Xaero

"My soul for a true challenge!"

- Xaero

Xaero is the final boss of Quake III Arena and among the most challenging bots in the game. Xaero watches over Arena Eternal, as it kills off the high ranking warriors and waiting for one to stand out to challenge him.

The player faces Xaero in Tier 7 (Tier Z) on its only map "The Very End of You" (Q3TOURNEY6), after completing the first 6 Tiers whilst competing with fellow hopefuls.

In all difficulty levels his reaction time is same and a bit below the average but it's still very quick for new players. He also gets mention as "Honored Master", "Mr. X", "Number 1", "Numero Uno", "Baldo" in chat lines. His shiny bald head and enhanced monk body harmonized with death itself.

Description
No warrior Villains of the Arenas Eternal is more sure or more deadly than Xaero. Death and destruction is his mantra and through aeons of victories throughout the Arenas, he has become one with their echoing halls. Still awaiting the lesson of humility, Xaero will only ascend to the rank of Chosen, finding death match Nirvana when and if he finds someone worthy enough to vanquish him.

Strategies
As the last opponent in the eternal arena, he is difficult to beat no matter what difficulty one is on. He is incredibly accurate, so be wary when he picks up the Railgun like Klesk. Xaero has the same reaction time at all difficulties, but his omnipotent accuracy and turning speed easily tops other bots. The number one rule to survival is to know exactly where Xaero is at all times. As soon as you make a kill, locate him as quickly as possible, allowing you to know where to hide as you plan your next attack. Q3TOURNEY6 has a distinct spawn and respawn rule where you always respawn at the across gigantic platform after dying (even from environmental hazards), keep track of where you spawned and when Xaero gets across to preemptively take cover on respawn.
 * The best strategy to use, but often looked down upon, is the chicken method. Simply pick up the Railgun, stay where you are, and rail him. Listen to the respawn sound, get behind the corners of pillars, peeking between small sight gaps as you hear him respawning nearby, and check on the Rocket Launcher spawn from time to time.
 * When in the open and you're facing him at long distance, crouch and strafe when you feel like he's going to shoot his rail. Crouching in time and strafing opposite side with him makes you a smaller target, therefore he'll most likely miss his shot and you can counter it afterward. It is better if you can take cover behind the middle pillars and peek out slowly.
 * Try placing yourself between two pillars at your sides and take a look at the across platform when you frag him. Retreat and stick close to the pillars' corners when you locate him. It's important to duck behind cover after taking a Rail shot just before he fires his own.
 * Xaero's position changes with every respawn, try to take cover properly. When he respawns behind you, he generally sneaks upon the RL spawn but he can try a surprise attack from your behind by grabbing the Railgun. Always keep watch on the RG spawn, don't overextend to front. Leaving him with a Railgun as you bounce across gets you a shot on your back. Try to guard the Railgun spawn if he's nearby.
 * Xaero is considerably accurate with his Machine Gun when he uses it. Instead of trying to get a clear shot with the Railgun from up close, you should take cover behind a pillar and then take your next action according to the situation.
 * When he jumped towards from across as you're stuck, fire rockets to keep him away from the Railgun. Don't be afraid to choke fire to weaken him. Do the finishing touch with your own Railgun if you're positioned thoroughly. At close range he can't lead his rail shots quick enough if you circle strafe him fast and cause a kickback by damaging him over 25-50 as he's about to shoot.
 * If he's low at health after respawning closeby and you grabbed the nearby Railgun already, he'll try to secure the health globes by throttle firing their way or steer towards the Rocket Launcher to retaliate. You can block this attempt by shooting rockets at the pillars near the health spawns so he has to sneak towards the lower platform for gold health.
 * When you're newly respawned or stuck with low health, if you keep the BFG10K platform closed by shooting the switch, he'll be forced to jump towards you. When that happens, simply get away from the bouncepad side of the platform and continue shooting him from cover. If he respawns near or jumps closer with the accelerator pad, simply grab the Railgun then rush to the RL side of the platform to bait him.
 * The BFG10K can be secured if you pre-emptively shoot the crushing ceiling trigger then take the accelerator pad at the count of 2 seconds. If your calculations are right as you fling towards it, the ceiling will rise and allow you to grab the BFG and hopefully scram away before Xaero can re-activate it or rail you.
 * If he's at the across platform and you're newly respawned, it's wise to evade a direct faceoff and position yourself at the other end of the platform. From a rear angle, middle pillars will cover a wider area and can be abused to fake your movement better. Stutter steps behind pillar corners can bait him into missing and both accelerator pads provide cover to crouch behind when choke firing at the across platform to pin him.
 * As you throttle fire at the hovering Heavy Armor/PT spawn in the midst of the arena with a Rocket Launcher, he'll rise for the BFG10K instead. That's where you can crush him or attempt to get an important item as he's busy. You can treat all important items you see as red herrings until you manipulated his moves by hiding or locking him out.
 * When he tries to reach the BFG platform or jump to the other side of the map, you can sneak to the Megahealth (2 min spawn timer) at the middle of the map by a shuttle platform, or another important item. Note that it's a very risky attempt at harder difficulties but not impossible. Player may have to take a good acceleration and time the moving platform to be a middle stepping stone on their double hop as they attempt a strafe-jump to the Megahealth. Alas, waiting around the lift may make you an open target if you couldn't manipulate Xaero into getting to the BFG or send him back to find health recently.
 * Two important items spawn in a row at the center of the map between two gigantic platforms; Heavy Armor and Personal Teleporter every 30 seconds. Use air steering (plain strafing to the sides without trying to backpedal or move forward) in an attempt to gather them or Xaero might blow you away to your hazardous death. Try to deny his mid-air lunges with the Railgun when you notice him.
 * If he does get himself the BFG10K, stay away from him. You can even try to rise for the BFG after he gets it or attempt to pick up more important items. He has a relatively low accuracy with the BFG10K; he will always aim directly at you instead of leading the shot or hitting the platform switch until he has no ammo left. You can use this opportunity to get the BFG10K yourself, but landing close to his location might get you splash damage and when he's out of ammo, he'll trigger the crusher.

Trivia

 * All the bots in Quake III Arena are based on Gladiator Bots of Quake 2, back in the day. It's presumed that Xaero is based on bot Zero, from Gladiator Bots.
 * Crash mentions him in her chatlines to prank the player, besides Doom.
 * After he is defeated, a small endgame cutscene is shown where Xaero finally ascends.