Epic creature

An epic creature is a giant, aggressive version of a creature. They are encountered in the Creature Stage of the game and in subsequent stages. Epic cells also exist in the Cell stage. Epic creatures appear randomly, and their appearance is dictated by specific criteria.

They act like the creature they are based on, and will not attack non-epic creatures of their own species. They will battle Epics of other species should they encounter them.

It should be noted that epic creatures are totally distinct from Hyper-Sized Creature, which are much larger and only exist in Spore as huge skeletons and footprints.

Legless creatures can appear as live Epics (though it is very rare). Legless epics may be found dead early in the Creature stage, and normal legless creatures can be supersized in the Space stage. Herbivorous Epics are almost never found, as they rarely meet the Epic criteria. Epics usually must be either Carnivorous or Omnivorous.

An epic's territory is often marked with large skeletons. These may possibly be its kills or signs to intruders. Gameplay-wise, they are likely placed there as a reward for braving the Epic's territory, as these large skeletons provide good creature parts.

Abilities
Epic creatures have a specific move set, reflecting their size and power by using attacks that a monster such as Godzilla, Gamera, or King Kong would use. Examples of these are as follows:


 * Strike: The epic will slash with one of its claws/hands. This only applies to epics with graspers. Produces a chainsaw sound when used.
 * Fist smash: The epic will wind back and slam its fist into the ground. This has shorter range than strike, but does more damage. It requires graspers.
 * Stomp: The epic's famed Stomp ability. It will lift its leg and stomp its feet. In the Creature stage, this can kill any creature instantly, with the exception of other epics. It requires feet.
 * Super Stomp: A more powerful stomp. The creature will use much more effort in its attack, and upon contact with the ground, it will produce a small shockwave, damaging those within range. It cannot be used by Creature Stage epics. In Galactic Adventures, during an Adventure, the player will take no damage when this attack is used by an Epic on the player's team. Also, if an Epic has four feet, it will use one front and one back foot and make two explosions.
 * Bite: The epic will throw down its head, jaws open, and bite the victim. All epics have this attack, because all epics have mouths.
 * Head swing: The epic will swing its head from left to right once. This requires a strike weapon on the head.
 * Tail spin: The epic will turn around, outstretch its tail then quickly turn back to whip its tail at the victim. This requires a strike part on the tail.
 * Fireball: The epic will make a growling noise, then release a ball of fire from its mouth. This attack is rarely used by epics in the Tribal stage and Creature Stage.
 * Spit: This works exactly like the fireball, only it poisons the target, and it also deals less damage than a Fireball. It is very similar to the Spit ability used by creatures, and requires a spit part.
 * Chomp: The epic will pick you up, take a bite out of you and then throw you, sometimes very far away. Sometimes your creature will catch fire or start flying (this last one is a glitch that makes the creature go into orbit around the planet. The creature only stops flying if it touches the ground, lands on another creature, gets eaten by the Sea Monster, or is grabbed by another epic). This attack does 10 damage and stuns you.

Cell stage


Occasionally, Epic cells can be found in the Cell stage. They can range from just about the size of your screen to more than four times the size of your screen (as shown in the video below). Epic cells can kill your cell with just one bite. You cannot bite them if they are larger than you, but you can attack them with a spike. However, as your cell evolves it can attack them and kill them. These epic cells can then be eaten, as long as they were not killed with poison. However, an Epic Snorf (found in level 5-A) can still be eaten with a proboscis.

Creature stage


Epic creatures are not scared by the Raging Roar or soothed by the Siren Song. Summon Flock, however, can be used to deal minor damage on epics. There is another way to kill an epic, which is called `kiting`. This technique involves having level 4 or 5 speed and level 5 spit. To pull it off, keep running backwards while the epic creature is chasing you, and use spit as much as you can. The only problem is that it will take a very long time without spit level four or five, and even then, it takes quite a while. Kiting is much easier to do when you are attacking a relatively "slow" epic that has level 3 speed or less. To speed up the process you can run in circles around one of your nests. The inhabitant may attack the epic, but if they are not in your flock it will usually keep chasing you.



In Creature stage, Epics can pick up a creature and throw it (likely earning the creature the achievement Flight of the Bumblebee), and are able to kill most ordinary creatures with a single attack, as their attacks can take away 100 or more health per hit.

