Lobster Man

Statistics

TUs:               56-112
Health:            90-125
Energy:            90-148
Reactions:         60-108
Strength:          70-86
Bravery:           80-90
Firing Accuracy:   21-87
Throwing Accuracy: 62
M.C. Skill:        N/A
M.C. Strength:     35-62

Armor:

Front:             8-24 (Soldier, Squad, Tech & Navig.)
                   8-26 (Commander)
L/R:               8-24 (Soldier, Squad, Tech & Navig.)
                   8-26 (Commander)
Rear:              6-18 (Soldier, Squad)
                   7-21 (Tech, Navig.)
                   8-24 (Commander
Under:             4-12 (Soldier, Squad, Tech & Navig.)
                   4-14 (Commander)

Live Specimen

This is a staggering creature, taller than a man and boasting six limbs, it resembles nothing more than an aquatic Demon. The similarities between this creature and the Earth lobster have earned it the nickname of Lobsterman with the X-Com troops.

This is a behemoth of the deep. A carefully designed fighting creature of incredible strength and practically invulnerable to missile fire. Its pincers alone can crush steel.

Note: Actually, it resembles nothing more than an oversized walking lobster.

Autopsy

Once past its virtually indestructible shell the creature is an amazing construction. Powerful muscles ripple around a titanium skeleton, a sophisticated targeting system with multi-band scanning ability is hooked directly into the creature's brain. Its multiple eyes are protected by harder than steel plastics and it is clear that when well deployed by their masters these creatures are all but unstoppable.

Buried deep in its body are devices of unknown construction and function.

General Information

Big meaty claws and an accursedly thick carapace immune to most of your starting weapons, and that includes the Sonic Cannon. Agents have emptied entire clips at them and hardly dented the shell. Fearsome, but...

There are talk of soldiers which eat hearty after Lobsterman encounters. Individuals questioned always deny allegations, but many bases which are close to frequent lobsterman activity sites have been known to stock condiments normally associated with lobster dinners.

On a related note, bases in the region of Japan are famous for "misplacing" Xarquid corpses. A new form of sushi from the mollusk family has also recently appeared in the area. DNA tests and investigations are pending.

Lobsterman (singular)
Lobstermen (plural)

Note: There are no Lobsterwomen.

Tactics

The Lobsterman threat was finally countered by a desperate but effective strategy: melee combat with power tools.

• Melee with Thermal Tazer.

The first time I faced a Lobsterman, practically nothing in my arsenal could so much as dent him. And I think I was playing on easy.

Later, I realized that the humble freeze rod is a stun weapon and thus effective on them. Which is great, since you won't get to research those drills until LATE in the game. (you only get 10% bonus from stun type, rod doesn't do melee type damage) - Jasonred

• Melee with Vibro Blade or Thermic Lance. "Hot-knife-through-butter" comes to mind. Mmm, melted butter and lobster...
• The best non-nuke ranged weapon against Lobstermen is the Thermal Shok Launcher. Don't forget to drop a grenade on the sleeping seafood if you don't want them meleeing you to death when they wake up.
• Other ranged weapons are very ineffective against Lobstermen. Three or four shots from a Sonic Cannon might only stun them.
• If coming up against an unexpected Lobsterman (as in, a random Small spacecraft with a few Lobstermen in it, earlier in the game than expected) and you are not prepared, it is advisable to abort the mission. (You will lose many. I have lost 4 rookies to a Lobsterman before.) If you HAVE to kill it, remember to bring freeze rods.

As default, a Lobsterman receives some large defensive bonuses. Most importantly, damage from Sonic weapons is reduced by 50%, Gauss weapons and explosives by 70%, and the humble armour-piercing round is reduced by 80%. However, Lobstermen take double damage from drills, and 10% extra from stun (including stun rods)

They are not capable of Molecular Control and only have average MC resistance.

See Also

• Alien Life Forms
• Overviews of Aliens
• Bio-Drone
• Tentaculat