The Elder Grovekeeper the primary boss of the Forest area, encounterable as soon as you enter Hardmode. It's a large, gnarled tree with four glowing eyes that follow you as you move around.
It can be found in the center of the arena on the opposing edge of the Forest.
¶ Arena
The arena is the base of a massive tree, the canopy, and the space between. The Grovekeeper sits in the center, inactive until every player approaches it. It cannot be hurt until everyone is in the arena.
¶ Behavior
The Grovekeeper itself cannot deal direct damage, nor does it move; every threat is provided by projectiles, adds, or environmental threats. Primarily, it focuses its power at players to throw projectiles, spawn additional enemies, and keep the player from getting too comfortable.
¶ Stone Throws
If near the Grovekeeper, it will grab a boulder from beneath the ground, picking it up and throwing it towards the nearest player, dealing large damage. The boulder will bounce and roll around the arena for about 20 seconds before breaking. The boulder will always be thrown in an arc.
At half health or less, the Grovekeeper will summon 3 boulders, throwing them in quick succession, at a much higher speed. Each of these behave normally after being thrown.
¶ Canopy Shake
If too far from the Grovekeeper, it'll vigorously shake the ground, causing projectiles to fall from the canopy above. Most will be leafy twigs or sticks, but a few Entlings also fall from the ceiling, providing additional issues to worry about. The Entlings are telegraphed with some glowing Ent particles, instead of the normal wood and leaf particles. Most of these falling projectiles are random, but a few will always target every player.
At half health or less, more projectiles will fall.
¶ Ambient - Powered Runestones
While Runestones, black stones that glow with a strange magic when a player approaches, sprinkle the Forest everywhere, the Grovetender's tree holds a special ability. Small power contained within the center of the Runestone shards charge up bursts of magic when any player is nearby.
These bursts deal high damage and cover a large area, making it difficult to stay in one place. There are 10 total Powered Runestones, with 6 on the ground and 4 on each edge of the canopy.
At half health or less, the Powered Runestones charge up 50% quicker.
¶ Ambient - Canopy Crows
Above the Grovekeeper, on the canopy that it so wishes to protect, are a bunch of carrion birds. These crows aren't particularly strong, and while they do a decent chunk of damage, they don't have much health. However, if a crow is defeated, one will immediately take its place.
These birds swoop in to hit players that are too close to the canopy, making it difficult to stay on the top of the arena for too long.
¶ Special - Root Jab
When the Grovekeeper hits half health or less, and finishes its current attack, it'll summon several roots to break the ground in certain locations in the arena. Being speared by these roots will deal massive damage, though it's fairly slow to hit.
Falling all the way into these holes will instantly kill the player. A glow marks where a player can fall to safely without being killed.
Additionally, camping or staying within or above the hole created by the root will shoot some small shards of empowered wood, discouraging players from hanging around a hole for too long. Finally, Entlings that fall into the hole will be blown upwards, going through tiles if needed.
¶ Loot
- Rooted Amulet - A unique (undetermined base) amulet that has a chance to root enemies in place when hit.
- Warden's Bow - A unique (undetermined base) bow that's arrows split on impact shooting thorns out at the point of impact.
- Grovetender Trophy (1/7 chance)