Moloch

	Data is up-to-date
	Last updated for version 1.2.6.0 Last mentioned in changelog 1.0.20.1 The current game version is 1.4.5.0

Moloch
ID: Moloch
Stats
Health 1,250 (Boss: 1,600)	Sight: 0.075 (Boss: 0.1)
	Hearing: 1 (Boss: 1.5)
Armor Shell, Skirt, Tentacles (See values in the Defense section)	Weakpoints Core beneath the Shell
Immunities Stun	Vulnerabilities Poisons x 0.3
Behavior
Walk speed N/A	Swim speed 2 slow - 6.50 fast
Aggressive? Yes	Can Enter Submarine? No
Drops only 1 of the items marked with an asterisk * may drop at a time
Items	Chance
Hydroxyapatite Brockite Moloch Bone	100% (1/1)
Moloch Shell Fragment	33% (1/3)

The Moloch is a large jellyfish-like creature that manifests in Barotrauma.

Description

Molochs' large dark blue shells cover most of their main bodies, also known as their "core", to provide protection from their front. Moloch's cores are mostly made up of their "ballast sac", which pulsates to allow movement underwater.
Above the Moloch's core, three elongated dark brown tentacles protrude from under the shell. Below the core, thin black tendrils known as the "skirt" trail the Moloch, providing extra protection.
Molochs rely on echolocation to navigate. The sounds emitted from this are strikingly tuneful notes, which become stronger and higher in tone when the creature attacks. These will also cause interference on Sonar if they are close enough, and leads to Moloch being detected from a relatively long range in passive sonar, compared to other Creatures.

In-Game

Molochs are agitated by noise. If attacked in melee by a reckless diver, the Moloch will strike back but won't persist, unless it is actively chasing the submarine. If the submarine and its crew stay silent for a few seconds, the Moloch may lose them and stop pursuit.
Impact with a Moloch, or even just a corpse thereof, is especially damaging to the submarine's hull and will easily punch holes in it, causing floods.
Molochs will deliberately attempt to ram the submarine. Despite their persistence to sink the submarine, they tend to be unable to match their speed, which makes fleeing a viable option.

Combat Strategies

Coilgun Piercing and Exploding Ammunition will damage the core through the shell, and is the best option when attacking from above.

Since the shell of a Moloch significantly reduces the efficiency of regular attacks from above, if lacking any piercing or exploding ammunition it is strongly recommended to shoot them from below for maximum efficiency. A Railgun will take three to four shots to kill it. If a player manages to shoot it under its shell, it will usually be an instant-kill.

Attacks

Attack	Target type	Afflictions on hit	Afflictions Inside	Area of Effect	Structure Damage	Cooldown	Kinetic Force
Core	Submarine		Stun 7.5s	8m	150	12	50
Shell	Character	Bite Wounds (100)*  Stun (3)*				12	15
Tentacles (x2)	Character	Bite Wounds (75)*  Stun (3)*			10	5	50
Third Tentacle	Character	Bite Wounds (50)*  Stun (3)*			10	5	50

Defense

 

Limb	Burn	Bleeding	Damage (all)	Min Severance Damage
Core	x 1.5	x 1.5	x 1.5
Shell	x 0.25	x 0	x 0.1	15
Tentacles	x 0.5	x 0.5	x 0.5	1
Skirt	x 0.25	x 0.25	x 0.25	1

Variants

• Moloch "bosses" are the targets of "Killing a Moloch" Missions.
  They are 20% bigger than regular Molochs, have higher vitality, inflict +20% affliction damage, their attacks have +20% range, and cause more damage to hulls.

• Black Moloch, as their name suggests, have a darker shade to their shell and limbs, and are encountered in Random Events.
  They are 20% bigger than regular Molochs, have higher vitality, inflict +20% affliction damage, and their attacks have +20% range. Their ramming attack has a large area-of-effect with a light EMP effect.

• Moloch Baby Moloch Babies lack any offensive capabilities, but will emit a very loud noise when hurt, calling for their mother to defend them from a very long range.
  They drop 1 Alien Blood and 1 Swim Bladder.

Trivia

• The Moloch Boss' internal ID used to be "Molochboss"; in version 0.9.10.0, it was changed to "Moloch_m".
• Before version 0.3.2.0, Molochs were unable to damage players, but tried to regardless. This resulted in the popularity of a 'rush' strategy to deal with them: divers would swim to the Moloch and strike it with the least efficient weapon, distracting the creature from the comparatively vulnerable submarine and slowly wearing out the monster. The issue was fixed in 0.3.2.0, and the strategy abandoned.
• Interestingly, the Moloch's code doesn't include direct damage values against structures, instead transferring kinetic energies to yield the same result and create hull breaches.
• Molochs bear a resemblance to the extinct Dollocaris as it has a similar body plan, and may have been based on them.
• Black Moloch when nearby the sub cause different interference then regular Moloch, which resembles Sonar Flora.
• Molochs are sometimes found instead of an artifact at the end of salvage missions in Mission Mode or Campaign, as they emit the same kind of infrasonic signals. Killing the misleading creature will still be considered a success.

Media

• 

  A Moloch in the wild

• 

  Moloch Babies around a Moloch

• 

  A Moloch attacking a Typhon 2 to protect its young

• Idle 1

• Attack 1

• Damage 1

• Death 1

• Moving