The Antlion is a Mob exclusive to Don't Starve Together, introduced in A New Reign. It appears in the Desert biome during Summer Season. The players must appease it from time to time, otherwise, it becomes violent, creating sinkholes on the surface and causing cave-ins inside caves. If the player feeds it a stage 1, 4 or 5 Thermal Stone, the Antlion will become enraged and become a semi-boss battle.
Behavior
The Antlion acts similar to the Pig King in the sense that it gives presents to players in return for Trinkets. It will give Desert Stones when given most Trinkets. If provided a Beach Toy Trinket, the Antlion will give the players the Blueprint required to craft The Lazy Deserter. As long as it is given Trinkets from time to time, it will not get enraged and not cause Sinkholes and Cave-ins.
When given a stage 1, 4 or 5 Thermal Stone, the Antlion will either freeze or smolder, and then become enraged at the player. The Antlion will then attempt to trap the player within Sand Castles (not to be confused with Sand Castles featured in the Shipwrecked DLC), and then repeatedly slam into the ground, causing Sand Spikes to jut out of the ground, dealing either 50, 75, or 100 damage on hit, depending on the size of the Sand Spike. Mobs take double damage. Any structures placed/built that are hit by Sand Castles or Sand Spikes will be destroyed. The Sand Castles and Sand Spikes can turn into Glass Castles and Glass Spikes by fire.
During rain, the Antlion will temporarily burrow itself underground, disabling players from interacting with it.
In combat, the Antlion can heal. The Antlion heals by 200 HP each time it eats rocks. The healing can be interrupted by attacking the Antlion.
If killed, the Antlion drops 4 Meat, 6-8 Desert Stones, a Lazy Deserter Blueprint, 2-4 Rocks and varying amounts of Trinkets.
Mechanics
Sinkholes
–Wilson, when announcing a sinkhole.
–Willow, when announcing a sinkhole.
–Wolfgang, when announcing a sinkhole.
–Wendy, when announcing a sinkhole.
–WX-78, when announcing a sinkhole.
–Wickerbottom, when announcing a sinkhole.
–Woodie, when announcing a sinkhole.
–Maxwell, when announcing a sinkhole.
–Wigfrid, when announcing a sinkhole.
–Webber, when announcing a sinkhole.
–Winona, when announcing a sinkhole.
Sinkholes are craters that are created by the Antlion during summer when displeased. When they are created, they damage players and destroy Structures where they form. Once formed, new structures cannot be built on them and they'll slow down all players walking on them. Sinkholes cannot be removed by the player and will only begin to self-repair after 21-22 days since they were formed, taking 9-11 more days to fully repair. Players can prevent them from appearing by contributing items to the Antlion (listed below).
Characters also say different quotes depending on how long before the sinkholes happen.
Cave-ins
–Wilson, when announcing a cave-in.
–Willow, when announcing a cave-in.
–Wolfgang, when announcing a cave-in.
–Wendy, when announcing a cave-in.
–WX-78, when announcing a cave-in.
–Wickerbottom, when announcing a cave-in.
–Woodie, when announcing a cave-in.
–Maxwell, when announcing a cave-in.
–Wigfrid, when announcing a cave-in.
–Webber, when announcing a cave-in.
–Winona, when announcing a cave-in.
Cave-ins, much similar to Sinkholes, happen in the Caves when the Antlion is displeased. Big boulders will drop on locations close to the players inside caves, damaging them if hit, destroying any Structures nearby and potentially blocking the way. Like Sinkholes, they can be prevented if the players occasionally give items to the Antlion. The boulders that drop on Cave-ins can be carried much similar to Suspicious Marble and can even be brought outside the caves. They can be mined for rocks using a Pickaxe.
Tributes and Rage
When the Antlion first spawns in Summer, players have about 4 days to pay tribute before it becomes enraged. When the timer is up, there will be 3 warnings to let the players know that Sinkholes or Cave-ins will start to spawn soon. Up to 2 players can be targeted by the Antlion in a single attack with between 2-5 sinkholes if on the surface or 6-10 boulders if in the Caves spawning around each of them. When the attack is complete, the Antlion's rage timer is reset to its max value, which is 6 days.
Players can either contribute Rocks, Trinkets, or non-monster meat to the Antlion and it will take away a bit of its rage. Each item delays the Antlion's rage as shown below.
| Days | Items
|
|---|---|
0.33
|
      
|
0.66
|
                   
|
0.99
|
      
|
1.32
|
|
2.98
|
|
For example, if one gives the Antlion a Hardened Rubber Bung, it would delay its attacks for a whole day. One should keep in mind that its rage timer cannot exceed 6 days, so players may need to contribute a hefty amount of items to it at least twice throughout Summer in order to never be attacked.
Rewards
When the Antlion is given anything other than Rocks or Cut Stone, it will give a Desert Stone. If it is given a Beach Toy, it will give a blueprint for The Lazy Deserter but no Desert Stone.
Tips
- When fighting the Antlion, one should move in a circle within the castles, avoiding Sand Spikes. It can be kited.
- Always look near the player's feet. Sand Spikes show a sand circle before shooting up.
- Try to get a good amount of Desert Stones before killing the Antlion, as they will not be obtainable until the following summer.
- It is actually more efficient to give the Antlion 10 rocks instead of using them to craft a Thermal Stone. 10 rocks delay the rage timer by 3.3 days, while a Thermal Stone (stages 2 and 3) only delays the rage timer by 2.98 days, plus costing 2 Twigs and 5 Flint to craft.
- Since it is unable to directly attack the player and cannot move, the Antlion is particularly vulnerable to large stacks of Gunpowder.
Trivia
- The Antlion was introduced in the Against the Grain update as a trader, while the ability to fight it was added in the Heart of the Ruins update.
- The Antlion's name is a pun on its appearance (Ant + Lion) and the fly-like insect, the Antlion.
- Wickerbottom and Maxwell's quote for the Desert Stone suggests that the Antlion might have come into contact with Gems before since its bezoars are impure Orange Gems.
- According to Wickerbottom, its scientific name is "Panthera auropunctata". This alludes to the combination of the scientific names of the two animals that make the Antlion; the genus of the lion "Panthera leo" and the specific epithet of the little fire ant "Wasmannia auropunctata".
- When the Antlion was first released, several characters referred to it as a female. These examination quotes were later changed to a gender-neutral "it".
- There's a value in the code that shows that the sinkholes could be repairable, but currently do not have any tool assigned to be able to fix them.
- The Antlion never spawns in the same desert with a Dragonfly Set Piece.
- If Antlion is spawned using the Console in any Season other than Summer, it will disappear after being spawned.
Gallery
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| Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures | |
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| Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures | |
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| Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures | |
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| Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures | |
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| Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures | |
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| The Forge |                  |
| The Gorge |           |
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| Attention: The following categories are only for the players look up the page based on their first impression, they have nothing to do with the actual categories/behavior/function/tags of these creatures | |
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The Forge  |
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The Gorge  |
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