Giant Clams, also known as Man-Eater Shells, are enemies in Dark Souls.
Location[]
Description[]
They have the appearance of giant clams with red spikes sticking out of their upper valve. Their mouths are littered with bluish skulls that seem crystallized.
While not particularly powerful, Giant Clams have plenty of attacks performed in quick succession that can knock the player off their feet, effectively stun-locking the player to death. This becomes much more evident when they attack in groups.
Enemy information[]
Health and souls[]
Location | Health | Souls | ||
NG | NG+ | NG | NG+ | |
Ash Lake | 865 | 1,358 | 200 | 400 |
Crystal Cave | 740 | 1,161 | 1,000 | 2,000 |
Characteristics[]
Respawn | Yes |
---|---|
Backstab | No |
Damage Types | Regular / Strike / Thrust |
Abilities | Grab attack quickly depletes worn equipment durability. |
Attacks[]
Attack | Damage | Attack Type | Status Effect | Parryable | Tracking | Attack Speed |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quick Kick | 389 | Thrust | - | No | Neither | Fast |
Headbutt | 533 | Strike | - | No | Neither | Medium |
Head Swing* | 485 | Strike | - | No | Both | Medium |
Munch** | 614 | Regular | - | No | Neither | Slow |
Charging Launch | 614 | Strike | - | No | Neither | Slow |
*Can also be used twice in succession.
**Extremely powerful grab attack.
Defenses[]
Location | Physical Defenses | Elemental Defenses | Resistances | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ash Lake | 382 | 191 | 478 | 382 | 344 | 268 | 306 | D | D | S |
Crystal Cave | 420 | 210 | 525 | 420 | 378 | 294 | 336 | D | D | S |
These stats are sourced from FuturePress's Official Dark Souls Strategy Guide.
Drops[]
Item | Purging Stone |
Twinkling Titanite |
Twinkling Titanite |
Drop Rate | 10% | 30% (Ash Lake) |
20% (Crystal Cave) |
Notes[]
- Giant Clams are an easy source of Twinkling Titanite, an otherwise expensive upgrade material. They can be farmed in Ash Lake and the Crystal Cave, where they can be respawned repeatedly.
- Shooting an arrow into a Giant Clam's mouth will briefly stun it.
- When encountering Seath the Scaleless for the first time, in the Crystal Cave, the fog wall is not present. This allows the clams the chance to enter the room that houses the boss fight, if the player tries to run past them. Seath's attacks can harm them, but they will still only attack the player, making the fight a fair bit more challenging.
Trivia[]
- Considering their location in the Crystal Cave and the skulls in their mouth, it is possible that the Giant Clams were farmed for their Purging Stones, not unlike how oysters are farmed for their pearls.
- Shira has a pearl from one set into her crown.