Overview

The Volcadon is a black-and-red, yellow-winged pterodactyl inspired monster that serves as the final challenge for the player. It flies around the volcano, attacking those who approach, until it is damaged enough to the point of going inside the volcano and perching down until its challenger comes down to fight. Once it is nearing death, it perches down for the player to kill and pick up its drops, which can be used to craft the end-game Volcadon armor and shield - as well as some bonus meat!

Below, there will be explanations on how to use every strategy available at your disposal to dispatch the Volcadon as quickly and efficiently as possible. If you believe you can add to this knowledge, let us know and we'll make sure to add it here!

Vanilla Strategy

Before we start, you'll want to make sure you join the server prepared to avoid having to grind for unnecessary things. Thus, let's talk about your starters:

Starters

These are not set in stone. Experiment with your own and see if you can come up with something that's more efficient for the way you play the game! For now, though, bear with me and let's discuss about the most popular options:

• Backpack (Premium Only)
• Copper/Bronze Pickaxe (L10 Mining, Prospector)
• Sailboat/Schooner (L10 Swimming, Seafarer)

These three, when available, are by far the most picked ones for players who can't afford more than one or two starter slots. They are also the best choices for a Volcadon speedrun right off the bat, as a backpack gets you more storage space, the pickaxe makes it easier to mine iron for steel or even a pickaxe to go straight for mithril, and a boat for easier mobility. That's the most important thing with starters: pick things that save you time so you can focus on getting to the Volcadon as soon as possible. Other nice options are:

• Slingshot (L5 Hunter)
• Oil Lantern (Lightbearer)
• Glider Recipe

These are mostly for QoL if you have extra slots. The slingshot starter skips the crafting step, while the oil lantern helps with navigating around more easily and going down the volcano if it's night time. The glider recipe is optional as well, but will really help speeding things up at the volcano if you get it.

Step One: Preparation

When joining the server, the first thing you should look out for are cotton plants or flax, for crafting a string which you will use to craft a slingshot. If your island does not have either, look around until you reach an island that has either of them and craft the sling as soon as possible. If you happen to find an island with cotton and you have the glider recipe, craft one together with the sling so you can use it to skip the parkour at the volcano later on.

After crafting everything you need, head to any desert area that has cactus and pick two or three of them up. These will make it easier for you to climb up to the volcano, but is not a necessary step as you can do the same with other random objects if you'd like. Using cacti saves up inventory space down the line and is easier to collect.

Once that is done, hop on your boat and head to the closest place to the volcano you can find that has plenty of stones for mining. Use your pickaxe to fill your entire inventory with stones - the more the merrier, and especially if you are new to this strategy as you will most likely miss a lot of shots while you're still getting used to the slingshot's projectile speed and arc. Ensure you have a backpack by the time you are doing this so you are able to carry more stones - kill some deer with the slingshot or loot leather from other islands if you can find some laying around.

Once all that is done, we can head over to the next step.

Step Two: Initial Phases

As you reach the volcano, you'll have to pay attention to the two special phases the Volcadon can be in at this point: the inside and outside phases, also referred to by players as "Stage 0" and "Stage 1" of the Volcadon fight. The state the bird is in will determine how fast the fight will go and how much free damage you can get as it sets up for the fight proper:

Inside (S0)

This phase has the Volcadon flying in circles inside the volcano. As you approach via either parkour or glider, it will stray from its predetermined path to aim at you and shoot a fireball towards you, while simultaneously readjusting its flying pattern to an 8-shaped path closer to where the player was sighted last, with its center located at the exact point where it was last when it releases the fireball. This means it will be easier to shoot the Volcadon depending on where you got shot from, as it will fly extremely close to you making it a lot easier to hit your shots or even your sword if there is enough space.

This specific flight pattern is also prone to glitches. If this is done in a spot inside the volcano where there are enough obstacles in the way of the Volcadon's newly acquired pattern, it will often get stuck in the rocks while it tries to correct itself, which is an opportunity for you to pelt it down with ammo from your sling or your sword if he gets stuck somewhere you can actually get to.

