Mirelurk (Fallout 4)

A mirelurk is a creature

Gameplay attributes
Mirelurks will bury themselves in dirt or mud, with the only visual indication that they are present is the rounded backs of their shells, which resemble large, smooth rocks from a distance. They can also submerge themselves underwater when needed. V.A.T.S. will be able to detect them from a distance when used.

Glowing mirelurks also deal radiation damage when in close quarters. Melee weapons with the legendary modifiers "penetrating" (attacks ignore 30% of enemy's damage resistance) and "exterminator" (specific bonus damage to mirelurks) are very useful against them. All mirelurk variants have a chance to be pacified through the Wasteland Whisperer perk.

Mirelurk hatchling
The mirelurk queen can spawn several hatchlings to attack the player character. Their overall combat strength is practically identical to radroaches.

Mirelurk spawn
A few can be found at the bottom floor of the Massachusetts State House.

Nukalurk spawn
It shares the same appearance as a mirelurk spawn, with the exception of its blue glow.

Softshell mirelurk
Weak, green mirelurks encountered at low levels and can be seen mixed in with stronger mirelurks at higher levels. Their meat provides more health when cooked than normal mirelurk meat.

Mirelurk
The standard variant of mirelurk. Darker in appearance than softshell mirelurks, it is also more resilient and deals more damage per hit. It's stronger than the first variant.

Mirelurk razorclaw
A more powerful variant of the mirelurk that may be encountered commonly as the player character levels up.

Mirelurk killclaw
A powerful type of mirelurk that can be encountered in any mirelurk-infested area, such as Salem, if the player character's level is high enough. It is much more resilient than the razorclaw, and is more powerful in combat.

Glowing mirelurk
An irradiated variant of the mirelurk which is increasingly encountered as the player character levels up. Glowing mirelurks inflict radiation damage on top of the ballistic damage.

Nukalurk
Nukalurks make a return in the Nuka-World add-on. They mutated from regular mirelurks living in the river of Nuka-Cola Quantum that is part of the World of Refreshment attraction.

Bloodrage mirelurk
The most powerful type of the base mirelurk genus in terms of both resistances and damage potential, Bloodrage mirelurks were added to the game with the Far Harbor add-on.

Mirelurk queen
The mirelurk queen is a rarely seen mirelurk variant, considerably larger and more dangerous than her offspring, and inflicts significantly more physical and radiation damage on the player character. Her arrival is announced with a great roar. In addition to her claws, she possesses a ranged acidic spit attack.

One occupies the Castle and is fought when the Minutemen retake it. Destroying its eggs prior to acquiring Taking Independence also causes her to become enraged and fight.

Another occupies the Murkwater construction site. Other spawn locations are Nahant Chapel, southeast of coastal cottage, Spectacle Island, Massachusetts State House, Recon bunker Theta, west of Salem, the beach southeast of the Revere Beach station, and at a beached fishing boat southeast of Poseidon Energy.

The Island is home to several mirelurk queens as well. One has its nest at the bottom of Northwood Ridge Quarry, another one plays a role in the Rite of Passage quest.

A mirelurk queen may also occupy the east dig site of Vault 88 when finding the Vault-Tec water pump in the Vault-Tec Workshop add-on. One can also be found at Northpoint reservoir (killing all the mirelurks here will spawn a mirelurk queen) in Nuka-World and southeast of Grandchester Mystery Mansion.

Mirelurk queens are considered giant creatures in-game, therefore, killing them counts towards the achievement ...The Harder They Fall.

Nukalurk queen
The Nukalurk queen can only be found outside the Nuka-Cola bottling plant. She is a unique version of the mirelurk queen and has a blue glow due to the strontium isotope from Nuka-Cola Quantum. She has a large health pool, but when the player character finally kills her she drops queen Nukalurk meat.

Mirelurk hunter
They are significantly more resilient than regular mirelurks and gain the ability to spit acid at its enemies, as well as more powerful attacks. A few can be found at Spectacle Island, and others may spawn in the tunnels during The Big Dig.

Glowing mirelurk hunter
An extremely irradiated variation of the mirelurk hunter that glows. Glowing mirelurk hunters deal additional radiation damage when attacking the player character.

Albino mirelurk hunter
Mirelurk hunters that have been born afflicted with albinism, giving them a distinguishable pinkish-white skin color signature to albino creatures. While their attacks are indifferent from that of a regular mirelurk hunter, they are protected by higher resistances.

Nukalurk hunter
A mirelurk hunter that has absorbed great amounts of Nuka-Cola Quantum, making their shells glow blue. They behave identically to a normal mirelurk hunter.

Appearances
Mirelurks appear in Fallout 4 and its add-ons Far Harbor and Nuka-World.

Behind the scenes

 * The mirelurk model was created by Jonah Lobe. Lobe stated that Garthim from the movie The Dark Crystal was a major inspiration to their design.
 * The mirelurk queen was added late into development, creating another large enemy to encounter, specifically for the coastal regions of the Commonwealth.