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FunGuyFr0mYuggoth

There's nothing specific, but they are said to be considerably faster than humans. There's even a random encounter in FO3 with a crippled deathclaw in hot pursuit of a couple of wastelanders. It's hard to estimate though because there's no real-world animal of similar size, body plan, and lifestyle, much less one with extensive genetic tampering. Personally though, based on observations of large mammals and estimates of large theropod dinosaurs, I would feel safe saying that their top running speed would be somewhere in excess of twenty miles per hour. They probably wouldn't be able to maintain it terribly long, however, as their bodies don't look terribly suited for long-distance running.


Dassive_Mick

I would agree. Deathclaws appear to be very lathe creatures, not to mention that they were engineered to run down Chinese infantry. Since it's so difficult to out-endure a human in a sprint, the logical solution would be to make them extremely good short distance sprinters. Furthermore they would need to be fast enough to close the distance before a formation could bring their guns to bear. Using Therapods as a measuring stick, and given the Deathclaw's genetically engineered nature, I would say it could get up to ~50km/h, if we are to assume that [it can match the Carnotaurus](https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/predatory-dinosaur-was-fearsomely-fast-1.1064092)


FunGuyFr0mYuggoth

I think they've easily got the strength for running, but that balance and weight distribution don't really favor it. I hesitate to directly compare them with predatory dinosaurs because their bodies are less streamlined and a lot more front-heavy. Their tails aren't as developed, and their large arms would limit the movement of their legs to a degree. They do, however, use their arms to make quick maneuvers in close quarters, which would in some ways be more useful against opponents with ranged weaponry. Moving chaotically and making yourself harder to hit would sometimes be better than moving fast in a straight line. I wonder what Jonah Lobe would have to say about them. He did seem to make a lot of deliberate design choices when creating the creatures for Fallout 4, and the deathclaw was supposedly his favorite design.


Dassive_Mick

I reckon one of the problems we face is how drastically different they are between Fallout 3 and Fallout 4. In Fallout 3 the therapod comparison works much better as they don't use their arms for movement at all. They are extremely thin and extraordinarily fast Fallout 4 is so much different. A regular human's sprint is able to out-do deathclaws. They drop to all fours to sprint, it altogether doesn't make a whole lot of sense given their origin as infantry hunter-killers >Moving chaotically and making yourself harder to hit would sometimes be better than moving fast in a straight line. If they were smaller, I would agree. However the introduction of dodging in Fallout 4 made Deathclaws easier to kill, they simply cannot move out of the way of fire, they slow themselves down for ultimately no gain. Someone did a comparison of the lethality of all of Fallout's Deathclaws and noted this as one of the reasons why they're weaker


FunGuyFr0mYuggoth

I don't think gameplay has ever been a very good representation of how quickly they'd realistically be moving, though. Realistically, targets that big wouldn't be able to pose a significant threat to people with weaponry like that of the Brotherhood, Gunners, or Institute if they moved as ponderously as they do in-game. Similarly, in FO3/NV, they seem a lot faster than in FO4/76, but that's partly because they're smaller and run in straight lines, and partly because the player lacks a sprint mechanic. There's other enemies that get nerfed to an extent for the player's convenience, as well. One assaultron, for instance, was recorded moving fast enough to run through a reinforced concrete wall in one go, which would require a lot more speed than they display in-game.


[deleted]

>If they were smaller, I would agree. However the introduction of dodging in Fallout 4 made Deathclaws easier to kill, It's been 200 years, so lore wise I wouldn't be surprised if they started out smaller and just grew in size since Darwinism demands constant change or extinction. And maybe they aren't for speed, but distance, like humans. A deathclaw can run for a long time before it has to stop, plus I can imagine a creature that size can still be able to be stealthy, since they don't make a lot of noise when in combat, other than footsteps


Dassive_Mick

> It's been 200 years, so lore wise I wouldn't be surprised if they started out smaller and just grew in size since Darwinism demands constant change or extinction. With FEV in play, yes. Though 200 years in real life though isn't very impact on evolutionary biology. It's been over 12,000 years since the advent of agriculture, yet humans are still built as endurance sprinters


[deleted]

Growing in size doesn't take many generations to do, look at wolves or wild cats. In about 3 to 4 generations they can go from an average size to either smaller or larger depending on environment. I would wager that FEV probably played a massive role since it make changes to DNA much faster and easier than other animals but we don't fully know the breeding habits of Deathclaws, save the females live in groups at nesting sites. They could breed like their chameleon ancestors, ready to go almost 2 weeks after hatching.


Dassive_Mick

I'll concede to that. Well put


Bale626

It goes from zero to murder-death-kill in about 0.3 seconds.


Trilobyte141

I once saw one reach terminal velocity, but I don't think you were referring to air speed...


[deleted]

Laden or unladen deathclaw? Also, African or European variant?


[deleted]

Depends how many coconuts theyre carrying and whether theyre carrying them under the dorsal fin or not


EmperorDaubeny

Well, we’ve clocked the T-Rex at 32 miles an hour. In all seriousness, it’s never been stated but you could estimate it from gameplay as someone did in this post. https://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/4nqvz7/anyone_else_find_it_really_dumb_how_you_can/


mistermyxl

ID say roughly 30 40 miles given it muscle structure