Forum:Crawmerax the Invincible/Tactics

I've been working on this comprehensive strategy article for Crawmerax for a couple of weeks. Take a look and tell me what you think. ZoeyMithra 05:37, May 6, 2010 (UTC)

Torgue Cobra flavor text. I will be taking this on as a major write-up, so be warned that it might not have any resemblance to its original form once I'm done. Revert anything as you see fit. --Nagamarky 08:58, May 6, 2010 (UTC)

Edit summary. I've removed the class-specificity from some sections, as how to play a class is still up to players themselves. --Nagamarky 10:14, May 6, 2010 (UTC)

What happened to the detailed descriptions of the various blind spots around the battlefield? ZoeyMithra 23:20, May 6, 2010 (UTC)
 * The only true blind spot that deactivates AI is the left ledge corner. The pillars only block line of sight, and already mentioned somewhere down there. --Nagamarky 05:21, May 7, 2010 (UTC)

I know of two ledge areas at least that will stop Crawmerax from moving towards you. Do they both count?
 * As far as I know, only the left corner is a blind spot. Where is the other? --Nagamarky 16:49, May 12, 2010 (UTC)

Overview
There are many techniques to defeat Crawmerax but there are only two distinct requirements:
 * You must be on the battlefield, i.e. the arena at the top floor.
 * You must have one person on the battlefield at the top of the elevator. If everyone dies and respawns Crawmerax regains all his health.

Criticals
You must destroy his six critical points to damage him; any impacts on his exoskeleton will not deal any damage.


 * Eye: The hitbox of the eye extends to the majority of the head section, making this the easiest critical point to take out.
 * If Crawmerax cannot see you because you are in a blind spot, shooting him will cause him to turn - and usually, advance - in your direction. This can be used to draw fire away from a teammate in danger, or reviving another.
 * When aiming for the eye from the side, or even at a slight angle, the hitboxes of the antennae will block your shot, so aim for the rest of the head and hope for a hit.


 * Claws: The criticals at the back of Crawmerax's four claws - two smaller, two larger ones - are the easiest to hit, second only to the eye.
 * Taking out any critical point will aggravate Crawmerax and cause him to roar in his position, as is usually seen. During the better part of each half of the roar, the critical points behind the claws are exposed from all directions, and can be taken out easier.
 * When firing from the front, the joints of each claw will occasionally allow for a hit, so open fire on his joints if you are out of open targets.


 * Back: The critical point at the dorsal region of the back is the hardest to hit especially on singleplayer, as Crawmerax will usually be advancing towards you. The most convenient way to take out the back critical is to wait for one of Crawmerax's major attacks.
 * The forward dive will burrow him underground, and coming up again at a (seemingly-)random location. If you are lucky, and your sights are trained on his marker on the enemy tracker, you can get off a few shots if he emerges facing away from you.
 * The backward dive will knock you up and deal extreme damage, but he will always emerge in the direction he was facing when he dived. Hiding behind either of the two pillars or using Lilith's phasewalk will prevent you from being hit by the shockwave, and preempting the rise back up will allow you a few seconds of shooting when he recovers from the dive.
 * The lunges and acid barrage will always point him in the direction he is attacking, so teammates without the aggro can shoot from behind.

Weapons for Crawmerax
Given enough time and with enough luck, any weapon of sufficient standard will kill Crawmerax. Here are some weapons of choice.

Sniper Rifles

 * S&S Orion
 * With lightning rounds that split into three or four upon ricochet, the Orion is used when you don't have a clean shot and are hoping for a lucky break, e.g. shooting through claw joints or past the antennae hitboxes.


 * Jakobs Bessie
 * Dealing +500% critical hit damage but at a very slow fire rate, the Bessie is used when you don't have aggro, e.g. safe spots or during a teammate's aggro. With points invested into the right skills, and armed with the right class mod, the Bessie is the only weapon able to take out critical points in one hit.

Rocket Launchers

 * Hyperion Nidhogg
 * The airburst rockets are very useful when attempting to take out the back critical blocked by the frontal armor, and the Nidhogg is a popular choice when firing from the front. The small rockets fire downwards and eitehr hit the back critical directly, or deal splash damage off the spines or back armor.


 * Vladof Mongol
 * Marginally useful for any critical but losing out to the Nidhogg for back shots, the Mongol's shotgun effect may even hit more than one critical point with the same shot.

Submachine Guns

 * Maliwan Tsunami
 * Shock bullets which ricochet are more effective than normal rounds which don't, especially with harder-to-hit criticals; the Tsunami can and will deliver at up to a 12.5 fire rate.


