Deathclaw (Fallout 4)

Deathclaws are extremely dangerous creatures found in the Commonwealth and on The Island.

Characteristics
Deathclaws are tough and formidable melee combatants. Their appearance is also more detailed compared to their Fallout 3 and New Vegas predecessors, they have darker, scaled skin, longer horns, shorter claws and a more dragon/reptile like head and face. Close inspection of their feet will reveal what appears to be a single enlarged toe claw on each foot, similar to prehistoric raptors. The Massachusetts Deathclaws are more physically dynamic, showing abilities such as running on all fours when in combat, or climbing obstacles, behaviors never seen in the deathclaws of previous titles. Deathclaws can be found anywhere in the Commonwealth, but appear more frequently in the Glowing Sea. When observed from a distance, deathclaws can be seen to throw dirt over what could possibly be egg clutches. They're also known to perch atop hills, rock outcroppings, and boulders surveying the landscape.

Biology
Deathclaws are the result of a pre-War experiment that involved creating a mutation of the Jackson's chameleon, along with several other species, to use as weapons on the battlefield. They are strong, agile predators that will attack the player character on sight. Their long and sharp claws are capable of inflicting great amounts of damage on the player character, oftentimes deadly (hence their name).

Gameplay attributes
Deathclaws have a very high amount of health for creatures of their level and are incredibly resistant to most damage types, particularly energy damage. Their versatile combat style makes them a hefty opponent even if they are lower level. When aggravated, they will initiate combat by roaring and stomping the ground, causing a shockwave.

While they predominantly use their namesake claws for dealing damage, they may also headbutt their foes to stagger them. Their power attack comes in the form of a wide-swinging claw slash which deals significant damage.

Deathclaws have the ability to instantly kill the Sole Survivor or other humanoids, by grappling their victim by the neck and shoving its claws through their torso. This maneuver only occurs when the Sole Survivor has low enough health, although this is relative - higher percentages of health at low level can still result in the instant-kill attack, but at higher levels it may not occur until the player has very low health. Other times, the deathclaw may pick up the player and slam them into the ground forcibly, causing moderate damage. The instant kill can also be nullified by wearing any type of power armor. Instead, the deathclaw will grab the Sole Survivor and stagger them, draining their AP completely. A deathclaw will also toss sand into the air to provide a brief distraction.

The deathclaws have a substantial level of natural armor and are resistant to damage on their dark, scaled parts, leaving the belly as a weak spot which takes increased damage - however, due to their hunched posture, this is difficult to hit. Although the Penetrator perk allows the Sole Survivor to hit the deathclaw anywhere while using the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System, this works by shooting through the deathclaw like it is a solid object. They can dodge gunshots and zigzag while charging the shooter, making them even harder to hit. Due to the majority of their limbs being heavily scaled, they are difficult to cripple compared to the body or head. As with most enemies, crippling the legs will cause it to move significantly slower.

Their model size makes them ungainly in uneven ground, which can be used against them. Their inability to climb or jump (aside from scripted events such as in Concord) renders their close-combat style useless if attacked from high enough ground, and if they are unable to travel certain terrain such as jumping up on a rock, they will flee until their target is on level ground again. Many of their attacks can also be avoided by keeping a constant pace, which allows the player to simply outrun their claw strikes.

Variants
The variants that can be encountered are based on level. Different variations become increasingly more common with higher levels. For example, where one might expect to encounter a normal deathclaw, they might encounter an alpha deathclaw once they pass a certain level. The higher the player's level, the more chance of the next difficulty of deathclaw to spawn in its place. Scripted encounters, such as on top of Haymarket Mall and at Lynn Woods, have a higher chance of spawning a next-stage deathclaw than randomly encountered wasteland ones.

Deathclaw
Normal deathclaws, defaulted to level 22, are highly dangerous for those poorly leveled and still present a challenge at higher levels. Deathclaws will charge the target while defending their weak belly with their head making it difficult to land a shot to the weak spot even in V.A.T.S.

Alpha deathclaw
An alpha deathclaw can be encountered by flipping the breaker at the top of the tower in Lynn Woods and the roof of Haymarket Mall (two may spawn on the roof). They may also be encountered in the Glowing Sea and west of Natick Banks. Alpha deathclaws have horns that spread foward and up, while a regular deathclaw is forward and down. Alpha Deathclaws also have rust-coloured skin.

