The deep oceans of Europa are crawling with danger, and while the hulking terrors get all the attention, it’s the small to medium-sized monsters that most often breach your hull, corner your crewmates, and bring your missions to a catastrophic end. This guide dives into these creatures—where you’ll encounter them, what they do, and the most effective ways to dispatch them.

The Crawler Family: Common, Cannibalistic, and Everywhere

Let’s begin with the Crawlers, one of the most frequent enemies you’ll face. There are four types in total: the Crawler Hatchling, the standard Crawler, the Husked Crawler, and the Crawler Broodmother.

Crawler Hatchlings only spawn inside caves during Crawler Nest missions. These skinned horrors have half the health and deal half the damage of regular Crawlers, making them relatively easy to kill—but still dangerous in numbers.

The standard Crawler is a fast, weakly armored creature with 85 health and no protective plating, allowing it to slip into most compartments of your sub. Their attack range includes 3–12 bite damage, bleeding strength between 5–12, stun durations from 0.25 to 1.5 seconds, and 35 structural damage. What makes them especially dangerous is their swarm potential. They can stun-lock a diver easily, and when one dies, the rest will cannibalize the corpse—providing a small moment of reprieve. In groups, prioritize them with coilgun fire. Explosives are effective but generally better saved for tougher targets.

They also drop alien blood, a vital crafting component for blood packs.

Husked Crawlers introduce a new threat—the husk infection. With 100 health and a similar attack pattern to regular Crawlers, they are distinguished by their mouth feelers. Their attack inflicts 3–12 bite damage, 10–20 bleeding, stun from 0.25–1.5 seconds, and 35 structural damage. Critically, their attacks can apply the husk affliction at strength five. These are rare, but potentially deadly if they infect your crew.

The Crawler Broodmother is a serious escalation. With 600 health, it appears mostly in the ‘Crawler Mother’ combat mission. Its signature move is egg-spitting: each egg causes a whopping 150 corrosive hull damage and clutters the battlefield. The Broodmother also inflicts 60 bite damage, 30 bleeding, and 100 structural damage. Explosive coilgun rounds or railgun shells are your best bet. When killed, it drops alien blood, a swim bladder, and leaves behind eggs that can be refined into sulfuric acid—key for crafting explosive Compound N.

Spinelings: Fast, Fragile, and Frightening

Spinelings are quick and poorly armored but should not be underestimated. With 50 health, their primary weapon is a piercing spike that causes 10 laceration, 10 bleeding, and 0.25 seconds of stun. These spikes penetrate multiple targets and can hit up to three limbs, meaning each shot can multiply its damage. Each spike does 20 structural damage to every impacted ship component.

Despite their speed, they drop alien blood and are manageable with rapid turret response or small arms in open water.

The Giant Spineling, their much larger cousin, appears in “Kill a Giant Spineling” missions and has 500 health—ten times the regular. Its spikes hit harder: 15 laceration, 10 bleeding, 0.25 seconds of stun, and up to 10 limb hits with 50% penetration. Structural damage hits 80 per section. Best countered with high-damage weapons like the physicorium coilgun or explosive railgun shells. Upon death, expect three alien blood and a swim bladder.

Mudraptors: Heavily Armored Menaces

Unlike Crawlers and Spinelings, Mudraptors come armored—reducing incoming damage by up to 90%. You’ll find them in wrecks, ocean caves, and during missions involving Mudraptor nests. They exist in three forms: Hatchling, Regular, and Veteran.

Mudraptor Hatchlings spawn from eggs (often found in nests or bought from NPCs) and have 60 health. Despite their reduced damage (75% less than regular Mudraptors), they retain 90% armor and will attack any humanoid—even if you hatched them yourself. Don’t get attached.

Regular Mudraptors come in packs of three, focusing attacks on a single target. They have 120 health, deal 10–60 bite damage, apply 10–20 bleeding, stun for 0.2 to 3 seconds, and can cause 60 structural damage. Their group tactics and high durability make them one of the most threatening mid-tier enemies.

Veteran Mudraptors are even more formidable: 300 health and double the damage output of the regular version. They can breach the sub quickly if not handled efficiently.

The best defense against all Mudraptor types is piercing coilgun ammo. In close quarters, aim for unarmored weak spots—the feet and underside. Alternatively, medics can use Raptor Bane extract, crafted from the Raptors Bane plant. One dose is fatal to any Mudraptor size within seconds.

Defeated Mudraptors drop hydroxyapatite and sometimes a Mudraptor Egg or Shell—valuable resources for crafting and missions.

Conclusion: Know Your Enemy, Survive the Depths

In Barotrauma, success isn’t just about firepower—it’s about understanding the monsters you’re up against. From agile Spinelings to armored Mudraptors and swarming Crawlers, each enemy type demands a unique response. Use their behaviors against them, prepare your submarine with the right ammo, and keep an eye out for crafting materials dropped upon death.

Knowing when to use brute force and when to play it smart can mean the difference between surviving Europa—or becoming just another husked corpse.

Next time, we’ll tackle the monsters that lurk in derelict wrecks. Until then, stay sharp and keep your coilguns loaded.