Pumpking

Pumpking is a Hardmode, post-Plantera mini-boss that spawns during the Pumpkin Moon event. It is the event's final enemy, and it is the only enemy besides Poltergeist that can consistently travel through blocks. Up to seven of them (more in Multiplayer) can attack simultaneously during the event's final wave (wave 15).

Pumpking has two arms, each possessing a large scythe that periodically fires erratic projectiles. The hands otherwise act much like Skeletron's hands, swiping at the player to inflict melee damage, but unlike Skeletron, Pumpking's hands cannot take damage.

Like Mourning Wood, the later the Pumpkin Moon wave that Pumpking is killed in, the more likely it is to drop items. A Pumpking defeated during Wave 15 is guaranteed to produce one Pumpking Trophy along with one other item in its drop table. Defeating a Pumpking will add 150 points to the Pumpkin Moon event, giving the most number of points for any enemy in the event.

Attacks
Pumpking repeatedly switches between three different attack patterns at random. Its current attack mode is indicated by its facial expression. When transitioning to its next mode, its head rotates to reveal a different expression.


 * Mode 1: The face resembles a typical jack-o-lantern, with a sinister-looking grin. It continuously pursues the player while attempting to remain directly above them, and performs aggressive melee swipes with its scythe arms. About 5 seconds into this stage, it will rapidly move towards the player at a high speed for the rest of the time it is in this stage.


 * Mode 2: Pumpking's mouth is partially open. Its scythe arms fire large yellow scythe-shaped projectiles called Flame Scythes. Similar to the Demon Scythe, the projectiles are motionless for a few seconds, then gradually begin to spin and fly towards the player with increasing speed, dealing massive damage on hit.


 * Mode 3: The face looks surprised, with its mouth agape in an 'O' shape. Pumpking follows from a greater distance and spits "" projectiles that are easily dodged, as they merely fall with little force. They remain on the ground for a short while and inflict damage on contact.

Tips

 * The Flairon can be very effective against the Pumpking, who tends to float right above players (well within range of the Flairon and its homing bubbles), causing very high damage per hit.

Trivia

 * Strangely, the Horseman's Blade drops from Pumpking and not from the Headless Horseman.
 * Pumpking is a portmanteau of "Pumpkin" and "King".
 * Stray scythes thrown by Pumpking can travel far outside enemy spawn boundaries, able to unintentionally snipe and kill NPCs in their houses.
 * Though Pumpking's Blades are invincible, they still have statistics.
 * On the, a cloud in the shape of Pumpking can occasionally be seen in the background.