Ratsploders are green chemical-coated rats enemies in Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove, and Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon. They appear in the Explodatorium and the Tower of Fate.
When they cluster together and are equipped with a propeller, they become known as a Ratsploder King.
Behavior and Tactics[]
Treasure Trove[]
In Treasure Trove, the Ratsploders normally run back and forth, but jumps at the player when they get too close. They are fairly easy to kill since they only have one (1) health point, but attacking a Ratsploder will knock it back, causing it to explode on impact with a surface. As such, the player should take care not to try to kill Ratsploders in tight spaces to avoid getting caught in the resulting explosion. However, if a Ratsploder is attacked with a Relic/Arcana/Curio/Heirloom or any of Plague Knight's bombs, it will instantly explode without getting knocked back.
They deal 1 damage point when touched, but their explosion causes 2 damage points. When defeated, they drop a blue gem worth {{Treasure}|2}} gold and a Jar.
Pocket Dungeon[]
In Pocket Dungeon, Ratsploders do not inflict any damage when attacked directly. However, hitting one initiates a countdown; after 3 turns, the Ratsploder explodes, inflicting 3 damage points upon everything surrounding it in a one block radius. Hitting a Ratsploder close to others or Bombs can cause a chain reaction, which can be useful to clear out part of the board.
Joustus Card[]
One of the Joustus cards in King of Cards is a Ratsploder card which has a Bomb Arrow facing left.
Trivia[]
- In Plague of Shadows, a baby Ratsploder can be seen running on a treadmill in Plague Knight's secret room.
- Despite having their own Joustus card, no actual Ratsploder Kings can be found in-game.
- Just like with the Propeller Rat variant, The Ratsploder King variant is a reference to the real life phenomenon of Rat Kings, a very rare occurrence which was fittingly more frequent during the Middle Ages.