The floater is a large, soft-bodied invertebrate, named after the flotation sacs that allow it to hover in the air.[Non-canon 1] Parts of its body include a head, mouth, fore mouth, float sac, tail, ganglion, and ovipositor.[1] Floaters are often found in groups with super mutants and centaurs.
There are three types of elemental floaters in Appalachia, encountered in groups and found alongside super mutants, who consider them friendly and treat them as companions and attack animals. Floater flamers glow red, have incendiary abilities, and have vertical pupils. Floater freezers glow blue, have cryogenic abilities, and horizontal pupils. Floater gnashers glow green, have pupils in the form of a plus sign, and have acidic abilities.
↑Fallout 2 Official Strategies & Secrets p.26-27: "Floaters hover by, manufacturing and storing noxious gases in their flotation bladders. They're stupid, but move fast and are very difficult to kill. Floaters will try to surround you, so keep your distance. The gases that allow them to float turn them into a wonderful "flambé" when you crisp them with fire or energy weapons."
↑Joshua Sawyer: "I think Floaters are cool critters in the Fallout universe, but, like Centaurs, they have really weird bodies that require unique animation rigs. From an animation perspective, limbless flying things tend to be really cheap (usually), human-like bipeds are cheap, quadrupeds aren’t too bad. Once you start getting into creatures with multiple heads, snake bodies, tentacles, etc., they get really expensive. IIRC, we talked about having Floaters but we just didn’t have the animation time for them." (Joshua Sawyer on Tumblr)
