Hot Head
| Hot Head | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Monster |
| Location | Volcano Dungeon |
| Floors | All |
| HP | 215 |
| Damage | 18 |
| Defence | 8 |
| Speed | 2 (5 if HP＜25) |
| XP | 16 |
The Hot Head is the Volcano Dungeon's answer to the Metal Head, and it is one of the few monsters in the game that punishes a farmer for winning. Eight points of defence blunt most weapons, so the fight takes a while, and when its health drops low it loses its temper: it speeds up, chases, and then explodes. Killing it outright does not help, because it detonates on death as well, and the blast breaks rocks and destroys anything lying on the ground nearby. The compensation is a generous drop list of Solar Essence, Copper and Iron Ore and Pineapple Seeds, with the Squire's Helmet turning up for the persistent.
Behaviour
For most of the fight a Hot Head simply walks at the farmer and relies on contact damage. Its defence is the obstacle: quick, light weapons achieve almost nothing, while a heavy sword or a club gets through. Food that raises attack is worth eating before a volcano run for this monster alone.
Everything changes as its health runs out. Below the last sliver it turns angry, more than doubles its speed and gives chase, then explodes after a couple of seconds whether or not it has caught anyone. The same timer runs when the killing blow lands, so the correct habit is to hit it and immediately walk away rather than standing over the corpse.
The blast reaches two tiles in every direction. It will break rocks and ore nodes, which is occasionally convenient, and it will destroy items already dropped on the floor, which is never convenient on a floor where Cinder Shards and gems have been scattered by earlier fights. Knockback is the other half of the answer: a weapon heavy enough to send it skidding away buys the distance the explosion needs.
Location
Hot Heads appear on every floor of the Volcano Dungeon, the ten-floor cave inside the volcano at the north end of Ginger Island. Magma Sprites, Magma Sparkers, Lava Lurks, Dwarvish Sentries, False Magma Caps and Tiger Slimes share the dungeon with them, and the Forge waits on the tenth floor.
The dungeon resets each morning, so a cleared floor is repopulated by the next visit. Lava has to be cooled with a watering can before a path exists, ladders do not appear on every floor, and no Staircase can be placed here, so an exploding monster on a narrow ledge is a genuine hazard rather than an inconvenience.
Drops
Solar Essence leads the list, coming off roughly two kills in three. Krobus buys and sells it, the Wizard loves it as a gift, and it goes into the Glowstone Ring and the Iridium Band, so there is always a use for a stack.
Copper Ore, Iron Ore and Pineapple Seeds each have two separate chances to drop, which makes the Hot Head unusually generous. Pineapple Seeds matter most, since Pineapples keep fruiting on Ginger Island after the first harvest and the Island Trader otherwise charges a Magma Cap for each seed. Bombs and Coal fill the gaps, and Coal is exactly what smelting that ore will need.
The Squire's Helmet is the collector's prize. It arrives on a schedule rather than a dice roll, tied to the running total of Metal Heads and Hot Heads a save has killed, so a determined farmer reaches it eventually rather than hoping for luck. The third Dwarf Scroll turns up very occasionally, and the fourth is rarer still.
Items this monster can drop when it is defeated, with the chance of each.
| Item | Image | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Bomb | 
|
10% |
| Coal | 
|
10% |
| Copper Ore | 
|
10% |
| Copper Ore |
|
10% |
| Dwarf Scroll III | 
|
0.05% |
| Dwarf Scroll IV | 
|
0.01% |
| Iron Ore | 
|
10% |
| Iron Ore |
|
10% |
| Pineapple Seeds | 
|
10% |
| Pineapple Seeds |
|
10% |
| Solar Essence | 
|
65% |
| Diamond | 
|
0.05% |
| Prismatic Shard | 
|
0.05% |
Notes
The explosion is the reason to fight Hot Heads one at a time. Two dying in the same corner means two blasts over the same ground, and a farmer standing between them is caught by both.
Monster Musk has no effect in the Volcano Dungeon, since the place resets daily instead of counting monsters on arrival, so the number met depends on which floors get explored.
Up to five Golden Walnuts come from killing monsters inside the dungeon, which means the Hot Heads fought on the way to the Forge also count towards the island's walnut total.
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 |