YazatLane

Cute, hard shelled sand crab that'll cuddle your shoulder once old enough and add armor while doing it. Too small to have established themselves in the Ark's food chain it has taken to the dietary habits of a parasite. It's health pool is tied to the 'durability' of the armor it provides, while the food stat adds more armor value. As the wearer takes damage so too will the Sand Crab and be forced to feed on the wearer to repair the 'durability' of the armor. A higher melee stat will cause the Sand Crab to repair damage to itself more rapidly (at the cost of more damage to the Host, or rapid consumption of carried blood bags). The more the Sand Crab feeds on the Host... the more it will grow and cover more parts of the Hosts body slowly replacing any equipped armor until the entire body is covered in the fully matured Sand Crab (each growth stage for consumes a new slot, removing gear). Additionally, the longer a Sand Crab spends on a Host, the more the bond between them will increase yielding a more durable Sand Crab (imprinting bonus). Matured Sand Crabs will also reproduce several offspring from one egg sack when bred in captivity. Pros: Armor that scales somewhat radically with some care. Repairs itself (with blood). Nightmare fuel. Cons: Can kill you/itself like the Bloodstalker. Lose the ability to carry a shoulder pet or equip armor in affected slots. It can't wear a helm. It provides no insulation.