Cave Fly
| Cave Fly | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Monster |
| Location | The Mines |
| Floors | 11-29 |
| HP | 22 |
| Damage | 6 |
| Defence | 1 |
| Speed | 2 |
| XP | 10 |
The Cave Fly is the first monster in the Mines that can genuinely kill a new farmer. It flies fast, it flies through rock, and it keeps coming back for another pass until one of the two of them is dead. Worse, it is not only found: it is made, because every Grub that escapes a fight spins a cocoon and hatches into one. A green mist on a crowded floor means several at once, which is how an afternoon in the twenties turns into a trip home with no energy and no gold. Killing them counts towards the cave insect goal at the Adventurer's Guild, and Bug Meat comes off nine flies in ten, so the fight at least pays for bait.
Behaviour
A Cave Fly charges in a straight line at high speed, passes through whatever is in the way, and clips the farmer on contact. It then loops around in a wide curve and lines up the next run. The pattern is predictable, which is the one thing working in the farmer's favour.
The answer is to stand still and swing just before impact. A weapon with real knockback sends the fly far enough back that the loop takes longer, which buys time to drink a drink or break a rock. Chasing one is a waste of swings, since it is already heading away.
Grubs complicate matters. A Grub that takes heavy damage flees, turns a blue-green colour and seals itself in a cocoon, and while it sits there nothing can hurt it. A few seconds later a Cave Fly comes out. Finishing a wounded Grub before it settles is therefore the key to the floors between fifteen and twenty nine, since a careless fight turns a crawling nuisance into a flier.
Swarm events are the real danger. Every so often the floor fills with green mist and several of its fliers attack together from different directions. Early on, with a Rusty Sword and no boots, that is a floor to leave rather than win, and carrying enough stone for a Staircase makes the exit immediate. Oil of Garlic, learned at Combat level six and sold by the Dwarf, keeps weaker monsters away for ten minutes, which is the simplest way to cross those floors untouched.
Location
Cave Flies live in the brown earth stretch of the Mines, on the floors from eleven to twenty nine, alongside Green Slimes, Bugs, Duggies, Rock Crabs and the Grubs that keep producing more of them. Those floors include several infested ones, where every monster must fall before a ladder appears, and that is where a Cave Fly is most likely to be met in company.
In the Mutant Bug Lair under the Sewers the same creature appears as the Mutant Fly, and on prehistoric floors of the Skull Cavern as well, so the insect family follows the farmer into the late game.
Drops
Bug Meat is nearly guaranteed, with nine kills in ten leaving a lump. It is the cheapest bait in the game: one piece becomes five Bait, and bait makes fish bite faster on any rod past the Bamboo Pole as well as filling Crab Pots. Nobody in town wants it as a gift.
White Algae turns up occasionally and is better cooked into Algae Soup than sold. An Ancient Seed drops on one fly in two hundred, which fills a Museum slot without touching a hoe, and the first Dwarf Scroll appears at the same rate. The fourth scroll is far scarcer, and donating all four earns the Dwarvish Translation Guide.
Once a save has reached the bottom of the Mines, even these small fliers carry the universal faint chance of a Diamond or a Prismatic Shard.
Items this monster can drop when it is defeated, with the chance of each.
| Item | Image | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Ancient Seed | 
|
0.5% |
| Bug Meat | 
|
90% |
| Dwarf Scroll I | 
|
0.5% |
| Dwarf Scroll IV | 
|
0.1% |
| White Algae | 
|
2% |
| Diamond | 
|
0.05% |
| Prismatic Shard | 
|
0.05% |
Notes
Eighty cave insects complete Gil's goal, with Cave Flies counting alongside Bugs, Grubs, Mutant Flies, Mutant Grubs and both Armored Bugs. The reward is the Insect Head sword, and Marlon restocks it afterwards for anyone who sells or loses it.
Because a Grub becomes a Cave Fly, the two monsters are best farmed together. A corner on floor twenty with a high-knockback weapon pins the Grubs in place while the flies that do escape come back round into the same swing.
A Burglar's Ring doubles the rolls on the drop list, and Monster Musk doubles the number of monsters on the floor, so the insect goal can be finished in a couple of visits rather than a season.
