Sizzlizard
“Highly territorial reptiles, these peculiar geovores scour the desert and its caves for small geodes to melt and eat. Should one feel threatened, it will raise its hindquarters and focus the sun’s light through the fragile lense on its tail to fire a devastating beam of pure sunlight.” -The Tome
Basic Info:
Hearts: 8
Height: 1.5 blocks (normal), 6 blocks (defensive)
Length: 8 blocks
Speed: 3 blocks/second
Mechanics:
Sizzlizards spawn alone, and only rarely spawn within Deserts bigger than 8 chunks. They spend their time looking for small Sandgem Clusters to melt with their tailbeam, which they then consume, rendering the cluster empty of all potentially useful gemstones. Some will also roam underground to continue their search for food, but they do not spawn there.
Upon spotting a player closer than 15 blocks, it will growl and raise its tail in a defensive stance until the player either approaches closer than 8 blocks or leaves further than 15 blocks.
The tailbeam works identically to the Guardian’s beam. However, once it finishes charging, it continuously deals fire damage and melts the durability of chest armor (melting gold armor 5x as fast). This can be stopped by breaking the beam’s line of sight, going behind the Sizzlizard, or by shooting the lense itself. Shooting the lense will crack it, and a Sizzlizard with a cracked lense will never pacify towards the player, and it will track them down relentlessly in a last-ditch revenge tactic.
In addition, shooting the lense and cracking it will also cause it to have a chance to drop a Cracked Sizzlizard Lense instead of a normal Sizzlizard Lense. The cracked version is useless.
Taming a Sizzlizard is possible, and primarily used to obtain Crystal Slag, which is much more tedious to acquire otherwise.
To do so, one would have to craft a Crystal Treat out of 8 Amethyst Shards, surrounding a single Glowstone Dust in the center. Once crafted, approach the Sizzlizard until it begins to growl, and place the treat down on the ground. If done properly, the Sizzlizard should return to its normal stance, approach and eat the Crystal Treat, and tame.
Taming one of these powerful creatures, and putting a saddle on its back, allows you to lay flat upon its hefty shoulders and fire its beam overhead
Drops:
Desert Plates: Used to craft the Sun Shield, Sand-les, and Desert Plating. Tough, weather-beaten plates, torn from the hide of dangerous desert creatures.
Sand Scales: Primary ingredient in Sand-les, but also used to make Sandy Chainmail. Small, dull, grey scales that once withstood the tearing winds of the desert. Within a craftsman's skilled hands, however, it can become so much more.
Sizzlizard Lense: A rare drop, even if you didn't crack the lense with a projectile. Soley used in creating the Solar Magni, a Magni variant that allows you to fire a much more powerful version of the Sizzlizard's sun ray. Once the sole method of a Sizzlizard acquiring nutrients, it now serves as a much more powerful tool in the hands of someone able to harness its latent potential.
