Horseshoe Crab

Horseshoe Crabs are one of the oldest builds currently available in the current expansion, and the last surviving build of the almost dead order Xiphosura, in which most builds of this order went extinct in previous metas. Despite the many disaster and nerfs this build has faced, it stayed viable through out the history of the game.

## Overview

Just from a glance at its massive Defensive stat, you can already tell that its defense is huge, capable of tanking attacks from the many fish players in the current meta. It also has good stealth, which it uses to make it harder for large builds like sharks and sea turtles to detect it. Besides those stats the rest range from average to downright bad, including bad mobility, terrible INT, and mediocre HP, which slightly hinders that fat Defense stat.

The playstyle of the Horseshoe Crab is similar to crabs, as it is a generalist. Eating anything they can catch, including any small animal unlucky enough to get caught by it, and the average quest of leveling up until finding the mate to reproduce, and finish the main questline.

## Abilities and Skills

### Dome Shell

Horseshoe Crab's most famous trait is their dome-like exoskeleton. As it makes grab attempts from above very hard, combine that with the fact that its Defense is extremely high, and you got a sturdy tank that even some large fish can't handle, let alone damage. The Dome Shell also makes it harder for prey like crustaceans to escape as if caught are then surrounded by the large dome like body of the Horseshoe Crab combined with its large claws. However, this ability has its drawbacks, as if you get flipped over, you are vulnerable to attacks, and it’s harder to attack players above you.

### Tail

Despite being long and sharp, the tail of this build is not made for PvP combat. Instead it is mainly used for Utility purposes. It’s mainly used to flip the Horseshoe Crab over if it is flipped over on its back. Other than that, the tail doesn’t really have a notable use outside of getting out of that one situation.

### Greater Amebocytes

Horseshoe Crabs have the Greater Amebocytes ability, which results in the enhancement of the reaction to many microscopic builds. This is very useful as it increases the game time of this build. However, human mains found out about this ability and collect the blood of these builds. Because of this, some players after the experience just quit the breeding questline entirely, as this makes it harder to mate with a Female player.

## Ranking

Horseshoe Crabs are pretty good build, having good stats and a great body plan, only much larger builds can break an adult's exoskeleton, like Sharks and Sea Turtles. And even though they have that high defense, the rest of their stats are usable (except for intelligence and Mobility). However, this build has some issues. Having a large dome for most of its body prevent it from attacking other players from above, if flipped over they are vulnerable to attacks, and laying your eggs on the beach is a very risky move for the eggs and the parents. Not to mention the previously mentioned issues about the main stats themselves, but in general the main game plan has worked for many updates and is still viable today, so the Horseshoe Crab is getting into high B tier.