So I don't normally do these kinds of guide posts but the Violence layer is still pretty new and I kinda wanted to post about my experience with the new Gutterman enemy. They can be dangerous if you leave them alone, but once you know how to deal with them they can actually one of the most helpful enemies for both the Violence layer and Cybergrind. Let's go.
Let's start with what the game actually tells you - breaking their shield with the Knuckleblaster. This is (to my knowledge) one of two ways to break the shield, the other being with a parried landmine (fun for that one 7-2 setup.) This enemy will get you used to switching between the Feedbacker and Knuckleblaster on the fly if you haven't already. Knuckleblaster hits will destroy the shield as long as it hits anywhere on the Gutterman's body with the punch or shockwave, not just the shield. It'll also heal you in the same way a regular parry would. Destroying the shield will make them vulnerable, but their machine gun tracking will drastically increase in accuracy until it's near-impossible to avoid.
That's when you pull out your secret weapon - parrying a Gutterman's bash attack when its shield is down will reset its accuracy. It'll deal some good damage too. When you destroy the shield, you can get up close to them and immediately parry their bash as well. This setup will already knock out almost a third of their health without even shooting them yet.
After parrying them, their bash has a cooldown of around four seconds before they'll do it again. This'll give you plenty of time to use whatever you want to take it out. I personally find the Overheat Nailgun to be extremely effective in getting through their health really quickly, but you can use whatever you're comfortable with. They don't have as much health as you'd think, and you can get through it pretty quick.
When they're dead, their corpse will fall over, crushing any enemies in its way (this probably won't happen though.) In Violence, their corpse will stay on the ground until you slam into its fuel tank, causing a big red explosion that can damage other enemies and launch you into the air. However, this is even more useful in the Cybergrind as they will automatically explode once their corpse hits the ground. And this doesn't damage V1 at all, no matter how close he is to the Gutterman.
So next time you see a Gutterman far into the Cybergrind, don't despair - just think of them as free heals and enemy clearing and you'll get through that wave no problem. Plus they've got a sick design and are overall just a really cool enemy.
Worry about the Guttertanks instead. :) My friend did a guide on them you can check out here if you're interested.
