Flying Crab

The Flying Crab is a small, hostile flying creature that damages the player upon contact. Flying Crabs only spawn from Flying Crab Hatchers and are roughly the size of an engineer's head.

Stats
It takes two hits from the to kill, while the  or the  can kill it in one hit. It deals five damage (half-segment) upon contact with the player.

Behavior
Flying Crab Hatchers burst when damaged or if an engineer gets too close, spawning three Flying Crabs, each with a different attacking pattern. One of the three will charge towards the engineer in a straight line, one will fly in a serpentine pattern and the other one will circle the engineer and sneak up from behind. After hitting the engineer, the crab will ragdoll on the ground, then after a few seconds, it will start flying around again.

If the hatcher is destroyed from a distance, the Flying Crabs will alternate between moving short distances and hovering, patrolling near where their hatcher was.

Combat

 * Once you have unlocked the Rebar Gun or Rifle, shooting the Flying Crab Hatcher and Flying Crabs from a distance is the easiest way to kill them.
 * Flying Crabs despawn automatically after 30 seconds if no engineer is nearby, so you actually only need to shoot the hatcher. If you get too close the crabs won't despawn.
 * Nobelisk is not effective against them. Crabs can easily move out of the explosion range.
 * If only a melee weapon is available, such as a Xeno-Zapper, ensure you have at least 50 HP left (5 segments).
 * Build an Equipment Workshop near the Flying Crab Hatcher.
 * It has a window and roof with some walls that provide good cover.
 * Try to only trigger one Flying Crab Hatcher at a time.
 * The hatcher will spawn three flying crabs.
 * First kill the one which is charging at you in a straight line. You need two hits with a Xeno-Zapper or one hit with a Xeno-Basher.
 * If the crab takes damage, it will fall to the ground and roll. Move forward and kill it.
 * Similarly, a crab that attacked you will also bounce away and roll on the ground.
 * One of the remaining Flying Crabs will be right behind you. Turn around and attack it.
 * The other might already have bumped into you from the other side. Each crab's tackle attack deals five damage (half a segment).
 * Back off and watch them, and attack whichever comes to you first.
 * Repeat until all 3 crabs are killed.
 * Loot the dropped Alien Carapace for later use.
 * If you are low on health, you may choose to flee.
 * A Flying Crab's speed is lower than the engineer's running speed, so it is easy to outrun them.

Loot
Flying Crabs themselves drop nothing, but a destroyed hatcher drops a reskinned Alien Carapace.

History

 * Patch 0.3.4.11: Increased hitstun on the Flying Crabs a little more
 * Patch 0.3.4.10:
 * Increased the size of Flying Crabs to make them easier to hit and track
 * Increased the stun delay and downward force on the Flying Crabs so they are on the ground a little bit longer
 * Patch 0.2.1?: No longer simply fly in straight lines, but have three different movement patterns, making defeating them significantly more challenging