Jawbo Feedback – Too Passive, Unnatural Taming, Needs More Bite

[SamLogan]

First off: I really like the new Rust production mechanic for Jawbos. It gives them a proper niche and makes them actually worth ranching.

However, I think there are still a few areas that could be improved to make them more fun and consistent in gameplay.

 

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🧩 Issue 1 – Taming requires "Pacu Fillets", which feels unintuitive

While I enjoy the idea of adding carnivorous creatures to the ranching ecosystem, I think it’s strange that taming them requires manually killing fish and feeding them fillets. This removes the “hunter” feel these creatures could have and makes them behave similarly to existing critters from a ranching perspective.

Suggestion:
Allow taming to progress when Jawbos eat live tamed Pacus. This would make them feel like real predators, reward live feeding setups, and distinguish their gameplay loop from standard critter ranching.

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🐟 Issue 2 – Jawbos are way too passive

In my experience, Jawbos don't eat enough. Even with tons of Pacus in the tank, they seem to swim around idly for cycles, letting the fish population explode. Even Hatches eat more aggressively, which feels strange for such a massive carnivore.

Suggestion:
Increase their hunger rate and aggressiveness when targeting live prey. Make them feel dangerous and calorie-hungry, so their large size and carnivorous nature actually has gameplay weight. This would also justify their Rust output being balanced by high feeding needs.

 

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🧠 Issue 3 – Fillets are less challenging than live prey

Right now, it's easier to create a Pacu slaughterhouse (using Pokeshells, for instance), then deliver fillets via food dispenser. This is much more efficient than transporting live Pacus — which also cause "Overcrowded" debuffs — especially considering how slow Jawbos are at attacking.

Suggestion:
Reward live prey over fillets. For example:

• Eating live fish gives bonus Rust output

• Feeding only fillets could result in reduced Rust production or slower reproduction

• Or even a small morale or productivity penalty for unnatural food

 

🧪 Final Thoughts

The Jawbo has great potential as a new and fun alternative for oxygen production — especially with the added benefits of producing Rust, Raw Iron, and Chlorine (which could be paired with a Megafrong for even more synergy).

That said, I feel like Jawbos need to be more aggressive and engaged in their hunting to truly shine as carnivorous critters.

Here’s a very unoptimized test setup I used for Jawbo ranching:
I started with 2 Seakombs per 2 Pacus per 1 Jawbo — testing with 3 Jawbos, 6 Pacus, and 12 Seakombs.
Results: my Jawbo tank quickly became overwhelmed with dozens of Pacus, and it took forever for the Jawbos to actually eat them.

• I ended up with 19 Pacu eggs incubating

• 6 Pacus still in the breeding room

• And 400+ Seakomb Leaks waiting to be delivered to already full feeders 😅

Based on my calculations:

🧮 You need 8 domesticated Jawbos to sustain a single Rust Deoxidizer.

Edited June 6, 2025 by SamLogan

[Carib94]

3 hours ago, SamLogan said:

Allow taming to progress when Jawbos eat live tamed Pacus. This would make them feel like real predators, reward live feeding setups, and distinguish their gameplay loop from standard critter ranching.

I sort of disagree, using the fish feeder being the only way to tame a wild Jawbo makes sense otherwise whats the point of the fish feeder. If wild jawbos do get tamed by eating live pacu then they will eventually starve since they will hunt wild pacu to extinction. Besides that I agree with most of what you say. 

EDIT: Disregard above I read and type too fast my fault, but below still stands. 

Also you didnt mention it really, but Jawbos happiness is only increase via fish feeder, I made a suggestion in update 673613 thread where they should give a happiness buff to tame jawbos that eat live pacu to get the reproduction bonus and add the 2x the excretion like the rhex, that we both agree on it is only fair since both rhex and jawbo are carnivorous critters. 

More suggestions:

1. Jawbo should be hostile towards other critters that can survive in liquids basically pokeshells and seals

2. If they dont add the 2x the rust for eating live pacu then i suggest jawbo gives more rust. like120kg(yes double)

Edited June 7, 2025 by Carib94

[Paperbag]

16 minutes ago, Carib94 said:

If wild jawbos do get tamed by eating live pacu then they will eventually starve since they will hunt wild pacu to extinction.

