Desert Scourge

Type	Boss – Burrowing Enemy
Damage	16 / 32 / 40 / 44 / 60
Max Life	2,500 / 4,000 / 4,800 / 6,000 / 7,200
Defense	6
DR	5%
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 100% chance;
Debuff duration	4 seconds
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life

Type	Boss – Burrowing Enemy
Damage	30 / 66 / 88 / 99 / 132 (Contact); 26 / 44 / 60 / 68 / 90 (Sand Blast)
Max Life	2,500 / 4,000 / 4,800 / 6,000 / 7,200
Defense	4
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 100% chance;
Debuff duration	10 seconds (Contact)
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life

Type	Boss – Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Desert
Max Life	2,500 / 4,000 / 4,800 / 6,000 / 7,200
KB Resist	100%
Immune to
Coins	5

If you were looking for something other than the Desert Scourge, see Scourge (disambiguation).

"...There is always a bigger fish in the sea."

The Desert Scourge is a Pre-Hardmode boss. It is intended to be one of the first bosses fought by the player and is considered to be the weakest of all of the bosses added by the Calamity Mod. It is intended to be fought before the Eye of Cthulhu and after the King Slime, but it can still pose a considerable challenge to new players with only basic equipment.

Spawn

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

Segments

Desert Scourge Tail

Statistics

Type	Boss – Burrowing Enemy
Damage	12 / 24 / 30 / 32 / 42
Max Life	2,500 / 4,000 / 4,800 / 6,000 / 7,200
Defense	9
DR	10%
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 100% chance
Debuff duration	3 seconds
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life

Behavior

Desert Scourge behaves like a regular worm enemy, moving through blocks and attempting to ram the player. The Desert Scourge has 27 / 32 / 37 / 42 segments in total.

It becomes enraged if the player leaves the Desert biome.

Attacks

Upon reaching 50% / 75% / 100% health, the Desert Scourge will occasionally burrow underground and roar, then rapidly lunge at the player before burrowing again from a height of 37.5 tiles above the player. It also shoots 12 / 16 / 18 / 20 Sand Blasts at the top of its lunge.
- This attack occurs every 9 / 7 seconds. After performing the attack, this timer resets on the apex of its lunge.
- If the attack takes longer than 10 seconds, it will automatically reset to its default behavior.

In Expert Mode

Segments are increased from 27 to 32, and size increased by 10% from Normal Mode.
Can use its burrow-and-lunge attack upon reaching 75% health.
Gains up to 66.67% bonus speed and 83.33% bonus acceleration as its health lowers.
Fires three spreads of gravity-defying sand blasts toward the player. The three spreads contain 3, 2, and 3 projectiles.
Shoots 16 sand blasts at the top of its lunge instead of 12.

In Revengeance Mode

Segments are increased from 32 to 37, and size increased by 15% from Normal Mode.
Can use its burrow-and-lunge attack regardless of health.
2 Desert Nuisances are spawned alongside the main worm, each with a total of 14 segments.
- These worms act independently and are not required to be defeated to progress through the fight.
- This does not occur while in its burrow-and-lunge attack.
Shoots 18 sand blasts at the top of its lunge instead of 16.
Sand blast spreads increased to 4, 3, and 4 projectiles.

In Death Mode

Segments are increased from 37 to 42, and size increased by 20% from Normal Mode.
Requires two fewer seconds to prepare for its burrow-and-lunge attack.
The speed and acceleration boosts from Expert Mode are increased to 133.33% and 125% at maximum respectively.
All sand blast projectiles have higher velocity.
Shoots 20 sand blasts at the top of its lunge instead of 18.
Sand blast spreads increased to 6, 4, and 6 projectiles.

On the For the worthy seed

Health is increased to 10,000 / 16,000 / 19,200 / 24,000 / 28,800 .
Moves 10% faster and turns 20% faster.
Is 60% smaller but segments increased to 77 / 92 / 107 / 122 .
Speed when falling is doubled.
The number of sand blasts shot at the peak of its lunge is increased to 24 / 32 / 36 / 40 .
Desert Nuisance has increased defense:
- 20 for its head segment.
- 30 for its body segments.
- 40 for its tail segment.

