Stinger

Stingers are spider-like creatures found mostly in caves and jungles. Their body consists of four pointy legs attached to their torso, and another 4 similar pointy appendages attached to their head which they use for combat. They move very swiftly and come in three variants.

Warning: Spider-like images in this article. If you have Arachnophobia, please do not click the tab "Arachnophobia Mode Off". Clicking the "Arachnophobia Mode Off" tab will show the infoboxes for Stingers which contain spider-like images. Note: Spider-like images in this article are hidden on mobile view. Switch to desktop view if you wish to see them.

Renders
Arachnophobia Mode On= Activating the "Arachnophobia Mode" option replaces the Stinger models with three sprites of cats with an animated hologram filter, to make the stinger visuals more palatable for those with arachnophobia. The cat sprites do not correspond to a Stinger variant, which can make it harder to tell them apart, instead, it is picked randomly. Elite Gas Stingers have green particles surrounding them.

Types

 * There are three Types of Stingers - Baby, Alpha, and Elite Gas.
 * There are two Sub-Types of Stingers - Normal and Cave.
 * Normal Stingers only spawn at night.
 * Cave Stingers can spawn at any time both in and out of a Cave.

Spawn

 * Baby Stingers are the most common. The Alpha Stinger occurs more frequently in caves and later-game biomes (such as the Red Bamboo Fields and the Swamp), often surrounded by multiple Baby Stingers.
 * Elite Gas Stingers can be found in the swamp area of the Red Jungle (elevated center part of the map) and also in Caves.

Behavior
Stingers aggressively attack the pioneer (or, occasionally other creatures such as Fluffy-tailed Hogs) by clawing. Alpha and Elite Gas stingers can also leap up over 50 meters up/forwards. They also attack vehicles on-sight, dealing considerable damage to tractors with a swarm. They can potentially jam wheels for other vehicles.

Stingers make scuttling insect-like sounds when moving (unless in arachnophobia mode, as noted below).

Stingers tend to zigzag and run in circles when moving, attempting to distract pioneers. This can be potentially dangerous when they are attacking in groups.

The leaping attack from Alpha and Elite Gas Stinger has friendly fire: they can hurt or even kill each other. This only happens when the Stinger is attacking the Pioneer and accidentally hurts the nearby creatures.

Climbing
Alpha and Elite Gas Stingers will climb on each other to reach the pioneer, which can occasionally lead to them falling from a cliff edge. Alpha and Elite Gas Stingers have the ability to climb on almost vertical surfaces, as well as the ability to climb trees and Lookout Towers. They cannot climb on vertical surfaces with negative gradients, such as cliff overhangs. When facing sharp edges, unlike Hogs and Spitters, they can climb downwards.

Spawning
Stingers usually spawn in groups, with Alpha and Elite Gas Stingers sometimes spawning alone. Some Stinger spawn points only work during night-time, making some areas more hostile during the night.

Tips

 * If subtitles are enabled, 'Quick Footsteps' will be displayed if a Stinger is moving. Before they attack, it will display 'Slash'. Their leaping attack is subtitled 'Leaping'.

Combat

 * The is effective against stingers.
 * Back off to dodge the melee attack.
 * Construct a Lookout Tower or at least five stacked Splitters or a Foundation 8m x 4m to fully avoid their attacks (if Alpha or Elite). For Elite Gas Stingers, you may need to stack higher to out-range the poison gas that it releases.
 * When standing on a tower of splitters or foundations, Stingers will gather around the base of the tower, moving around.Nobelisks can be effective against groups of them.
 * Use the Rifle or Nobelisks to attack them from a distance. It might be difficult to land a Nobelisk precisely, however, due to their fast movement.
 * Individual Baby Stingers can be dealt with very easily, as they require just two hits from either or.
 * Take caution before fighting multiple Alpha or Elite Gas Stingers due to their high damage (30) and leaping capability.
 * Alpha Stingers can be countered by circling around them, forcing it to use its slash attack, allowing the player to dodge it easily and deal damage.
 * Alpha Stingers can be countered by circling around them, forcing it to use its slash attack, allowing the player to dodge it easily and deal damage.

Arachnophobia Mode
While Arachnophobia Mode is enabled:
 * The hitbox isn't changed
 * The cat sprites do not dim and can always be seen clearly, even in dark environments
 * The movement sound is silenced and their attack/idle sounds are replaced by cat sounds (loud meows)
 * This does not affect environmental subtitles

Trivia

 * Compared to the size of an Explorer:
 * Baby Stingers are as big as the wheels.
 * Alpha Stingers are as big as roughly half the car.
 * Elite Gas Stingers are as big as the whole car.
 * There are three total cat sprites seen while Arachnophobia mode is enabled, two of which are from the same cat. It has been confirmed that both cats belong to Coffee Stain developers.
 * The name of the Cat shown in Random Cat Image 1 / Random Cat Image 2 above is Féja which belongs to Nathalie Verweij, CSS UI/UX Designer.
 * The name of the Cat shown in Random Cat Image 3 above is Siri which belongs to Sofi Spranger, CSS Concept Artist.
 * The internal names for the four kinds of Stingers are called "CaveStinger_Child", "Stinger_Child", "EliteCaveStinger" and "EliteStinger". This naming scheme is misleading, as the "CaveStinger" is an indicator as to whether or not a stinger will spawn during the day time (i.e. not only caves, but also places such as the swamp & Red Jungle).
 * Alpha Stingers occasionally miss a hit if the pioneer is exactly underneath their body.

Gallery
Arachnophobia Mode On =


 * Patch 0.6.0.0: The AI system, navigation, and spawning have been overhauled
 * Creatures now have separate visual and audio perception (and they won’t hear you crouch)
 * Creatures can now panic and run when certain conditions are met
 * Added unique loot for all aggressive wildlife (see Alien Remains - Stinger Remains)
 * Added optional HUD indicators for aggressive wildlife (can be turned on in the options menu)
 * The Stinger leap attack now hits more reliably
 * Small Stinger attacks are much harder to dodge but deal significantly less damage
 * Unknown patch between Patch 0.3.3.0 and Patch 0.3.5: Elite Stingers now drool green liquid to distinguish them from Large Stingers.
 * Patch 0.3: Now make cat sounds when Arachnophobia mode is enabled.
 * Patch 0.1.16: Minor tweaks to the Elite Stinger.
 * Patch 0.1.15: Introduced the Elite Stinger to the Red Jungle.
 * Patch 0.1.14: Fixed an on load crash related to the Baby Stinger.
 * Patch 0.1.5: Added LODs. Now drops.