Desert Scourge

Desert Scourge

Statistics

Type	Boss – Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Desert
AI Type	Desert Scourge AI
Max Life	2,500 / 4,000 / 4,800
KB Resist	100%
Immune to

Drops

Coins	5

• Item (Quantity)Rate
• Sandy Angling Kit
  100%
• Victory Shard (7-14 / 10-16)
  100%
• Coral (5-9 / 7-11)
  100%
• Seashell (5-9 / 7-11)
  100%
• Starfish (5-9 / 7-11)
  100%
• Sand Block (5-15)
  100%
• At least one of the following 5 weapons will always drop:
• Seabound Staff
  25% / 33.33%
• Barinade
  25% / 33.33%
• Storm Spray
  25% / 33.33%
• Aquatic Discharge
  25% / 33.33%
• Scourge of the Desert
  25% / 33.33%
• Ocean Crest
  100%
• Aero Stone
  20%
• Sand Cloak
  10% / 11.11%
• Lesser Healing Potion (8-14)
  100%
• Desert Scourge Mask
  14.29%
• Desert Scourge Trophy
  10%
• The Desert Scourge (Lore)(Always on first kill)
  100%

Sounds

Hurt

Killed

Roar

Sand Blast

Map Icon

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

"...A dried up and gluttonous husk on a constant and voracious search for its next meal."

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 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 Head

Statistics

Type	Boss – Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Desert
AI Type	Desert Scourge AI
Damage	30 / 66 / 84 / 99
Max Life	2,600 / 4,160 / 4,800
Defense	0
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 100% chance
Debuff duration	5 seconds
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life

Desert Scourge Body

Statistics

Type	Boss – Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Desert
AI Type	Desert Scourge AI
Damage	16 / 32 / 40 / 44 (Contact) 60 / 68 (Sand Blast)
Max Life	2,600 / 4,160 / 4,800
Defense	8
DR	5%
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 100% chance
Debuff duration	2 seconds
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life

Desert Scourge Tail

Statistics

Type	Boss – Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Desert
AI Type	Desert Scourge AI
Damage	12 / 24 / 30 / 32
Max Life	2,600 / 4,160 / 4,800
Defense	18
DR	10%
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 100% chance
Debuff duration	1.5 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, increasing its speed and acceleration by 50%.

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 37.5 tiles above the player.
  • 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 50% bonus acceleration and speed as its health lowers.

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.
• Randomly fires gravity-defying Sand Blasts towards the player from its body segments.
  • This does not occur while in its burrow-and-lunge attack.

In Death Mode

• Segments are increased from 37 to 42 and size increased by 25% from Normal Mode.
• Requires two fewer seconds to prepare for its burrow-and-lunge attack.
• Gains up to 25% bonus acceleration and speed as its health lowers, on top of the boost in Expert Mode.

Summons

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

A Desert Nuisance Head

Statistics

Type	Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Desert
AI Type	Worm AI
Damage	60 / 70
Max Life	1,120
Defense	0
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Bleeding 100% chance
Debuff duration	3 seconds
Debuff tooltip	Cannot regenerate life
Immune to

Sounds

Hurt

Killed

A Desert Nuisance Body

Statistics

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

Sounds

Hurt

Killed

A Desert Nuisance Tail

Statistics

Type	Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Desert
AI Type	Worm AI
Damage	20 / 24
Max Life	1,120
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

• The Sunken Sea's tiles become breakable and Prism-Backs will begin dropping Prism Shards.
• The Sea King will begin to arrive if provided suitable housing and Giant Clam is defeated.
• If the Sea King isn't in the player's current world, defeating the Giant Clam will now summon the Sea King.
• Sandstorms can now occur, indicated by a sandstorm starting upon its defeat.
• Ghost Bells will begin dropping the Voltaic Jelly.
• Eutrophic Rays will begin dropping the Eutrophic Shank.
• Antlions, Antlion Swarmers, and Tomb Crawlers have 25% more health, Dungeon Guardians have 10% more health, and Antlions and Antlion Swarmers have 50% more defense.

Resistances

• All segments take reduced damage from non-minion piercing projectiles in Expert Mode. Projectile damage is divided by the number of times it pierces. Infinite piercing deals 50% damage.
• All segments reduce damage from grenade-type projectiles by 80%. A list of affected projectiles is below.

Resisted grenades
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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 with the exception of the Sand Blocks and Hearts, which will always spawn at the head.

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, however make sure the rope is inside the Desert or the Desert Scourge will become enraged.
  • The Scourge will tunnel through platforms if it reaches them, keeping platforms around 20 blocks above the ground and each other can help prevent this.
  • Be careful: If platforms are too high the player might leave the Desert while on them, 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, Cacti, Antlion 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 delved back into the sand."

Lore

When the Sea King, Amidias refused to partake in the forbidden ritual to awaken the Moon Lord/The Dark Lord from his slumber and imprisonment on the moon, the Jungle Tyrant King, Yharim, had the witch Calamitas evaporate all of the sea's water with fire and brimstone. This event caused the great sea worm, now known as the Desert Scourge, to go on a rampage. Deprived of its previous food source, Crab and Shark meat, it turned to devour the remains of the inhabitants of the desiccated sea kingdom. Now the sea worm itself has dried out and become a hollow shell of its former self, constantly seeking fresh meat for it to devour.

See also

• Aquatic Scourge