Once he takes enough damage from this, it will instantly try to fly upwards no matter what might be in the way. This often gets him to be stuck once again in random rocks for a few seconds, granting you yet another opportunity to hit him. Once said seconds pass, it will clip through the ceiling and fly all the way to the top of the volcano, where it will then proceed to enter through the crater and head to its usual perching spot, which is where you should lie in wait. This is the most critical moment to get extra damage on the Volcadon - using the lunge technique with a sword as fast as possible for the few seconds he stays perched can get him down to 250 (50%) HP or less for the next fight stage! The next steps after this are detailed in the Stage 2 section.

Outside (S1)

In this case, the Volcadon will be flying around the volcano, the exact distance depending on a few factors:

• At the start (whenever it spawns in with the server or comes down after it respawns WHILE getting aggro from a player), it will always be flying in a medium ring around the volcano. This is about the same distance as a volcano's worth from itself. It is able to aggro on you if you are close to the outer edges of the volcano, which should make for easy shots as it comes from above.
• When hit at least once, it will switch to close ring mode. It will fly in a circle centered on the volcano crater, but a lot closer than the medium ring - simply standing on top of the volcano, around the middle, or even the edges is already enough to entice the Volcadon to attack.
• Missing your shots and/or keeping its attention for too many aggro attempts will cause it to distance itself from the volcano to a far ring mode where it will be flying at least 3 to 4 volcanoes' worth of distance from the volcano itself. This usually equates to it raiding other nearby islands if there are players nearby and makes it extremely difficult to hit the Volcadon, as you will have to be on the move all the time just to reach a spot where he will be able to shoot you without destroying your ship. This state can also be caused by it coming out of a raid.

Regardless of which state it is in, you will need to hit it 1-3 times (depending on damage taken or not previously, as well as weapon and ammo) so it triggers the next stage, which forces the Volcadon to head straight to the volcano crater so it can perch inside and wait for a player to get close so it triggers the next phase. As with the previous stage, you should already be there waiting. The glider comes in handy here if you are on top of the volcano, as you can skip the entire parkour with one. Try your best to reach the perching spot before he does - this is the most critical moment to get extra damage on the Volcadon, as using the lunge technique with a sword as fast as possible for the few seconds he stays perched can get him down to 250 (50%) HP or less for the next fight stage!

Step Three: Boss Fight Phase

After you have damaged it on its perching spot, this is where the actual fight starts. You can and should have brought its HP down anywhere between 75% and 50%, which will save you some ammo you can now afford to waste if your aim is bad. It will now start its boss fight behavior, which is no different than the previous S0 behavior with the key difference being that it will only circle around a central point of the volcano and will not correct its flight path to match your last known location. It will also shoot fireballs at you a lot more frequently.

When ready, you should move to the following spot to fight the Volcadon:

This specific spot is not required, although it is the most convenient to shoot from as the bird will not target you there no matter what you do as well as having clear line of sight to its flight path. It can be replicated anywhere in the volcano with a shape similar to it, such as a boulder. Once you are positioned there, swap to first or third-person mode (this is up to you as it's mostly preference, but I find third-person to be easier as the slingshot doesn't block LoS and is easier to predict movement with as well since the camera does not move) and start shooting.

It takes exactly 23 shots from 500 to 0 HP using a slingshot with stones to down the Volcadon. In practice, it will take half that if you managed to deal enough damage to it previously. Hitting most of your shots will ensure this as well. Finishing the Volcadon with ranged weapons is not required either, as it will perch when it is nearing death to preserve the drops, allowing you to execute it with a sword, pickaxe, or any other tool that is able to deal damage.

Keep in mind that there is a time limit in which you are able to shoot the Volcadon. If it does not spot you or you are unable to hit a single shot/deal damage to it within 45 seconds - 1 minute of each damage instance, it will fly out of the volcano and start an event called a "volcadon raid", where it will head to nearby islands and hop between all of them while targeting any players it sees. It is also faster during this mode. The event usually lasts for as long as 10 minutes or more depending on how many players are in the server and how many it actually manages to spot.

Once all that is done, congratulations - you have killed the Volcadon!

A video of a generic slingshot Volcadon kill without any glitches or ways of speeding up the process can be found below:

Step Four: What Next?

