Learn advanced combos and techniques for certain lizards and situations in this short guide. This guide assumes you already know basic movement and combat mechanics and are playing as survivor. Disclaimer: The info in this guide is based off my knowledge and experimenting so some statements may not be completely accurate.
Advanced Guide to Lizard Combat
All credit goes to caseminotaur518!
Killing Techniques
For each technique we will discuss how to perform the technique, and its viability against certain lizards in certain situations, all with some extra tips and recommendations sprinkled about. Red lizards are obviously invincible to everything so they aren’t mentioned, and neither are the downpour lizards since I haven’t played the dlc yet.
2 hit combo from behind (spear and rock)
This is used mostly from stealth and consistently kills all but green lizards.
After hitting a lizard from behind with your spear, wait about a second for the spear pickup cooldown to finish then throw your rock and immediately pick up your spear from the lizard and throw it again. This should immobilize or kill all previously described lizards, but make sure to stab it again just to confirm the kill.
This can also kill a green lizard in one go if you manage to land the combo and stunlock it by continuously stabbing it but it isn’t consistent as it relies on the lizard not turning around after the second hit.
Slide stab (usually spear only)
This is used mostly in direct conflict and can kill all lizards with a bit of flat ground, but can’t be consistently pulled off on white, black, or cyan lizards as they don’t always open their mouth.
When close enough to the lizard, slide and immediately throw your spear into its mouth. Remember to throw your spear as soon as you begin the slide to prevent it from clipping through the lizard. How close you need to be before performing the slide mostly depends on its speed (faster = can throw from further). Successfully performing this maneuver should immobilize or kill all non green lizards.
For non green lizards, simply stab it again to confirm the kill. But for green lizards, you will need to run behind the lizard and stunlock it to confirm the kill. Fortunately, green lizards recover from this attack much more slowly than others, which allows you easily run behind it and perform the stunlock.
Rarely, some non green lizards can immediately recover from this attack so if you have a rock, throw it then immediately pick up your spear from the lizard and throw it again to confirm the kill safely.
2 hit combo from front (spear and rock)
This is used mostly in direct conflict and kills all but green lizards without needing much space, but its timing is tight so I recommend practicing it in the sandbox before using it.
When very close to the lizard, throw your rock to turn it around then throw your spear a quarter of a second after. Pick up your spear as soon as possible and immediately throw it as the lizard recovers. This should immobilize or kill all previously described lizards, but make sure to stab it again just to confirm the kill.
This technique simply doesn’t work on green lizards as it relies on stunning them, but green lizards are not stunned by most attacks or weakened until the third hit; making it ineffective.
Backflip Combo (Spear and Rock)
This is used mostly in direct conflict and kills all but green lizards, but is not consistent and should only be used as a last resort as the lizard can grab you out of the air or block your spear with their head.
When the lizard is chasing closely behind, backflip then throw your spear down right when you’re over its back to pin it to the ground. Wait nearly a second then throw your rock then pick up your spear immediately after and throw it again. This should immobilize or kill all previously described lizards, but make sure to stab it again just to confirm the kill.
This can also kill a green lizard in one go if you manage to land the combo then stunlock it but it isn’t consistent for the same reason as mentioned before.
When to Use What?
If you have enough space and patience, sneak up and go for the 2 hit combo from behind for an easy kill on most lizards. The slide stab is very effective on flat ground and can even kill green lizards with only a spear. The 2 hit combo from the front is an all around effective option if once mastered that kills most lizards in most situations. The backflip combo should only really be used in dire situations when cornered as a last resort and is mostly obsolete.
Miscellaneous Combat Tips
A green lizard cannot be stunned by most attacks until the third spear hit to the back or the 1 to the jaw and one to the back. After this point, it will greatly weaken and struggle to turn around or grab you, so you can easily run behind it and stunlock it (see third clip in the slide stab video for and example). If you go for a 2 hit combo from behind or backflip combo, its usually better to run after the second hit and wait until your second combo before trying to stunlock it.
Don’t be fooled by a lizard’s open mouth. Whether or not they can actually be speared in the mouth is mostly unrelated to the visuals ex. a white lizard cannot be speared in the mouth when they are grabbing you with their mouth wide open.
You can also use a slide cancel in substitute for a backflip in the backflip combo. The timing is much tighter but can be useful when getting cornered by a faster lizard.
You can throw upwards during a backflip. Simply push up on the movement stick when doing a backflip and throw. This can be useful for many combat encounters, even enemies other than lizards.
i usually just climb a pole (if there is a nearby one) then jump behind the lizard to spear it
doing the wall skip trick on a lizard is the ultimate display of skill