Fluffy-tailed Hog

The Fluffy-tailed Hog (a.k.a 'Hog'), is a hostile melee creature that the Pioneer can enounter whilst exploring. It deals damage after circling the player before performing a tackle attack. It is amongst the most common creatures found in the game world.

Behavior
Hogs patrol around their spawning point, which typically consist of resource nodes, Power Slugs, Mercer Spheres, Somersloops, or Crash Sites. They can also be encountered anywhere in the world. When patrolling they make a guttural, bear-like growling sound, making them easily identified. Hogs can also be seen in groups of three or more, with some also led by a larger variant, the Alpha Hog. If a pioneer approaches a hog from the front, it will become aggressive, triggering any other nearby hogs to become aggressive as well. They will start attacking the Pioneer in this situation, focusing on the closest if the Pioneer is in a Multiplayer game. Hogs will become passive if their line of sight is broken, which can be fairly easy to do if the player is in an area with ample trees or rocks. Hogs ignore all vehicles, even ones being driven by the player.

A hog triggers its tackle attack by charging and ramming the pioneer at a high speed. If a hog is attacked by a pioneer when it either hasn't targeted the pioneer or cannot reach them (e.g. while standing on a platform or flying with the), it will flee for a short while, then return to its spawn point. When killed they drop an Alien Carapace. If one falls into or is lured into the void this will result in nothing will drop.

Combat

 * Equip a weapon such as a or Xeno-Basher.
 * Running will decrease likelihood of contact with the hog. Press to toggle run. This setting can also be adjusted under Options->Controls.
 * When a hog detects that a pioneer is nearby, it will run towards the them, pause momentarily, then trigger its tackle attack by charging at a high speed.
 * In attack mode horizontal lines and a blur effect can be seen behind the hog, indicating that it is moving at a high speed.
 * Its attack can be completely dodged by getting out of its path of attack:
 * Moving sideways ( or )
 * Jumping
 * Moving backwards and sideways at the same time (( or )) while looking at the hog.


 * As it passes by, use your Xeno-Zapper to double attack with . Hogs stop running if hit, but will attempt to charge the player again.
 * If space is limited, like on a plateau or in a cave, run towards it before it charges, then have the hog charge straight at you and double attack as it gets close. If done right, it will stop the hog in it's charge and allow time to put distance between it before it charges again. Repeat it and it should go down. This tactic does carry more risk, but it will take out hogs faster and allow multiple hogs to be attacked at the same time.
 * When a hog misses its attack to hit the player, it will run in a large circle and adjust its path accordingly.
 * It cannot turn around with a tight radius while it is sprinting. It can choose to pause momentarily and turn its body around.
 * When the player is hit, they will be thrown backward across a short distance and lose one health segment (10 HP). Fall damage can also be inflicted if the player is thrown onto lower ground or off a cliff edge.
 * As a hog has only 20 HP and each zap attack deals five damage, it can be killed with four zaps.
 * Multiple hogs are harder to kill simultaneously; try to handle only one hog at a time.
 * It is possible to kill a hog without getting injured, but this requires some skill at first. Consider fleeing until gaining access to better weapons.
 * Hogs cannot be outrun. Escaping to higher ground or lower ground can prove useful. Jumping on top of a small rock or building stackable Conveyor Poles to gain an easy height advantage.
 * If determined to fight them, wait until at least three health segments have regenerated before continuing to fight. Using healing items such as Beryl Nuts or Paleberries can help regenerate additional segments.

Trivia

 * A Fluffy-tailed Hog is referred to as Phacochoerus Plumeus Cauda in-game by ADA.
 * It is a creature first seen in the E3 Trailer.
 * Pre-Alpha Hogs did not feature the additional VFX when running, did not encircle the player when running, and were not as hostile.

History

 * Patch 2018-10-17: Introduced