Cazador

CazadoresRed Lucy: "We've got three fiends ready for our Cazadores."(Red Lucy's dialogue) (Spanish for "hunters")Question: "What does the name 'Cazzador' mean and why did you use it?"Joshua Sawyer: "'Cazador' is the Spanish word for 'hunter'. Since cazadores are based on tarantula hawk wasps and they are more common in Arizona and New Mexico (the Sonoran Desert, especially), I thought they may have originally been named 'in the wild' by Spanish-speakers."Formspring - Archived are mutated insects found in the Mojave Wasteland, Big MT, and Zion Canyon in 2281.
==Background==
Mutated and enlarged in the laboratories of Big MT, cazadores are the offshoot of DNA experiments performed by Doctor Borous. Borous' memories of when these experiments took place however have become muddled; he is confident that they took place on a Tuesday, possibly in May of 2003. Formerly, the lab-grown cazadores were confined to the Z-14 Pepsinae DNA splicing lab in Big MT, but groups of the mutant insects have managed to escape the Big MT crater and moved to neighboring areas, such as the Mojave Wasteland and Zion Canyon, and rapidly multiplied their numbers in recent years. Doctor Borous confidently denies that they have escaped from Big MT or have the ability to breed, which is shown to be false.Courier: "You are responsible for Cazadores?"Dr. Borous: "Indeed. Docile. Curious. Safe. Sterile. They are contained here at Big to preserve DNA and for observation."Courier: "Contained at Big Mountain? Those things are all over the Mojave!"Dr. Borous: "No, such creatures are found only here, for research purposes. They would no more be capable of escape than breeding."Courier: "What makes you think they haven't escaped?"Dr. Borous: "Because Big 's safety measures are far more sophisticated than their primitive animal instincts. WE are their lords and masters."(Dr. Borous' dialogue) 
With the population widespread throughout the wasteland, they have come in contact with many groups and believed to have been given their name by Spanish-speakers of the regions they have propagated.
==Characteristics==
Cazadores have a quick and erratic flight pattern. They are most often encountered in swarms of four or more, with the occasional strays flying in the outlying area. Their venomous attacks can lead to a quick death if they succeed in poisoning their target. The spikes on their back rise and fall, both when idle and when attacking.
Cazadores are more common in mountainous regions of the Mojave Wasteland, although some swarms can be found near lakes in lower areas. They create large basket-shaped nests, many of which can be seen at places such as Bonnie Springs, cazador nest, west of the Brewer's beer bootlegging, the road heading towards Jacobstown, north of Goodsprings, inside various tents in the tribal village and the boathouse at Callville Bay, with the cazadores' original breeding ground being the Z-14 Pepsinae DNA splicing lab in Big MT. They frequently compete with other wildlife like night stalkers for prey.Fallout: New Vegas loading screens
===Gameplay attributes===
A sting will do more physical damage than a giant radscorpion and cause three times more poison damage over a longer time. Crippling a wing via V.A.T.S. greatly slows them down and also temporarily disables their ability to fly. However, they will continue to sputter towards their enemy at a fast rate. Crippling their antennae will frenzy them. They do not take extra damage from shots to the head.
=== Protection ===
An assortment of perks and consumables can help eliminate and/or mitigate the effects of a cazador's sting:
* Endurance, antivenom, super stimpak
* Datura antivenom, Spore plant pods, Blood Shield, Tribal Wisdom
* Heartless, Cardiac Arrest
* Snakebite tourniquet, Auto-inject stimpak, Auto-inject super stimpak
==Variants==
===Cazador===
 
They are common in mountainous regions in the Mojave Desert and move in groups of two to five.
===Young cazador===
Young cazadores are often found near other cazadores in mountainous regions. They are identical in appearance to adults but smaller and their poison is weaker.
===Legendary cazador===
The only one of its kind, the legendary cazador has twice as many Hit Points and significantly more attack power than a normal adult cazador. The legendary cazador is one of the five legendary creatures found in the Mojave Wasteland. It is encountered at the end of the cazador-infested Silver Peak Mine. Sometimes it will show up after the player clears out all the other cazadores or after reaching the second floor of the cave. It spawns from an overhead tunnel on the second floor.
===Giant cazador===
Giant cazadores are encountered all over Zion Canyon as part of the Honest Hearts add-on. They are one of the most vicious creatures in the add-on, and can be found in various locations outside of Eastern Virgin and the Sorrows camp. They are usually found in groups of two or three. They are much larger than a normal cazador.
===Specimen 73===
This unique cazador is found in the Z-14 Pepsinae DNA splicing lab guarding a variety of loot, including the Auto-Doc Upgrade: Implant M-5 behind the double doors at the end of the corridor. It is a stronger and more powerful version of a regular cazador and has even more Hit Points than the legendary cazador, and is also faster.
==Notes==
* Companions are vulnerable to cazador attacks, as they cannot use antivenom. Stimpaks must be administered via the companion wheel. Companions will, however, use datura antivenom if they have any in their inventory.
* Patch 1.4.0.525 changed the cazadores' poison effect on normal mode. The duration is now shorter, but the damage is higher.