All Monsters
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
| Name | Image | Location | HP | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Armored Bug | 
|
Skull Cavern | 1 | 8 |
| Armored Bug (dangerous) | 
|
Skull Cavern | 250 | 20-27 |
| Bats | 
|
The Mines & Skull Cavern | 24, 36, 80, 300,; 268, 277 | 06, 07, 15, 30, 13, 14 |
| Blue Squid | 
|
The Dangerous Mines | 310 | 18 |
| Bug | 
|
The Mines | 1 | 8 |
| Bug (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines | 250 | 15-16 |
| Carbon Ghost | 
|
Skull Cavern; The Dangerous Mines | 190 | 25 |
| Cave Fly | 
|
The Mines | 22 | 6 |
| Cave Fly (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines | 266 | 13-15 |
| Duggy | 
|
The Mines | 40 | 6 |
| Duggy (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines | 280 | 8 |
| Dust Sprite | 
|
The Mines | 40 | 6 |
| Dust Sprite (dangerous) | 
|
The Mines | 280 | 13-15 |
| Dwarvish Sentry | 
|
Volcano Dungeon | 300 | 18 |
| False Magma Cap | 
|
Volcano Dungeon | 290 | 15 |
| Ghost | 
|
The Mines | 96 | 10 |
| Grub | 
|
The Mines | 20 | 4 |
| Grub (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines | 265 | 12-13 |
| Haunted Skull | 
|
Quarry Mine; The Mines random dungeon floors | 160 | 15 |
| Haunted Skull (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines | 310 | 19-26 |
| Hot Head | 
|
Volcano Dungeon | 215 | 18 |
| Iridium Crab | 
|
Skull Cavern | 240 | 15 |
| Iridium Golem | 
|
Wilderness Farm | 430 | 15 |
| Lava Crab | 
|
The Mines | 120 | 15 |
| Lava Crab (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines | 340 | 19-26 |
| Lava Lurk | 
|
Volcano Dungeon | 220 | 15 |
| Magma Duggy | 
|
Volcano Dungeon | 380 | 16 |
| Magma Sparker | 
|
Volcano Dungeon | 310 | 15 |
| Magma Sprite | 
|
Volcano Dungeon | 220 | 15 |
| Metal Head | 
|
The Mines | 40 | 15 |
| Metal Head (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines | 280 | 19-26 |
| Mummy | 
|
Skull Cavern | 260 | 30 |
| Mummy (dangerous) | 
|
Skull Cavern | 445 | 38-55 |
| Mutant Fly | 
|
Mutant Bug Lair, Skull Cavern | 66 | 12 |
| Mutant Grub | 
|
Mutant Bug Lair | 100 | 12 |
| Pepper Rex | 
|
Skull Cavern | 300 | 15 |
| Putrid Ghost | 
|
The Dangerous Mines | 500 | 25 |
| Rock Crab | 
|
The Mines | 30 | 5 |
| Rock Crab (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines | 272 | 13 |
| Royal Serpent | 
|
Skull Cavern | 150 + (50 × tail segments) | 32-48 |
| Serpent | 
|
Skull Cavern | 150 | 23 |
| Shadow Brute | 
|
The Mines | 160 | 18 |
| Shadow Brute (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines | 370 | 22-32 |
| Shadow Shaman | 
|
The Mines | 80 | 17 |
| Shadow Shaman (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines | 310 | 21-30 |
| Shadow Sniper | 
|
The Mines | 300 | 18 |
| Skeleton | 
|
The Mines | 140 | 10 |
| Skeleton (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines, Quarry Mine | 655 | 16-18 |
| Skeleton Mage | 
|
Dangerous Mines, Quarry Mine | 355 | 20-25 |
| Slimes | 
|
The Mines, Skull Cavern, Quarry Mine, Secret Woods, Tiger Slime Grove, and Volcano Dungeon | Varies | Varies |
| Spider | 
|
The Mines (Shrine ON) | 200 | 15 |
| Squid Kid | 
|
The Mines | 1 | 18 |
| Squid Kid (dangerous) | 
|
The Dangerous Mines; Skull Cavern | 250 | 22-32 |
| Stick Bug | 
|
The Dangerous Mines | 700 | 20 |
| Stone Golem | 
|
The Mines | 45 | 5 |
| Stone Golem (dangerous) | 
|
Dangerous Mines | 283 | 13 |
| Truffle Crab | 
|
The Farm | 30 | 5 |
| Wilderness Golem | 
|
The Farm | 30 | 5 |