Gaia Construct

The Gaia Construct is a Mythological Creature that can be found by digging Griffin Burrows while having a or higher Griffin Pet equipped.

Spawning
The Gaia Construct has a chance to be spawned when digging Griffin Burrows during the Mythological Ritual event while having a, or  Griffin Pet equipped.

It also sometimes will spawn when a mob is killed in a dungeon.

The amount of health it spawns with is dependent on the rarity of the player's Griffin:

Drops
The Gaia Construct drops:



Behavior
The Gaia Construct is hostile towards players. It seeks out players and attacks them with its throw and lightning.

The Gaia Construct can throw players in the air, dealing heavy damage and knocking them back. This knockback is True Knockback and ignores the anti-knockback capabilities of the Dwarf Turtle Shelmet and other anti-knockback items. Additionally, it can cast a cross of iron blocks beneath the player. Upon contact with the blocks, the player is struck with lightning which does heavy damage.

The Gaia Construct does not respect invincibility frames. However, it has a defensive shield which blocks it from attacks. This shield means the Construct will take damage only every 6 hits. It does not take damage from arrows; when hit with the Bonemerang projectile, it reflects the damage onto its attacker.

The Gaia Construct has increasingly powerful stages:


 * Stage 1: Takes damage every 6 hits, spawns less lightning.
 * Stage 2, at 66% HP: Takes damage every 7 hits, spawns more lightning.
 * Stage 3, at 33% HP: Takes damage every 8 hits, spawns the most lightning.

Strategy
The Gaia Construct has a defensive ability and an offensive ability. The defensive ability is effectively a shield, blocking the first 5 attacks but allowing the sixth to actually deal damage. The Gaia Construct has no invulnerability like standard mobs do, so damage can be dealt as fast as the player can click. A weapon with a Magic ability (such as the Frozen Scythe or Jerry-chine Gun) can be used to break the shield and then followed with a high damage weapon.

Along with a standard melee attack, the Gaia Construct will summon lightning that deals damage. This attack is telegraphed; the Gaia Construct will place a "+" of Iron Blocks on the ground, signaling that the lightning will soon strike. The lightning attacks become more frequent and deal more damage as the Gaia Construct's is reduced. The lightning cannot strike if the player is not on the ground, making the fight easier if the player is able to remain in the air. Be cautious of half slabs and other unusual sized blocks, it is not uncommon for the Gaia to spawn the lightning strike on those blocks and trap you in them, making you an easy target.

Damage from the enchantment and fire through  or any other means will not work. However, affecting a Gaia Guardian with the Potion Effect will cause damage.

The Gaia has three phases: after it's depleted below 66% health, it takes damage only on every 7th strike and spawns more lightning. Likewise, upon dropping below 33% health, it takes damage only on every 8th strike and spawns extreme amounts of lightning, requiring players to take caution when moving.

One consistent way of killing the Gaia Construct is with a jump or rabbit potion and jumping over it's head while rapidly hitting it with your available weapon, in combination with a Florid Zombie Sword or a Ornate Zombie Sword you should rarely die to Gaia's.

Trivia

 * If the Griffin Burrow spawns next to a wall, the Gaia Construct can suffocate, killing it very quickly due to suffocation triggering on every tick and the Gaia Construct's removal of invulnerability frames.