Nightstalker

Nightstalkers, or night stalkers, are creatures living in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281.

Biology
Nightstalkers are the creations of Dr. Borous of Big MT, genetic hybrids of rattlesnake and coyote DNA. They growl, howl, and whimper like regular coyotes, but hiss and rattle like snakes. Their bodies are mostly dog-like, covered in a combination of fur and scales. Their head and tail are that of a rattlesnake, including fangs and a forked tongue. A nightstalker's right eye is blue with a round pupil, while the left eye is yellow with an elliptical pupil, like a rattlesnake's. They lay eggs, used to prepare mushroom clouds, like reptiles and their blood is prized as an ingredient in antivenom and hydra.

Nightstalkers nest in caves across the Mojave Wasteland and can be found both inside the cave or in the nearby area, behaviors they share with coyotes. Packs of nightstalkers can be frequently seen hunting at night east of Morning Star cavern near the nest with the radscorpion queen, south of the Broc Flower Cave, and northwest of the Cap Counterfeiting Shack. Nightstalkers' original breeding ground is the Z-9 Crotalus DNA preservation lab, located in the Big MT.

Gameplay attributes
When they detect the player they strike with a leaping attack and a venomous bite or snap at the player without leaping. While the venom is not as potent as their main competition (the cazador), it can be a problem if multiple bites are received and untreated.


 * Coping with the poison
 * Endurance, antivenom
 * Datura antivenom, blood shield, Tribal Wisdom
 * Heartless, Cardiac Arrest

They can pose a particular threat in low visibility, at night (when they are active) or in caverns. Carrying Cateye, Ghost Sight, or Nuka-Cola Quartz is advisable when fighting them in low-visibility conditions. They are especially dangerous inside their dens; packs are usually large in numbers, and twisting corridors make it difficult to detect exactly where they are.

Nightstalkers found in Charleston cave and the lower level of the X-13 testing facility have the ability to cloak, making them especially dangerous. The ones in Charleston cave gained this ability from chewing on a Stealth Boy (found on a dead nightkin at the end of the cave), while the ones in the X-13 testing facility naturally have this ability. As with any other cloaked enemy, these nightstalkers can only be targeted in V.A.T.S. with the Enhanced Sensors companion perk provided by ED-E. Fighting without ED-E can be done by free-aiming at the light distortion around the cloaked nightstalker, similar to the appearance of a cloaked nightkin. The recommended solution, however, is to lay mines, and then get their attention. The mines will not be fooled by their cloaking.

Nightstalker packs can be found in:
 * Bloodborne cave
 * Charleston cave
 * Morning Star cavern
 * Walking Box Cavern
 * Great Khan supply cave
 * Z-9 Crotalus DNA Preservation Lab

Nightstalker
Nightstalkers are the size of coyotes with a canine body but the head and tail of a rattlesnake. Nightstalkers nest and hunt in packs and are found in or near their cave nests.

Legendary night stalker
The legendary night stalker is a very large and strong nightstalker found in Bloodborne cave, west of Bitter Springs. In appearance it is visually identical to standard nightstalkers and differs only in size, being about the size of a bighorner. It is normally encountered in a pack with several regular nightstalkers and can kill a low level character in seconds.

It has the least amount of health out of all of the legendary creatures, but can kill a player under level 20 with about two to three bites. It is also the only legendary creature in the game that can be friendly towards the player, if the player has acquired the Animal Friend perk.

Young night stalker
In appearance, young night stalkers are visually identical to fully grown night stalkers but are smaller in size and have weaker attacks. Although relatively weak, they are a nuisance when fought in groups of other young night stalkers and their fully grown brethren.

Den mother
In some nightstalker nests, such as Morning Star cavern, the pack will be led by a den mother, a slightly larger female nightstalker with a stronger attack who looks after the young.

Shadis


Shadis is a unique and very strong nightstalker living in Big MT's Z-9 Crotalus DNA preservation lab in 2281. Shadis guards the Auto-Doc Upgrade: Implant Y-3 item.

Related quests

 * Bleed Me Dry
 * Guess Who I Saw Today
 * Fight Night - Up to three nightstalkers can be challenged in the arena at The Thorn.

Appearances
Nightstalker appear only in Fallout: New Vegas and its add-on Old World Blues.

Bugs

 * Walking through the Mojave Wasteland, it is possible that the player may see a nightstalker with several heads and legs. This is actually a bug in the respawn. It happens when several spawn in the same place, resulting in a number of nightstalker models within each other and bound in place. Because they cannot walk they can easily be killed.
 * The legendary nightstalker may become stuck in the floor of the cave near the egg pile, this makes it very easy to kill as it can not attack.
 * Sometimes while encountering a nightstalker, they will randomly die.
 * While engaging nightstalkers via V.A.T.S. mode with the brush gun in Old World Blues all your shots may miss, even with the Guns skill at 100.
 * Attempting to aim at the nightstalker's head (in realtime or V.A.T.S.) often results in your shots missing. Possibly there is something off with the nightstalker's collision/hit detection around its head, similar to what happens with evolved centaurs. For best results (and to avoid all of your shots missing in V.A.T.S.), target the body instead.

Gallery
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