Mutant Grub
| Mutant Grub | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Monster |
| Location | Mutant Bug Lair |
| HP | 100 |
| Damage | 12 |
| Speed | 1 |
| XP | 6 |
The Mutant Grub is the slow half of the Mutant Bug Lair, a fat green larva that crawls at the farmer in company with half a dozen of its own kind. On its own it is harmless: it has no charge, no ranged attack and no way to reach a farmer who keeps swinging. The catch is what happens when one is hurt and left alone. A wounded grub turns dark, pupates, becomes untouchable while the shell holds, and emerges as a Mutant Fly that moves through walls at speed. Finishing what has been started is therefore the whole skill of the fight. Grubs count towards the eighty cave insects Gil pays for with the Insect Head, and they carry a Rice Shoot and a bowl of Algae Soup often enough to be worth the trip.
Behaviour
Grubs appear in groups and move on the farmer the moment they notice. They crawl, which is the single most useful fact about them: a weapon with decent knockback keeps a grub at arm's length indefinitely, and nothing a grub does closes that gap. A lone grub is a free kill as long as it is chased down when it tries to leave.
Pupation is the mechanic that punishes sloppiness. A grub taken down to critical health turns away and tries to cocoon. While it is pupating it shifts to a darker green and takes no damage at all, from any source, and then it hatches into a Mutant Fly. The fly is faster than the farmer, ignores walls, and is far harder to pin down than the grub was, so letting one get there turns a won fight into a long one.
Groups are handled by geometry. A medium or heavy knockback weapon pushes the whole cluster into a corner, and a cornered group cannot scatter, which means none of them gets the space to pupate. The danger is letting one slip out of the corner while the rest are being worked through, because a single fly circling a group of grubs is the worst version of this fight. Explosive Ammo fired from a slingshot clears a cluster outright and sidesteps the problem.
Location
Mutant Grubs live in the Mutant Bug Lair beneath Pelican Town. The lair is entered from the north west corner of the Sewers and is opened during the Dark Talisman quest, when Krobus clears the passage, so reaching it depends on holding the Rusty Key and working through that chain.
The lair refills every time it is entered, which makes it the most convenient monster farm near town. The loop is simple: walk down, clear the grubs, walk out and walk back in. For a farmer chasing the cave insect bounty that loop is far faster than hunting bugs floor by floor in the Mines.
Water runs through the lair, and the Slimejack swims only there. Fishing it out means fighting the residents at the same time, since the flies keep coming while a line is in the water, so most farmers clear the grubs first and cast afterwards.
Drops
Bug Meat comes off more than half of all grubs. One piece crafts five Bait, which is what turns a Fiberglass Rod into a working tool, and twenty five pieces with Copper Bars and Slime build the Sturdy Ring, which halves how long any negative effect clings to the farmer. Ten pieces cook into Bug Steak, and Willy's Juicy Bugs Wanted order wants a hundred in return for gold and the Quality Bobber recipe, so a lair cleared repeatedly pays that order off quickly.
Algae Soup is the surprise. A grub occasionally drops the finished dish rather than an ingredient, and Algae Soup is a cooked meal that restores a solid chunk of energy. Dropping prepared food is unusual for a monster, and it makes the lair a reasonable place to stock up before a long mine day.
Rice Shoots are the drop with the longest reach. A Rice Shoot planted beside water grows faster than one on dry soil, and the Unmilled Rice it gives is cut with a scythe rather than picked by hand, which makes a riverside paddy one of the easiest patches on the farm to keep.
An Ancient Seed turns up rarely, and it is both a Museum artefact and the seed of Ancient Fruit, which regrows every week once it has matured. White Algae and a Dwarf Scroll I fill in the rest.
Items this monster can drop when it is defeated, with the chance of each.
| Item | Image | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Algae Soup | 
|
10% |
| Ancient Seed | 
|
0.5% |
| Bug Meat | 
|
60% |
| Dwarf Scroll I | 
|
0.5% |
| Dwarf Scroll IV | 
|
0.1% |
| White Algae | 
|
2% |
| Diamond | 
|
0.05% |
| Prismatic Shard | 
|
0.05% |
Notes
The Insect Head that Gil hands over for eighty cave insects is a real sword with a speed bonus attached, not a trophy, and the lair supplies both of the creatures that count towards it. Marlon sells spares afterwards.
A grub that escapes and pupates is still worth killing once it has hatched, because a Mutant Fly carries the same Bug Meat and the same chance of an Ancient Seed. The fly simply takes longer to catch, so the loss is time rather than loot.
Monster Musk doubles how many monsters a floor holds, which suits the bounty and ruins the fishing. Oil of Garlic does the opposite and is the drink to carry when the Slimejack is the goal.
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 |