Typhon

Common Name: Space Monster

Scientific Name: Diogenes Arcladytes

Description on Science Screen: "First discovered in the Arcturus system by the crew of starship Diogenes, who perished within minutes of making the discovery. Occasionally observed exiting or entering black holes, these 'space monsters' are apparently indestructible."

The original, "Classic" Space Monster is a malicious, extraordinarily dangerous monster with a crystalline structure. Prior to Artemis 2.2, it was the only monster in the game. (Whales were considered a separate type of creature) In Artemis 2.7, it was finally given its official name "Typhon", although some call it by the first part of its scientific name, "Diogenes" in honor of the first ship to discover it, or just simply "The Space Monster". In Artemis 2.2 and later, the Space Monster will not appear unless both "Monsters" and "Lethal Terrain" is set to a value other than "None".

The Space Monster is also unique in its composition. It is not organic, although it is clearly alive, and all attempts to communicate with it have failed. There is a blue, electrical energy surrounding the creature's central core. Its prismatic "arms" seem to meet and pass through each other as they spin, giving the monster an undulating appearance. The crystalline structure is apparently solid, so the means by which it can move in this way is unknown.

As with all monsters, it appears on the LRS as a purple dot, and on Science as a purple asterisk. It must be scanned to identify it as a Space Monster. As of Artemis 2.7, once it is scanned its name "Typhon" will appear. (I am assuming this is true. Previously it continued to display the "ZZ" of an unidentified monster) As the only monster capable of Warp travel, it should be avoided at all cost.

Behavior and Stats:

Space Monsters can be targeted with a ship's weapons, and but neither beams nor torpedoes -- even Nukes -- will have any effect on their crystalline structure. (Prior to 2.2, the Space Monster could not even be targeted) They can be selected and scanned by the SCI Station in 2.2 and all following versions. If tagged, they will report their maximum health of 30,000, which is far beyond the ability of conventional weapons to damage. They do not even set off mines, so minefields are not an effective deterrent, even if detonated by a sacrifice run. 

Their attacks deal surprising levels of conventional damage based on difficulty, and they are incredibly maneuverable, able to pursue at high warp and change directions on a dime. As with enemy ships or BioMechs, their damage continues to increase all the way to level 11. (Note the other monsters do the same damage regardless of difficulty) The electrical based attack can be fired every five seconds.

They do not actively seek the player, but if a ship gets within range of 2000-3000 they will pursue and attack. This goes for all ships, including NPC ships. Monster baiting--attracting the attention of a monster and leading it toward hostile forces--can be a high-risk/high-reward strategy for dealing with large enemy armadas. The Space Monster will also attack other types of monsters.

There exists only one way to remove a space monster from the sector -- as it is immune to all weapons, only by being pulled to the center of a singularity can it be destroyed. In 2.7, it can be attracted away from a target with a beacon, although this will work only until the power runs out. Typhons only respond to their attract beacon, the repel beacon does not work. (This is not a bug, but it makes the Typhon repel beacon useless) Another possible way to deal with Typhon is to use the Plasma Shock torpedo. Although it will not damage the monster in any way, its secondary effect to immobilize monsters will work. Remain cautious, as although the Space Monster will be immobilized, it will NOT stop firing its energy weapon if you are in range.

Quick Stats

(Damage for the Space Monster may not be correct. Unlike all other enemies, damage for the Space Monster seemed to increase all the way to difficulty 11, even prior to Artemis 2.3. How this translated to 10-60 damage is not clear. It may have started at 10 damage and increased by 5 for each level of difficulty after 1. If this is still the case, then it does not jump from doing x10 damage at difficulty 10 to x15 damage at difficulty 11, like other enemies do. Further testing is needed)