Shield crab (monster type)

For the shield crab type monster of the same name, see Shield Crab.

A shield crab is a type of beast monster typically found in coastal and cave areas of Wraeclast. Certain shield crabs can became sand spitter as second phase, once the health of their outer skin are depleted. Note that in-universe biologist (or probably Einhar, as he gave the player the Bestiary) still classified sand spitters and shield crabs as two different genera. And due to game coding, the depletion of the health of the first phase may still trigger on death effect of skill gem and item effect of the player character.

Shield crabs generally resist fire damage.

Note: when shield crabs are spawned by strongboxes, emerging sand spitters are not considered a monster spawned by the strongbox, and will not prevent the box from opening if not killed. On-death effects occur twice for shield crabs that become sand spitters.

Classification

Bestiary classification of shield crabs:

• Genus: Shield crabs
• Group: Crustaceans
• Family: The Deep

Variations

Name	Location	Special Attributes
Cave Crustacean	The Submerged Passage	Spawns Rock Spitter as second phase, 80% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage
Deep Crustacean	The Flooded Depths	Spawns Rock Spitter as second phase
Scrabbling Menace	The Ship Graveyard Cave, The Cavern of Anger (Act 1)	VulnerabilityVulnerabilitySpell, AoE, Duration, Curse, Physical, Hex Level: (1-20) Cost: (16-33) Mana Cast Time: 0.50 sec AoE Radius: 22Requires Level 24Curse all targets in an area, causing them to take increased physical damage. Attacks against the cursed enemies have a chance to inflict bleeding.Base duration is (8.00-11.80) seconds +(0-1) metre to radius Cursed enemies take (15-30)% increased Physical Damage Attack Hits against Cursed Enemies have 25% chance to inflict Bleeding Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Attack Hits against Cursed Enemies have (0.5-10)% chance to Aggravate BleedingPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. on hit, spawns Scrabbling Spitter as second phase
Invading Crustacean	The Tidal Island (Act 6)	Spawns Crustacean Pelter as second phase
Shield Crab	The Cavern of Anger (Act 6)	Ground SlamGround SlamAttack, AoE, Slam, Melee Level: (1-20) Cost: (6-11) Mana Attack Speed: 90% of base Attack Damage: (132-356)% of base Effectiveness of Added Damage: (132-356)% AoE Radius: 35Slams the ground in front of you, creating a wave that travels forward and damages enemies with an increased chance to stun. The wave deals more damage to closer enemies. Requires an Axe, Mace, Sceptre, Staff or Unarmed.25% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold +(0-1) metre to radius Deals up to (40-49)% more Damage with Hits to closer targets Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Deals up to +(1-20)% more Damage with Hits to closer targetsPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., Spawns Crustacean Pelter as second phase
Infested Crustacean	The Southern Forest (Act 6)	Spawns Infested Sniper as second phase
Bleached Crustacean	The Boiling Lake, Delve	—
Craicic Shield Crab	Einhar missions	—
Craicic Shelter Crab	Einhar missions	—
Craicic Crustacean	Einhar missions	—
Primal Dustcrab	Harvest	Water mortar, Bubble shield
Primal Crab	Harvest	Explodes on Death
Blighted Shield Crab	Blight	—
Fused Crawler	Tora missions (removed)	—

