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 correspond to a Stinger variant, with orange cats (variant 3) representing Baby Stingers, black cats (variant 2)  representing Alpha Stingers, and lying black cats (variant 1)  representing Elite Gas Stingers. Elite Gas Stingers also 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'.

Baby Stingers

 * Individual Baby Stingers can be dealt with very easily, as they require just two hits from either or.
 * It can be hard to hit them with ranged weapons due to their small size, fast movement, and tendency to circle around the player before and between attacks. However, if spot them at a distance before they become aware of you, or line up a shot as they turn and charge directly at you before their slash attack, the Rebar Gun with basic ammo will kill them in a single shot.

Alpha and Elite Gas Stingers

 * Slide-jumping is incredibly useful to dodge their attacks.
 * Blade Runners make dodging their attacks and keeping distance, especially from the adult variants, much easier.
 * A Rebar Gun with Stun Rebar is very helpful to get in close without the danger of their slash. Nobelisks are easier to land when the Stinger is stunned.
 * Ranged Weapons like the Rifle with Turbo or Homing Ammo and Rebar Gun with Explosive or Shatter Rebar can make the fight much easier to deal with.
 * Make sure you have plenty of healing items in case you are hit due to the high damage of their attacks, and prioritize dodging. Remember that Medicinal Inhalers have a small delay before they heal you.
 * It is possible to shoot them from a place they cannot leap up to, like a cliff or bridge. Be careful that they can't actually get to you as their leap can go very high!
 * They cannot fit through the openings in Conveyor Walls. If they can be boxed in or if the cave can be blocked with Conveyor Walls then they can be dispatched using ranged weapons with little danger.
 * Similarly, they can often get caught on trees, especially when trying to use their leap attack on you. If you can position some trees between you and the stinger, it may get caught in a loop of trying to leap and running into the tree repeatedly, allowing you to unload ammunition into it at your leisure (remember not to use explosives!).  This is especially the case against the Elite Gas Stingers, due to their much higher rate of leaping.

Specific

 * Alpha Stingers can be countered by circling around them, forcing them to use their slash attack, allowing the player to dodge it easily and deal damage.
 * Elite Gas Stingers leap much more often, which can be exploited with some practice to kill them earlier into the game. Use Blade Runners to circle and keep distance, then slide-jump to the side as they leap. If you bring your attention directly back to the Stinger, you can then hit their large hitbox with a Rebar Gun loaded with Stun Rebar as they land. Perform another slide-jump directly back towards them for plenty of free hits with your weapon of choice (6 hits with a Xeno-Basher are possible) before they lose the Stun Rebar's effect.

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.
 * Without the attack animations and specific sounds, it can be more difficult to notice and dodge their attacks.

Trivia

 * Compared to the size of an Explorer:
 * Baby Stingers are as big as the explorer's wheels.
 * Alpha Stingers are as big as roughly half the explorer.
 * Elite Gas Stingers are up to three times the size of an explorer.
 * 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.