Skag

Skags are dog-like creatures with strong bony armor plates and a weak head/mouth/leg area. They are aggressive, carnivorous natives of Pandora.

Description
Indigenous to Pandora, Skags are quadrupeds with large front legs. They have powerful front claws and a large mouth that opens horizontally. Armored plates cover much of its back and head. Skags move through a mix of a gallop and a hop, drooling all the while. Skags, as well as coming in a variety of sizes and colors, can also gain elemental effects that result in a different appearance (Fire Skags have a flaming back, Corrosive Skags glow green and Shock Skags sparkle).

Now that the long winter is over, they are emerging from their hibernation, hungry and aggressive. To their delight, a new food source has moved in: humans. They regurgitate whatever they can't digest and will attempt to eat almost anything that moves. They are a common enemy of the player and appear throughout the game.

Tannis describes the hungry awakening of the Skags in one of her audio logs, and its disastrous results begin her downward spiral. thumb|right|198px|Skag hunting

General Strategy
Skags are basic mobs. Skags are inherently hostile towards players, bandits and aliens. Most attack by lunging at their target, slashing and spitting corrosive balls of goo.

Skags are well armored along their back and head, but they are not armored on their legs or underside. Their weak point is inside their mouths; a shot into their open mouths will deal critical damage. Skags will occasionally open their mouths to roar, especially if a player moves out of the skags range (they will only pursue a player for a certain distance). On large Alpha Skags especially, take advantage of these opportunities if you can to get a critical hit. Skags also open their mouths to roar when leaping, so if you are quick or lucky you can get a shot in that way. Some skags will also spit projectiles at you or breathe a cone of elemental damage. This is another opportunity for a critical hit. Skags will not always charge at first sight, they may stand their ground by staring the player down and shaking, during this time they often open their mouths giving you the opportunity to eliminate the more threating Skag of the group.

Skags charge and leap at their prey. It is a good idea to flank them, and hit their hind quarters or legs. If you're feeling brave, stand your ground until the moment the skag jumps with his mouth open to take a bite out of you. Fire and sidestep. Circling this opponent is the best way to handle him at close range.

Skags will get into fights with other enemies, especially bandits, so it may make more sense to lure a skag herd (or maybe a very difficult alpha or badass) into a bandit camp. Many times if a bandit is too far for the skag to reach, it will just sit there and watch the bandit even while you are attacking it.

Skags are very vulnerable to Incendiary attacks (with the exception of Fire-type Badasses, of course); Maliwan's Incendiary x4 Rocket Launchers are highly recommended, and will allow you to easily tackle the Circle of Death missions.

Skag Types
Skags come in a variety of sizes, each of which dictates their combat abilities.

Skag Pup
Skag Pups are the first skags you fight. They are relatively weak and are little more than a nuisance to all but the lowest level (1-4) player. They can occasionally flank the player when the player is focusing on other skags. There are no Pups on second playthrough. But on the third or Playthrough 2.5 they are called Colicy skags and are as low as level 48-49.

Skag Whelp
Skag whelps are very easy to kill, being only one step up from a skag pup. The skag whelp is a weak enemy that tends to appear well into the high levels. It's good to leave a few alive to allow you to get an easy second wind when attacked by other more powerful skags.

In Playthrough 2, Skag Whelps will be replaced by the more powerful Angry Skag Whelps, and for Playthrough 2.5 they are replaced by the Querulouse skag whelp.

Adult Skag
Adult skags are essentially a bigger skag whelp with more health, armor and attack. They are not much of a threat to higher level players, but can be encountered early in the game and are a serious threat to new players.

Adult skags are amongst the first skags that begin to get dangerous enough to kill you. They will leap at you, dealing a large amount of damage and sending you flying.

Upon beginning a second playthrough, Adult Skags will be replaced with the more powerful Feral Skags, and for Playthrough 2.5 they are called Bestial Skags.

Spitter Skag
Spitter skags are a strange, small form of skag that have a darker green coloring and an annoying tendency to hang back and spit globs of corrosive goo at enemies. Don't bother using Corrosive weapons - they're immune to corrosive damage.

