Red Lizard



Red lizards are the largest species of lizard in the game. They have a myriad of spikes on their backs and tend to have a very distinct red coloration in their spikes and head.

They cannot be natively found in any region when playing as The Monk or The Survivor, where they can only spawn through the lineage system by killing certain lizards multiple times until newer varieties appear. Through the lineage system, red lizards can spawn in any region of the game where other lizards are present. Red lizards can be found natively as The Hunter.

Abilities/Behavior
Red Lizards are extremely aggressive, and will chase down prey from a considerable distance. Red lizards can climb poles, but they cannot climb on background elements. However, with their large size and speed, they can cover ground far faster and get past tougher obstacles than most other lizards. Their threat is further compounded by several unique traits:

Spitting
The red lizard is the only lizard in the game that spits projectiles, slowing you down and making prey easier to kill. The spit itself is not damaging but it briefly stuns any prey, including slugcat. It can knock slugcat off of poles quite easily, and can even cause the player to drop their held items. This spit travels an impressive range, and helps the red lizard catch up to prey quickly.

Senses
Like most lizards, the red lizard can see and hear when something is close. However, the red's auditory and sight senses far outrange other lizards, making it nearly impossible to sneak by. Due to their long sight range, they may start chasing slugcat even before they are on the same screen.

Bites
While slugcat can sometimes survive the bite of other lizards if their predator drops them for some reason, red lizard bites are always lethal.

Combat
Red lizards are by far the most difficult lizard to fight due to their tenacity, speed, and spit, but they can be defeated. Having scavenger bombs and spears help, as this lizard's toughness lets it stay on its feet even when hit in the head. Red lizards will fight quick and dirty, and will close great distances quickly. A tamed Green lizard can also help with the battle as they seem to have a much higher chance of killing it without being killed itself.

One of the more safe ways to kill a red lizard is to trick them with tunnels. When exiting a tunnel behind a red lizard, quickly shove a spear into it and then tunnel back. Wait for it to follow before tunneling back out, then back in, grabbing the spear and spearing it again. This will work in very tight corner tunnels, but it also has a possibility of having the spear miss if you're not close enough to it. Since the red lizard is very tough, it can take 8 spear hits before dying. If the lizard gets too injured it will try to run, but unlike most other lizards, it will still snap at you if you get close. Be aware that while it is rare, this lizard can still perform the charge attack typical of green lizards. It is extremely fast but can be jumped over with some difficulty. This is the only lizard with a 100% bite kill chance, so one bite and it is over.

Stealth
Sneaking past red lizards is extremely difficult. If you are to attempt it, stay far out of its line of sight and crawl along the ground. Even sneaking perfectly may not suffice though, as it has the highest hearing range and visual range of all lizards and homes in on you relentlessly.

Evasion
Red lizards are very fast and can easily keep up with you. If one is too far away from you, they will use their spit to slow you down while they close the gap. Climbing on poles must be done quickly as the lizard will always attempt to spit and knock you down. One way to get away from it is to seek high ground. Red lizards can only climb poles, so if you get to an area they cannot climb or take a pipe to they will be unable to kill you. If caught on the ground and forced to flee without any tunnels to escape through, you can outrun it and dodge some of its spitting attacks by sliding along the ground, followed by the instant pounce this allows. Alternatively red lizards may be distracted by other creatures like squidcadas and scavengers, which they will regularly hunt. They may also be hunted by other creatures such as pole mimics or vultures, which provides a handy distraction for an escaping slugcat.

Taming
Red lizards can be tamed through the reputation system, but it is tedious and dangerous and you must know for sure where the lizard will spawn. It can be tamed with scavengers and squidcadas, the average amount needed to make it not attack you on sight being around 5 and the average amount needed to make it follow you and sleep in your shelter with you around 8. It may also be helpful to feed other lizards in order to raise your regional reputation. Doing this will eventually make every lizard in the region tolerate being near slugcat, including red lizards. Not only does this method make it easier to get close to a red lizard feed it, it also reduces the amount of food required to tame a red lizard.

Trivia

 * Red lizards have the highest stats in Bite damage, Bite percentage, swimming speed, and visual range.
 * To make a red lizard appear on any difficulty except hunter the player will have to kill lizards in one region repeatedly until one respawns as a red lizard. This is caused by the Lineage System.
 * Red lizards will fight one another if they get too close.
 * Red lizards can very rarely spawn with peach, pink and orange colours.