* The cazadores found inside Big MT are tougher and drop significantly more poison glands than their Mojave counterparts.
* Unlike radscorpion stinger attacks, which will always poison the player, getting poisoned by cazadores appears to be random, i.e., getting hit by their stingers does not guarantee being poisoned.
* Cazadores have one of the highest base Perception of any creature, being higher than that of the common deathclaw. This, coupled with their erratic movement behavior while idling, makes them nearly impossible to sneak past.
==Appearances==
Cazadores appear in Fallout: New Vegas and its add-ons Honest Hearts and Old World Blues. They are also mentioned in the graphic novel, All Roads.
==Behind the scenes==
* Joshua Sawyer came up with the idea for the cazador after seeing a picture of a tarantula hawk wasp,Question: "Do you ever get sick of 'what masochistic person thought of cazadores,' and what would you say has been your favorite project to work on?"Joshua Sawyer: "No, because I love cazadores and how they mess with players. I felt like Fallout needed a serious mutated insect enemy and came up with the basic idea for the cazador after seeing a picture of a tarantula hawk. From the first time I saw player responses to Brian’s concept art on the Bethesda forums, I knew people were going to dramatically underestimate them as enemies."(Tumblr - Archived)Question: "Are cazadores based off of tarantula hawk wasps?"Joshua Sawyer: "Yes."(Formspring - Archived) and considers cazadores to be his proudest addition to Fallout: New Vegas.Question: "When working with Fallout:New Vegas, what was your proudest contribution to the project?"Joshua Sawyer: "Cazadores."(Formspring - JESawyer responded to MojaveManiac 3 Feb 12 - originally archived on RPGcodex.net) The final appearance and coloration of the cazadores closely resemble their real-life counterpart.
* Shon Stewart was responsible for the cazador animations.Shon Stewart: "Lesson I learned while working on New Vegas: Throby bits are the friend to any artist looking to create a nasty disgusting giant insect. You'll notice the Cazador's Butt and back throb like it's full of some type of deadly goo. You'll also notice that all the little hairs on his back and head twitch and wiggle. So much fun to put little details into a rig and animate it! I've included the rig in this video because it's pretty neat to see what is driving the 3D model."(shonstewart.com - Archived)
==Bugs==
* It seems to be possible for cazadores to fall through the map and fly about under it. This will drive companions crazy, since they will target them but be unable to hit them. Affected cazadores cannot sting non-player characters or the Courier, but will continue to fly back and forth attempting to attack. If the player is above an affected cazador its name and health bar will be visible, but the cazador itself will be invisible. This is a clear indicator that the cazador is bugged in this manner. Attacking with the Ranger Takedown maneuver may fix this bug.
* Poison does not appear to wear off companions in the 1.2.0.31x patch after combat. Dismissing the companion and re-hiring them at their home location or the Lucky 38 seems to bypass this. It will wear off after 30 seconds, administering stimpaks to companions will cause the whole damage-over-time to be applied at once which could bring them to negative HP.
* Sometimes (or all the time, if your system is affected), if cazadores are in the area, even if you can't see them, you will hear the poison hissing sound loud and close as if you had been poisoned by them. Essentially, you will hear the sound when a cazador anywhere in your active cell poisons something - the attack might not be on the player character or a companion, since even a distant cazador battle will trigger the sound.
* If you use the flamer against them, they sometimes freeze in the air while on fire.
* Rare occurrences of cazadores being able to poison you when they are in no way close enough to do so, seems to only happen in V.A.T.S.
* Sometimes, the legendary cazador just wanders around the cave without attacking the player. 
* In Silver Peak Mine, cazadores may not show up as red blips on your heads-up display even though they can be targeted using V.A.T.S.
* Sometimes, cazadores may appear in the Followers safehouse. 
* Due to their incredible speed and relatively small size, cazadores can easily embed themselves into rock formations to make themselves harder to hit, lure melee focused Couriers towards them and unlike most enemies even slow the framerate of the game to a crawl, making their fellow cazadores even harder to hit. This effect appears to stack depending on how many cazadores there are inside any number of rocks at one time and is hit and miss on whether looking away from the cazadores helps the framerate or not. Standing around appears to make them leave the rocks and attack the Courier directly.
==Sounds==
==Gallery==
Cazadors at nest.jpg|Cazadores at the cazador nest
Cazador poison gland.png|Cazador poison gland
Specimen 73.jpg|Specimen 73 in the Z-14 Pepsinae DNA splicing lab
Cazador lakelurk egg.png|Cazador egg
Cazadores tribal village.jpg|Cazadores on a killing spree at the tribal village
Cazador up close and personal.jpg|A cazador attacking
FNV cazador concept art.jpg|Cazador concept art
FNV Collect Edition 34.png|In Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide/Behind the Bright Lights & Big City
Fallout Magic Hornet Queen PipBoy.png|Magic: The Gathering card
File:Fallout Magic Hornet Queen PipBoy art.jpg|Card art
==References==
Non-game
Category:Fallout: New Vegas creatures
Category:Honest Hearts creatures
Category:Old World Blues creatures
Category:Insects
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