During the Boss Rush

Gains an additive 133.33% speed and an additive 100% acceleration.

When enraged

Gains an additive 266.67% speed and an additive 200% acceleration.
More aggressive and makes much sharper turns.

Summons

Image	Name	Condition
	Desert Nuisance	Always in Revengeance Mode or in Boss Rush

Desert Nuisance Head

Map icon

Statistics

Type	Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Desert
Damage	60 / 70 / 90
Max Life	1,120 / 1,680
Defense	2
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 100% chance
Debuff duration	3 seconds
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life
Immune to

Sounds

Hurt

Killed

Desert Nuisance Body

Statistics

Type	Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Desert
Damage	32 / 36 / 45
Max Life	1,120 / 1,680
Defense	4
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 100% chance
Debuff duration	1 second
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life
Immune to

Sounds

Hurt

Killed

Desert Nuisance Tail

Statistics

Type	Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Desert
Damage	20 / 24 / 30
Max Life	1,120 / 1,680
Defense	7
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 100% chance
Debuff duration	0.5 seconds
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life
Immune to

Sounds

Hurt

Killed

Aftermath

Sandstorms can now occur, indicated by a sandstorm starting upon its defeat.
Prism-Backs will begin dropping Prism Shards.
The Sparkling Empress will be obtainable via Fishing in the Sunken Sea.
The Giant Clam can now spawn in the Sunken Sea.
Ghost Bells will begin dropping the Voltaic Jelly.

Resistances

All segments take reduced damage from most non-minion piercing projectiles. Each hit decreases the damage of the next hit by 12%, until the eighth hit onwards which will deal 20% of the original damage.
All segments take 20% damage from grenade-type projectiles. A list of affected projectiles is below.

Resisted grenades
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All segments also take 50% damage from true melee hits.

Notes

Desert Scourge, along with The Leviathan and the Aquatic Scourge, can drop items rewarded by the Angler for completing his quests.
All of the Desert Scourge's loot will spawn at the nearest segment except for the Sand Blocks and Hearts, which will always spawn at the head.
Each Desert Nuisance will have 35,000 health during the Boss Rush.

Tips

For more elaborate strategies on defeating the Desert Scourge, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Desert Scourge strategies.

Building a few layers of platforms across the Desert will make avoiding the Scourge much easier.
- Another alternative is to build a rope. Ensure the rope is inside the Desert, or the Desert Scourge will become enraged.
- The Scourge will tunnel through platforms if it reaches them. Spacing platforms around 20 blocks above the ground and between each other can help prevent this.
- Be careful: If the platforms are too high above the ground, the player might leave the Desert, enraging the Scourge.
- Despite this, it is still suggested to build a bridge roughly 10-20 blocks up, as this will give the player a height advantage over the Scourge as long as they make sure to stay moving.
Avoid its head at all costs, especially in Expert Mode or higher difficulties.
Always stay moving, as the Scourge's attacks will easily kill an immobile target.
- This becomes even more important when on Revengeance Mode as the Scourge gains its sand blast attack.
While the player can fight the Desert Scourge as the first boss, caution is still advised, as its size and speed can easily take down an unprepared player.
The Desert Scourge is a good boss to farm for money in Pre-Hardmode.

Trivia

Desert Scourge's theme is Guardian of the Former Seas, which was composed by the artist DM DOKURO.
- If the Calamity Music add-on mod is disabled, Boss 1 will play instead.
The Aquatic Scourge is a hydrated version of the Desert Scourge, although it has been mutated by the toxic waters of the Sulphurous Sea.
This boss and the Aquatic Scourge can both drop several fishing drops, making them the only two bosses to share a drop outside of crafting materials, potions, or fishing items.
The Desert Scourge can be fought before any boss is defeated, as its summoning item only requires Sand Blocks, Antlion Mandibles, and Stormlion Mandibles.
The Desert Scourge used to spawn small worms called Dried Seekers when it reached 75% health.
The Desert Scourge was one of the first bosses to be added to the Calamity Mod, along with The Slime God and The Devourer of Gods.
If the Boss Checklist Mod is installed, its unique despawn message will be "The scourge of the desert delves back into the sand."

