Crepitus

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Crepitus (often called "bugs" or "alien bugs") are a species of giant insects encountered in Jagged Alliance 2.

They were created by the Queen as a result of a genetic experiment (like the Bloodcats). Crepitus live underground but may occassionally emerge to the surface and attack player's mercs.

Player will encounter them if the sci-fi mode has been chosen at the start of the game.

Location

After a head miner has notified that one of your mines has been infested (the mine can't produce if you don't kill the bugs), they are encountered in the infested mine and around it. This usually happens when you have conquered at least three mines in Arulco. You will also see a cutscene in which the Queen tells Elliot to stop feeding bodies to the bugs.

Varieties

There are different, specialized stages of Crepitus.

Crepitus Larva

Dull white in color. Moves very slowly and doesn't attack. Don't put that thing's blood in a jar, it's human blood and Gabby won't buy it.

Crepitus Adolescent

Dull grey in colour. Spits acid. Will flee if the last one left alive.

Adult Male Crepitus

Bright green in colour. Spits acid. Its blood can be sold.

Adult Female Crepitus

Bright reddish-brown in colour. Rather fast (though not as fast as a Bloodcat). Uses claw attacks.

Queen

Crepitus Queen

The Crepitus Queen is encountered on the lowest level of the infested mine. She spits cloud of acid and attacks with tentacles. Lay down to avoid the tentacles or hide behind the corner. Kill her using your prefered choice, discussed in Tactics paragraph below. Once she is gone, every bug left will instantly die. Once killed, she will leave several Queen Crepitus Jelly, but you can use glass jars on the queen's carcass to collect unlimited amounts of it, until the corpse disappears.

Strategy

The Crepitus are a biological weapon, result of genetical modification to undisclosed insects. Bred by Deidranna's scientists somewhere in Arulco, these mutants will be unleashed upon one of your mines (generally in Drassen) after you have achieved a certain progress in game. They are fast, tough and attack in groups, usually at night. They will not stop, until you destroy their Queen, found in the lair. There are different tactics to kill them, discussed below.

Tactics

Warning, this paragraph contains a lot of spoilers! Proceed with caution.

Crepitus do not drop any weaponry or ammo and are significantly toughter, so remember to bring a lot of ammunition with you, when fighting them. The Crepitus also take more damage if attacked from the rear. You can use this to your advantage, if you get into close combat with them.

Automatic weaponry with hollow point ammunition and explosives do a fair amount of damage.

Mustard gas grenade (all sorts) is highly efficient against Crepitus, but due to their high agility, the handheld variant is probably best be left till the contact with the Crepitus Queen or used in tight corridors.

Crepitus are blind, but have insanely high developed sense of smelling. You can use Gabby elixirs to temporary mask your mercenaries, but be aware that upon attack, all varieties (except larva) will emit battle cry, causing the hive to be put on alert. Additionally, the attacked species will run towards attacker and the protection will blow off.

Combining Gabby elixirs to mask the operator and Robot with a machine gun (with HP ammo) for elimination, it is possible to neutralize the whole lair completely solo. Just remember to take enough ammo belts with you and enjoy the show.

When fighting Crepitus in direct fashion, it is viable to use a Gas Mask, due to some protection against venomous green gas. The gas acts in a similar way to mustard gas, the only difference being non-toxic to insects, and will rapidly drain stamina, cause bleeding and damage armor of your mercenaries upon contact. As an option, you might want to use Night Vision Goggles, but keep in mind that the UV Goggles are useless underground.

Bring regeneration boosters might help replenishing injuries, as its impossible to use Doctor underground. Still you can walk the injured soldier outside of the lair, but be advised that the lair must be cleaned overnight or the Crepitus will hide and reappear on next night.

It is advisable to destroy the lair as soon as possible, as their attacks will repeat every night, regardless of the outcome. This will also drain your militia in the town sector very quickly.

The Queen

The Crepitus Queen's tentacle and spit attacks are quite powerful, so try to hide your attacking merc behind a wall in the end of every turn. A decent experience level is advised, so that no interrupts from the Queen would occur. Alternatively, you can disable the queen by using tear gas or mustard, so that she cannot interrupt your mercs.

Defending Your Towns

Defending a town against Crepitus attacks may turn into a bloodshed for your Militia, since the Crepitus' mighty attacks and thick bodies almost always give them the upper hand in Auto-Resolve mode. After losing a battle, you will find some of the city dwellers eaten and the morale in town greatly decreased. To avoid that, simply keep one or two mercs in each sector of the town, so you might avoid the auto-combat mode and therefore allow your Militia to fight the Crepitus much more effectively. Plus, your mercs might also contribute to the battle, especially if you keep in mind that the Crepitus can't attack you while you are on a rooftop - they can't climb, so there will be no melee, and their ranged attacks are quite inaccurate. Even an single unskilled merc with a gun and lots of ammunition could repel an attack with sufficient ammo. If there are no comfortable rooftops nearby, hide behind fences and inside buildings; this will help a merc avoid the melee attacks, but the spit attacks are still dangerous.

Notes

• Crepitus is the latin word for rattling or rustling noises. In medical terminology it is the popping noise made by cracking a joint or the scraping noise made by broken bones rubbing together. It also refers to the foul gas that builds up in tissues, like in gas gangrene.
• Ever adult Crepitus creature has a chance of dropping an ORGAN, CLAW or FLESH when they are killed. These items can be gathered and sold to Gabby for a decent profit. Blood can also be gathered from their corpses using Glass Jars , which can also be sold.
  • Blood from a Crepitus larva is simply undigested human blood, and cannot be sold if gathered.
• Killing the Crepitus boosts your mercs' morale greatly. You will also hear some funny dialogue.
• Extended combat with Crepitus is a great way to boost a merc's marksmanship and experience.
• Useful glitch appears in Steam version.When Cerpitus attaced one of your cities and there is a merc in it,enter on the tactical screen and wait for your turn,then save game and select "Auto resolve".Standart screen will appear,but there will be no creatures and you instantly win the battle.Screen is glitchy.If any militia or merc was killed in battle it will not be shown on tha screen.Screen will show how many mercs and militia you had before the battle.Also your merc will be teleported at the middle of the sector.

Reactions

The Crepitus are an unusual and unexpected enemy when encountered on Arulco. Every merc in the game will react with unique dialogue, both to seeing one, killing one, being swarmed, exploring the lair and finally killing the Queen. Certain mercs with the "Fear of Insects" trait will react strongly and continually to their presence.

See also

• Bloodcat

External links

"Creatures" from the Jagged Alliance 2 soundtrack

"It is like our work is unfinished."
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