Coelacanth

Coelacanths are lobe-finned builds of fish that survived several balance patches. The player base thought they got banned along with the Dinosaurs, but in 1938, this build was actually found to be playable thanks to the effort of data miners. This build is very old, but still reliable in the deep West Indian Ocean.

## Overview

This build is one of the least Intelligent ones in the game, having a tiny brain, even for a fairly large braincase.It is the only build with an intracranial joint in the game, increasing its bite force.It has medium-high Health for a Fish build as well as good Stealth (which is buffed even more due to its deep-sea playstyle).It specced into a passive drifting playstyle, possesing a very low Mobility stat. It specced into tough cosmoid scales, giving it a Defense stat which would make builds like Placoderms, Alligator Gar and Arapaima proud.

## Skillset

**Cosmoid Armor (Passive, Defense)**- Blocks 90% of damage and blocks all potential debuffs that the [Bite] move could create.

**Electro-Reception** **(Passive, Misc.)**- Motion shown on minimap.

**Mucus Loot Mix (Passive, Defense)**- Halves EXP gained upon defeat and reduces Resolve for every subsequent [Bite] attack recieved.

**Night Eye (Passive, Misc.)**- Removes vision penalty at nighttime.

**Cranial Bite (Active, Attack)**- An upgraded bite move which does 2× as much damage and can absorb larget loot.

## Tier Placement

Making a Tank build worth less XP is actually a good thing, since that offsets one disadvantage of being a Tank, being worth a lot of XP. Its other stats and abilities are nothing to scoff at either, allowing it to survive several balance patches. Neverethless, this strategy did not have much impact on the meta, thus giving them B-tier.

## Summary

### Pros:

* Good Power and Stealth
* Above-average Health
* Very high Defense
* Few bad matchups
* Upgraded [Bite] move which deals more damage and can absorb larger loot.
* One of the few EXP-reducing abilities specced by Animals.
* Has anti-Stealth abilities.

### Cons:

* Very low Intelligence and Mobility
* Critically Endangered (one step closer to getting banned).
* Can be easy pickings for Shark mains.

## References

1. ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1097925/Curse-fish-time-forgot-Believed-extinct-65million-years--returned-chilling-consequences.html
2. ↑ https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/group/coelacanths/
3. ↑ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/1930s-curator-discovered-living-fossil-well-sort-180967616/
4. ↑ https://untamedscience.com/biodiversity/west-indian-ocean-coelacanth/
5. ↑ https://theconversation.com/we-scanned-one-of-our-closest-cousins-the-coelacanth-to-learn-how-its-brain-grows-115147
6. ↑ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25891405/
7. ↑ https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/african-coelacanth
8. ↑ https://www.vims.edu/research/facilities/fishcollection/\_archive/highlights/coelacanth.php
9. ↑ https://www.factinate.com/editorial/coelacanth-editorial/
10. ↑ https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2019/07/16/curious-case-coelacanth/
11. ↑ http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/coelacanth.html
12. ↑ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1011062609192
13. ↑ https://www.wired.com/2015/03/creature-feature-10-fun-facts-coelacanth/
14. ↑ https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/fish/anatomy.html