Uniques

Name	Location	Special Attributes
Effigy of Iridescence	The Lake of Kalandra	Frost WallFrost WallSpell, Duration, Cold Level: (1-20) Cost: (9-33) Mana Cooldown Time: 3.00 sec Can Store 3 Use(s) Cast Time: 0.50 secRequires Level 4Creates a wall of ice which holds back enemies. Targets under the wall are damaged and pushed back.Deals (8-462) to (12-693) Cold Damage Base duration is (3.00-4.90) seconds 0.15 seconds between appearance of Wall sections Wall will be (2.8-5.6) meters long Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: (2-40)% increased Cooldown Recovery RatePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., Ice NovaIce NovaSpell, AoE, Cold, Nova Level: (1-20) Cost: (8-23) Mana Cast Time: 0.70 sec Critical Strike Chance: 6.00% Effectiveness of Added Damage: (200-230)% AoE Radius: 30Requires Level 12A circle of ice expands from the caster.Deals (23-988) to (34-1481) Cold Damage Base radius is (2.6-3) metres Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Base radius is (0.015-0.3) metresPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., Gain 25% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage, spawns Sand Spitters on Damage TakenCast when Damage Taken SupportSupport, Spell, Trigger Icon: ! Level: (1-20) Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 250% Cooldown Time: 0.25 sec Can Store 1 Use(s)Requires Level 38Each supported spell skill will track damage you take, and be triggered when the total damage taken reaches a threshold. Cannot support skills used by totems, traps, or mines. Vaal skills, channelling skills, and skills with a reservation cannot be triggered.This Gem can only Support Skill Gems requiring Level (38-70) or lower Supported Skills deal (65-27)% less Damage Trigger Supported Spells when you take (528-3272) total Damage from Hits Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Supported Skills require (0.5-10)% reduced amount of Damage taken to TriggerThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.
Shivershell	Invasion boss	Frost WallFrost WallSpell, Duration, Cold Level: (1-20) Cost: (9-33) Mana Cooldown Time: 3.00 sec Can Store 3 Use(s) Cast Time: 0.50 secRequires Level 4Creates a wall of ice which holds back enemies. Targets under the wall are damaged and pushed back.Deals (8-462) to (12-693) Cold Damage Base duration is (3.00-4.90) seconds 0.15 seconds between appearance of Wall sections Wall will be (2.8-5.6) meters long Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: (2-40)% increased Cooldown Recovery RatePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., Ice NovaIce NovaSpell, AoE, Cold, Nova Level: (1-20) Cost: (8-23) Mana Cast Time: 0.70 sec Critical Strike Chance: 6.00% Effectiveness of Added Damage: (200-230)% AoE Radius: 30Requires Level 12A circle of ice expands from the caster.Deals (23-988) to (34-1481) Cold Damage Base radius is (2.6-3) metres Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Base radius is (0.015-0.3) metresPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., Gain 25% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage, spawns Sand Spitters on Damage TakenCast when Damage Taken SupportSupport, Spell, Trigger Icon: ! Level: (1-20) Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 250% Cooldown Time: 0.25 sec Can Store 1 Use(s)Requires Level 38Each supported spell skill will track damage you take, and be triggered when the total damage taken reaches a threshold. Cannot support skills used by totems, traps, or mines. Vaal skills, channelling skills, and skills with a reservation cannot be triggered.This Gem can only Support Skill Gems requiring Level (38-70) or lower Supported Skills deal (65-27)% less Damage Trigger Supported Spells when you take (528-3272) total Damage from Hits Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Supported Skills require (0.5-10)% reduced amount of Damage taken to TriggerThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.

Note that The Lake of Kalandra is not part of the core game. It last appears in an event league Blast from the Past in 2023. It may or may not come back to the game in the same fashion.

While the devs did not declare the removal of the Invasion bosses from the game, but since spawning mechanic of these bosses are mostly removed, Invasion bosses can only be spawn in event leagues such as Flashback or Mayhem reliably, or found from buying legacy map that have relevant map mod in the permanent leagues.

Lore

Ancient sand spitters migrated into the caves of Wraeclast in search of food, consuming the abundant limestone found in them and growing sturdy shells. Descendants of those sand spitters now use limestone and a self-secreted mucus to create a cement-like carapace.

Version history

These two unique shield crabs are no longer in-game:

Name	Location	Special Attributes
Mutated Winterclaw	Tora missions	Physical DoT aura, spawns Sand Spitters
The Dweller of the Deep (legacy version)	The Flooded Depths	Barrage attack, 50% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage

Version	Changes
3.1.0	Shield Crabs now give additional experience if destroyed before they would unleash their final form.
2.2.2	Shield Crabs should now always drop items when exploded, regardless of the source of the explosion.
0.9.3	Shield crabs now throw their shells off a lot faster.
0.8.0	Shield Crabs no longer turn into Sand Spitters called "Shield Crab". Shield Crabs don't drop items when they transform into Sand Spitters.
0.7.2	Decreased Shield Crab life.
0.7.1	Disabled corpse consumption of Shield Crab shells.
0.6.10	Sand spitters now escape from slain Shield Crabs to attack you.