Flying Crab Hatcher

Flying Crab Hatchers are plant-like creatures with 6 glowing, hanging bulbs. Often found near rivers, cliff edges, Power Slugs and Crash Sites, approaching or attacking (via Rebar Gun, for example) these creatures will cause the bulbs to burst, spawning 3 Flying Crabs and killing the plant. A dead Flying Crab Hatcher drops a recolored Alien Carapace as loot.

Flying Crab Hatcher regrows after some time if the player does not build and power buildings in the surrounding area, like all other enemies. When a Nobelisk touches it directly or it's blown up by it, the Flying Crabs will spawn anyway. Landing a Nobelisk directly on the plant will cause the Nobelisk to disappear.

Tips

 * Build an Equipment Workshop nearby the Flying Crab Hatcher before approaching it.
 * It has a window and roof with some wall which provides a good cover.
 * It's easier to snipe the plant with a Rebar Gun or Rifle first, then approach the Flying Crabs one by one (rather than having them come at the engineer all at once)
 * While not aggroed, the Flying Crabs flit about with a second or two's pause in between, making them also fairly easy to snipe.
 * Try to avoid triggering more than one hatcher plant at a time.
 * Another way of attacking is to get close quickly and destroy some bulbs with the Xeno-Basher before they explode, killing multiple flying crabs at once.
 * It is possible to stay much closer to the hatcher by hiding behind foliage (Trees, Shrubs, etc.)

Trivia

 * If the engineer quickly hides behind a cover while the Hatcher is halfway bursting, the hatcher will go back to its dormant state and will not burst.
 * Such as behind a wall, a Crashed FICSIT Freighter or a building.
 * It is likely that the Flying Crab Hatcher itself or the bulbs it sports, could be the eggs of the Crab Boss, which would mean that the flying crabs are only the younglings of the species.
 * Some Flying Crab Hatcher spawn points are set to be only active at night, one of them can be found on the Limestone node near the Rocky Desert starting location.

History

 * Patch Closed Alpha 2: Introduced