Bestiary entries

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."
Desert Nuisance: "Though these serpents are of the Desert Scourge’s species, they are notably younger and less developed. Choosing to hunt in a pack with the large scourge due to this weakness, many have seen them tear apart prey not unlike the piranhas that once populated the former sea."

History

edit

These history sections are still a work-in-progress, and may not yet contain changes relevant to the current version of the Calamity Mod.

2.0.2.002:
- Changed "delved" to "delves" for its Boss Checklist Mod despawn message.
- Increased the minimum distance to player required for its head to fire Sand Blasts from 18.75 tiles to 20.

2.0.1.003: Fixed A Desert Nuisance not spawning in multiplayer.

2.0.1.002: Now drops 5-15 Lesser Healing Potions instead of 8-14.

2.0.1.001:
- A Desert Nuisance now has a map icon.
- Now drops 25-30 Coral, Seashells, and Starfish instead of 5-9 of each, and 25-30 Pearl Shards instead of 7-14.
- Treasure Bag now drops 30-40 Coral, Seashells, and Starfish instead of 7-11 of each, and 30-40 Pearl Shards instead of 10-16 .

1.5.1.003: Now drops 5 .

1.5.1.001:
- Nerfed health from 2600 / 4160 / 4800 to 2500 / 4000 / 4800 .
- Nerfed fall speed after the lunge attack by 50%.
- It and A Desert Nuisance are now vulnerable to cold, water, and sickness debuffs.
- Nerfed size modifier in Death Mode from 125% to 120%.
- Now drops Ocean Crest regardless of world difficulty.

1.5.0.003: No longer spawns Dried Seekers.

1.5.0.002:
- Decreased velocity by 25% on all world difficulties.
- A Desert Nuisance no longer drops Hearts.

1.5.0.001:
- Renamed "Desert Scourge (small)" to "A Desert Nusiance".
- Buffed health from 2300 / 3680 / 4240 to 2600 / 4160 / 4800 .
- Nerfed Boss Rush health from 16,500,000 / 26,400,000 to 1,650,000 / 2,640,000 .
- No longer immune to any debuffs except Confused and Pearl Aura.
- A Desert Nusiance no longer drops Hearts in Revengeance or Malice Mode.
- Defeating it will now increase Antlion, Antlion Swarmer, and Tomb Crawler health by 25% and Dungeon Guardian health by 10%. Antlion and Antlion Swarmer's defense is also increased by 50%.
- Now uses custom AI instead of Worm AI.

1.4.5.004: No longer becomes invincible and instead enrages when leaving the Desert.

1.4.5.003:
- Can now dive and lunge towards the player while burrowing in all world difficulties. A new sound effect is played before this occurs.
- Now larger, has more body segments, burrows more often, and gains increased velocity and acceleration as its health decreases in Death Mode.
- Buffed head damage from 30 / 66 / 82 / 94 to 30 / 66 / 84 / 99 .
- Buffed body damage from 16 / 27 / 31 to 16 / 32 / 40 / 44 .
- Buffed tail damage from 12 / 20 / 23 to 12 / 24 / 30 / 32 .

1.4.5.001:
- No longer prevents sandstorms if it hasn't been defeated before Hardmode.
- Now drops Sandy Angling Kit instead of an array of fishing gear.

1.4.3.002:
- No longer drops Angler Tackle Bag.
- Small Desert Scourges are now immune to Eutrophication, Glacial State, Pearl Aura, Slow, Temporal Sadness, Tesla Freeze, Time Distortion, and Webbed.
- Small Desert Scourge head segments are no longer immune to all debuffs, and body and tail segments are no longer immune to Glacial State.

