Half-Life Alyx: How to Beat Jeff

Half-Life Alyx has many hostiles that need to be dealt with around City 17 and Jeff is one obstacle that can be a hassle to overcome. With some smart planning and the building up of resources, players can bypass Jeff fairly easily.

This VR installment of Half-Life was released on March 23, 2020, and players take control of Alyx Vance between the events of Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Combine roam the streets and players will have to fight their way out of the ‘Quarantine Zone’ after being captured by them. With various firearms and “gravity gloves”, players have the ability to manipulate their environment to combat the personnel of Combine and even solve puzzles. This game even has a ‘survival horror’ element to it in regards to resources being scarce and tense situations.

There are all manners of creatures, soldiers and mechs that players will come across while exploring the Quarantine Zone. Players will need to utilize both the firearms and gravity gloves to experiment and smite each enemy that is trying to get a piece of Alyx. The types of resources players will need are typical ammunition for guns as well as; healing syringes, resin, flashlights, and grubs. Thus, Alyx is fairly nimble as players have the ability to teleport, which can come in handy with Jeff.

Running Into Jeff in Half-Life Alyx

Jeff is a cumbersome, lumbering monster that comes across as “indestructible” with everything Alyx throws at him. In Chapter 7: Jeff, players will break into a vodka distillery and will climb their way inside. Make way through the cafeteria and walk downstairs. The sounds of a “man struggling” will emit through the air. Follow the sounds and players will come across a man named ‘Larry’ that’s trapped in a barnacle. Destroy the barnacle to activate a conversation between Alyx and Larry. Larry will tell Alyx that there’s a large mischievous creature patrolling the distillery and it’s a good idea to be mindful of its whereabouts.

After talking to Larry, players will venture deeper into the distillery and will ultimately head down a corridor with a garage door at the end of it. Open the garage door using both of Alyx’s hands and this is where players will lay eyes on Jeff for the first time. Jeff is blind and only reacts to sound. Using firearms against Jeff is ineffective to it would be wise just to save ammunition for other enemies. Run back down the corridor that Alyx just came through and players will find a bottle within a little crawlspace. Duck into the crawlspace and throw the bottle down the corridor. Jeff will rush down the hallway, passing up Alyx. When it’s clear, teleport back into the room that Jeff was in and head right.

Connecting The Cables And Escaping in Half-Life Alyx

Alyx will quickly enter a kitchen-like area that has a wheel laced in barnacles in the center of the room. Run into the freezer to pick up some resin and head back out. Then throw bottles into the freezer to lure Jeff in. As soon as Jeff enters, creep up behind, shut the door and lock him in. With Jeff secured, go back to the wheel in the center of the room and turn it to fully open up the large door. Go through the doors and there will be no power connected. Players will then need to use the ‘multi-tool’ to find sensors, fix the cables and restore the power. On an unfortunate note, players will need to re-enter the room that Jeff’s in to be able to complete the repairs. So, the door will need to be opened back up again. Carefully open it, let Jeff stumble out and bypass him in the dark. When Alyx enters the room to continue repairs, there are spores riddled all over the walls. Be sure to cover Alyx’s mouth so she won’t cough and give away her position. Thus, be mindful in connecting the cables as one wrong move will set off the speakers.

After all the cables are connected into the room, just follow them until Alyx enters an elevator. There will be another sensor in there. Complete the cables that will be found on both sides of the elevator. While doing all this, be sure to keep finding bottles and throwing them as far away as possible to keep Jeff distracted. When the power is restored in the elevator, the door will fully open enabling Jeff to walk right in. There’s only a small window of time to avoid Jeff, so it’s recommended that players duck beside the two crates in the corner of the elevator. Players will need to slowly and steadily sneak up behind Jeff to be able to push the red button on the wall. After the button is pushed, hurry back to the original hiding place in the corner and wait.

Locating The Batteries in Half-Life Alyx

The door of the elevators will open back up. Just wait for Jeff to exit the elevator and enter the room. Here, it is fairly simple to stealth around Jeff because it’s fairly large with many nooks and crannies to hide in. After this, just follow two wooden planks that lead outside. Ultimately, players will end up in another room to leap onto a large vodka tank below. This room has a large vault in the ground that requires three batteries to unlock. Jump down to the room and head toward the white door. Remove the chair that’s barricading it and enter. The room has assorted ‘red-handled’ cabinets that can be opened. Commence opening them up to find a resin and ammunition. There are plenty of bottles to find in this room to use, as well. Before leaving this room, be sure to check out the red filing cabinets since one of them has a gas mask.

The first battery is in the main room that’s sealed by a gate. Next to it is a crank that’s hanging off a rye bar sticking out of the wall. Take the crank, thread it with the other protruding rye bar, insert it into the slot and turn it right. Once the gate is opened a little bit, the cell will just roll out onto Alyx’s feet when players try grabbing it.  The next two batteries are simply lodged into holes in the wall around the main room. Avoid Jeff and walk around the room to find two distinct holes with lights shining out of them. After all the batteries are collected, find the ladder on the other side of the room and pull it down.

When the ladder slides down, it will gain Jeff’s attention, so quickly climb up to avoid him. Run through the hallway to find the receptors to put the batteries in. Install the batteries, then go down to the large mechanism that’s underneath you. Pull the lever on the left, then turn and adjust the units in the middle. The machine will start wailing and it will summon Jeff. Simply get out of the way and let Jeff beat up a machine for a few seconds. After he is done doing that, Jeff will decide to walk back into the room in which he originally came from.

Killing Jeff inside Half-Life Alyx

Follow Jeff into the room and players will find him fumbling around in front of a trash compactor. Throw a bottle to trick him entering the compactor then, push the button to trap him. After Jeff is trapped, push the red button to activate the machine. This will cause Jeff to be squished like a tomato and he will out of Alyx’s life forever. With Jeff finally out of the way, players are free to explore the surrounding area a little bit to score any resources that they may need. Hence, Alyx can go back to the levers and finish pulling them all to open the valve in peace.

Half-Life Alyx is available on Microsoft Windows and Linux.

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