Lava Lurk
| Lava Lurk | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Monster |
| Location | Volcano Dungeon |
| Floors | All |
| HP | 220 |
| Damage | 15 |
| Defence | 5 |
| Speed | 2 |
| XP | 12 |
The Lava Lurk is the Volcano Dungeon's sniper. It swims below the surface of a lava pool, lifts its head to throw fire across the floor, then sinks back out of reach. It cannot be chased and it cannot be cornered, which makes it the most awkward fight on Ginger Island. Learning it pays, because the Lurk is the one monster that hands over Dragon Teeth, and Dragon Teeth buy the Island Obelisk, the Mini-Forge and the recipe for Warp Totem: Island. Bone Fragments come off the same kills far more often, so a pass along the lava also keeps the Bone Mill in work.
Behaviour
Most of the fight is spent waiting. A weapon only connects while the Lurk's head is above the lava, and nothing lands while it is submerged, so a swing has to be held until the head breaks the surface. Fire comes the other way in the meantime, arcing out across the rock the farmer is standing on.
Two answers work. The first is range: a slingshot reaches the head the moment it appears and needs no footing beside the pool at all. The second is patience. A Lurk that surfaces near the lip of its pool is within sword reach, so it pays to walk the bank and pick a spot where the lava comes close to solid ground, rather than trying to hit one in the middle of a wide pool.
An upgraded Watering Can turns the problem into a path. Watering the lava cools it into walkable rock, and a short causeway laid out towards a Lurk brings the fight to ordinary melee range. Watering lava is also what opens the island floors of the dungeon, so the can is usually in the bag already.
Fire travels in a line and does not follow. Sidestepping once a volley is in the air is enough, and keeping a rock between the farmer and the pool blocks the view the Lurk needs.
Location
Lava Lurks appear throughout the Volcano Dungeon on Ginger Island, wherever the dungeon lays out a pool of lava. They sit in the open on floors that are otherwise easy ground, which is what catches people out: the room looks clear, and the first fireball arrives from water nobody thought to check.
The dungeon runs ten floors deep and ends at the Forge, and the climb has to be made in one visit each time. That shapes Dragon Tooth hunting more than the Lurk itself does. A run that stops to kill every Lurk on the way up often runs out of day before the Forge, so most farmers clear the pools on the lower floors, bank what drops, and leave the upper floors for a trip with a different purpose.
Dragon Teeth also lie loose on the dungeon floor among the dragon's bones, and a Stingray pond large enough starts producing them as well, so the Lurk is the fastest supply rather than the only one.
Drops
A Dragon Tooth comes off roughly one Lurk in seven, and the list it unlocks is short but heavy. Ten of them, with Iridium Bars, Bananas and a million gold, raise the Island Obelisk on the farm and end the boat trip to Ginger Island for good. Five more, with Iron, Gold and Iridium Bars, build the Mini-Forge once Combat Mastery is earned, which brings the Forge's work home from the volcano. The Volcano Dwarf sells the recipe for Warp Totem: Island, and each totem then costs one tooth, one Ginger and a little Hardwood. The Island Trader takes five teeth for a Banana Sapling, which is the cheapest route to a banana orchard. At the Forge itself a tooth adds an innate enchantment to a melee weapon, so an early sword can be given a permanent bonus it would never roll otherwise.
Bone Fragments drop far more freely, often several at once. Five fragments in a Bone Mill come back as Quality Fertiliser, Speed-Gro, Deluxe Speed-Gro or Tree Fertiliser, which turns dungeon leftovers into a season of soil work. The Island Trader swaps two fragments for a Taro Tuber and sells the Banana Pudding recipe for thirty, and ten fragments satisfy one option of the Adventurer's Bundle in the Boiler Room. Fragments also craft the Skull Brazier and the Dark Sign.
A Diamond or a Prismatic Shard turns up on rare occasions, as it can from almost anything in the mines.
Items this monster can drop when it is defeated, with the chance of each.
| Item | Image | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Bone Fragment | 
|
50% |
| Bone Fragment |
|
40% |
| Bone Fragment |
|
20% |
| Dragon Tooth | 
|
15% |
| Diamond | 
|
0.05% |
| Prismatic Shard | 
|
0.05% |
Notes
Lurks sit outside the Adventurer's Guild bounty list, so nothing is banked towards a reward by killing them. The reason to fight one is the tooth in front of it.
Cinder Shards are what the Forge actually runs on, and the Lurk does not carry them. A Dragon Tooth run therefore pairs badly with a Forge trip unless the Magma Sprites and Magma Sparkers on the way up are cleared too, since they are the ones holding the shards.
Monster Musk doubles how many monsters a floor puts out, and it works in the volcano as it does in the mines. A pool that normally holds one Lurk can hold two under the musk, which is the simplest way to raise the Dragon Tooth count per trip.
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 |