Desert cave

The "desert cave" is a room in Sector 3 / Pyrosphere. It appears in Metroid: Other M.
==Description==
This room is located in the lowest region of the Desert Refinery, and is reachable by descending the elevator from the refinery's summit. It is a straight hallway that is, unlike the rest of the refinery, uninhabited save for a Dragotix. By this point in the mission, Samus is able to dispatch it with ease.
The floor is covered with sand, and the room's walls are a mixture of rock and metal architecture. Along the path are several jagged clusters of rock and large curved pipes connecting from the floor to the walls. These are likely used to transport sand for refining. In the middle of the cave is a pit with lava and broken rock platforms, with two Magdollites in the lava. The edge of the path is protected by a railing that prevents Samus from falling in unless she jumps over it. Should Samus fall or jump down, there is a tunnel in the wall that takes her to a shaft she can ascend with the Kick Climb to get back to the top of the cave.
To cross the abyss, Samus must use three Grapple Points situated over the lava. A Missile Tank exists in an alcove below, but Samus is not able to obtain it safely until she has the Space Jump, which she self-authorizes later. Occasionally, a ball of fire will be launched up from the lava, which may hurt Samus if she is Space Jumping to the other side.
On the other side of the pit is another short section with fewer jagged rocks. More of the interior walls are visible, in particular two buttresses on each wall. Two large, curved pipes are found here extending from the floor into the ceiling. The exit door is found on a short "staircase" formed out of scaffolding.
==Glitch==
This room is the site of a potentially game-ending glitch. If Samus returned to the "Pyrosphere combat arena" after surviving a miniboss encounter shortly after instead of continuing on through the Pyrosphere, the exit door in this room can lock permanently and leave her unable to continue unless the save file is reloaded to before the glitch was triggered, if such a save exists. If not, the file must be restarted.
==Connecting rooms==
*"Sand Tower summit" (via elevator)
*"Flame hallway" (via automatic door)
==Inhabitants==
*1 Dragotix
*2 Magdollites
==Items==
;Missile Tank:Requires Space Jump. This tank is in plain sight in an alcove on the wall across the lava pit.
==Official data==
===Metroid: Other M Premiere Edition===
;Page 111:"When the battle is over, step into the circular area at the center of the room and ride the platform down to the lower level. As soon as you exit the lift, you’re attacked by a Dragotix! Freeze its gigantic mouth with a Charge Beam shot, then blow it away with several missiles to the belly.
:Trek deeper into the long room and use the Grapple Beam anchors to swing across the room. Pass through the hatch on the room’s other side, then turn right."
===Japanese guide warning===
An editor's note in Nintendo Official Guidebook for Metroid Other M warns players about the glitch in this room.Translated by Leah Hicks: https://twitter.com/loohhoo/status/892133681120325633
METROID Other M
Note Regarding Inability to Progress To Sector 3
--- Symptoms ---
The door to progress to the next room is still locked red, and you cannot go back nor move forward.
--- Location ---
In the highest floor in the Desert Refinery, after defeating the boss, and across from the three grapplinghooks in front of the elevator exit of the ground floor, there is a door on the other side.
--- Cause ---
At the beginning of the game, after acquiring the Ice Beam, there are two rooms ahead which containenemies that have two spikes. After eliminating them, if you do not proceed to the door just ahead (in the center of the screen) and instead attempt to return (behind the screen) back to Sector 2 (to theroom where the Ice Beam was acquired) then try to progress forward again, the above mentioned problem will arise.
--- How to Avoid the Problem ---
After acquiring the Ice Beam, do not attempt to head back to Sector 2 once you have killed the two-spiked monsters, and simply progress toward the next door (in the center of the screen).
==Gallery==
File:Desert cave - elevator.png|The elevator down.
Experimental simulated desert area 5.png|Samus fires at the Dragotix.
File:Desert cave - Grapple Points.png|Samus standing in front of the pit.
File:Desert cave drop shaft.png|An open shaft in the floor that leads to and from the lava pit.
File:Desert cave Kick Climb shaft and tunnel.png|The bottom of the shaft, with the entrance to the tunnel from the pit.
File:Desert cave lava and Magdollite.png|Samus in the pit with a Magdollite.
File:Desert cave - exit door.png|The exit door.
Pyrosphere Missile Tank 13.jpg|The Missile Tank.
==References==
Category:Rooms
Category:Pyrosphere
Category:Rooms containing expansion(s) in Metroid: Other M