Deathclaw (Fallout: New Vegas)

Deathclaws are creatures living in the Mojave Wasteland in 2281.

Gameplay attributes
Deathclaws really live up to their name in Fallout: New Vegas. The game introduces several new variations of the creature, and they are found in much larger numbers. However, unlike in Fallout 3, deathclaws are never encountered randomly, and always appear in specific locations. Most deathclaw variants are armored, making them more resilient against attacks. Their Damage Threshold is 15, equal to that of a suit of combat armor.

The largest group is found at deathclaw promontory, an unmarked location on the east side of the Colorado River, across from the cliffside prospector camp. The largest group on a marked area of the map is found in Quarry Junction, northwest of Sloan. There are two larger deathclaws called the "deathclaw alpha male" and the "deathclaw mother" as well as a number of smaller baby deathclaws and three to four deathclaw eggs.

There is also a deathclaw-filled cave by the name of Dead Wind Cavern. Here, one can find the unique legendary deathclaw, the most powerful creature in the Mojave Wasteland, along with other variants of generic deathclaws. Another location with a high number of deathclaws is the Gypsum train yard. Depending on the Courier's level, they will either be regular, young, or blind.

Deathclaw
A standard deathclaw with most of the attributes mentioned above.

Deathclaw alpha male
The deathclaw alpha male is similar to the legendary deathclaw in appearance, but with darker skin. Although not as fierce as the legendary deathclaw, they are still much faster and twice as strong as a regular deathclaw. They travel in packs with other deathclaws. One can be found at Quarry Junction, and several cluster together on the deathclaw promontory.

Deathclaw mother
Matriarchs of the deathclaw broods and mates to alpha males, deathclaw mothers are second only to the legendary deathclaw in ferocious might and can run faster than the alpha males, though they do slightly less damage and have slightly less health.

Deathclaw mothers are taller and heavier-built than regular deathclaws, with greenish-blue skin, a thick dewlap, long backwards-sweeping horns, short back-spikes, and a long tail ending in six sharp spines similar to a Stegosaurus. They lay their eggs in dark, secluded holes, and protect them fiercely. If anything kills one of their babies, deathclaw mothers will go into a blind rage, killing everything in sight that is not a deathclaw.

They can be found at Quarry Junction, the deathclaw promontory, and Dead Wind Cavern.

Deathclaw baby
Deathclaw babies are the youngest and smallest of the deathclaw species. They can be found throughout the Mojave Wasteland. While they are no real threat by themselves, they are always found following a deathclaw mother. If one of them is killed in the mother's presence, she will be driven into a frenzy. If their deathclaw mother is killed, they will simply stay near her corpse.

Young deathclaw
These immature deathclaws are about the size of a human. Their horns are not fully grown and their skin is much lighter than grown deathclaws. This makes them easy to pick out among regular deathclaws. Although normally easy to kill for higher level players, they tend to cluster near the adults.

Blind deathclaw
Blind deathclaws have a higher Perception than regular deathclaws, with the rest of their heightened senses more than making up for their lack of sight. However, their attacks are weaker. Even though they cannot see, their alertness to the presence of threats will in fact alert all other deathclaws nearby of their target's position.

This type of deathclaw can be encountered at the Gypsum train yard as well as Primm Pass and Bonnie Springs.

Legendary deathclaw
One of the most dangerous creatures in the Mojave Wasteland, the legendary deathclaw is found in Dead Wind Cavern and has distinctively long horns, a light olive coloration, and striped tails. It is also one of the largest enemies in the game (along with the X-42 giant robo-scorpion and the giant ant queen), towering over other deathclaws (themselves roughly 10 feet) with its massive 15–17 foot stature.

The legendary deathclaw also deals enormous damage (twice as much as ordinary deathclaws), and can bring down even the hardiest player character in just a few hits, all while having the third largest amount of Hit Points in the game, behind the X-42 giant robo-scorpion and the legendary bloatfly. Despite its size, the legendary deathclaw can move faster than its normal counterparts and has been known to make successful leaping attacks from great distances.

Deathclaw (Lonesome Road)
Deathclaws found in the Divide level with the Courier, increasing in power at levels 30, 40, and 50. At higher levels, they are noticeably more powerful than deathclaws from the Mojave Wasteland, with higher health and a much more damaging melee attack, surpassing even the legendary deathclaw in damage (but not in health), at maximum level.

Irradiated deathclaw (Lonesome Road)
These variants are introduced by the add-on Lonesome Road, and can only be found along the Courier's Mile and among the ruins of Hopeville. Their statistics are varied according to the Courier's level, making them very dangerous if the Courier is near the level cap. Appropriately so, irradiated deathclaws also deal radiation damage. Unlike other variants, irradiated deathclaws have zero Damage Threshold.

Related quests

 * Bleed Me Dry
 * Claws Out
 * You Gotta Break Out a Few Eggs

Notable deathclaws

 * Rawr
 * Stripe

Appearances
Deathclaws appear in Fallout: New Vegas, its add-on Lonesome Road and one in Old World Blues.

Bugs

 * In V.A.T.S., the head of a deathclaw mother seems to be its neck instead of its actual head.
 * Deathclaws do not attack the player character when they are mounted on taller rocks or machinery, even when they are in reach. (See Fallout: New Vegas exploits for more detail).
 * Sometimes, deathclaws may take several more shots to kill when their health is depleted. This appears to mostly affect young deathclaws.
 * A deathclaw may spawn in the crater at Black Mountain.
 * A deathclaw may spawn in the train tunnel between Raul's shack and the Brotherhood of Steel safehouse.