Monsters are creatures which can be found on nearly all planets. Monsters can either be procedurally generated or unique, and may be either aggressive or neutral towards the player (except for critters, which are always passive). Aggressive monsters will attack on sight, but neutral monsters will only become hostile if provoked. Killing monsters will usually yield pixels and other resources.
Procedurally Generated Monsters
Many monsters that players encounter throughout the game are procedurally generated, meaning they are assembled 'randomly' from a characteristic set, like a planet. Monster attacks, physical features, and color are all assembled based on the seed of the planet, which allows coordinate sharing to include monster locations. The higher the threat is, the more powerful the monsters get.
Generated monsters are separated into classes of monsters based on three characteristics:
- Size: monsters are either large or small
- Aggression: monsters are either aggressive (attack on sight) or passive (attack only when attacked)
- Locomotion: monsters are bipedal (standing on two legs only), quadrupedal (standing on four legs), or flying (uses wings to move around)
Theoretically, 12 classes of monsters can exist based on these separate characteristics. However, large bipedal and large quadrupedal monsters are always aggressive, so there are only 10 classes of generated monsters in practice:
Flying Monsters
- Passive Small Flying Monster: 14.4 Health, 12 Melee Damage @ Tier 1
- Aggressive Small Flying Monster: 14.4 Health, 12 Melee Damage @ Tier 1
- Passive Large Flying Monster: 32.4 Health, 15 Melee Damage @ Tier 1 (can use ranged attacks)
- Aggressive Large Flying Monster: 32.4 Health, 15 Melee Damage @ Tier 1 (can use ranged attacks)
Bipedal Monsters
- Passive Small Biped: 21.6 Health, 10 Melee Damage @ Tier 1
- Aggressive Small Biped: 21.6 Health, 10 Melee Damage @ Tier 1
- Aggressive Large Biped: 33.75 Health, 15 Melee Damage @ Tier 1
Quadrupedal Monsters
- Passive Small Quadruped: 14.4 Health, 10 Melee Damage @ Tier 1
- Aggressive Small Quadruped: 14.4 Health, 10 Melee Damage @ Tier 1
- Aggressive Large Quadruped: 33.75 Health, 15 Melee Damage @ Tier 1 (only generated monster type that can drop Raw Ribs when killed with hunting weapons)
(Note: Large flying monsters used to be able to use ranged attacks; however, this functionality was removed in Version 1.2.0. Apparently this was actually a bug, however, because the ranged attacks came back in Version 1.2.2.)
Each planet that is not a Barren planet generates 1 passive small flying monster, 1 large flying monster (either passive or aggressive), 2 passive ground creatures (passive small bipeds and quadrupeds), 3 night terrors (aggressive small flying creatures and aggressive large bipeds and quadrupeds), and 2 aggressive ground creatures (aggressive small bipeds and quadrupeds) for use in its various regions. Most surface biomes use all of the generated monsters except for the large flying creature (which only appears in the planet's atmosphere layer); however, Garden surface biomes do not use any aggressive ground creatures, and they only use 2 night terrors, 1 passive small flying creature, and 1 passive ground creature.
If the planet in question is an Ocean, Toxic or Arctic planet, it also generates Fish to populate its liquid layer. Some of the small fish are unique critters, but other small fish and both passive and aggressive large fish are procedurally generated in a similar manner to ground and flying monsters. Large fish have 32.4 health and deal 15 damage at tier 1.
Due to night terrors appearing to harass the player, surface traversal is much more difficult at night, forcing unprepared players to seek protection when the sun begins to set.[1]
Unique Monsters
Unique monsters are those that are pre-designed rather than being made through the procedural generation engine. They can be found on planets, specific to biomes or dungeons, as part of quests, as bosses or as boss minions.
Many unique monsters award progress toward the Pets Collection after being captured in a Capture Pod. These monsters have their collection entry number listed below.
In update 1.4 recolored rare variants of almost all Collection monsters were added. These rare monsters appear in bounty missions and have a very rare chance to appear in the wild. Capturing these monsters earns progress towards the Rare Pets Collection.
Biome Monsters
Biome monsters are only found in specific planetary biomes. They spawn alongside other procedurally generated monsters, so finding a biome does not necessarily mean the monster will be there. Many of these monsters are found in more than one biome.
Mini Biome Monsters
Mini Biome monsters are only found specific mini biomes. They spawn alongside other procedurally generated monsters, so finding a mini biome does not necessarily mean the monster will be there. These monsters are unique to these biomes and are not found anywhere else.
Dungeon Monsters
Dungeon monsters are aggressive monsters found inside dungeons and microdungeons. Many enemies in dungeons are NPCs, there aren't procedurally generated monsters. These monsters can only be found in their corresponding dungeons.
Farm Animals
Farm Animals are a type of unique monster hatched from eggs purchased at Terramart. They allow players to harvest monster drop materials without killing any creatures. Each egg type hatches a different animals, each with unique resources for harvest. These animals cannot be captured, and can be killed by lava and monsters.
Space Monsters
Space monsters are monsters which are designed to operate in zero gravity space encounters. These monsters were added in update 1.3.0, and none are captureable using Capture Pods.
Most of these monsters are best countered with mechs.
Disabled Monsters
| These monsters were either in game at one time and removed or exist in the assets but have not yet been implemented. They may or may not be added back in the future.
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Unique Monster Table
| This table breaks down major details of each unique monster including known locations, base damage and HP (before level multiplier).
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Bosses are very powerful enemies that require skill and strategy to defeat. They come in two types;
- Sub-Bosses (Procedurally generated) - Sub-bosses will appear on planets and in dungeons and will be different based on the location the player encounters them in. This type of boss drops unique equipment.
- Bosses (Premade) - Premade Bosses will be at the end of missions, and key story points in the game.
See the bosses page for a full listing.
Monster Mechanics
Monsters have a specific list of mechanics associated with them. This includes where they can spawn, their attack style, physical attributes, et cetera. Each world has a specific height limit for monster spawning. Ground based monsters on the planet surface spawn only a certain distance above the surface layer, while aerial monsters spawn until the start of upper atmospheric asteroids. Monsters will spawn where background blocks are placed, but appear to not spawn where background blocks and lights are placed. However, light alone does not prevent their spawning.
Monster Stat Scaling
Monster power and durability is determined not only by base stats, but also by multipliers which are applied based on planet Tier and any tier bonuses which may be applied on top of planet tier.
Monster Skills
References
- ↑ http://playstarbound.com/weekly-update-1122/
Acid Splatter
Air Chomp
Ancient Flames
Beam Burst
Beetle Swarm
Blue Plasma Burst
Body Slam
