Tree Monster

**Tree Monsters**, or **Tree Guardians**, are a type of Miniboss Enemy in Atomicrops.

# General Information

Each Biome level has one Tree Monster, meaning that a maximum of eight are able to be found and defeated in each run. Each monster must be found by obtaining a Golden Pupa, which has a random chance to drop after a Camp is cleared. On being picked up, the Pupa will turn into a firefly, leading the player to the location where the Tree Monster will spawn.

## Difficulty Scaling

The max health of all Tree Monsters increases with the Year.

## Tier 1

There are two Tier 1 Tree Monsters, found in the first Desert and first Plains Biomes.

 They generally do not aggravate until dealt damage. When they do attack, they will take a few moments to prepare for a jump, before landing wherever the player was when they jumped. If they hit, they deal contact damage. However, if not jumping, they deal no contact damage.

These monsters are not too difficult to avoid, so long as the player keeps moving when they jump, but other randomly-moving enemies in the Biome (such as Scorpions or Wasps) can make this more of a challenge.

Health on Each Year

* (\*) - Estimated using linear interpolation, these values are not exact.

## Tier 2

There are two Tier 2 Tree Monsters, found in the first Jungle and first Tundra Biomes.

 They generally do not aggravate until dealt damage. When they do attack, they will take a few moments to prepare for a jump, before landing wherever the player was when they jumped. If they hit, they deal contact damage. However, if not jumping, they deal no contact damage.

These monsters are not too difficult to avoid, so long as the player keeps moving when they jump, but other randomly-moving enemies in the Biome (such as Chameleons or Owls) can make this more of a challenge.

Health on Each Year

* (\*) - Estimated using linear interpolation, these values are not exact.

## Tier 3

These Monsters attack in a similar way to their Tier 1 counterparts, in that they will take a few moments to prepare for a jump, before landing at the player's location. However, they also have other unique attacks and accompanying enemies.There are two Tier 3 Tree Monsters, found in the second Desert and second Plains Biomes.

 The Desert Monster, when aggravated, is surrounded by three radiating lines of three bullets, which do not fire at the player, but slowly rotate around the monster's body. They move along with it to its new location whenever it jumps, meaning that the player can be hit even if they manage to dodge the monster's stomping attack.
This monster spawns alongside a level 2 Bunnycopter, which will attack the player when it or the Desert Monster is disturbed.

The Plains Monster, when aggravated, spawns a ring of spiked seeds around it, which start off at a distance and slowly close in. They can be destroyed, similar to the Ice Mage's snowballs, but rather than circling the player's location, they will move when the Plains Monster does. This means that they can suddenly hit the player when the monster jumps at them.
A purple Sidewinder spawns alongside it, which will attack the player when it or the Plains Monster is disturbed.

Health on Each Year

* (\*) - Estimated using linear interpolation, these values are not exact.

## Tier 4

There are two Tier 4 Tree Monsters, found in the second Jungle and second Tundra Biomes.

These monsters attack in a similar way to their Tier 1 counterparts, in that they will take a few moments to prepare for a jump, before landing at the player's location. However, they also have other unique attacks and accompanying enemies.

  The Jungle Monster, when aggravated spawns a spinning circle of spores around it that slowly close in in it. This monster spawns alongside 2 Sidewinders, which will attack the player when they or the Jungle Monster are disturbed.

The Tundra Monster, when aggravated, is surrounded by three radiating lines of nine bullets, which do not fire at the player, but slowly rotate around the monster's body. They move along with it to its new location whenever it jumps, meaning that the player can be hit even if they manage to dodge the monster's stomping attack.
This monster spawns alongside two level 2 Bunnycopters, which will attack the player when they or the Tundra Monster are disturbed.

Health on Each Year

* (\*) - Estimated using linear interpolation, these values are not exact.

# Achievements

Defeating all eight Tree Monsters in one run unlocks the Timber Achievement.

# Loot

 The Tree Monsters themselves do not drop any notable loot, but defeating them (and any accompanying enemies) allows the player to access the bulb they were guarding.

For a list of all potential items, see the Golden Pupa page.

# History

* Thyme Flies (1.1.0): Health was increased, and Timber achievement added.