Desert Scourge

Desert Scourge

Statistics

Type	Boss – Burrowing Enemy
Environment	Desert
AI Type	Worm AI
Max Life	2,300 / 3,680 / 4,240
KB Resist	100%
Immune to	All debuffs except:

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 6 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
  22.5% / 30.83%
• Dune Hopper
  2.5%
• Sand Cloak
  10% / 11.11%
• Aero Stone
  10% / 11.11%
• Deep Diver
  2.5%
• Lesser Healing Potion (8-14)
  100%
• Desert Scourge Trophy
  10%
• Desert Scourge Mask
  14.29%
• The Desert Scourge (Lore)(Always on first kill)
  100%
• Treasure Bag(Desert Scourge)

  • Ocean Crest

  100%

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	Worm AI
Damage	30 / 66 / 84 / 99
Max Life	2,300 / 3,680 / 4,240
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	Worm AI
Damage	16 / 32 / 40 / 44 (Contact) 60 / 68 (Sand Blast)
Max Life	2,300 / 3,680 / 4,240
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	Worm AI
Damage	12 / 24 / 30 / 32
Max Life	2,300 / 3,680 / 4,240
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.
• When the Desert Scourge is below 75% health, striking a body segment will have a 10% chance to spawn a Dried Seeker.
  • There can only be up to three Dried Seekers at a time.

In Expert Mode

• Segments are increased from 27 to 32 and size increased by 10%.
• 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 5%.
• Can use its burrow-and-lunge attack regardless of health.
• 2 smaller Desert Scourges 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 10%.
• Requires two less 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
	Dried Seeker	Below 75% life
	Desert Scourge (small)	Always in Revengeance Mode or in Boss Rush

Desert Scourge HeadSmall

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

Desert Scourge BodySmall

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

Desert Scourge TailSmall

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

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.
• The Sea King will begin selling Desert Medallions.
• 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.

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.

General

• 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.
• 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.
• The Desert Scourge is a good boss to farm for money in Pre-Hardmode.

Weapons & Equipment

• The Starfury is a safe, long range option.
  • Alternatively, the Mandible Claws can be used while tanking the body of the Scourge, dealing massive damage while also being very risky. This is a good use of Adrenaline and/or Rage if in Revengeance or Death Mode.
• Any bow paired with Jester's Arrows can deal high damage due to their piercing, especially when shot through a large chunk of the Scourge.
  • The Mandible Bow is a good option due to its rapid attack speed.
• The Water Bolt, Coral Spout and the Diamond Staff or Ruby Staff are good Mage options due to their piercing.
• The Slime Staff and Stormjaw Staff can deal high damage to the Scourge.
• Spiky Balls, the Gleaming Dagger and Gilded Dagger are great weapons for the Scourge.
• Although the main Desert Scourge takes reduced damage from Grenades, the small Desert Scourges and Dried Seekers do not. This means Grenades can be used to quickly deal with them, so long as the player stays away from the blast radius.
• The Slimy Saddle can be used to bounce on the boss' segments, inflicting extra damage while being relatively safe.
  • If done right, this can eliminate the need for an arena.
• Amidias' Spark, when equipped, can deal good damage to the Scourge with its sparks.
  • This item can also be used to do extra damage when using the Mandible Claws strategy detailed above.

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 the Aero Stone and several fishing drops, making them the only two bosses to share a drop outside of crafting materials, potions, or fishing items.
• 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.

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