Sand Elemental



The Sand Elemental is a rare Hardmode enemy which spawns in the Desert during a Sandstorm. It is guaranteed to drop a Forbidden Fragment, the main ingredient for the Forbidden armor as well as the Spirit Flame.

Sand Elementals attack by summoning three Ancient Storms randomly around the general location of the player. The distance between them varies, and they remain stationary for their lifespan. Sand Elementals cannot travel through blocks, and fly in a non-linear pattern. They attempt to move towards the player and get faster as their health depletes.

Tips

 * The Ancient Storms cannot pass through blocks. Standing underneath a platform of solid blocks will make the Sand Elemental unable to hit the player with Ancient Storms.
 * Using the Rod of Discord to teleport to the other side of the Ancient Storms may be useful; however, it inflicts the Chaos State debuff after use, so the player should be careful with how often they use it.
 * The Sand Elemental deals much more damage with its Ancient Storms than by contact, which can be exploited to avoid most of its damage through invincibility frames.
 * It might be preferable to lure the Sand Elemental out of the Desert biome to avoid the other powerful enemies that spawn during a Sandstorm, like Dune Splicers and Sand Sharks.
 * Using a mount that offers infinite flight may be useful, as it can allow you to stay well above the range of most enemies in the Desert, letting you focus almost exclusively on moving left and right to dodge the Ancient Storms, trivializing the fight. This is particularly helpful in Master Mode, as you can use the Pirate Ship Mount from the Pirate Invasion, which can be obtained before fighting any major Hardmode bosses.

Trivia

 * s are magical entities who embody or personify a force of nature. Historically, elementals personify one of the four Classical elements: earth, water, air or fire (sometimes plant, but never Aether). In the fantasy role-playing game , which are fusions and other unconventional elementals have been introduced.
 * The Sand Elemental is the only Hardmode surface Desert enemy that has no Corruption, Crimson and Hallow variations.
 * Similar to the and the Ice Golem, the Sand Elemental is not a boss or mini-boss even though it has stats comparable to a boss. This is evidenced by its lack of a Boss health bar, the fact that it drops a banner, not a trophy, and the fact that it does not drop a Relic in Master Mode.