Guide:Aquatic Scourge strategies

This is a Guide page. This means the page will walk you through a specific task, strategy, or enemy/boss fight. This guide was last updated for version 2.0.1.003.

Aquatic Scourge

Map icon

Statistics

Type	Boss – Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Sulphurous Sea
Max Life	80,000 / 128,000 / 153,600 / 192,000 / 230,400
KB Resist	100%
Immune to

Resistances

Cold	-
Water	Resistant
Sickness	Resistant
Electricity	Vulnerable
Heat	Resistant

Drops

Coins	40

• Item (Quantity)Rate
• Bleached Angling Kit
  100%
• Sulphurous Sand (5-15)
  100%
• At least one of the following 5 weapons will always drop:
• Submarine Shocker
  25% / 33.33%
• Barinautical
  25% / 33.33%
• Downpour
  25% / 33.33%
• Deepsea Staff
  25% / 33.33%
• Scourge of the Seas
  25% / 33.33%
• Aquatic Emblem
  100%
• Corrosive Spine
  25% / 33.33%
• Sea's Searing
  10%
• Deep Diver
  10%
• Greater Healing Potion (5-15)
  100%
• Aquatic Scourge Mask
  14.29%
• Aquatic Scourge Trophy
  10%
• Thank You
  1%
• Aquatic Scourge (Lore)(Always on first kill)
  100%
• Sulphur Sea (Lore)(Always on first kill)
  100%
• Treasure Bag(Aquatic Scourge)
  100%
• Aquatic Scourge Relic(In Master or Revengeance Mode only)
  100% / 100%

Sounds

Hurt

Killed

Tooth

Sand Blast

Vomit

The Aquatic Scourge is a boss that is usually fought after defeating one Mechanical Boss. The Aquatic Scourge will rarely spawn naturally in the Sulphurous Sea biome and can also be summoned using Seafood in the same biome.

This guide will follow the mod's intended progression.

Terrain Preparation

Usually, it is wise to make three layers of platforms above your Sulphurous Sea, with the bottom layer being a few blocks above the water. The platforms should have around 45 blocks of space in between each layer to accommodate for the Aquatic Scourge's size, projectiles and Sulphur gas clouds. Make sure that your platforms all stay within the Sulphurous Sea.

Gearing Up

Armor

• The reworked Hardmode ore armors are all useful options for melee, ranged, and magic players. The armor that should be used depends on how many mechanical bosses have been defeated:
  • If none have been defeated, Palladium armor is a good option due to its high defense and regeneration bonuses, but Cobalt armor is also a solid option, trading survivability for good mobility and mobility-based damage bonuses.
  • If at least one of the mechanical bosses has been defeated, Mythril and Orichalcum armor are both great for most classes, due to their ability to create projectiles on hit, being especially useful against the Aquatic Scourge's larger body.
  • Adamantite armor is a great choice due to its high stat bonuses, but Titanium armor can also be used especially well when close to the boss.
• Spider armor is generally preferred for Summoners due to the extra minion slots and high damage bonuses for summoners.
• Titan Heart armor is the best option for rogues at this stage of the game.
• Crystal Assassin armor is a solid choice for most classes, focusing on mobility and granting the player the ability to dash, but requires Queen Slime to be defeated first.

