Which artifact is in Desert Cave?

Desert Cave holds the Artifact of Chaos, which is tribute for Desert Titan.

Where is the entrance to Desert Cave?

The entrance is at 87.4, 70.4 on Extinction.

What should you bring to Desert Cave?

A ground mount — no flyer will get in. Take it slowly at chokepoints so you pull a few creatures at a time rather than the room.

DESERT CAVE

Artifact of Chaos · cave on Extinction

View on Extinction map → Artifact of Chaos →

Screenshots

with the interior map click to expand

The Cave

guide

The Desert Cave sits under the south-east of Extinction and holds the Artifact of Chaos, the tribute the Desert Titan Terminal requires.

It is immense in scale, with a high ceiling like the Ice Cave and large flooded sections, and it is the route to the Desert Titan spawn zone as well as to the artifact.

Hazards

Flyers cannot enter. The only exception is a Gasbags on a server that allows it.
Mantis aggro from a surprisingly long range, and they fight with whatever weapon they are holding.
Arthropluera drain health fast in a mob fight, and their acid damages armour rather than just health.
The water sections hold Piranha, Sarco and Kaprosuchus, and you meet them before you can see them.

Recommended Equipment

A ground mount — no flyer will get in.
Take it slowly at chokepoints so you pull a few creatures at a time rather than the room.

What You'll Be Dealing With

assembled from what lives in this cave 8

UnderwaterHeavy carnivoresGrabs and pinsArmour damageTorporSwarms

Piranha — Attacks in shoals the moment you enter the water, and does not stop.
Do not enter the water on foot. There is no gear answer, only a mount.
Sarco — Rolls a survivor in water and is fast on land as well.
Mantis — Uses whatever weapon it holds, so its damage depends on what it picked up, and it is fast.
Rubble Golem — A Rock Elemental fragment. Untameable, and it ignores small-arms fire.
Kaprosuchus — Grabs a survivor off a mount and carries them away.
Arthropluera — Its ranged acid attack damages armour directly — primitive Flak breaks in one or two hits — and armour damage cannot be repaired if the piece is destroyed.
Wear Hide rather than Flak and carry Fiber and Hide to repair. Kill it at range; it out-damages armour faster than you out-heal it.
Titanoboa — Applies heavy torpor per bite and is quiet enough to reach you before you see it.
Stimberries or Stimulant on your hotbar. Two bites will drop an unprepared survivor.
Onyc — Attacks in numbers, drains stamina, and is small enough that most mounts cannot hit it.
A shotgun, or a pike on foot. They path erratically, so aimed single shots waste ammunition.

Not a threat: Achatina, Coelacanth

Each line above is a fact about the creature and its own in-game behaviour — attributed to this cave only because the cave contains it. It is not a walkthrough, and it does not claim to describe the layout or the route.