1.4.3.001:
- Nerfed head damage from 30 / 66 / 82 / 94 to 30 / 66 / 79 / 87 .
- Buffed body damage from 16 / 27 / 31 to 16 / 27 / 33 / 37 .
- Buffed tail damage from 12 / 20 / 23 to 12 / 20 / 25 / 28 .
- Nerfed small Desert Scourge's head damage from 45 / 53 to 45 / 50 .
- Buffed small Desert Scourge's body damage from 20 / 23 to 25 / 28 .
- Buffed small Desert Scourge's tail damage from 16 / 18 to 20 / 23 .
- Nerfed sand blast damage from 60 / 69 to 60 / 67 .
- Decreased Angler Earring drop rate from 10% to 6.67%.
- Decreased Angler Tackle Bag drop rate from 6.67% to 5%.
- Death Mode now causes it to move at highest speed immediately, instead of gradually speeding up as health lowers.
- Resprited Desert Scourge (small).

1.4.2.106:
- Buffed Boss Rush health from 4,100,000 / 6,560,000 / 7,200,000 to 16,500,000 / 26,400,000 / 28,000,0000 .
- Changed head damage from 20 / 72 / 180 to 30 / 66 .
- Buffed body damage from 25 to 27 , and nerfed defense from 8 to 6.
- Buffed tail damage from 19 to 20 , and nerfed defense from 12 to 9.
- Nerfed sand blast damage from 60 to 48 .
- Nerfed small Desert Scourge's body defense from 5 to 4, and tail defense from 8 to 7.
- No longer gets a speed boost after defeating Skeletron.
- Small Desert Scourges no longer gain an increased segment count after defeating Skeletron.
- Decreased maximum amount of Dried Seekers from 5 to 3.

1.4.2.105:
- Now starts a Sandstorm when defeated for the first time.
- Now prevents Sandstorms from occurring until defeated.

1.4.2.104: No longer drops Ocean Crest in Normal Mode.

1.4.2.103: Sand blasts now have afterimages.

1.4.2.102:
- Buffed body damage from 12 / 19 to 16 / 25 , tail damage from 9 / 14 to 12 / 19 , and nerfed tail defense from 18 to 12.
- Buffed small Desert Scourge's head damage from 13 / 28 to 18 / 36 , body damage from 9 / 12 to 10 / 20 , tail damage from 4 / 5 to 8 / 16 , and nerfed tail defense from 9 to 8.

1.4.2.101:
- Now drops Scourge of the Desert in all difficulty modes instead of Revengeance Mode and higher.
- It and small Desert Scourges are now immune to Exo Freeze.

1.4.2.001:
- Nerfed Boss Rush health from 8,100,000 / 12,960,000 / 14,400,000 to 4,100,000 / 6,560,000 / 7,200,000 .
- Body and tail segments can no longer be lifestealed off of.
- Small Desert Scourge body and tail segments can no longer be lifestealed off of.
- Projectiles now have more descriptive names.

1.4.1.003: Small Desert Scourges no longer drop money.

1.4.1.001:
- Buffed Boss Rush damage modifier from 4.75x to 6x.
- Now inflicts Bleeding in all difficulty modes instead of just Expert Mode and higher.
- Decreased Bleeding duration from small Desert Scourge head from 3.33 seconds to 3, from body segments from 1.67 seconds to 1, and from tail from 0.83 seconds to 0.5.

1.4.0.001:
- Buffed health from 2300 / 3680 / 4000 / 7840 to 2300 / 3680 / 4240 / 8160 .
- Nerfed body damage reduction from 10% to 5%, and tail reduction from 25% to 10%.
- Lowered sand blast fire rate.
- Now drops Sand Blocks.

1.3.4.101: Head no longer has 10% damage reduction, and nerfed body damage reduction from 15% to 10%.

1.3.4.001:
- Nerfed health from 4000 / 6400 / 7200 / 16,320 to 2300 / 3680 / 4000 / 7840 .
- No longer takes 80% damage from and reduces piercing of Molotov Cocktails.
- No longer takes 50% damage from explosives.
- No longer drops Duke Fishron (lore item).