They have lower health than other skags, and with a ranged attack, can be vulnerable to melee.

Upon beginning a second playthrough, Spitter Skags will be replaced by the more powerful Hawking Skags.

Presuming you go on after the second playthrough the are stated as Sputum Skags.

Elder Skag
Elder skags are the last stage in the skag growth cycle. They are some of the strongest skags in a colony and are a threat to the unprepared.

In their normal form, they are just like a slightly larger, stronger adult skag, and should be treated similarly. Be careful as they spit acid like a spitting or hawking skag at range.

Note: Similarly to the alpha skag, elder skags have armor plating on their upper body. Although it doesn't reduce damage by much, if given the chance, aim for their lower body and legs.

Upon beginning a second playthrough, Elder Skags will be replaced by the more powerful Hulking Elder Skags.

When playing a third time (Playthrough 2.5) they are renamed Stalwart Elder Skags.

Alpha Skag
Alpha Skags are some of the largest skags that can be found. They are the strongest form of skag (excluding badasses, badmuthas, elementals and skagzilla) having a large amount of health and an armored upper body. Their armored upper body reduces bullet damage to almost nothing, so shooting anywhere on the front of the alpha skag (excluding the mouth) is a complete waste of ammo and should only be attempted if going for a second wind.

Alpha skags have relatively fast, high powered attacks. Incendiary weapons are exceptionally effective.

Elemental alpha skags may be seen towards the end of the game in co-op play or in later playthroughs Do not bother shooting at them with an elemental weapon of the same type, especially in their armored sections. These skag have an additional area of affect attack where they stand on their hind legs and then stomp their front limbs down and send an elemental blast wave outwards. The Shock Hardened Alpha Skags are particularly effective at removing shields with this if you get too close.

Upon beginning a second playthrough, Alpha Skags will be replaced by the more powerful Hardened Alpha Skags.

As you continue they become Armored Alpha Skags.

Badass Skag
Badass Skags are some of the largest (apart from the boss skags such as Marley, Skagzilla or Scar) and most deadly skags. They can be easily spotted due to their large size and glowing blue eyes. They are very well armored and usually have a elemental twist to them. They can be a huge problem for lower level players, but as you approach their level and/or utilize strategic teamwork, they can become easier to manage. Remember that elemental creatures always have extreme resistance (or even immunity) to elemental attacks of their alignment.

Elemental variants include:


 * Fire - Large, flaming skags with a fire-based projectile attack.
 * Corrosive - Shoots globs of corrosive material.
 * Static - Attacks with a shocking ranged attack
 * Badass - Non-elemental skag. They have slightly higher health than elemental. They behave more like regular skags and just sprint after you with powerful melee attacks. Their shoulders are wider, and gives them a look of big armored ears.
 * Badass Alpha - Comes in the standard elemental varieties, but much rarer. They have all the advantages of being an alpha and are much harder to fight. See the alpha article above for more.
 * Badass Alpha (insert element) - Even rarer, and are extremely hard to kill. These have the alpha advantages combined with elemental traits. See above articles for more information.
 * AssKicking Skag - A very rare and randomly generated class of skag. It is unique in its damage and armor, their proportions are far different from other skags. Where most skags armor increases in proportion with their damage, the AssKicking skag's armor is relatively low, despite dealing significantly more damage than even badass alphas. It is vulnerable to elemental attacks and melee attacks. This skag tends to leap very high and very often. It has the characteristic glowing eyes of a badass skag, but seem to be randomly generated.

Being careful to avoid it's elemental attacks and focusing your fire on its weak spots can make the difference between success and failure.

Badmutha Skag
BadMutha Skags are only seen in the second playthrough, they replace the Badass Skags. They can also have elemental abilities and resistances.

These then become Superbad Skags on playthrough 2.5.

Skag Piles
Throughout Pandora the player can find skag piles, the regurgitated bones (among other items) of unfortunate travelers or bandits. These skag piles often contain helpful items, such as weapons, health packs, ammo and the occasional rare oddities. They can be activated by being shot, being melee attacked, or running up to then and pressing the pickup button.