 * Double Anarchy
 * When normal rounds are not good enough, fire four of them per trigger pull and you're bound to hit something. Once you have Crawmerax in your crosshairs, opening up on him always gets criticals and emptying all of the Anarchy's ENGORGEd clip will drain a significant amount of health, when presented with enough targets.

Support Machineguns

 * The Chopper
 * Very much a last-resort weapon, The Chopper will chew through your entire combat rifle ammo bank in seconds, even in one clip on a mag-spec soldier. But the multiple projectiles and insane fire rate will net you an abundace of criticals.

Crawmerax strategy
Once again, it all depends on your personal playing style, so do what works for you. Lilith has the greatest advantage with Phasewalk, and makes these strategies even more effective; Roland's Scorpio Turret may also prove helpful by taking aggro.

Safe spots

 * The cliff edge is a risky place to get to and stay on, especially with minions pushing you off every chance they get. You are safe from Crawmerax's dives and lunges, but not the acid barrage.
 * With Crawmerax looking away, at a teammate or after phasewalking, taking cover behind the pillars releases your aggro and gives you a better chance to heal up, as you would only have to face the minions in your immediate proximity. Crawmerax cannot see you through the pillar, so looking out slightly may allow you to get a few shots at his back before he turns around.
 * It is possible to stand on the pillars or even the arena wall by exploiting launches. Anticipating a backward dive or jumping as the elevator pushes you through the red energy field may launch you high enough into the air and at the correct angle to land on an elevated area, and you will be protected against everything save for the acid barrage.

Blind spot

 * The left corner of the ledge is a blind spot for Crawmerax and his minions; the AI will deactivate and you can shoot at your own leisure. This is provided none of the enemies actually sees you heading into the corner itself, as the AI elements can and will pursue you if you get to the extreme corner while they are locked on to you.

Kiting
Run circles around everything and shoot them. Use the pillars for cover or as obstacles - hopefully in your favor. When playing with others, avoid inadvertently leading Crawmerax to a teammate at risk or reviving. Instead, keep firing and draw fire away from your teammates to allow them a better shot.

Weapons for minions
Other than explosive rounds, which are relatively ineffective in this case, each of Crawmerax's three species of minions are weak to one of the other three elements:

Green Craw Worms - incendiary

 * Maliwan Hellfire
 * Basic x2 multiplier and insane damage over time, the latter of which is also extremely useful for second winds or setting up for one.


 * Maliwan Volcano
 * Scoring a critical is a one-shot kill, and is not very difficult when scoped.

Armored Craw Worms - corrosive

 * Maliwan Defiler
 * High proc damage and accurate delivery of raw power.


 * S&S Serpens
 * Good rate of fire dealing moderate damage, with an extended magazine for sustained corrosion.


 * Maliwan Plague
 * Relative rate of fire and raw damage are better than average.

Craw Maggots - shock

 * Atlas Aries
 * 100% elemental chance that heals you or your teammates.


 * S&S Orion
 * 100% elemental chance, even more effective upon ricochet. And you might not even have to change weapon to target Crawmerax.

Minion strategy
All minions have a ranged attack that won't kill you, but will take you to negligible health quickly, meaning that subsequent attacks will kill you immediately. Minions are also your biggest threat in the blind spot, or in any safe spot for that matter.

Green Craw Worms
Strafe their ranged attacks, and jump over their melee attacks.

Armored Craw Worms
The Armored Craw Worms only have a melee attack, but physically are the toughest of the minions. Jumping over them to dodge their melee is more difficult, due to their larger size.

Craw Maggots
Craw Maggots are extremely fast, and close in quickly to melee. They always travel upright so you can't jump over them like you can with the other minions, but when they jump for a lunge, you may be able to crouch and avoid it, especially from a lower position like the cliff edge. Also, strafe their ranged attacks.

Class Mods
By the same logic as weapon setups go, any class mod which suits your playing style will benefit you more than conforming to a popular one which you are less familiar with.

Phasewalk cooldown

 * Lilith: Catalyst

Drop rate
Shnuke and I have done some testing that seems to indicate that + find rare items is only needed to be equipped when you zone into a zone. ZoeyMithra 20:02, May 7, 2010 (UTC)
 * Lilith: Catalyst
 * Mordecai: Scavenger, Hunter

Survival capacity

 * Lilith: Defender, Dahl Professional
 * Roland: Tactician, Atlas Champion, S&S Gunman
 * Mordecai: Survivor, Truxican Wrestler, Anshin Peace Keeper
 * Brick: Centurion, Titan, Torgue Bad Ass, Pangolin Tank

Elemental

 * Lilith: Tormentor, Mercenary, Tempest/Firefly/Plaguebearer, Maliwan Specialist
 * Roland: Shock Trooper
 * Mordecai: Assassin

Sniping for criticals

 * Lilith: Spectre
 * Mordecai: Sniper, Ranger