Latcher

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	Last updated for version 0.18.15.0 The current game version is 1.3.0.4

Latcher
ID: Latcher
Stats
Health 7,000	Sight: 3
	Hearing: 10
Armor Legs (See values in the Defense section)	Weakpoints Belly
Immunities Stun	Vulnerabilities N/A
Behavior
Walk speed N/A	Swim speed 7 slow - 15 fast
Aggressive? Always	Can Enter Submarine? No
Drops only 1 of the items marked with an asterisk * may drop at a time
Items	Chance
N/A	N/A

The Latcher is a creature which stalks Submarines from the shadows of the Abyss. It waits from a distance for an opportune moment to strike at its prey.

Description

The Latcher is a large creature which resides in the Abyss. It has several eyes which glow, revealing its position to anyone gazing through windows or a periscope. Its many teeth are used to consume smaller living beings, though it has been observed to feast on corpses lost to the depths. It has four legs which make its signature on the sonar easy to identify. Within the mouth of this creature hides an incredibly long tongue which can extend up to 45 meters. Once the tongue makes contact with a target, the Latcher will only let go if it feels threatened, wishes to attack from a new angle, or has eaten whatever it has caught.

In-game

The Latcher will initially use its tongue to attack submarines. If this attack misses, it will retreat and observe the submarine from a safe distance. It will then approach the submarine again and attempt once more to attach its tongue to the submarine. Once the Latcher's tongue has made contact, it will drag the submarine into the depths of the Abyss at rapid speeds. Additionally, it will bring itself closer to the submarine and start biting at the hull, causing hull damage. The Latcher will also ram its body into the submarine on occasion, causing further hull damage.

The Latcher has the lowest vitality out of all the current abyssal creatures. This makes it a good target for preparing new players for the other horrors found in the Abyss.

The Latcher will focus smaller creatures outside of the submarine, preferring to swallow beings whole. It can consume anything smaller than a Hammerhead in a single bite. Larger creatures, such as the Moloch take 3-5 bites.

If the Latcher takes sufficient damage, it will retreat away from the submarine. It will then return from a different angle, catching unsuspecting gunners by surprise.

Similarly to the other abyssal creatures, the Latcher can be a target of a Hunting Grounds Missions. Unlike the other abyssal creatures, however, the Latcher does not give off large sonar signatures revealing its position to the Navigation Terminal.

The Latcher's spawn rate depends on the mission's difficulty. Between difficulties of 10-25%, the Latcher has a 100% chance to spawn. This rate goes down as the difficulty increases, with the lowest spawn chance being 10% on missions between 60-99% difficulty.

Combat strategies

Despite being the slowest abyssal creature, the Latcher is still a threat to seafarers. Its attack pool increases as its health decreases, so it is highly advised to utilise high damage weapons, such as the Railgun or Pulse Laser. The Railgun Shells can be filled with UEX to increase damage output and minimise the risk of players dealing with the other attacks the Latcher has to offer. The Coilgun is not necessarily recommended, as it has a relatively low damage output compared to the Railgun. However, if combined with Piercing Ammunition it can serve as a sufficient deterrent as the Latcher attempts to close the distance between itself and the submarine. This ammunition type can be incredibly expensive in the early game where the Latcher is most common, so it will typically only be viable later on in the Campaign.

Attacking the Latcher using melee weapons or small weapons, such as the SMG or Revolver, is considered suicide and is not advised.

Attacks

Attack	Target type	Afflictions on hit	Context	Armor Penetration	Afflictions Inside	Area of Effect	Structure Damage	Item Damage	Duration	Cooldown	Kinetic Force	Notes
Spike Attack	Structure	Lacerations (10)*  Bleeding (10)*  Stun (0.25)*	Any				30		1s	60	0	Will only happen if the Latcher is below 75% HP
Tongue	Structure		Water				10		1s	15	0	The tongue will snap after 14 seconds if left completely alone.
Structure Bite	Structure		Any	30	Stun 4.5s	5m 5.5m	100 (Direct hit) 350 (AoE)	100	0.25s	30	300	Will only happen if the Latcher is below 90% HP
Character Bite	Character	Bite Wounds (200)*  Bleeding (100)*  Stun (2)*	Any				0		1s	1	0
Character Tongue Attack	Character	Blunt Force Trauma (20)*  Stun (5)*	Water				10		1s	6	0

Defense

 

Limb	Burn	Bleeding	Damage (all)
Legs	x 0.5	x 0.5	x 0.5
Belly	x 2	x 2	x 2

Trivia

• The Latcher was first introduced in the 0.17.12.0 (Urban Expanses) update on the 20th of April, 2022.
• The Latcher's design seems to be inspired by the Aphonopelma Eutylenum family of Tarantula.
• The Latcher is relatively slow compared to other abyssal creatures. Its maximum speed is only 1km/h faster than Charybdis' slowest speed.

Media

• 

  The Latcher

• 

  Size comparison of a Latcher to a Humpback

• 

  A Latcher attacking a Humpback using its tongue

• Attack

• Bite

• Taking Damage

• Escape

• Idle

• Moving loop

• Swallow

• Teeth

• Tongue Hit

• Tongue Move