Caveling

The Caveling is a non-hostile critter that disguises itself as a rock in Caves and Deep Caves. When a player gets close, it flees, making it easy to overlook while exploring underground biomes. If killed, it drops about a dozen of the best ore available from the biome it belongs to, which makes it a valuable target for players who are mining and farming resources at the same time.

Cavelings appear in several biome variants, and their drops match the biome they spawn in. In normal caves, stone cavelings can be found in Forest Caves and Swamp Stone Cavelings in Swamp Caves, while Snow Stone Cavelings, Granite Cavelings, and Sand Stone Cavelings appear in Snow Caves, Plains Caves, and Desert Caves respectively. In deeper areas, Deep Stone Cavelings, Deep Snow Stone Cavelings, Dryad Cavelings, Deep Swamp Stone Cavelings, and Deep Sand Stone Cavelings can appear in the corresponding Deep Caves, and Incursion Cavelings can appear during Incursions when the Juicy Cavelings! Incursion perk is active. In Deep Caves, they can sometimes drop Life Quartz instead of ore.

Finding them is often easier if the rocks on the cave floor are destroyed, since that makes cavelings stand out. Hovering the cursor over one reveals its name and health, and damaged cavelings become easier to spot because their health bar is visible even in darkness. They also slowly heal over time, so quick identification and attack matter. Spelunker Potions make them glow, which is especially useful in darker caves, while torches and other light sources prevent them from spawning at all.

Because cavelings run away when attacked or when a player gets too close, direct pursuit can waste time if they have room to escape. Summons with target-lock are effective, since they continue attacking the chosen caveling as long as the player stays within range. Settlers do not automatically target cavelings, but they can still hit them through crossfire. Chasing them into a dead end also helps, and placing walls and doors can limit escape routes.

A few weapons and projectiles interact with them differently than with hostile enemies. Homing projectiles such as Blood Bolt do not seek out cavelings, since they are non-hostile, though they still deal damage on contact. The Captor's Shortbow secondary attack net also does not work on cavelings. In incursions with the Flameling Infested modifier, a unique caveling variant called the Flameling can spawn as a hazard.