Skag

=Appearance=

A Skag is a dog-like creature with strong bony armor plates and a weak head/mouth area. They are aggressive carnivorous natives of Pandora.

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.

Skags are quadrupeds with large front legs. They have powerful front claws and a large mouth that opens vertically. 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).

=Gameplay=

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 (and randomly, it seems) open their mouths to roar. 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 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 and even with you attacking.

=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.

Tactics: Point, shoot, repeat.

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.

Tactics: Similar to the strategy for Skag Pups. If you are having trouble, try walking backwards while shooting at them, dodging to one side or the other to avoid their leaping attacks.

Upon beginning a second playthrough, Skag Whelps will be replaced by the more powerful Angry Skag Whelps

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 characters.

Tactics: Adult skags are amongst the first skags that begin to get dangerous enough to kill you. To kill them, you should to run circles while attacking them, as they will leap at you, dealing a large amount of damage and sending you flying.

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.

Tactics: Either run towards it and beat it down with melee or shoot it. Either works due to their low health.

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

Tactics: 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. They tend to run towards you and either spit a glob of acid or leap at you. To combat this, run in circles, avoiding other skags and shooting at the elder. If you have a decent gun and/or build, elder skags tend to go down quickly.

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.

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.

Tactics: The best strategy for fighting alpha skags is either going after their unarmored lower body and legs with a rapid fire weapon (SMG, combat rifle, etc.) or attempting a mouth shot during a roar with a high damage weapon such as a revolver or sniper. The key to fighting skags is running in circles, but this especially important for alpha skags, as they have relatively fast, high powered attacks.

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

Tactics: Badass Skags are much like a larger, stronger version of an Alpha Skag. Circling and aiming for the back and mouth are important things to remember when fighting Badass Skags. Being careful to avoid it's elemental attacks and focusing your fire on its weak spots can make the difference between success and failure.

Skagzilla
Skagzilla is an enormous skag (the largest in the game) that can be fought in the Dahl Headlands. The main problem when fighting Skagzilla is not his attacks, which are relatively slow and low-powered, but his massive health and defense. You WILL NEED a massive amount of ammo to fight Skagzilla, who is generally only dangerous if you're forced into melee due to lack of bullets.

Tactics: Avoid melee, leaping attacks and acid globs by constantly moving and maintaining spatial awareness. Keep shooting for the lower legs, lower body, and mouth. Don't die.

=Skag Piles=

Throughout Pandora the player can find skag piles, the regurgitated bones (among other items) of unfortunate travelers or bandits. thumb|right|198px|Skag hunting 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.

=History=

Skags are simply an indigenous life of Pandora. 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. Tannis describes the hungry awakening of the Skags in one of her audio logs, and its disastrous results begin her downward spiral.