The Ambusher is the Ancient Stronghold‘s foot soldier, a squat, wide creature on 50 health that lunges at you with a tongue and turns into three Spiky Worms when it dies. It’s placed in the stronghold’s halls, two to a fortress, and it spawns nowhere else. On its own it’s an early game fight, and the worms are what make it worth reading about.
It drops a 
Chiseled Ancient Dripstone Shard, which is one of the four parts of the 
Spiky Shield, and that’s its whole purpose in the mod’s progression. Kill both Ambushers on the way to the Ancient Guardian and you have half the Shield before you’ve fought the boss.
Spawning
Ambushers don’t spawn naturally in any biome. Every stronghold generates with 2 of them placed in its corridors, and once those are dead there are no more in that fortress, so a second shard means a second Ancient Stronghold. They wander a little within the halls but never leave them.
The stronghold sits on the surface in Dark Forests, Taigas and Old Growth Spruce Taigas, and the 
Eye Of Many Ribs, 4 
Dripstone Blocks around an 
Ender Pearl, flies to the nearest one. It usually drops back down after the throw, so a single Eye can lead you most of the way there.
The Ambushers are usually met before the Guardian, since the Guardian sleeps deeper in and they stroll the halls between. That makes them the first real fight of any stronghold run, so go in with a Shield ready rather than heading straight for the boss.
Behavior
An Ambusher is hostile on sight and goes for players first, then 
Iron Golems and 
Snow Golems. It closes to about 3 and a half blocks and lunges, and the lunge is the only attack it has, so the fight is a matter of stepping around one move, and it notices you from about 14 blocks.
Attacks
The lunge winds up for three quarters of a second and then hits everything in a wide arc in front of it out to 4 blocks for 8 damage, before your armor. That reach is longer than your sword’s, so standing still and trading is a losing exchange, and a Shield stops it cleanly.
| Attack | Reach | Damage | What to Know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunge | 4 blocks, wide arc | 8 | Short wind-up, blocked by a Shield |
| Death Burst | Where it dies | Three Spiky Worms | 3 damage each, 7 health, they arrive at your feet |
The death burst is the part that catches people. The three Spiky Worms spawn on the Ambusher’s corpse, so if you killed it at sword range they’re already on you, and three bites of 3 in Iron armor isn’t nothing. Kill it in an open room and step back as it drops.
Special Mechanics
Arrows and thrown 
Tridents do nothing to an Ambusher, and neither does falling, so there’s no shooting it from the doorway or dropping it down a shaft. It has 6 armor and half knockback resistance, so a sprint hit shoves it a little but not much. Everything else, fire and Potions included, works as normal.
Each Spiky Worm has 7 health, which is one hit from any 
Diamond Sword, and they spawn in a tight cluster. Back up two blocks as the Ambusher dies, wait for the three of them to line up, and one sweep attack clears all three before they bite.
The Ambusher’s advancement is called An Imposter, but there’s no hiding mechanic behind the name. It walks the halls in plain sight and doesn’t disguise itself as anything, so the name is a joke about the worms inside it rather than a warning.
Drops
Every Ambusher drops 1 Chiseled Ancient Dripstone Shard and 2 experience, with no Looting bonus and no chance involved. The three worms it releases each drop an 
Ancient Spike, which is the other half of the same recipe, so one Ambusher is a shard and three spikes.
Ambusher Drops
Chiseled Ancient Dripstone Shard The shard, an Ancient Spike, a 
Molten Metal Ingot and a plain Shield make the Spiky Shield, and the ingot is the Ancient Guardian‘s Anchor Handle smelted in a 
Furnace. Half the time a blow lands on the Spiky Shield while you block, the attacker starts Bleeding and takes 5 damage plus a quarter of its own hit back.
Two Ambushers per stronghold means two shards, and the Guardian’s single handle means one ingot, so a stronghold is one Spiky Shield with a shard to spare. The spare is worth keeping for a second Shield later, as the shard has no other use.
Tips
Iron armor and any sword are enough for an Ambusher. Raise a Shield as it winds up, hit it twice after the lunge lands, and back off two blocks when its health is nearly gone so the worms spawn in front of you rather than under you. A sweep clears the three worms, and the whole encounter is over in a few seconds.
If an Ambusher dies in a corridor and the worms are on you, don’t swing at them one at a time in the dark. Step back into the nearest room, let them follow, and sweep. They’re slow and they have 7 health, and panic is the only way they do real damage.
FAQ
Only in the Ancient Stronghold, the dripstone fortress in Dark Forests, Taigas and Old Growth Spruce Taigas. Two are placed in each stronghold’s halls, they never spawn naturally, and they don’t come back once killed.
Three Spiky Worms spawn on its body the moment it dies, which is built into the mob. They have 7 health and bite for 3, and they appear wherever the Ambusher fell, so kill it in the open and step back as it drops.
1 Chiseled Ancient Dripstone Shard, always, plus an Ancient Spike from each of its three worms. The shard, a spike, a Molten Metal Ingot and a Shield craft the Spiky Shield, which bleeds and hurts whoever hits it while you block.
No, Arrows and Tridents do nothing to it, and it takes no fall damage either. It’s a melee fight, but an easy one, as a Shield blocks its only attack and it has 50 health behind 6 armor.