1.3.3.001:
- Tweaked movement of it and small Desert Scourges.
- Now takes 80% damage from Molotov Cocktails instead of 65%.
- Now takes 50% damage from explosives instead of 20%.
- Now takes 80% damage from infinitely piercing projectiles instead of 25% in Revengeance Mode.
- No longer divides projectile damage by the amount of times that said projectile pierces in Revengeance Mode.

1.3.2.001:
- Changed head damage from 30 / 66 / 166 to 20 / 71 / 179 .
- Nerfed body damage from 16 / 25 to 12 / 19 .
- Small Desert Scourge changes:
  - Nerfed head damage from 34 / 49 to 29 / 42 .
  - Nerfed body damage from 23 / 33 to 19 / 28 .

1.3.1.001: Sand blast projectiles now last 5 seconds instead of 2 and now create more dust.

1.3.0.001:
- It and small Desert Scourges are no longer immune to Exo Freeze.
- No longer gets increased segments, damage, defense, and health after defeating Skeletron.
- Lowered speed boost after defeating Skeletron has been defeated.
- Small Desert Scourges no longer get increased damage, defense, and health after defeating Skeletron.
- Resprited it and map icon.

1.2.4.201: Small Desert Scourges no longer count as bosses.

1.2.4.101:
- Buffed Death Mode health from 10,720 to 16,320 .
- Smaller worms now start flying at a shorter distance in Death Mode.

1.2.4.002:
- Buffed head damage in Death Mode from 99 to 121 .
- Now takes 65% damage from Molotov Cocktail flares in Expert Mode.
- Now takes 20% damage from explosives in Expert Mode.
- Can now periodically fire blasts of sand in Revengeance Mode.
- Small Desert Scourges no longer drop money.
- Now becomes invincible while outside of the Desert.

1.2.3.006: Now uses Guardian of the Former Seas as its theme.

1.2.3.004: Now more aggressive in Death Mode.

1.2.3.002: Now gets 10,720 health in Death Mode.

1.2.1.006:
- Original fight:
  - Nerfed body damage from 20 / 32 / 40 to 16 / 25 / 31 .
  - Nerfed small Desert Scourge's health from 1000 / 1400 to 800 / 1120 .
- Post-Skeletron refight:
  - Nerfed health boost from 6000 to 4000.
  - Nerfed head damage from 50 / 100 / 125 to 45 / 99 / 123 , and defense from 20 to 10.
  - Nerfed body damage from 40 / 64 / 80 to 30 / 48 / 60 .
  - Nerfed tail damage from 20 / 44 / 55 to 15 / 33 / 41 , and defense from 20 to 15.
  - Small Desert Scourge:
    - Nerfed health boost from 3000 to 2000.
    - Nerfed head damage from 30 / 60 / 75 to 25 / 55 / 68 , and defense from 10 to 5.
    - Nerfed body damage from 20 / 28 / 35 to 16 / 22 / 27 , and defense from 20 to 16.
    - Nerfed tail damage from 10 / 14 / 17 to 7 / 9 / 11 , and defense from 25 to 20.

1.2.1.004: Nerfed Revengeance Mode health from 8320 to 7200 .

1.2.0.002:
- It and smaller Desert Scourges now gain additional health, contact damage, and defense after defeating Skeletron.
  - Gains 20 body segments and extra speed.
  - Smaller Desert Scourges gain 10 body segments.
- Can now drop Angler Earring, Angler Hat, Angler Vest, Angler Pants, Angler Tackle Bag, Crate Potions, Fisherman's Pocket Guide, Fishing Potions, High Test Fishing Line, Sextant, Sonar Potions, Tackle Box, and Weather Radio.
- Can now drop Golden Bug Net after defeating Skeletron.

1.2.0.001:
- Now gets 8320 health in Revengeance Mode.
- Now has 5% damage reduction on the head, 10% damage reduction on the body, and 25% damage reduction on the tail.
- Body and tail segments are now immune to all debuffs instead of just Glacial State.
- Smaller Desert Scourges now count as bosses.
- Now cuts the damage of infinitely piercing projectiles by 50% instead of 20%.
- Now has a 2% chance to drop Laudanum or Stress Pills in Revengeance Mode.

