023 edition), even if the player is no longer in its view (it'll usually fire at the point where it last saw the player). Furthermore, the animation to fire this follow-up volley is quicker than normal. This can be especially dangerous, because "where it last saw the player" might be right next to the cover where the player is lurking, potentially causing a good deal of splash damage to the hiding player - even worse, if the player was thinking of taking a brief moment in cover to avoid the Tank Commander's fire and then popping out again to take another shot, they might find a barrage of rockets already coming for them without warning. If you take cover out of a Tank Commander's sight, then you should wait in cover a little longer until you're sure its subsequent rocket barrage has finished. Thankfully, Tanks are much less common in Ground Zero than in the vanilla Quake II campaign, but the 2023 remaster applies these changes to all Tanks.

The 2023 remaster also makes Tanks and Tank Commanders exempt from infighting.

In Call of the Machine, some (but not all) Tank Commanders are upgraded with homing rockets or power screens.

Strategies

• The Tank possesses high damage output and durability, but it is let down by its slow speed and the fact that its weapons are slow to commence firing. Cover can be used to your advantage; take a shot with the Grenade Launcher, Rocket Launcher or Railgun (or even the Super Shotgun) then take cover when the Tank Commander begins the animation for one of its weapons. The BFG10K can be used as well, requiring two good hits to destroy a Tank Commander, although it will only cause its full damage if the player remains in view of the Tank Commander when the projectile hits (see the BFG10K's page for more information on its damage system). However, be advised that the Tank Commander gained the ability in Ground Zero and the 2023 remaster to perform "suppressive fire" against a target who has taken cover; see the "Behaviour and attacks" section above.
• If you must fight one out in the open, the Chain Gun or Hyperblaster are good options due to their excellent damage output. It'll take at least 125 bullets to put the Tank Commander down, or 50 hyperblaster shots. In either case, this would likely take about five seconds.

Appearance statistics

*The Tank Commanders in Quake II 64 have 1500 health instead of 1000.

**In addition to this, Call of the Machine contains a boss enemy called the Commander in the Uplink Tower level, who is essentially a Tank Commander with twice as much health, a power shield, and homing rockets.

Death Messages

• Player was pumped full of lead by a Tank Commander (Machinegun)
• Player was blasted by a Tank Commander (Blaster)
• Player almost dodged a Tank Commander's rocket (Rocket Launcher)
• Player ate a Tank Commander's rocket (Rocket Launcher)

Sounds

Trivia

• A heavily-damaged and mostly non-operational Tank Commander is found on a repair facility in the Research Lab in Unit 8. Bitterman steals its detached head to unlock a door into the Inner Hangar. As its head is stolen, its body tries to react to what is happening, but is unable to prevent the theft.
• No operational Tank Commanders are found in the Playstation version of Quake II, but the player does encounter the same heavily-damaged one in the Research Lab, and uses its head to gain access to the Gravity Booster.
• In the Ground Zero mission pack, Stepchild must use another Tank Commander's Head to pass a security checkpoint in Waterfront Storage, but he must obtain this from a Tank Commander that is currently operational (although he can kill it by activating a security laser system).
• Like the original Tank, Tank Commanders may sometimes perform a victory pose of sorts if they kill the player - the Tank Commander will crouch down and slam one arm onto the ground.
• The Blaster and Machine Gun used by the Tank and the Tank Commander are an unusual instance where a particular weapon is available to both the player and the Strogg, but the Strogg version is more powerful.
• Tank Commanders, and their normal variant, are two of the only four enemies to lose a body part when killed. The other two are the enforcer and the Makron.

Gallery

Quake II Manual photo

Tank Commander's texture map

Tank Commander's texture map when injured

Headless Tank Commander's texture map

Commander's Head's texture map

Remastered model