Dropwig



The Dropwig is a fast-moving, insectoid ambush predator. While fragile, they are skilled at hiding in plain sight and quickly taking down their prey. Dropwigs are significantly more prevalent when playing as, and completely absent as.

Appearance
As their name suggests, Dropwigs resemble large earwigs. They have black bodies accented by subtle reflective stripes - which can range from a light teal to deep purple - along their abdomens and thoraxes. Additionally, they have thick mandibles and short, curved legs at their front, and cerci (a pair of appendages at the rear of the abdomen) at the back. Furthermore, two antennae crown their heads, which may be tipped with a gradient in the same hue as their stripes.

When lying in ambush, Dropwigs are palettized to blend in with their environments more effectively.

Combat
If not caught by surprise, Dropwigs are fairly easy to fight. A single throw is often enough to kill or at least stun long enough for the Spear can be retrieved and thrown again; they are guaranteed to die after two Spear hits. Sliding or backflipping can be used to safely bait out their drop attack, giving an opportunity to immediately retaliate with or a Spear. Having a tamed can also be beneficial as it can easily incapacitate or kill the Dropwig.

Stealth
Dropwigs' main method of attack are their ambush tactics, which makes them reliant on their line of sight directly underneath them. Therefore, stealth is quite effective against them as long as extra care is taken to look for them - they are easily recognizable once acclimated with their shape, habits and the areas they can be found within. Seeing objects out of place, such as a on the ground or an  when there is no evidence of  having passed through the area can indicate the presence of a perched Dropwig above the item in question. Once located, the simplest course of action is to find an alternative path around them - if their line of sight is not crossed, they do not attempt to attack. s may also be used to obscure their vision. However, in some areas it may not always be possible to avoid their line of sight, in which case other methods must be used.

It should be noted that Dropwig graphics are drawn behind foreground objects such as chains and vines, which can make them hard to detect in the case that they choose to hide behind some.

Evasion
Dropwigs move fast enough to outpace Slugcat's normal walking speed, but have a 10 second long timer after which they will give up; as well as having a tendency to pounce towards their prey - both of which can be utilized against them. Using advanced movement such as sliding can help with both evading the drop attack itself, as well as keeping enough distance for the timer to run out. Additionally, when in more vertical areas, it's possible to bait a Dropwig on the ground to fling itself away, sometimes even into death pits with good positioning. Furthermore, other creatures such as Vulture Grubs can be used to feed and therefore distract them.

Ambush
Ambushing is a behavior that consists of up to four stages: locating a perch, laying in wait, the ambush attack itself and, optionally, pursuit if the ambush attack is unsuccessful.

When a Dropwig enters a room, it looks for a suitable spot on the ceiling to perch. When searching for a perch, they often ignore all creatures which do not pose an immediate threat (even prey such as ).

Once a spot has been found, they curl up on the ceiling and their colors are dimmed to match their environment. In this state, they have a menacing, symmetrical profile akin to that of a downward-reaching claw. They begin to wait until a creature either passes underneath or gets too close to them.

As prey nears their line of sight, they begin to tense up, quickly opening their cerci in preparation for the attack. Once directly underneath, they drop from the ceiling and attempt to execute one of their two attacks - slashing or grabbing. If the ambush is successful, the Dropwig then drags their prey back to their den. It should be noted that Dropwigs are capable of dropping at an angle and often do so should prey linger too close to their line of sight for too long. In this case, their cerci can be seen slowly widening the closer they are to attempting the ambush.

After an unsuccessful ambush, they proceed to spend roughly 10 seconds chasing prey, periodically leaping at and attempting to slash or grab their prey. If the target is not caught within this time, they lose interest in it and begin to look for another perch. If the prey is caught, the Dropwig takes it to its den. It should be noted that they are often aggressive immediately after exiting their den.

Slash
Slashing has an 80% lethality rate. There is an 80% chance for it to be executed when dropping from the ceiling and a 20% chance for it to be executed when on the ground. After a slash is executed, it cannot be used again for 4.5 seconds.

Grab
Grabbing has a 20% lethality rate when executed dropping from the ceiling, but is otherwise never lethal. There is a 20% chance for it to be executed when dropping from the ceiling and an 80% chance for it to be executed when on the ground.

Bait
In an interesting display of intelligence, Dropwigs are capable of placing bait - typically useful objects or food items - beneath their perch in order to lure prey into an ambush. They may either spawn with this bait or find it in the world. Once suitable bait has been acquired, the Dropwig grabs it with their front mandibles and carries it with them until they set up their ambush spot, upon which they drop it beneath them.

Dropwigs have a chance to spawn at the beginning of a cycle with a piece of bait.



If playing as Hunter, Dropwigs cannot spawn with, thus the chance for them spawning with no item is increased to 76.5625% (49/64).

Variants & attributes
Dropwigs' stripes vary in color. Their thoraxes, antennae, and cerci vary in length and thickness, and their antennae have a 50% chance to bear tip gradients of the same hue as their stripes.

Trivia

 * Dropwigs were added in the 1.5 update.
 * Multiple Dropwigs are technically able to perch on the same spot, but prefer not to.
 * Lower dominance Dropwigs will give up spots to higher dominance Dropwigs.
 * As with other corpses of a similar size to Slugcat, holding the corpse of a Dropwig boosts the player's movement speed in tunnels considerably.
 * Dropwigs, due to their highly aggressive nature, are capable of grabbing and may even move them from their spawn point, resulting in unintended behavior.
 * Besides Scavenger Treasuries, the Pearls that Dropwigs may rarely spawn with are the only other instance of a naturally "respawning" pearl.
 * Dropwigs, despite their name, more closely resemble real-life vinegaroons than earwigs.