This page is currently a work in progress.
Last updated: Exalt Version 2.0.3.0 (Sep 2021) |
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The Fungal Cavern is technically a lone dungeon, but is actually the first part of the Abandoned Mineshaft. The second and final dungeon is the Crystal Cavern, so go check out that dungeon’s guide if you want to know how to complete that.
The Fungal Cavern can only drop from the Crystal Worm Father, a once-per-realm event boss. Before it actually spawns, you first must defeat a series of waves of minions. Afterwards, the boss itself spawns. It can be difficult due to its boomeranging shots. However, some parts of the setpiece cause some shots to disappear instead of returning, so there are safer areas. The Death Morels that spawn can also be troublesome, so be careful. However, once the boss had been defeated, it will sink back into the ground and the portal to the Fungal Cavern will drop.
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Completing the Fungal Cavern on an 8/8 maxed stat character gives you an Exaltation in Wisdom, and the proceeding Crystal Cavern also gives Wisdom. The caverns are the only ways to get this permanent stat boost. This is the main reason that both caverns are run nowadays.
The coveted Ring of Decades (Deca) gives a whopping +190 HP, but don’t expect it to be common; Decas are especially rare drops from the Cavern Crystals in both dungeons. Due to its rarity, it is also a very valuable trading item.
The boss and even the minions drop quite the handful of UTs, all of which are secondary reasons to run the dungeon.
Armored at a SPD penalty and hefty MP cost. It also has two procs that can activate during usage: retaliating with shots if taking any damage, and healing 10 HP if hit for at least 30 damage. Despite the shield’s weak heal and the redundacy of using an ability that increases DEF on an already high-DEF class due to the diminishing returns that the stat has, there is still some situational use in having very high DEF on a melee character, allowing the Knight to stay in close-quarters combat for even longer.
The boss can drop two pieces of two separate ST sets: the Crystalline Kunai, the star piece of the Crystal Kunoichi Set, and the Daevite Progenitor, the prism piece of the Daeva Trickster Set. The Crystalline Kunai boosts ATT when worn, but does not give 
Speedy, making it a DPS boosting star, while the Daevite Progenitor has a short lived decoy that explodes into shots that can help with crowd clearing. Both are of course boosted when the full set is worn.
The Fungal Cavern boss has a chance of dropping various T14 armors, which are quite valuable pieces of lategame equipment.
The Fungal Cavern is a great source of various Greater Potions and Potions of Life. While not a main reason to do this dungeon, it’s still worthwhile to get them, as they drop in abundance from the boss.
The layout of the Fungal Cavern is massive; large rooms of wooden platforms and minecarts which crystals, scattered pools of green liquid that can slow player movement, and small hallways that connect the various rooms. Due to the dungeon’s size, it’s common to get lost and reach dead ends. However, you can easily predict where the drill to the boss room will be by simply moving to where the quest marker is. No room will directly connect straight to the boss besides the drill room.
Instead of just clearing out enemies like normal, you are required to destroy the various Cavern Crystals scattered throughout the dungeon in order to power the drill to the boss room, meaning you can’t easily rush the dungeon like most others. The Dwarf Miner will call out how many crystals you have destroyed until enough have been cleared to fully power the drill, taunting at every quarter of the amount required. It is possible to technically rush the dungeon by clearing the crystals while skipping most of the enemies, although this is usually done by skilled solo-players due to both its difficulty and reduced HP scaling when solo.
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There are various different enemies throughout this dungeon that are sorted in groups, mostly by color.
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The boss of the dungeon is the Crystal Worm Mother, a long worm composed of various crystal segments, a tail that constantly shoots out purple 
Quiet shots, and a head that shoots out the main attacks, but can occasionally be 
Stunned. The main goal of the boss fight is to destroy the various body segments in order to expose the boss’s head, similarly to the Rock Dragon. A couple minions including the Crystal Worm Father and the Crystal Worm Child will spawn in the middle of the fight to help the boss.
The Fungal Cavern is a great source of various powerful UT’s, Greater Potions, and many chances at the incredibly rare and valuable Ring of Decades. This dungeon is also fairly difficult with the many debuffs, enemies, and lengthy (pun intended) boss fight, not to mention the dungeon that comes right after it…
