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

When first facing Lobstermen, it may seem that no weapon in the X-Com arsenal can deal with them. The Lobsterman threat was finally countered by a desperate but effective strategy: melee combat with alien power tools.

• Melee with Thermal Tazer. Prior to acquiring alien melee technology, the humble freeze rod (Thermal Tazer), since it is a stun weapon (though not considered a melee weapon), is thus quite effective against Lobstermen. It's a useful stop-gap, since it can take some time before it's possible to research alien melee weapons.
• Sonic Pulsers offer an early opportunity to attack Lobstermen more effectively. Count on two direct hits for a good chance of a kill. Be prepared to follow up with all available direct fire weapons if the Lobsterman does not go down - his high armour levels will be reduced by the Sonic Pulser damage, making it possible to finish him off with normally ineffective weapons such as Gas Cannon - HE.
• Melee with Vibro Blade or Thermic Lance. Highly effective, once this technology is available, which unfortunately can take quite a while.
• Disruptor Pulse Launchers do not kill them outright. Lobstermen can survive a direct DPL hit. It takes two hits, or one DPL followed by a second hit with something else, such as a Sonic weapon.
• The best ranged weapon against Lobstermen (considerably more effective than 'nuking' them with a Disruptor Pulse Launcher) is the Thermal Shok Launcher, due to their vulnerability to stun damage. Don't forget to drop some kind of 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.

Notes

The following are some miscellaneous notes on the Lobster Man:

• The Lobster Man takes 0.2x damage from armor-piercing weaponry, 0.3x damage from fire, high explosives and Gauss weapons, 0.5x damage from Sonic Weapons, but 1.1x damage from Stun attacks, and 2.0x damage from melee attacks.
• High Health.
• Very high Strength.
• High Energy.
• Average Reactions.
• Is fast (high TUs).
• Average Firing and Throwing Accuracy.
• Low to Average Psi Strength.
• There are no Lobster Man Medics. Technicians will be used in their place.
• They have a marked tendency to fall unconscious instead of dying, except when killed by melee weapons.

See Also

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