Desert Scourge

Desert ScourgeDried Glutton

Statistics

Type	Boss
Life	7,200 (total)
KB resist	100%

Map icon

The Desert Scourge is a Pre-Hardmode boss. It is intended to be fought after King Slime and before Eye of Cthulhu, but can pose a considerable challenge to new players with basic equipment.

Spawn

The Desert Scourge does not spawn on its own, and requires the player to summon it with the Desert Medallion in the Desert or Underground Desert.

Minions

Vulture

Statistics

Type	Enemy
Life	x
KB resist	100%

Behavior

When summoned, the Desert Scourge uses a unique spawn animation.

• The ground and screen begin to rumble and nearby sand tiles emit sand dust for about 3 seconds, during which the Scourge remains directly below the player with its map icon hidden.
• Once this time has passed, the Scourge lunges upward from behind the player, causing a flash of motion blur. It turns to hover near the player for a moment once past them, then triggers another flash of motion blur, roars, and begins attacking.

Phase 1Phase 2Phase 3

Desert ScourgePhase One

Statistics

Life	7,200 / 7,200 (total)
KB resist	100%

Map icon

The Desert Scourge performs attacks from the following attack pool at random:

Sand Spit

• The Desert Scourge moves at high speed towards the player, making sharp turns.
• It briefly accelerates and straightens out when it is within 17.5 tiles of the player, then resumes turning when it exits this range.
• When at least 20.3 tiles from the player, the Desert Scourge's head fires a ring of 7 Sand Blasts once every 1.33 seconds.
• This attack stops after 6 seconds.

Sand Rush Charge

• The Desert Scourge slowly falls to the side of the player, then roars and performs a long horizontal charge once its head moves at least 1 tile below ground.
• The head fires Sand Blasts upwards at a slight random angle while charging, as well as harmless geysers of sand dust with each shot.
  • This attack is cancelled if the Desert Scourge takes more than 5 seconds to reach a sufficient depth.

Sandstorm

• The wind picks up and harmless sand dust appears in the air, blown along by the wind.
• Groups of three Sandstorm Blasts appear rapidly from the sides of the player's screen, drifting slightly downwards as they fly.
• During this attack, the Desert Scourge moves towards the player in the same way as it does during Sand Spit, but with greatly reduced speed and acceleration.
• This attack stops after 8 seconds.

Desert ScourgePhase Two

Statistics

Life	3,960 / 7,200 (total)
KB resist	100%

Map icon

The Desert Scourge enters its second phase at 55% (3,960) health. It continues its Phase 1 behavior, with the Ground Slam added to its attack pool:

Ground Slam

• The Desert Scourge accelerates to a high speed and flies upward at a slight angle.
• Once it has been flying for about 2 seconds, it roars, turns sharply, and plummets downward at a slight angle. As soon as the Scourge's head strikes a solid tile, it fires a large and dense ring of Sand Blasts with slightly random velocities, as well as two very slow but extremely tall Sandnadoes that spread sideways from the impact and dissipate after 5 seconds.
• This attack is always repeated twice.

Sand Spit

• The Desert Scourge moves at high speed towards the player, making sharp turns.
• It briefly accelerates and straightens out when it is within 17.5 tiles of the player, then resumes turning when it exits this range.
• When at least 20.3 tiles from the player, the Desert Scourge's head fires a ring of 7 Sand Blasts once every 1.33 seconds.
• This attack stops after 6 seconds.

Sand Rush Charge

• The Desert Scourge slowly falls to the side of the player, then roars and performs a long horizontal charge once its head moves at least 1 tile below ground.
• The head fires Sand Blasts upwards at a slight random angle while charging, as well as harmless geysers of sand dust with each shot.
  • This attack is cancelled if the Desert Scourge takes more than 5 seconds to reach a sufficient depth.

Sandstorm

• The wind picks up and harmless sand dust appears in the air, blown along by the wind.
• Groups of three Sandstorm Blasts appear rapidly from the sides of the player's screen, drifting slightly downwards as they fly.
• During this attack, the Desert Scourge moves towards the player in the same way as it does during Sand Spit, but with greatly reduced speed and acceleration.
• This attack stops after 8 seconds.

Desert ScourgePhase Three

Statistics

Life	1,800 / 7,200 (total)
KB resist	100%

Map icon

The Desert Scourge enters its third phase at 25% (1,800) health. It continues its Phase 2 behavior, with one new attack added to its attack pool:

Summon Vultures

• The Desert Scourge emits a shortened roar and spawns four Vultures evenly spaced above the player.
  • No Vultures will be spawned if at least eight Vultures already exist.

Ground Slam

• The Desert Scourge accelerates to a high speed and flies upward at a slight angle.
• Once it has been flying for about 2 seconds, it roars, turns sharply, and plummets downward at a slight angle. As soon as the Scourge's head strikes a solid tile, it fires a large and dense ring of Sand Blasts with slightly random velocities, as well as two very slow but extremely tall Sandnadoes that spread sideways from the impact and dissipate after 5 seconds.
• This attack is always repeated twice.

Sand Spit

• The Desert Scourge moves at high speed towards the player, making sharp turns.
• It briefly accelerates and straightens out when it is within 17.5 tiles of the player, then resumes turning when it exits this range.
• When at least 20.3 tiles from the player, the Desert Scourge's head fires a ring of 7 Sand Blasts once every 1.33 seconds.
• This attack stops after 6 seconds.

Sand Rush Charge

• The Desert Scourge slowly falls to the side of the player, then roars and performs a long horizontal charge once its head moves at least 1 tile below ground.
• The head fires Sand Blasts upwards at a slight random angle while charging, as well as harmless geysers of sand dust with each shot.
  • This attack is cancelled if the Desert Scourge takes more than 5 seconds to reach a sufficient depth.

Sandstorm

• The wind picks up and harmless sand dust appears in the air, blown along by the wind.
• Groups of three Sandstorm Blasts appear rapidly from the sides of the player's screen, drifting slightly downwards as they fly.
• During this attack, the Desert Scourge moves towards the player in the same way as it does during Sand Spit, but with greatly reduced speed and acceleration.
• This attack stops after 8 seconds.

Aftermath

• A status message appears which reads "The desert wind is blowing furiously!", indicating that Sandstorms can now occur. This is demonstrated by a sandstorm starting upon its defeat.
• A status message appears which reads "The depths of the underground desert are rumbling...", indicating several changes to the Sunken Sea:
  • Prism-Backs can now drop Prism Shards.
  • The Sparkling Empress can now be obtained by fishing in the Sunken Sea.
  • The Giant Clam can now spawn in the Sunken Sea.
  • Ghost Bells can now drop the Voltaic Jelly.

Tips

Trivia

• The Bestiary entry for the Desert Scourge: "A sea serpent that once swam through the waters of the Ilmeran Sea, it curiously chose to stay in its home rather than find a new one deep below. Quickly taking to a diet of antlion and cactus, it was able to take the place of possibly the desert's apex predator after its only competition went into hiding."

• The Desert Scourge's theme is Guardian of The Former Seas, which was composed by the artist DM DOKURO