Underzealot
Underzealots are common hostile mobs found in the Forlorn Hollows. They grab nearby Gloomoths and sacrifice them during rituals, transforming them into Watchers - they will occasionally do the same to Vespers, transforming them into Forsaken.
Cave Compendium Entry
"Underzealots are intelligent, mole-like cultists found wandering the Forlorn Hollows. These hostile creatures have poor vision, so they have a naturally low detection range. However, fighting them is not easy as after every slash from their claws, they will burrow underground and appear somewhere else nearby. Underzealots almost always appear in groups, making combat with them even more difficult. Fearing light, Underzealots will regularly break any many light sources they can - including torches. But there are worse reasons to fear these stout cultists - their rituals. When they find a Gloomoth, presumably one fluttering around a low-laying torch, they will attempt to run after it and catch it. If they do, then a ritual will start if three or more other Underzealots take notice. During this ritual, an eminence of a dark, otherworldly power will briefly appear in this realm. It will focus all of its dark energy on the hapless sacrifice, warping it into a new kind of monster. For Gloomoths, this new monster is the Watcher. But as mentioned prior, the Underzealots do have poor vision, and often they will attempt to pick up another flying creature that makes its home in the Forlorn Hollows. When the sacrifice is complete for this creature, an extremely powerful monster is created - one that even the Underzealots have no control of. If an Underzealot is slain, it will drop some of its Dark Tatters that make up its robes. They can also very rarely drop a Desolate Dagger..."
- - Dr. Prof. Alexander Caverns, PhD.
Spawning
Underzealots can spawn anywhere in the Forlorn Hollows.
Drops
On death
| Item | Quantity/Roll Chance | Quantity/Roll Chance (Default) | Quantity/Roll Chance (Looting I) | Quantity/Roll Chance (Looting II) | Quantity/Roll Chance (Looting III) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dark Tatters |
100% | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-2 |
 Desolate Dagger |
1 | 2.5% | 3.5% | 4.5% | 5.5% |
Behavior
Upon spawning, Underzealots will quickly climb out of the ground. When idle, they will aimlessly wander around; after a minimum of 20 seconds, they will burrow into the ground, resurfacing up to 5 blocks away from their previous position after a minimum of 2 seconds.
Underzealots will attack any players that stay within 12 blocks of them. Should a player or any mob - except Watchers, Forsaken, or other Underzealots - hit an Underzealot, it and all other Underzealots within a 20-block radius will retaliate against them; once provoked, they will remain hostile until their target dies or exits their detection range. Upon reaching a target, an Underzealot will swipe at them with its claws - after successfully hitting them at least once, it will burrow, resurfacing up to 8 blocks away from its previous position after a minimum of 1 second.
Underzealots will seek out and destroy any torches, Bioluminescent Torches, lanterns, or End rods within a 32-block radius. After destroying a light-emitting block, they will not destroy any more for a minimum of 25 seconds.
Underzealots will open any closed wooden doors in their way. Unlike most other mobs that can interact with wooden doors, Underzealots will not close an opened door behind them.
As beasts of the Forlorn Hollows, Underzealots will move 16 blocks towards any mobs that get hit with Moth Dust within a 32-block radius, attacking them once they get within sight range - in addition to this, they are ignored by Forsaken under normal circumstances.
Sacrificing
Underzealots will chase any Gloomoths flying within 3 blocks above the ground within a 20-block radius, jumping at them when within range. Upon reaching a Gloomoth, an Underzealot will grab it in its claws and hold it above its head while staying in place, causing any other Underzealots within a 30-block radius to move towards it - if unable to reach the sacrificer for more than 3 seconds, they will burrow into the ground and resurface up to 10 blocks away from their previous position after a minimum of 1 second. When within 2 blocks of the sacrificer, they will form a circle around it and start repeatedly bowing while casting grey magic particles and uttering an ominous, resonating chant that slowly deepens - all Underzealots within the outer ritual circle will reposition to enlarge their formation with every Underzealot that joins them, up to a maximum of 10 (not including the sacrificer). Once at least 3 Underzealots have formed a ritual circle for a maximum of 10 seconds, the Dark God - a cloud of shadow that often has up to 4 glowing red eyes - will appear above its victim and slowly extend its tendrils outwards before lowering them to touch it; after 10 seconds, it will begin to slowly descend on its victim for 5 seconds before engulfing it. Once the Dark God consumes the Gloomoth, it will disappear with a burst of shadow and a droning ping, a Watcher will spawn in the Gloomoth's place with a distorted rippling sound, and the sacrificer will immediately burrow into the ground.
Underzealots will also attempt to grab any Vespers flying within 8 blocks (or hanging within 2 blocks) above the ground, starting a sacrificial ritual upon doing so - once the sacrificial ritual is complete, a Forsaken will spawn in the Vesper's place with a muffled screech, slowly rising to its feet while fading from a pitch-black silhouette to its standard appearance and briefly spreading its upper arms out upon spawning.
All Underzealots involved in a sacrificial ritual will not react to players or other mobs in any capacity for the duration of the ritual. After sacrificing a mob, they will be unable to sacrifice another for a minimum of 5 minutes; in addition to this, the Dark God will be unable to appear in any sacrificial ritual for 20 seconds.
History
| 1.0.0 | Introduced. |
| 1.0.7 | Sight range has been greatly reduced. Fixed a bug where it would target players during sacrificial rituals. |
| 1.1.0 | No longer reacts to players or other mobs during sacrificial rituals. |
| 1.1.1 | Fixed a bug where it would always be neutral towards players. |
Trivia
- Underzealots were the second mob revealed for the Forlorn Hollows in the form of concept art, in addition to being the second to be coded in.
- Prior to being coded in, Underzealots were referred to as Moletists.
- The Underzealots' nasally grunts and mumbles were voice-acted by PrismaticPinky, a sound designer for Alex's Caves. Noonyeyz had directed PrismaticPinky to make the Underzealots "sound like the nerd emoji" - to ensure consistency with other voice-acted Minecraft mobs such as Piglins, they opted for simple exclamations, similar to the Shy Guys from the Super Mario series.
- Strangely enough, Underzealots are reluctant to open any wooden doors in their way - if their target is behind a door, they will often wait behind it until it is opened.
Gallery
A group of Underzealots.
The Underzealots' Dark God appears during their ritual.
An Underzealot grabs a Gloomoth while others prepare a ritual.
Underzealots. Image taken with Night Vision.
| Magnetic Caves | |
|---|---|
| Primordial Caves | |
| Toxic Caves | |
| Abyssal Chasm | |
| Forlorn Hollows | |
