Desert Spires

Desert Spires is a hot, dry biome added by Terralith. It is one of the desert variants in that mod, set apart by sandstone canyon terrain, palm-fringed lakes and a long monster list that includes many Born in Chaos mobs. It covers only 0.04% of the land surface, so it is one of the rarest biomes in the pack and is easy to miss on most worlds.

Description

Desert Spires is an open desert of sand and sandstone cut by canyons. The canyon carver opens cave and canyon passages into the sandstone walls, and sandstone cliffs, slabs and smooth slabs stand above the sand floor. Lakes sit in the lower ground, with palms, lily pads and dripleaf around their shores, and moss carpet covers parts of the canyon floor.

The biome's colours are cooler than a vanilla desert. The sky is pale blue (#b1d1ff) and the fog is lighter still (#cde6ff). Water is teal (#45be90). Grass and foliage are green (#77b338 and #4eb338), which shows on the grass and palm patches rather than on the sand. The ambient sounds are the cave ambience and the overworld desert music.

Generation

Desert Spires has a temperature of 2, which places it in the hot band of the climate map, and a downfall of 0, so it never rains or snows. It is one of about 95 biomes that Terralith adds. In the pack's biome table, all Terralith biomes together make up about 31% of land, and Desert Spires is a small part of that share.

Desert Spires is not one of the biomes that the pack weights 6× for horror. Deserts stay close to their normal horror level. The Mound of Hounds structure from Born in Chaos can generate in deserts, but the pack does not add extra horror weight to this biome.

Features

• Terrain: the sandstone canyon features (sandstone, cliff, slab and smooth slab) are placed on the floor. A sandstone vegetation patch, 6 to 8 blocks deep and 3 to 5 blocks in radius, replaces sandy blocks and adds sandstone formations to the floor.
• Lakes and lava: canyon lakes hold water. Underground and surface lava lakes also generate, and springs of both water and lava appear in the ground. Lava lakes are the main hazard in this biome.
• Plants: scattered palms, lake palms, lily pads, dripleaf, moss carpet, glow lichen, flowers, badlands grass patches, dead bushes, cacti, sugar cane, pumpkin patches and red and brown mushrooms. Wild flax and cave urns from Supplementaries also appear here.
• Underground: an amethyst geode, upper and lower fossils, monster rooms (both regular and deep) and a desert well.
• Ores: iron, gold, copper, redstone, lapis (regular and buried), diamond (small, medium, large and buried), granite, diorite, andesite and tuff. Underwater magma is placed in the lakes.

Mobs and structures

The monster spawn list is the longest part of this biome's spawn table. The most common monsters are the vanilla spider, skeleton, creeper and slime, each with weight 100, followed by husk (80) and the Slime Golem (25). Many Born in Chaos monsters appear at lower weight, including Skeleton Creeper (20), Necromancer (18), Dread Hound (7), Nightmare (7) and Spirit Guide (8). The boss-tier mobs, including Krampus and Supreme Bonescaller, have weight 1.

Passive spawns are rabbits (weight 4) and camels (weight 1). Bats are the only ambient spawn. Underground water has glow squids, and the surface waters hold a mix of fish, led by Synodontis (weight 20) and Boulti (weight 10). Corpse Fish are the only Born in Chaos water creature here.

The Born in Chaos monsters in this list are the reason it is long. The pack halved the spawn weights of Born in Chaos monsters, because they had taken about 36% of the mob cap and crowded out vanilla monsters. They now take about 26%.

Monster

Creature

Ambient

Underground Water Creature

Water Creature

Water Ambient

Structures (167)

Desert Pyramid, Mineshaft, Ruined Portal Desert, Stronghold, Trial Chambers, Village Desert, Sand House Medium 1, Sand House Medium 2, Sand House Small 1, Sand House Small 2, Sand Castle Small 1, Sand Pyramid 1, Sand Underground Castle 1, Skeleton Dungeon, Small Dungeon, Spider Dungeon, Zombie Dungeon, Mineshaft Desert, Stronghold, Catacombs, Shrine Combat Tier 1, Shrine Combat Tier 2, Shrine Combat Tier 3, Shrine Combat Tier 4, Shrine Combat Tier 5, Shrine Tower, Village Desert Oasis, Village Desert Oasis, Village Desert Oasis, Desert Outpost, Bunker, Desert Ruins, Ruin Town, Wild Ruin, Evoker Fort, Desert Shrine, Firewell, Desert Houses, Farmland Field, Hobbit Hole, Wagon, Copper Spire, Stone Ore Spikes, Large Temple, Mesoamerican Temple, Small Statue, Small Temple, Stone Tower, Tower Remnant, Well, Fortified Desert Village, Small Desert Grave, Small Desert Graveyard, Small Savanna Grave, Illager Hideout, Village Desert, Campsite, Fire Camp, Horse Campsite, Mine With Campsite, Barn, Duck, Haystack, Horse Pen, Shed, Wheat Grain Bin, Windmill, Wooden Wheat Farm, Floating Islands, Large Floating Island, Azelea House, Deepslate House, Desert House, Diorite And Deepslate House, House, Lil House, Tall House, Warped House, Small Oak Lantern, Blue Stall, Cart, Cartographer Tower, Large Cart 1, Large Cart 2, Orange Stall, Pink Stall, Red Stall, Castle Ruins, Crystal, Log Ruin, Ruined Beacon, Small Ruin, Statue Ruins, Stone Pillars, Arena, Calcite House, Castle Ruin, Castle Tower, Desert Pyramid, Desert Well, Diorite House, Large Tower, Nether Portal, Small Deepslate House, Small Oak House, Small Tower, White House, Leaf Hollow, Red Sand, Small Pond, Tree 1, Tree 2, Tree 3, Tree 4, Tree 5, Tree 6, Tree 7, Tree 8, Volcano, Diorite Tower, Large Warped Tower, Dead Tree Oak, Tree Monument, Bench, Cathedral, Desert Pump, Gallows, Lamp Chest, Mushroom Pond, Paths, Pile, Railway, Small Oak Pond, Sunzi Gate, Villager Statue, Desert Well, Rare Well, Small Copper Well, Small Tower Well, Small Well, Stone Fountain, Well, Mound Of Hounds, Village Desert, Village Desert, Village Desert, Illager Camp, Pillager Outpost Desert, Pillager Outpost Desert, Pillager Outpost, Pillager Outpost, Remnant Big Remnant 2, Remnant Big Remnant 3, Remnant Big Remnant, Remnant Bridge Remnant, Remnant Desert Remnant, Remnant Medium Remnant 2, Remnant Medium Remnant, Remnant Miner Hut, Remnant School Remnant, Rubble Desert, Mirage Outpost, Pillager Lookout, Desert, Tavern Desert, Mimic Desert, Road Sign

Tips

• Plan night trips carefully. The monster list is spider, skeleton and creeper heavy, and the Born in Chaos monsters that spawn here include Dread Hounds and Nightmares, so bring armor and a way to light the ground.
• Check the floor before you move at night. Lava lakes sit on both the surface and underground, and canyon walls can hide lava pools behind sand.
• Expect the bats and glow squids. They are harmless, but they can be mistaken for threats in the dark.
• Use the lakes as landmarks. Palms and lily pads are easy to spot against the sand and make good reference points when you are looking for the canyons.