They said live tamed pacu, my friend. Not all live pacu. They shouldn't take from eating wild pacu.

Edited June 7, 2025 by Paperbag

[blakemw]

In many ways I'd prefer more critters like Gnits that don't follow the taming model at all. 

[Mariolo]

I've been saying that Jawbo should get tamed by eating tame pacu since day 1 of the beta, it would fix most issues with them. The rust production is a little underwhelming at 60kg/cycle since you can barely sustain a dupe and it's nowhere near enough chlorine for 1 megafrond. Making them drop more rust for live prey is the obvious fix.

[Slightquills]

-I don't know if Jawbos should be tameable.

-That being said a crowded tank is a major issue / flaw in the system. From what I understand the Jawbos are only able to catch pacus of a certain age.
I feel like it almost boils down to allowing players to filter for old pacus that are deliver them via some other non-existant system.

[Mementh]

7 hours ago, Slightquills said:

-I don't know if Jawbos should be tameable.

-That being said a crowded tank is a major issue / flaw in the system. From what I understand the Jawbos are only able to catch pacus of a certain age.
I feel like it almost boils down to allowing players to filter for old pacus that are deliver them via some other non-existant system.

like the butcher mod ? to pull out old ones?

[Farsight]

I assume the issues discussed here still exist in the full release?

So basically, a Jawbo requires either a tank large enough to hold an entire life cycles worth of offspring from 2 pacu, or a fish feeder. So... 172 tiles? (2 tame pacu per jawbo, 10 offspring per pacu, 8 tiles per pacu offspring, plus 12 tiles for the jawbo). So, a 4x43 tank. For each Jawbo.

That's... not fun!

They really need to hunt tame pacu of any age. It'll make them work better, won't drive wild pacu extinct, and makes logical sense.

I really like the concept, but if we have to feed them dead fish, it removes a lot of their uniqueness...

[Tigin]

9 minutes ago, Farsight said:

I assume the issues discussed here still exist in the full release?

So basically, a Jawbo requires either a tank large enough to hold an entire life cycles worth of offspring from 2 pacu, or a fish feeder. So... 172 tiles? (2 tame pacu per jawbo, 10 offspring per pacu, 8 tiles per pacu offspring, plus 12 tiles for the jawbo). So, a 4x43 tank. For each Jawbo.

That's... not fun!

They really need to hunt tame pacu of any age. It'll make them work better, won't drive wild pacu extinct, and makes logical sense.

I really like the concept, but if we have to feed them dead fish, it removes a lot of their uniqueness...

Jawbo never had any restraints for when it could eat Pacus. I think some people got confused from sandbox testing because Jawbos don't spawn hungry.

You wouldn't need a tank large enough to hold an entire life cycle worth of pacu offspring. You can use Fish Releases to ensure there's always like x amount pacus in a pond, or simply periodically drop Pacu eggs into a tank (so tank size would just need to accomodate for a few extra critters)

Of course, this is all a moot point if there's no way to make the Jawbos happy besides a feeder, or there isn't some other innate bonus to live feeding

 

[blakemw]

On 6/13/2025 at 6:52 PM, Tigin said:

Jawbo never had any restraints for when it could eat Pacus. I think some people got confused from sandbox testing because Jawbos don't spawn hungry.

If they are like Rhexes, then the "hunting failures" mainly applies to wild hunting wild. In my testing tame Rhexes are very good at hunting victim critters of all ages.

On 6/13/2025 at 6:52 PM, Tigin said:

Of course, this is all a moot point if there's no way to make the Jawbos happy besides a feeder,

It should be possible to make them Satisfied using the Water Fort, they would then achieve the full conversion throughput of Pacu to Rust. Wouldn't breed them (one egg per lifetime), but tough fillet is a food quality dead end anyway.

[Pproy]

Bumb.

I like Jawbo, but I would very mutch like if they would get the same bonus as Rhexs when eating live prey, AKA doubling the amount of rust drop if they eat a live pacu. It would reward player for more creative tank design.

For even more bonus, maybe the rust amount drop could even varies depending on the type of pacu the Jawbo eat? A Jawbo that only eat tropical or gulp pacu could drop even more rust, or could raise the chance of getting different morph of Jawbo.

Edited August 24, 2025 by Pproy