Rogue Creatures are able to survive three hits because they have 250 health, but will die instantly if an Epic stomps on it. They are slower than normal creatures and will cease pursuit shortly after losing sight of a creature.

When engaging an Epic, the most effective tactic seems to be kiting, using Spit in a hit and run manner. Multiple Rogue allies can help take out a few hundred hit points from the Epic at the start of the fight. Another good tip is fighting a relatively weak epic, especially one with no gliding ability.

Kiting the Epic through trees can cause it to be temporarily stuck. From here, you can just stand in one place and use Spit. Kiting back to your nest can get your kind to start attacking it, and they can even block it from moving while attacking it (this happens more frequently than in the trees). This is the fastest way to kill Epics, since spitting alone does very little damage. Starvation can be a real issue during Epic killing, but if you can get it stuck in trees or at your nest you'll be losing HP more slowly than the Epic. If you don't get it stuck, be prepared to eat something while you fight from time to time.

Social abilities can be used with epics, but only if you have befriended a nest of normal versions of the epic. Despite this, you cannot add epic creatures to your pack, but a friendly epic can help you in battle if you are nearby and only once (after helping you once, it will continue being friendly but will not help you). It is unknown whether this was intentional or whether this is a glitch.

Very rarely, if you have hunted the normal version of an epic close to extinction (or have killed several members of its species in tribal stage), it may be terrified of you.

If you do a mating call near an epic it will stop whatever it was doing and roar at you. You can use this as a distraction by pressing backspace/clicking the mating call button and then running while the epic is distracted.

It was once thought that having the Epic near your nest is a good way to kill the epic because you can keep re-spawning, but it was later found that when you re-spawn, the Epic's health is restored fully. However, the Epic's health will be fully restored only if you have the second official Spore patch installed. If the Epic is standing in the nest when it kills you, your egg will hatch directly beneath it, which protects you from damage because the Epic cannot back away to a point where it can hit you. You can now attack the Epic using Strike and Bite with no risk to yourself. If you mate, you will be temporarily invincible and rehatch full health, but the epic may probably respawn, too.

When fighting a Epic creature near your nest, your nest members will not die; instead, they will distract the Epic. This is a good strategy because the epic is only after you. Another good strategy is to keep walking backwards while spitting at the Epic to avoid getting stepped on.

If you find a rock pinnacle near an Epic without charge, you can use it as a defense against the Epic. It is possible to spit through rocks, and the Epic will not go around the rock unless a nearby creature moves it and it sees you afterward. This method takes quite a while, but it has almost no risk.

Killing an Epic in Creature stage gives you the Epic Killer Achievement as well as 100 DNA and a full stomach (for omnivores and carnivores).

Another way of dealing with Epics is to use spit to lure them to your nest. Occasionally the Epic will get stuck at the edge of the nest and with your level 4 or 5 spit you can attack from a distance while your nest mates fight it. If you have installed patch 3, dying will restore your health and the Epic will maintain their previous health. You can get its attention again by spitting, and then your nest mates will slash and bite at it until it goes down. You will still get the Epic Killer achievement.

The number of Epics on a planet is not determined by difficulty, but it is set in stone for any planet regardless of difficulty.

Omnivorous epics might sing. They look like they're bored and make a noise like 'UM-GAA-HO-EH'

Apparently, if you use the sneak ability while an epic is chasing you, it will act confused even after the effect wears off. It will continue doing this until it is attacked.

Very rarely the epics can be found as a pack, or even laying eggs, something that makes the game very hard if they are near your nest. A "baby" epic hatching from an egg laid by an epic may still give you the Epic Killer Achievement.

In the Creature Stage, an epic's territory is usually filled with a large number of big skeletons, marking its kills. You can investigate these skeletons and find very good parts.



Epic Creature Criteria

 * Any Creature can become an epic, although herbivores are rare.

Early Creature stage
During the early Creature stage, it is possible to see epic creatures that have only 500 health, which some have deemed "Half-Epics", and may still be just as hard to kill. It is unknown whether killing a "Half-Epic" counts towards the Epic Killer achievement.

Tribal stage


In Tribal stage, the player will find one or two Epics on the continent. The player can kill Epics more easily in this phase by having many tribe members with weapons. Killing an Epic in Tribal stage gives a lot more meat than standard creatures, helpful for Omnivorous or Carnivorous tribes.

It should be noticed that though Epics may follow your Tribesmen back to your tribe, they rarely, if ever, will enter it, most likely due to the presence of buildings, which restrict the epic's movement.