Accessories

• Before any mechanical bosses have been defeated, wing options are fairly limited.
  • Angel and Fairy Wings are both excellent choices, providing incredible defensive boosts to help the player's survivability during the fight.
  • If the player desires a more offensive approach, Demon Wings may be used instead, granting the player 5% extra damage and critical strike chance.
  • If Cryogen has already been defeated, the Soul of Cryogen is a solid option due to its damage bonus and projectiles against Aquatic Scourge.
• If at least one mechanical boss has been defeated, more wing options are available.
  • Harpy Wings are a great option due to their great mobility when paired with the Harpy Ring, being especially useful at dodging the Aquatic Scourge's attacks in later phases.
  • Bat Wings are an all around solid option that provide minor damage boosts during night.
  • Butterfly Wings are a great choice for mage players due to the multiple bonuses they provide.
• A Frog Leg, Harpy Ring or Aero Stone can be utilized with wings to give an extra boost to movement speed and vertical motion.
• The Ankh Shield provides immunity to knockback and the Poisoned debuff the Aquatic Scourge inflicts, allowing for easier dodging and survivavibility.
• The Charm of Myths is a good defensive accessory for all classes, providing great boosts to life regeneration and allowing for using healing potions more quickly.
• The Amalgamated Brain is a good offensive accessory for all classes, granting the player 10% extra damage and a dodge every 90 seconds.
• The Grand Gelatin provides a wide array of boosts useful for any class.
• Terraspark or Fairy Boots are both helpful for keeping up with Aquatic Scourge's fast movement speed, with the former granting the player the ability to walk on water and the latter providing multiple stat bonuses.
• The Counter Scarf, its upgrade, and the Shield of Cthulhu can be used to make quick dashes and escape deadly situations.
• The class emblems are useful offensive options for all classes. Note that Calamity also has an exclusive emblem for the Rogue class.
• Melee players should use the Bloody Worm Scarf and the Berserker's Glove for its strong melee boosts as well as increased survivability.
• The Magic Quiver and its upgrades will greatly improve the firepower of bows for Ranged players.
• Magic players should use the Mana Flower and the Celestial Cuffs to quickly recover mana during the fight.
• Summoners can make use of the Jelly-Charged Battery, The First Shadowflame and the Pygmy Necklace for extra minion slots, as well as multiple other buffs.
  • The Berserker's Glove is also useful for increasing whip speed as well as defense and max health.
  • The Spirit Glyph will provide multiple buffs for summoners on minion hits.
• Rogue players will find stealth based items such as the Coin of Deceit, Mirage Mirror and Silencing Sheath useful.
  • If one mechanical boss has been defeated, the Ruin Medallion should be used instead of the Coin of Deceit and the player can also craft the Electrician's Glove.

Weapons

• It is sometimes preferable to fight the other bosses at this tier in progression to have a much wider array of options, some of which are listed below.

Melee

• The Brimstone Sword's right click is very effective for this boss.
• The Axe of Purity's right click function can quickly deplete the Aquatic Scourge's health if used correctly.
• The Fractured Ark's range and high DPS should make the fight fairly straight-forward for Melee users.
• The Frostbrand and the Caustic Edge can be used when not close to the boss to deal consistent, decent damage.
• The Drippler Crippler can be used at close range like a regular flail and at longer range with projectiles, but requires careful aiming.

Ranger

• The Daedalus Stormbow is extremely powerful against the Aquatic Scourge when paired with Holy Arrows or Napalm Arrows.
• If the player has defeated The Twins, Arbalest is a solid option throughout the entire fight, but requires some building up for higher damage.
• If the player has defeated two mechanical bosses, both the Adamantite Particle Accelerator and the Titanium Railgun are incredible options for the entire fight.
• The Matter Modulator usually does weak damage before bouncing off of tiles, but due to its infinite piercing can do excellent damage when used head-on.
• The Flarewing Bow's infinite piercing can make quick work of the Aquatic Scourge.
• The Star Cannon can be quite good against it due to its infinite piercing.

Mage

• The Poseidon is a consistent choice dealing good damage due to its piercing typhoons.
• The Snowstorm Staff is a consistent option that deals solid DPS.
• If the player has defeated a mechanical boss, the SHPC is an excellent weapon against the Aquatic Scourge.
• The Meteor Staff is a solid choice for dealing damage due to the Aquatic Scourge's larger body.
• The Nimbus Rod can be used as a support option to gain extra DPS on the Aquatic Scourge's segments, especially when the Aquatic Scourge is flying upwards.
• The Golden Shower is a great support weapon as a means of inflicting Ichor.
• The Glorious End can be used similarly to a support tool for dodging attacks and gaining immunity frames.
• The right-click attack of the Tome of Infinite Wisdom can send a tornado along the entire body, but only works when the boss is close to the ground or coiled up in the air. The left-click attack does reasonable damage at other times.

Summoner

• The Herring Staff can deal large amounts of damage due to the herrings stacking up on the boss's large hitbox.
• The Ancient Ice Chunk is also extremely effective at dealing damage to the Aquatic Scourge due to the boss' nature of constantly staying close to the player.
• The Black Hawk Remote is extremely effective against the Aquatic Scourge because of its targeting system, letting you focus on dodging instead of re-summoning your minions to position them better.
• The Igneous Exaltation is a powerful option to have as a secondary damage source, allowing for a more aggressive approach without the need for whips.
  • The use of Greater or Super Mana Potions is recommended, as it will allow for constant attacking with the weapon and summoners will not be punished with the Mana Sickness debuff.
• The Shellfish Staff can latch onto the Aquatic Scourge to deal powerful damage over time.
• If the player has defeated Cryogen, the Glacial Embrace will deal good damage to the Aquatic Scourge with its right click.
• The Caustic Staff is an excellent choice as a support minion and can be used for inflicting multiple debuffs on the Aquatic Scourge.
• Firecracker is the best option for a whip at this stage of the game.

