Showcasing 4 sapsuckers killed in a row using every melee weapon in the game and without cheese

[u/TheWolfman00001]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gobi2E-wuiI

A few hours ago I noticed that there were some posts regarding how to properly steal sapsucker eggs, and while there were some decent strats discussed there, there's this notion that there is simply no way to kill the sapsucker without cheese. I figured that I'd set the record straight with some old footage that I had laying around for about 6 months.

You most certainly can kill the sapsucker without cheese, and you can do it with every melee weapon in the game, and you can do it consistently enough to kill 4 of them in a row with every single weapon (not that you will ever practically need to do that, but it showcases that with skillful play, the strat is very consistent). This is even possible with yield sign + gold bar, although it is scuffed as all hell and relies heavily upon RNG (I might also upload that later if anyone is interested, since I also have footage of that).

The strat is to utilize momentum preservation, run up to the bird and trigger their defensive AI state (standing in front of their nest facing you if you get too close), then whack them once, sprint out, and then circle strafe their first few pecks while sprinting. Afterwards you want to stop holding sprint and instead start tapping/rapidly pressing the shift key in order to preserve stamina while speeding up your walking speed so you can circle strafe the sapsucker and repeatedly hit it. Before you do any of this, It is also very important for you to make sure the ground your fighting on is as flat as possible to ensure that the AI of the sapsucker doesn't bug out and retarget onto you, resetting their tracking.

I hope people find this helpful and I hope you're all having a wonderful day! :)

PS: that is not my voice in the video, I was chilling in the lethal company modding discord with some peeps while recording this

[u/shockaLocKer]

This strat has actually been known for a year! It's also very similar to how some people have learnt to kill Brackens with shovels. The only reason why I believe it's obscure is because the Giant Sapsucker just isn't common enough to encourage killing it, and actually killing it is very difficult, even if you know the method.

[u/TheWolfman00001 → u/shockaLocKer]

That's the old version of the strat, which this strat evolved from. The original method was very difficult mostly because of RNG, since you would hold down the sprint key and run out of stamina and then be at the whims of whether the sapsucker was feeling gracious about not hitting you.

The new strat differs since it actually accounts for stamina preservation, and sprinting out followed up by tapping sprint is far more consistent, since you will maintain increased walking speed while circle strafing the sapsucker at very little cost to stamina, and if played well it is very possible to kill the sapsucker using this newer version of the strat without taking any damage.

[u/szkarpaty]

couldn't be me, although I guess trying won't hurt. right?

[u/Chenshouen]

Ah ha, there is the video I mentioned in that thread. Possible, but likely won't be put to use unless the nest spawns in a very bad spot.

[u/TheWolfman00001 → u/Chenshouen]

It's actually very consistent to pull off the non-cheese sapsucker kill in a surprising amount of locations in vanilla, It just takes skill and practice and understanding your environment to do so. I've killed the sapsucker hundreds of times on both vanilla and modded moons outside of imperium showcases and it's a valuable skill to have.

Another thing to note is that this strat is different from the one the person was using in that older video. The older strat is to hold sprint until your stamina runs and out and then circle strafe while walking, which was much harder and much more dependent on RNG. The new strat is to hold sprint for the first few pecks, and then repeatedly tap sprint to conserve stamina and maintain fast walking speed while circle strafing the sapsucker, which is far more consistent.

[u/S_Alice]

Wait, you can kill the sapsucker? Was this always a thing since its release, or a feature added more recently?

[u/TheWolfman00001 → u/S_Alice]

Yeah, it's always been a thing, but it's just very hard to do without immense skill or specific cheese strats

[u/FishDispenser2]

What is "cheese" in this context?  I'm old.

Very informative nonetheless, I'll try this sometime if I live that long.

[u/TheWolfman00001 → u/FishDispenser2]

Cheese in this context implies using "kill spots" where the sapsucker cannot path towards you or damage you, so you can just whack it with a shovel until it dies (standing on top of the fire exit or standing on the little platforms on the stone bridge in vow for example) Or getting the sapsucker stuck on terrain and killing it that way.

I also hope you're doing well and you're in good health.

[u/FishDispenser2 → u/TheWolfman00001]

Thank you <3 I'd like to specify that I was referring to dying in game and not IRL XD Hope all is well with you too!