The best way to take down an epic, especially those that move extremely slow and lack wings, is to use spears and keep at a distance. It is very helpful when one uses one tribesman to lure the beast in circles as his allies continue to pelt it with spears. Another way to kill an epic is to set a trap nearby. The nearby creatures will activate it,killing the epic at the same time.

If you do kill an Epic in Tribe Stage, you can get from 100-300 Food (specifically Meat), or occasionally even more.

Sometimes, an Epic may come across a tribesman with a maraca. The Epic will walk up to the tribesman and sometimes, just before the Epic delivers a deadly blow, the tribesman will raise his maraca just above his head and shake it lightly. The Epic will be slightly surprised, and then, like a baby entranced by a shaking rattle, it will start staring curiously at the maraca and examining it, turning it's head from side to side inquisitively, for some time. The Epic will have calmed down by now and, also like a baby, will reach out and try grab the maraca (along with the tribesman). And then, also like a little baby, it will chew at the maraca and tribesman, then throw it to the ground angrily and walk away. This, along with the fact that the religious music of Civilization Stage vehicles can charm Epics, suggests that Epics, with their bestial and simple minds, are more fascinated by music than other creatures normally are.

There is usually only one Epic nearby in Tribal Stage; however, there can be more. In Tribal Stage, Epics usually appear near other tribes.

Civilization stage


The player will usually find one or two epics on one continent. In rare cases, one can find five or more. They use a fire-breath attack against units, aircraft and buildings, and can also use more standard swipes and stomps. The epics have 3000 health. The player can defeat Epics with military vehicles, with the city's turrets, or religious vehicles (fighting them with aircraft is probably a spoof of King Kong). When you send religious vehicles after them, it makes them stop attacking and they will dance. This will wear off in a moment. On the timeline, it says that you `charmed` an Epic. Killing Epics in Civilization stage doesn't give anything to the player, but Epics do high damage to the player's vehicles and buildings, destroying vehicles in only a few hits. This can make war and trade more difficult. If an Epic enters a city, it will be attacked by the citizens and it will quickly be killed off, even if it still has health. This may be more of a feature than a glitch, included to prevent total destruction of a player's city. Another way is to use a gadget bomb, as they kill the epic in one hit if you get the target perfect, though if it is near a city it causes MAJOR damage to the city.

When you charm an Epic, it will dance for a few seconds - after those few seconds, it will be friendly and will follow you for a few minutes.

When Epics enter cities, it can be helpful to delete all the buildings and respawn turrets continually until the epic dies. Epics are also much bigger in Civilization and Space stage.

Space stage


In the Space stage, normal Epics will become much rarer than before, likely due the fact that empires with powerful weapon systems killed most of them. They also have 4000 hp. They appear on habitable planets and will act as they do in Civilization stage. They will attack creatures, UFOs and cities with a fire-breath attack. Sometimes they will enter and attack a colony, but won't attack the city hall. If they enter it, they will get attacked by the colony's citizens, as in Civilization Stage.

Beware when colonizing planets, because epic creatures can do heavy damage. Killing Epics in Space stage doesn't give anything to the player. They also are too large for the cargo hold. Strangely, Epics have the ability to survive on T-0 planets.

Sometimes, when the player puts animals in a planet, an epic creature will generate on it.

Also, if you abduct sapient species and put them near the epic, sometimes they will start to attack it with spears and stone axes. Rarely, this kills the epic. If the sapient creatures win they start to make a roar-like sound, then begin to wander the planet as they normally do. You get nothing for doing this and it doesn't work with normal animals. In other cases, sapients just run in panic as soon as they see the epic.

Supersized Creatures


Only appearing in Space stage, Supersized Creatures are a sub-class of epic creatures. They are creatures affected by the UFO tool "Supersizer", and are not natural, but artificial Epics. Apart from this, they act exactly like Epics, stomping and swiping at things, sending fire-breath attacks, grabbing, biting and then throwing creatures, etc. They also can be easily killed by the UFO's weapons. As a side note if the supersizer is used on a wildlife sanctuary an open food slot is not needed as the epic creature and the similar species will all count as one slot. It can be grown near an enemy city, which it will then attack. This could be a reference to how, in Godzilla movies, aliens use giant monsters to attempt to take over the Earth.