After killing the Volcadon, your very next step is restocking for the next fight as you will always have to kill the Volcadon a minimum of two times and a maximum of three. This is due to it only dropping a max. of 6 scales per kill and a min. of 3, while a full volcadon armor set (armor suit+shield) takes 7 scales to craft. Once you kill it the required times, you may also choose to craft a volcadon rod with the spares, which allows you to fish in lava for special fish as well as occasional Volcadon scales!

Now go kill things while you flex that armor of yours - you've earned it!

'I-K' Strategy

This is a strat that involves abusing the fact Volcadon needs line of sight to target players and the fact it often gets stuck when going down into the volcano crater due to its wonky offset. This tactic was first shown to the public by player xxDarkWillow, who has created a video that explains how it works and will be linked down below for those interested.

In essence, it boils down to a few things:

• Ensure the Volcadon has already been killed as it needs to respawn for this strat to work
• Create a small roof over your head in a specific side of the volcano, which is where the Volcadon always comes down to after respawning (offset)
• Once it gets there, slash it with your sword as fast as you can before it goes for its P2 trigger (flies up due to damage, comes down again...)
• When doing this, it will often fly to the side and get stuck on the rocks - use this as yet another opportunity to slash it
• While it is going up and down after the trigger, you are able to shoot it with your sling or crossbow a few more times for extra damage. With practice, the prediction for this becomes very easy
• Glide or parkour down to its usual perch spot and slash it as fast as you can once more, bringing it down to near or precisely 50% HP left

The rest of the fight is the same: shoot it a few times more using the vanilla spot and it should go down with ease. This strategy is best done with two players to maximize damage done to it while it is glitched at the top, being careful not to damage each other as it is being done. Willy's video is linked below for a more visual explanation:

Nuke

The Volcadon can also be easily dispatched in less than 5 seconds by using the 'nuke' strategy, which involves gathering up a boulder and at least 5 gunpowder and placing them along the bird's spine. The boulder will serve as support for the gunpowder. Igniting the gunpowder soon after will chunk almost all of the Volcadon's health points in one go, which allows for an easy kill with your sword, tool, or slingshot. A few things to note regarding this strategy:

• Place the boulder first in the spot shown below in the video. When placing the gunpowder, ensure it is not touching the Volcadon, or the gunpowder may disappear due to the bird's anti-block script (prevents blocking it from flying with structures, etc).
• 5 gunpowder are usually your best bet when using this strategy. If you do too much damage outside while it is flying around or when he comes down, make sure to use less than that or you will run the risk of straight up one-shotting it, losing your XP reward and flinging the loot down into the lava.
• Using 6 gunpowder is the perfect spot for nearly killing the Volcadon while still letting you swing once to get the XP points. Do not use more gunpowder or it will always go down instantly. The same caution regarding previously dealt damage also applies with this to an even greater extent - onlyuse this when he's at or nearing full HP only.

A video demonstrating this strategy can be found below:

Issues

The Volcadon occasionally gets bugged in a few different ways. Below is a list of which issues you'll most frequently encounter when you attempt to kill the Volcadon (most being minor inconveniences, or not bugs per se but still listed anyway):

• Sometimes, the Volcadon will respawn and move at around double its usual speed. The same applies to its attacks and animations. This can make it a lot harder to land shots when he is outside and especially when inside, as it will be more difficult to predict its erratic movement.
• If the P2 trigger is achieved while the Volcadon is flying too close to the volcano, it may fly straight into it and become stuck. This is an opportunity to deal damage to it, although it will always clip through the volcano and more often than not trigger a raid due to not being able to trigger the next phase properly. This is suspected to be due to a fixed distance it has to travel to be able to perch - if it cuts through the volcano and does not reach the full distance, it falls back to a raid as a reset.
• Keep in mind that trying to clog up the volcano with structures or blocking the Volcadon's flight path by any means does not interfere with it, as said structures will be deleted instantly if the Volcadon touches them at any point. This is intended and not a bug.
• Ancient (1000+ minutes) servers, almost full (player) servers and/or servers filled with too many items may cause the Volcadon to fly extremely slowly as well as any projectiles being launched from a sling or crossbow. This can make it significantly harder to predict the Volcadon's movement as it will keep being cut short due to the lag and any projectiles you shoot have a high likelihood of going straight through the bird or not actually ending up where you think they will. An example of this happening can be found in this video.