Is there an in game reason Stalkers like salvaged metal?

[Sardonicus]

I know I totally am overthinking this, but the one question that keeps popping into my head over and over in this game is; what function would scrap metal serve a wild creature that cannot consume it? It seems like a strange waste of energy for them to keep collecting scrap and leaving it random spots, even fighting each other over the metal like it was delicious prey. Is there some point in the game where a reason will be given to why stalkers are obsessed with playing around with salvaged metal and nothing else?

Is it merely gameplay convenience to be able to have scrap metal seemingly constantly respawning by stalkers finding it out of nowhere? Are they bioengineered by the ancient aliens like the warpers and that is their function? Is it some sort of weird mating ritual even though I see no mating going on? Are they just playing, and if so, why only with that one item and not all the other things around them?

I also wonder how crashfish are capable of existing since their only defense mechanism is essentially to commit suicide on you. How could a creature like that continue to exist without them all dying out to exploding on the various predators that are all over the place? I could understand if they were a creature that produced a lot of offspring like bee's who essentially die if they sting you but it just seems like they aren't even that plentiful. Maybe they grow like flowers and don't actually need to reproduce like those terrifying ghost leviathan that grow from a tree? But then how come they breed through eggs when put in containment unlike ghost leviathan?

I realize this is an alien world but some of these things just don't seem to make sense when looking at it from a biologically evolving alien species mindset, and I can't help but have it take my suspension of disbelief away a bit, as I enjoy things making sense in universe, like how most of the other creatures make sense to me in how they would survive in this sort of environment, like for example, the gasopods. Everything about their defense mechanism makes sense to me in this sort of place, that it would be something they would evolve.

Am I the only one who wonders these things, or am I trying to put too much real world logic into something that wasn't meant to be thought about that much? I haven't finished the game yet, but it'd be nice to know if there was an in world explanation I'm missing, and if so please enlighten me.

[BlackWater]

There are PDA entries that touch on this. Buid a scanner and scan everything.

[Willow Rivers]

There are PDA notes about this. One of the Degrassi bases has a tape about stalkers. Also scan the Stalker itself for information.

Scan Scan Scan everything you can.

[Sardonicus]

Originally posted by BlackWater:

There are PDA entries that touch on this. Buid a scanner and scan everything.

Weird. I did scan stalkers, and have been religiously scanning and reading about everything I could and all the data said was that they like metal. No ingame explaination or anything. I just double checked to make sure I wasn't wrong and I wasn't. Can you explain where this information is hiding if not on the stalker pda entry? Note I don't want to know that they like metal. I want to know WHY that is.

[Sardonicus]

Originally posted by Willow Rivers:

There are PDA notes about this. One of the Degrassi bases has a tape about stalkers. Also scan the Stalker itself for information.

Scan Scan Scan everything you can.

I have no idea what a degrasi base is so I don't think that's part of the game I've even found yet. Is it somewhere in the lost river, cause I am a bit passive in that area? I still don't understand how the stalker information on the pda gives me a reason to why they like metal when it simply states that they do like metal. Am I missing some part of the pda entry on stalkers that other people aren't missing? I read it like 5 times.

[old.school]

Originally posted by Sardonicus:

I know I totally am overthinking this

You could say that the Stalkers are attracted to the way the metal glitters. Same way fish are attracted to lures with sparkles/glitter. Because to them it looks like the scales of another fish that they want to eat.

[Sardonicus]

Originally posted by old.school:

Originally posted by Sardonicus:

I know I totally am overthinking this

You could say that the Stalkers are attracted to the way the metal glitters. Same way fish are attracted to lures with sparkles/glitter. Because to them it looks like the scales of another fish that they want to eat.

That does kind of remind me of that one type of bird that hordes a bunch of shiney objects as a way to attract mates. hmm.

[Amanoob105]

In the past, when reading the PDA, it was because the stalkers would gnawon metal and absorb/ingested flakes of metal that their bodys would then incorporate into the growth of their teeth.

Later this was changed to them just using it as a way to sharpen their teeth on it while helping to desloge older ones.

[Sardonicus]

Oh also to anyone out there, is there a way to scan a crashfish before it blows up, without having an alien containment chamber yet? I've tried to scan those things a thousand times but the scanner never finishes scanning before they're just a bloody pile all over my face. They even do it when I blast them with the stasus rifle.

[Sardonicus]

Originally posted by Amanoob105:

In the past, when reading the PDA, it was because the stalkers would gnawon metal and absorb/ingested flakes of metal that their bodys would then incorporate into the growth of their teeth.

Later this was changed to them just using it as a way to sharpen their teeth on it while helping to desloge older ones.

Oh now that's something that makes a lot of sense. I feel better now that there's some sort of reason behind this behavior.

[Lil Puppy]

As for the crashfish, there are many real animals that either commit suicide as a defense mechanism or have a defense mechanism while being eaten. However, at the moment we haven't discovered any fish that explode as a defense. The closest would be the puffer fish which is also poisonous but it doesn't quite get to the point of explosion.

There's a termite that explodes with a toxic mixture when their hive is threatened.
A beetle that customizes a toxic blend that destroys a predators digestive system while inside it.
Many creatures make cyanide in case they get eaten.
List goes on.

The crashfish can be scanned while it's chasing you, but you're going to take some damage. You can also use the stasis rifle on it to hold it still while you scan it.

[Zemecon]

Originally posted by Sardonicus:

That does kind of remind me of that one type of bird that hordes a bunch of shiney objects as a way to attract mates. hmm.

Magpies. Crows also do this. Both are members of the Corvidae family.

As for Crashfish, they may not be suicidal at all. If the fish contains one chemical and the plant contains another, and they react when the crashfish inhales the second chemical as part of its aggressive behaviour, then you will get a reaction. But animals committing suicide for the sake of their offspring isn't unheard of, either. This sort of investment is part of what is known as K-selection. Basically, if it will ensure the survival of the offspring, then it works.