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. Here 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 these creatures is Gypsum train yard. Depending on the player character's level they will either be regular, young, or blind.
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 twice as strong as a regular deathclaw, and run much faster. They travel in packs with other deathclaws. One can be found at Quarry Junction, and several cluster together on the deathclaw promontory.
Matriarchs of the deathclaw broods, deathclaw mothers are bigger, stronger, and more aggressive than the standard deathclaw. They are second only to the legendary deathclaw in ferocious might, and equal to the Alpha male deathclaw except they sacrifice 50 points of health and 25 points of melee damage for a boost in speed. They are commonly mated with the alpha male. They are very thick-set and heavily built deathclaws with dark blue colored skin, giving them an intimidating look. Deathclaw mothers are notably the only type of deathclaw with spiked tails and horns that sweep backwards. They usually reside in dark areas near their young or their eggs, and they are more than eager to tear apart anything that the Wasteland throws at their babies.
They can be found at Quarry Junction, deathclaw promontory, and Dead Wind Cavern.
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.
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.
Contrary to the name, blind deathclaws actually have a higher Perception than regular deathclaws, making them harder to avoid due to their heightened senses. 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, despite the one that found them being blind.
This type of deathclaw can be encountered at the Gypsum train yard as well as Primm Pass and Bonnie Springs.
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 only two or three 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 huge distances.
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), when at maximum level.
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 Resistance/Threshold.
In the Old World Bluesadd-on, Higgs Village houses a miniature alpha male deathclaw called Stripe inside Gabe's doghouse if the Courier has the Wild Wasteland trait. Despite his size, Stripe is very strong.
The recent patch has made all deathclaws in the Mojave Wasteland (except those in The Thorn) as tough as the ones in Quarry Junction. As a result, non-Quarry Junction deathclaws have 500 Hit Points, compared to just 250 hit points prior to the patch. Some of the other deathclaw variants have also had their health increased (i.e. young deathclaws now have 350 Hit Points, and the legendary deathclaw's Hit Points have been increased to 1000 compared to 850 prior to the patch).
The flare gun causes abominations, such as deathclaws, to flee.
Following the recent patch, it seems deathclaws will stop respawning in certain areas. These areas include Gypsum train yard, the outskirts of Quarry Junction, as well as other locations.
Crippling their legs will both reduce deathclaws' speed to a limp and make them unable to perform their jumping attack.
Young deathclaws and baby deathclaws will run away from the Courier when severely outmatched.
Deathclaws will give up chasing the Courier when they enter deep water.
Deathclaws are able to detect the Courier while sneaking with a Stealth Boy activated from farther away, due to their high Perception.
While deathclaws are no longer randomly encountered like in Fallout 3, they have a tendency to gather in "colonies" of ten or more. If one is seen, there are likely more around.
At the southernmost part of the Colorado River, east of Techatticup Mine, there is a fairly large nest known as the deathclaw promontory. There is a large amount of deathclaws there, along with numerous deathclaw alpha males and deathclaw mothers.
Young deathclaws still drop deathclaw hands, even though their actual hands are significantly smaller than the item.
In the Lonesome Road add-on, there is a unique deathclaw called Rawr, found in a cave in the Divide canyon. Its attacks are far more damaging than its legendary counterpart, and it is much faster as well. When killed, it drops its talon, which can be crafted at a workbench into a unique deathclaw gauntlet called the Fist of Rawr (or Fist of the North Rawr with Wild Wasteland).
Oddly, a deathclaw egg can sometimes be looted off the body of a deathclaw alpha male. This is an oversight.
The deathclaws will stop chasing the Courier if they stand on a rock high enough that they cannot reach them.
Sometimes deathclaws will follow the Courier inside shacks, making it even harder to kill them.
The deathclaw mother will frenzy when one of her babies are killed, gaining a speed boost that increases her movement and attack rates to incredible levels.[citation needed]
Appearances[]
Deathclaws appear in Fallout: New Vegas, its add-onLonesome Road and one in Old World Blues.
Bugs[]
pcpcps3ps3xbox360xbox360 In V.A.T.S, the head of a deathclaw mother seems to be its neck instead of its actual head. [verified]
xbox360xbox360 Deathclaws do not attack players when they are mounted on the taller rocks or machinery, even when they are in reach. (See Fallout: New Vegas exploits for more detail). [verified]
ps3ps3xbox360xbox360 Sometimes deathclaws may take several more shots to kill when their health is depleted. This appears to mostly affect young deathclaws. [verified]
pcpcxbox360xbox360 A deathclaw may spawn in the crater at Black Mountain. [verified]
pcpcxbox360xbox360 A deathclaw may spawn in the Train tunnel between Raul's shack and the Brotherhood of Steel safehouse. [verified]
Stripe, a miniature deathclaw in Old World Blues