Rogue

• The Blazing Star will deplete the Aquatic Scourge's health extremely quickly, especially if used with its stealth strike.
• If the player has defeated Cryogen, the Kelvin Catalyst is another incredible option.
• Palladium Javelins are deadly options when timed correctly due to their infinite piercing and powerful stealth strike.
• The Gacruxian Mollusk is a good option for a homing weapon that can hit multiple segments of the Aquatic Scourge.
• Orichalcum Spiked Gemstones can deal a huge amount of damage with a well timed stealth strike when the Aquatic Scourge is charging at the player.
• If the player has defeated a mechanical boss, the Stormfront Razor is an excellent choice due to its ability to pierce and create sparks. Similarly, the Frequency Manipulator has good piercing and homing capabilities.

Miscellaneous

• The Well Fed buff and its upgrades provide useful all around stat boosts.
• Farm Blood Orbs to easily craft many helpful potions that will increase your survivability.
• The player can use class stations like the Crystal Ball, Sharpening Station and Bewitching Table to easily improve their damage.

The Fight

The Aquatic Scourge fight differs based on the player's game mode. Due to this, Revengeance, and Death Mode fight breakdowns will be separate from the main breakdown.

In Normal and Expert Mode

The Aquatic Scourge will spawn offscreen and will initially be passive. Dealing around 500 damage to it will start the fight. The Aquatic Scourge will charge towards you very quickly, but turns slowly to compensate. It will occasionally "vomit" out various projectiles that will deal massive damage to you if you get hit. The various projectiles are:

• Sand Blasts which travel quickly in a straight line.
• Tooth-like projectiles which home in on the player.
• Sulphur gas clouds that linger in the air for a long time.

The Sand Blasts will explode on contact with any blocks and shouldn't be much of a hassle to deal with. The tooth projectiles will loosely home in on you for about 10 seconds before despawning, a simple change in direction should throw them off enough to miss you. The Sulphur gas clouds will hinder your ability to make a specific turn again, so keep in mind where they are during the fight.

Various loops and circles should be utilized to effectively dodge all of its projectiles, but the Aquatic Scourge moves fast, so keeping up with its speed should be the main priority during the fight. The Aquatic Scourge's acceleration is quite poor and it struggles to make sharp turns, so use that your advantage when trying to avoid it. A well-timed dash may also save you from damage in certain situations.

The Aquatic Scourge has no second phase. Thus, the same steps should be repeated until you've defeated it.

In Revengeance Mode

The Aquatic Scourge in Revengeance mode is a much more formidable opponent compared to the previous two game modes. The Aquatic Scourge overall gains a massive speed boost and projectile velocity increase; making it a challenge, especially with limited mobility. The best way to avoid the Aquatic Scourge with these changes is to utilize a dashing item more frequently. The main goal of the fight should still be to avoid the Aquatic Scourge itself. Tanking the fight is discouraged.

While performing loops and circles still works to an extent, it's best to move in patterns that can allow you to avoid the gas clouds when rebounding.

The Aquatic Scourge now can perform a new spin attack, where it will temporarily stop chasing you to fire a volley of projectiles. It's unwise to focus down the Aquatic Scourge unless using a piercing weapon during this attack. The spin attack should be used as a moment to re-align yourself and give you a break for a few seconds. After performing a spin attack, the Aquatic Scourge will return to chasing you.

In Death Mode

While in Death Mode, the Aquatic Scourge gains another boost to its movement speed and projectile velocity, an additional 10 body segments, and its tooth projectiles home in towards you much more aggressively. Also, all attacks are available to the Aquatic Scourge at all times. This is both good and bad for you, as it means you get a break more often from the spin attack, but otherwise you are always being chased by both the Aquatic Scourge and the tooth projectiles that sharply home-in on you. Dashing accessories can become almost mandatory because of this.

When confronted with a barrage of multiple waves of Sand Blasts and tooth projectiles, do not be afraid to slow down and carefully maneuver the barrage, as the Aquatic Scourge is usually recovering from its spin attack during that time. Just be prepared to quickly exit that situation as soon as the Aquatic Scourge closes in on you.

General Tips

• The Rod of Discord is a very useful tool as it allows instantaneous teleporting to avoid the numerous projectiles.