Lava Crab
| Lava Crab | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Monster |
| Location | The Mines |
| Floors | 81-119 |
| HP | 120 |
| Damage | 15 |
| Defence | 3 |
| Speed | 3 |
| XP | 12 |
The Lava Crab hides among the stones on the burning floors near the bottom of the Mines, and it looks like every other rock down there until a pickaxe lands on it. While the shell is down it cannot be hurt at all, so the opening blows do nothing and the crab chooses when the fight starts. It is tougher and faster than the Rock Crabs on the upper floors, and it drops a useful mix of Bombs and Crab, so a floor in the nineties can supply both the explosives and the dinner for a Skull Cavern trip. Every kill counts towards the sixty rock crabs that earn the Crabshell Ring.
Behaviour
A shelled Lava Crab is a stone with a crab inside. The test is a quick swing: a weapon striking the crab makes a knocking sound and shows a zero where the damage should be, while a real rock gives neither.
Waking it needs the pickaxe. One strike knocks the crab back and brings it out of hiding, and only then can it be damaged. Once mobile it moves quickly, and a cluster of them on a lava floor can box a farmer in against the fire.
The shell itself can be removed. Enough pickaxe blows knock it off the crab's back, which sends it running rather than fighting, and a bomb set beside one does the same in a single blast. That is the quick way to clear a floor for mining, though a fleeing crab leaves no loot behind.
Bug Killer covers rock crabs as well as insects, doubling damage against the whole family, so the enchantment rolled at the Forge for the deep caves helps here too. Failing that, a heavy sword gets past the crab's three points of defence more easily than a dagger does.
Location
Lava Crabs hold the lava and purple earth floors of the Mines, from floor eighty one down to the bottom at one hundred and nineteen. Lava Bats, Metal Heads, Red Sludges, Shadow Brutes and Shadow Shamans share that stretch, with Squid Kids joining from floor ninety one, so a crab is rarely the worst thing on the floor.
Those are also the floors where Gold Ore, Emeralds, Rubies, Fire Quartz and Magma Geodes appear, and Mystic Stones from floor one hundred and one. A farmer mining nodes there is swinging a pickaxe constantly, which is exactly the habit a disguised crab is waiting for.
Drops
A Bomb comes off two crabs in five, which is the most useful thing on the list. Bombs clear ore nodes in a single blast and are the only way to finish a Mummy for good in the Skull Cavern, so a stock of them from the Mines means less crafting and less spending at the Dwarf's shop.
A Crab drops from one kill in four. It is the main ingredient in Crab Cakes, which restore a serious amount of energy, and it is listed in the Shipping Collection as a fish, so the catch has somewhere to go besides the frying pan.
The third Dwarf Scroll turns up occasionally, with the fourth far rarer, and all four donated to the Museum earn the Dwarvish Translation Guide. Once the bottom of the Mines has been reached, every crab also carries the slim universal 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Bomb | 
|
40% |
| Crab | 
|
25% |
| Dwarf Scroll III | 
|
0.5% |
| Dwarf Scroll IV | 
|
0.1% |
| Diamond | 
|
0.05% |
| Prismatic Shard | 
|
0.05% |
Notes
Sixty rock crabs of any kind complete the eradication goal, counting these, the Rock Crabs above, the Iridium Crabs in the Skull Cavern and the dangerous varieties. The Crabshell Ring that follows adds five points of defence, stacks with a second copy, and Marlon sells replacements for 15,000g.
Fighting with a pickaxe in hand is the practical approach on lava floors. Tapping each suspicious stone once reveals the crab, and a second strike wakes it, which means the fight begins when the farmer is ready rather than when the crab is.
A Burglar's Ring doubles every roll on the list, turning a handful of crabs into a satisfying pile of bombs before a cavern run.
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 |