Glowing deathclaw
The glowing deathclaw is a highly irradiated version of a deathclaw. A green light emits from the skin between their scales, and they inflict radiation damage on top of their massive ballistic damage. They can start spawning in as low as level 25, replacing several randomly-encountered deathclaws including those above Haymarket Mall and Robotics Pioneer Park.

Deathclaw matriarch
Matriarchs have less health than an alpha, but more than a normal deathclaw. Their horns curve out and down, compared to the alpha's forward and up. They start to appear when the player is around level 35, and will replace some randomly encountered deathclaws in the wasteland.

Savage deathclaw
A scripted Savage Deathclaw may be found in the Museum of Witchcraft. This event is leveled and part of a side mission. The Sole Survivor can choose to fight but can also run away or sneak through it. If the player has a high enough level, they may encounter Savage Deathclaws in random encounters, such as within the Glowing Sea or near Natick Banks. A Savage Deathclaw is probably a Deathclaw Matriarch with a broken horn. This can be proven by both of them having the same colour skin, the yellow lines on their body and the spread out horn.

Albino deathclaw
The albino deathclaw is a pale version of the deathclaw, with more health, that can be encountered after reaching level 71. This deathclaw type's high health can make it a worthy adversary and it will only lose 1/4 of its health from a shot from the mysterious stranger.

Chameleon deathclaw
The chameleon deathclaw will begin to spawn at Level 81. Its default color is a slightly more sandy tone of a regular deathclaw, but when aggravated, it will display vibrant colors depending on its movements in battle. It flickers between gray and acid green, red, and orange and teal. When killed, its body retains the last color it was displaying.

Mythic deathclaw
Mythic deathclaws are the highest non-legendary tier of all deathclaw variants and can be encountered starting from level 91, although on rare occasions they can be encountered from level 75 onwards. These deathclaws level with the player, so the skull display on their name never goes away and renders them immune to the Wasteland Whisperer perk.

Locations
Deathclaws can be encountered anywhere in the Commonwealth, but some locations are more frequent deathclaw hunting grounds than others. Below is a list of possible deathclaw locations.
 * A scripted deathclaw encounter in Concord during the When Freedom Calls quest, after obtaining the T-45 power armor. It is probably the first Deathclaw players will ever meet in the game.
 * All over the Commonwealth as random encounters, including possible attacks on any owned settlement.
 * As a common enemy in the Glowing Sea:
 * Two found around the northernmost cave, one near the ruins of a Red Rocket building, the other asleep above the cave, near a broken part of highway.
 * One found around the southern cave.
 * On the top of a hill south of the Capsized factory
 * Outside the Rocky cave, asleep.
 * In the lower level of the Parking garage
 * Near the Forgotten church
 * A leveled deathclaw is scripted to appear at Garden Terrace on the roof of Haymarket Mall (sometimes a bug will occur preventing the deathclaw from jumping onto the terrace, so it will remain glitched onto the side of the mall, until the player attacks it).
 * Two random encounters can be triggered by throwing the switch on top of the tower in Lynn Woods. This can be repeated every few days once the area has respawned.
 * One can be found guarding the entrance to Old Gullet sinkhole. A random bug appears to make this deathclaw passive unless attacked, but it may be aggressive if encountered in a different game.
 * A scripted deathclaw can be encountered in the Museum of Witchcraft.
 * A scripted deathclaw can be found in a tunnel off the gym area in the Boston mayoral shelter.
 * A scripted deathclaw can be encountered at the bottom level of the Kendall Hospital.
 * Two deathclaws can be found west of Natick Banks, by a few satellite dishes, fighting a behemoth. A leveled deathclaw can be found lurking around an abandoned garage with a tanker on the side of the building, a normal deathclaw can be found on the farm just up the road from the Matriarch, and one or two leveled deathclaws may be found around the church, fighting a group of leveled super mutants (depending on if the mutants were killed, prior to the player's arrival)
 * One can be found in the Robotics Pioneer Park, inside the first house from the fast travel point.
 * On occasion a leveled deathclaw may spawn on the rocks prior to entering the Edge of the Glowing Sea.
 * One can be found east of The Slog near a bus on the overhead road. You can see it from the snack bar if you look towards the road to the east at the bus. It will come down and through the water towards you if you shoot at it.
 * One can be found in a rock formation close to Coastal cottage, wandering around a couple of yao guai corpses.

Appearances
Deathclaws appear in Fallout 4 and its add-on, Far Harbor.

Behind the scenes
The deathclaw model was made by Jonah Lobe.