"Varanus priscus"

Nickname

Meg
Mega
Lizard

Species

V. priscus
V. varius
V. teiidae

Statistics

Damage

★★

Defense

★★

Recovery

★★

Land Speed

★★★★

Water Speed

★

Survivability

★★★★

Megalania

The Megalania is a medium-sized terrestrial carnivore. Once its prey have been envenomated by its stamina-hindering bite, escape becomes almost impossible. It also has some affinity for water.

Description

An enormous monitor lizard, Megalania walks with sprawled limbs and swims in an eel-like motion. With it being so low to the ground and well camouflaged, it effortlessly hides in foliage and creeps up on unsuspecting prey. Once it is within range, it can burst forward and bite its prey, injecting venom into their wounds.

Paleo Info

Megalania refers to an extinct giant goanna or monitor lizard, recognized as either Megalania prisca or more recently Varanus priscus. They were part of the megafaunal assemblage that inhabited southern Australia during the Pleistocene era. The youngest known fossil remains dated to around 50,000 years ago. The first aboriginal settlers of Australia might have encountered them and been a factor in their extinction. Megalania adults were on average 6 meters long and 600 kg. Megalania belongs to the family Varanidae.

Trivia

It was a part of the fifth stretch goal, which was worth $71K AUD ~$50K USD.
The Alderon Games team was interested in implementing this creature due to it being discovered in Australia.
Megalania is the first and only playable prehistoric animal to be from the Cenozoic era, as it had lived much, much more recently, during the Pleistocene epoch; the latest "ice age", instead of the Mesozoic.
The skin "Bug" is named and designed after the pet Tegu of one of the developers.
Most of the skins are based on other monitor lizards or reptiles.
While modern monitor lizards are confirmed to have a unique type of venom in their bites, Megalania's venom is speculated. Varanus venom also works differently than described in game. The real world venom is more of an anticoagulant that stops blood from clotting and slowing down bleeding, as well as other side effects.

Nesting

Megalania nests require the following materials to complete the nest:

Reeds

Rocks

Roots

Abilities

These are the Abilities Megalania can use for combat.

Name	Description	Unlock Cost	Slot
Viper Strikes	Fast attack that causes light damage and venom.	FREE	Head
Heavy Bite	A high damage attack.	400	Head
Twilight Menace	Gain 25% increased stamina regeneration during night.	700	Senses
Nictitating Membrane	See clearer underwater.	450	Senses
All For One	Gain a 8% damage increase when in a group with other medium-sized carnivores. Stacks up to 5 times. 10% health recovery in a group, doesn't stack.	1000	Senses
Fetid Scent	Gain increased attack when a nearby creature is envenomed.	1000	Senses
Hypercarnivore	Only able to eat meat, food drains much slower.	FREE	Metabolism
Scavenger	Can eat meat, fish, carrion, and bones. Fast food and water drain.	1,200	Metabolism
Fisher	Can eat meat and fish, moderate food drain.	1,000	Metabolism
Toxic Immunity	Immune to Venom and Poison but you take more damage.	700	Hide
Streamlined	Increases swim speed and swim turning speed by 10%.	900	Hide
Dive	Become able to dive underwater. Increases oxygen by 300%.	1,600	Legs
Webbed Feet	Increases swim speed by 10% and decreases swim stamina drain by 20%.	300	Back Limb
Leap	Increases jump height and decreases fall damage.	1,200	Back Limb
Toxic Scream	Increases outgoing venom damage by 50% for 10 seconds.	1,000	Voice

Survival Tips

The Megalania is a mostly terrestrial carnivore with some traits that allow it some aquatic efficiency. It is one of the two playable animals that has a venomous bite attack. It has high movement speed, but rather low stamina regen unless resting, and moderate capacity. This makes Megalania more of a burst speed attacker. With the Night Stalker update, Meg can become a full-fledged semi-aquatic while Streamlined Hide is equipped as it stops stamina loss while swimming and increases swim speed without the original defense loss. Practicing good stamina preservation and using water sources to your advantage is key to being an efficient Meg player.

Offense:

Venomous Bite: Currently Meg's only means of offense. A moderately damaging bite that applies venom to the target. Being an ambush hunter, Meg must try to get as close to the prey as possible before launching an attack. Applying as much damage and venom as possible before the prey can retaliate or flee, then following the prey to ensure they cannot rest to recover from the venom. Targeting resting or sleeping enemies is the preferred tactic, but going after small and unsuspecting ones works just as well.

Defense:

Streamlined: Increases swim speed and swim turn radius. This Hide also enables stamina regen while swimming and stops stamina drain while swimming.
Toxic Immunity: Makes the player immune from building up Venom and Poison status effects, but increases how much damage the player receives. This is a rather useless Hide to have since only two characters have venom, and only one of those two apply Poison. The increased damage intake makes this not worth using overall.

Metabolism:

Hypercarnivore: The default diet that has moderately slow core drain and only allows meat to be eaten. Meg's base core drain is pretty quick, so you'll be needing food and water frequently.
Fish Eater: Allows Meg to eat fish and meat. This metabolism allows for a better semi-aquatic lifestyle, but the faster core drain rate means that Meg cannot venture too far from a water source with fish in it.
Scavenger: Eat meat, fish, and bones. Faster drain rate. This is a bad diet to use because of the faster drain rate. If you want to eat either fish or meat, just run Hypercarnivore or Fish Eater instead. Bones are only found in a few places. You cannot eat shellfish with this ability.