Galactic Adventures
Epics can be put into adventures in Galactic Adventures. To place one, simply place any creature into the adventure, hold shift and scroll the mouse wheel. The creature will automatically skip from Rogue size to Half-Epic size, then can be made even bigger. Hyper-Sized creatures cannot be created. Epics will be as powerful as the person who is making the adventure wants them to be, by dragging the damage slider and health slider up. As soon as a creature is turned into an epic, it will have the ability to breathe fire balls.

Spore Hero
Epic creatures appear in Spore Hero, but aren't as vicious. There are two in the game.


 * The first is a armor-plated cyclopian epic that throws boulders at anyone who disturbs it. It is an extreme coward, and runs off as soon as the Sporeling manages to get to it.
 * The second is a one-legged, five-armed epic that can fire balls of energy from its claws. It is normally peaceful, but was corrupted by Zarkhator's crystals. The Sporeling manages to destroy the crystal, returning the creature to its peaceful state.

Trivia
"(UserName) epicized (CreatureName) in the Space stage. (Date)" This notice appears when a player supersizes another creature in the Space stage. It seems that it is phrased that way for brevity and consistency. Alternatively, this may also mean that this player encountered this creature as an epic in the game.
 * If you ally (or at least get a friendly blue face) with an Epic's species, it will act friendly towards the player, waving and dancing. However, they cannot be added to your pack, most likely for balance reasons.
 * Epic creatures will normally fight each other if left alone in an open area. One generally dies, although, rarely, the two Epics will kill each other in the fight. This is to a players benefit: it leaves them two fewer Epics to deal with, and a huge amount of meat for omnivorous or carnivorous players.
 * It is possible to duplicate an epic creature in the Space stage by using a Supersizer on another Epic.
 * "Epicize","Epicized" - Occasionally the player will find a notice like this on his "My Spore" page in the "Events" section:
 * Epics are quite weak compared to Captains in Spore Galactic Adventures, with the spit-and-run tactic mentioned above, only with missiles or another ranged Captain ability. Captains are also much more versatile than basic creatures with use of certain utility items such as the jet pack or shield.
 * Some of the epics growls are from the TV series Walking with Monsters.
 * There exists a mod which allows the player to control an Epic in the Creature Stage. However, the game crashes at the Tribal Stage and beyond.
 * It seems that the epics in creature stage and tribal stage are supposed to represent dinosaurs, as apart from their colossal size, they are no different from normal creatures. However, the health and size of epics times threefold in the civilization and space stage, and as they can shoot fireballs, these epics seem to represent Godzilla, King Kong and other giant monsters, although creature and tribal epics can still shoot fireballs, but only with the spit ability.
 * The sound epics make is very similar to the sounds the Final boss in the game "Dead Space" makes.
 * Epics will only pick you up if you run up to them. A creature with level 5 glide and jump can be sent into orbit by pressing spacebar while the epic is about to throw you.
 * If the epic is a captain, and you talk to it, it will make more loud sentient (still epic like) sounds with epic creature sounds. This could be a way an epic speaks though.

Known Glitches

 * There is a rare occurrence that will cause an extremely large number of epics to spawn on the player's planet. It is unknown what causes this, but usually, all the epics will be made by the player. It is also possible for there to be no epics on the players starting continent.
 * In the Civilization Stage, it is possible to find a normal sized epic. It functions exactly the same as an epic creature, however, and has 1,000 health.
 * Rarely in Creature stage, if a Rogue dies, it will turn into a friendly Epic that is in your pack.
 * Sometimes, if you try and kill an epic in the creature stage, it will heal wherever you go. To solve that glitch, just save and exit.
 * Sometimes when you kill an epic, it will fall between a tree and some bones and it will start moving by itself like it was still breathing
 * Sometimes in space stage, you can see an epic that is an exact copy of your character, clothes and all.
 * Occasionally, when trapping an Epic in between trees, it will eventually give up on trying to kill you.
 * Although it makes the game more difficult, there is no in-game explanation of how epics go from 1000 to 3000 to 4000 health - although it could be the fact that all the epic creatures with 1000 health were killed by the advanced technology of space faring empires, so that only the epics with more health have survived.
 * Sometimes, when you play one of your saved games in the Space Stage, all the vehicles are transformed into epics. They will continue to gather spice, but look like giant creatures.
 * Occasionally, a mini-epic (or a normal creature-sized epic) may appear. This has only been confirmed in Civilization Stage.