1.1.7.901:
- Introduced Desert Scourge (small).
- Changed health from 5225 / 5747 to 4000 / 6400 .
- Buffed body damage from 30 to 32 .
- Buffed tail damage from 13 to 14 .
- Decreased amount of dust produced when hit and killed.
- Now has a higher chance to spawn Dried Seekers when hit, but can now only spawn 5 at a time.
- Can no longer naturally spawn.

1.1.7.859:
- Now takes up 7 NPC slots instead of 5.
- Now immune to all debuffs.

1.1.7.852: Now has gores.

1.1.7.804: Now uses vanilla enemy spawn chance instead of custom one.

1.1.7.801: Now drops 2 instead of 5 .

1.1.7.701: Now becomes invincible instead of despawning if the player leaves the Desert.

1.1.7.56: Now despawns if brought out of the Desert for too long.

1.1.7.5: No longer spawns if the player is near a Celestial Pillar.

1.1.7:
- Now spawns 10x less frequently.
- Now drops up to 3 Coral, Starfish, and Seashells instead of 2.
- Decreased all weapon drop chances from 33% / 50% to 25% / 33% .

1.1.6.15:
- Body segments now produce less dust when hit.
- Head and tail now produce dust when hit.
- All segments now produce dust when killed.
- Body segments no longer spawn water tiles when hit.
- No longer takes 50% damage from projectiles that pierce more than three times in Expert Mode.

1.1.6.14: Decreased speed.

1.1.6.13:
- Nerfed Expert Mode health from 7315 to 5747 .
- Buffed Expert Mode head damage from 44 to 60 , body damage from 22 to 30 , and tail damage from 9 to 13 .
- Increased speed.

1.1.6.1: Resprited map icon.

1.1.5.094: Can now drop a Desert Scourge Trophy.

1.1.5.091: Can now drop a Desert Scourge Mask.

1.1.5.081: All body segments should now have equal velocity and rotation formulas.

1.1.5.08: Now has greater horizontal mobility.

1.1.5.03:
- Treasure Bag no longer drops Victide armor.
- Reduced all weapon drop chances from Treasure Bag from 100% to 50% .

1.1.5.02: Resprited.

1.1.5: Now only has a 4% chance to spawn a tile of water when hit.

1.1.4.473: Fixed multiplayer desyncing issues.

1.1.4.46: Body segments now have a 50% chance to spawn a tile of water when hit in Expert Mode.

1.1.4.44:
- Now gains boosted stats in Hardmode and after defeating Moon Lord:
  - Gains a 600% health boost and a 200% damage boost in Hardmode, and an additional 300% health boost and 200% damage boost after defeating Moon Lord.
  - Head is set from 0 defense to 10 in Hardmode and 25 after defeating Moon Lord.
  - Body is set from 8 defense to 20 in Hardmode and 45 after defeating Moon Lord.
  - Tail is set from 18 defense to 40 in Hardmode and 75 after defeating Moon Lord.
- Now more resistant to explosive and piercing projectiles.
- Can now spawn in the Desert after defeating Skeletron.

1.1.4.43:
- Cleaned up AI.
- Can now drop Seabound Staff.
- Resprited.

1.1.4.3: No longer generates Aerialite Ore after being killed three times.

1.1.4.2:
- Speed lowered.
- Now cuts explosive damage in half.
- Now has a map icon.

1.1.4:
- Buffed health from 1625 / 2762 to 5225 / 8882 .
- Buffed head damage from 25 / 37 to 40 / 60 .
- Buffed body damage from 10 / 15 to 20 / 31 .
- Buffed tail damage from 5 / 7 to 9 / 13 .
- No longer becomes near invincible in Expert Mode.

1.1:
- Body segments now gain 5 defense in Expert Mode.
- Tail segment now gains 8 defense in Expert Mode.
- Now generates Aerialite Ore on defeat.
- Treasure Bag now drops Ocean Crest.
- Resprited.

1.0: Introduced.

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Desert Scourge

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