Deathclaw (Fallout 3)

Deathclaws are creatures living in the Capital Wasteland in 2277. They are a large, agile, and strong species of mutant Jackson's Chameleon and are far more common in the Capital Wasteland than the west coast despite the more desolate, barren and desert-like wasteland.

Gameplay attributes
Deathclaws are arguably the most powerful and frightening creature in the game. Unless the Lone Wanderer is a high level, they will have a hard time fighting one. Fortunately, deathclaws are arranged in sparse areas around the Capital Wasteland, so their influence on where and when you travel is limited.

Deathclaw
A regular deathclaw, with all characteristics and attributes described above.

Enclave deathclaw
Deathclaws only make appearances as Enclave camps begin to appear. Many of these camps are likely to house mind-controlled deathclaws, which are just the same as regular ones with the exception that they will not attack Enclave forces. However, as the mind-control devices on their heads can be targeted and shot, the potential to put them into a frenzy remains. Enclave Deathclaws may also be dropped off from Enclave Vertibirds along with Enclave soldiers and sentry bots.

During the quest The American Dream, a deathclaw can be seen in a cage in Raven Rock. This deathclaw has not undergone mind-control, however, and can be released from captivity with a Lockpick skill of 50. When released, it will attempt to kill anything in sight, excluding you.

During add-on Broken Steel quest Shock Value, if you receive Scribe Vallincourt's device, the Enclave deathclaws will act as temporary followers but if you go too far from the Enclave base where they were stationed, their heads will explode.

Locations

 * Random encounter locations.
 * The Deathclaw Sanctuary.
 * Old Olney.
 * The F. Scott Key Trail & Campground.
 * West of Canterbury Commons.
 * Outside, inside, and surrouunding Raven Rock.
 * Around the west side of Mason Dixon Salvage.
 * Inside a hangar and the mobile base crawler at Adams Air Force Base.
 * Outside the Regulator Headquarters (through the use of an accidental glitch.)
 * Deathclaws do not spawn inside the DC Metro area, although the Enclave may bring them in after The Waters of Life.
 * An Enclave deathclaw spawns near Dukov's Place.
 * Where ever there are Enclave camps, deathclaws are commonly found there.
 * An Enclave deathclaw spawns outside the Capitol Building.

Appearances
Deathclaws appear in Fallout 3 and its add-on Broken Steel.

Bugs

 * Deathclaws occasionally fly off into the sky in a physics engine glitch. They can still be targeted and killed in V.A.T.S. which will result in their dead body flying across a large amount of land.
 * A deathclaw may spawn inside Regulator HQ and attack everyone. It will continue to spawn in this manner after the first time this happens.
 * Sometimes when using V.A.T.S. on a deathclaw (especially with Sydney's 10mm "Ultra" SMG) the game may freeze after the first burst of shots. It will either unfreeze after a few minutes or it will stay frozen.
 * In Mothership Zeta, deathclaws can, very rarely, spawn in the Cryo Lab.