This guide contains spoilers for the Final Relic, the final wave and late-game enemy behavior.
Fast answer
The answer before the background
The game does not use a conventional final boss with a dedicated arena. In Relic Hunt, the effective final boss is the large wave that starts after you bring the Final Relic back to the dome. Scarabs and Tormentors are the closest equivalents among normal enemies. Prepare by upgrading reliable area damage, anti-air coverage, dome health and repairs. If the relic has reached the dome, losing all dome health activates it, destroys the remaining attackers and still completes the run.
Verified encounter rules
What counts as the final boss?
Relic Hunt has a clear win condition: uncover the Final Relic, return it to the dome and survive the resulting attack sequence. The relic chamber is normally in the deepest biome. You must clear its special tiles and activate every connected node before the chamber opens.
The final wave starts after the relic is inserted into the dome. It uses a much larger monster budget than an ordinary wave, so several elite enemies can arrive together. You do not need to kill every attacker manually to win. If the dome reaches zero health during this final battle, the relic activates, destroys the monsters and ends the run successfully. Surviving without that emergency effect awards the I Came Prepared achievement.
- Small maps require two relic nodes, medium maps three, large maps four and huge maps five.
- The final wave is not a fixed boss script. Its composition is generated from the enemies available in that world and mode.
- Showdown and other Guild Assignments can alter final-wave strength, timing or available monsters.
| Threat | Why it matters | Best response |
|---|---|---|
| Scarab | Very high health, staged behavior and heavy pressure near the dome. | Use sustained damage, stun and defensive timing. Do not let it reach the dome while ignoring smaller attackers. |
| Tormentor | Slow elite that transforms and fires a continuous beam from range. | Focus it before the beam starts or keep concentrated damage on it during the transformation. |
| Stag | Large late-game attacker with air and ground projectiles. | Shoot it early, use shields carefully and avoid letting projectiles overlap with other threats. |
| Driller | Extremely durable enemy that continuously damages the dome. | Use high single-target damage and do not waste attacks on low-priority targets while it is drilling. |
| Phaser or Shifter | Teleporting enemies can bypass a comfortable firing pattern. | Keep your weapon mobile and reserve burst damage for their appearance. |
Community references commonly call the final wave a boss fight, but the current game data presents it as a generated monster wave rather than a named boss encounter. Scarab and Tormentor are best described as boss-like enemies.
Enemy counters
Prioritize enemies by danger
The safest combat habit is to sort enemies by immediate damage, not by size. A small projectile enemy can be more dangerous than a slow tank if it is already attacking the dome. Clear anything that can hit from range, spawn additional creatures or bypass your normal firing line before finishing a durable melee target.
Ground and air coverage both matter. The official store description specifically distinguishes enemies that approach through the air and across the ground, and the full enemy roster includes fast fliers, burrowers, teleporters, stationary breeders and heavy attackers. A weapon that handles only one class can leave a fatal gap in the final wave.
- Walkers and Rockmen are early threats. Kill them efficiently, but do not overspend upgrades on them.
- Flyers, Stingrays, Hornets and Butterflies should be removed before their projectiles accumulate.
- Ticks and Big Ticks are weak individually, but Breeders make them a priority because the source continues producing pressure.
- Worms, Drillers and Muckers punish slow targeting. Keep enough damage available for anything already at the dome.
- Bloaters and Burrowers can be awkward targets. Watch the dome rather than assuming the largest enemy is the urgent one.
- Phasers and Shifters demand tracking because teleporting movement can invalidate a fixed aim position.
- Stags, Tormentors and Scarabs are tier-four threats in the current reference list and should be treated as final-wave priorities.
| Enemy type | Counter principle | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Projectile fliers | Maintain anti-air damage and target them as soon as they enter. | Waiting until the dome is already taking repeated shots. |
| Spawners | Kill the Breeder before cleaning up every Tick. | Treating the spawned swarm as the main target. |
| Teleporters | Use burst, stun or a weapon that can retarget quickly. | Holding a shot for a predictable approach path. |
| Heavy attackers | Use sustained damage and defensive cooldowns together. | Saving every ability while the dome loses health. |
The Laser Dome is a dependable general-purpose choice because it can track both ground and air targets. Artillery offers strong burst and separate weapon roles, while Sword and Tesla can perform well with practice. This is a recommendation, not a universal ranking.
Preparation checklist
How to prepare before returning the relic
Do not treat reaching the relic chamber as the end of mining preparation. Once the relic is safely uncovered, decide whether your current defenses can handle a large generated wave. If not, leave the chamber accessible, return to the dome, spend resources and improve your combat setup before making the final trip.
The most valuable preparation is dependable damage rather than a narrow counter to one enemy. Upgrade weapon power or attack speed, then add the coverage your chosen dome lacks. A stun option, shield, repair capacity or automated gadget can buy the seconds needed to finish a Tormentor or Driller.
- Return with enough cobalt for emergency repairs and enough iron for the upgrades you expect to buy.
- Upgrade the weapon before prioritizing luxury mining improvements.
- Keep anti-air coverage if your primary weapon is mainly ground-focused.
- Use the Hostile Proximity Meter or another warning tool so you are not caught in the mine when the final wave begins.
- Place or upgrade automated defenses before the relic is installed. Current patches have changed drone and gadget behavior, so test your setup in an ordinary wave first.
- If you only want the win, remember that the relic is an emergency completion effect. If you want the achievement for surviving cleanly, prepare for the entire wave instead of relying on it.
| Goal | Recommended preparation |
|---|---|
| First clear | Reliable primary weapon, dome health, repairs and one answer to fliers. |
| Clean final wave | High weapon damage, stun or shield support, anti-air and automated damage. |
| Hard assignments | Check the assignment modifier first. Final-wave multipliers and restricted enemy pools can matter more than your normal build. |
| Multiplayer | Coordinate targets. One player can clear air threats while another focuses heavy ground enemies, but current patches may alter shared drops and gadget behavior. |
I could not verify a regular mineral, water, cobalt or equipment drop table for defeated enemies in the current references. Plan your economy around mining, caves, gadgets and supplements. Do not assume killing a Scarab or Tormentor grants a special loot item.
After the fight
Drops, rewards and encounter conditions
Normal waves exist to threaten the dome and scale your combat challenge; they are not presented as a loot-driven boss system. Your practical rewards come from surviving long enough to mine resources, recover gadgets and complete the mode objective. Defeating an elite enemy can make the current wave safer, but it should not be treated as a farming opportunity.
The special reward connected with the final encounter is completion of the Relic Hunt run. Surviving the final wave without the relic's emergency activation also grants I Came Prepared. The Final Relic itself is therefore both the objective and the safety mechanism, not a conventional boss drop.
- The final wave is conditioned on returning the relic to the dome, not on reaching a particular cycle number.
- Enemy availability depends on the selected world and mode. Prestige uses a broader monster pool than ordinary world-specific Relic Hunt runs.
- Guild Assignments can remove monsters, add final-wave strength, change timing or impose special conditions.
- The Scarab has its own staged encounter behavior and can bring additional pressure into its later phase, so killing it may not end the immediate threat around it.
- Patch notes have changed enemy balance, projectile interactions and final-wave behavior over time. Recheck the in-game version when exact numbers matter.
| Reward or result | How it is obtained | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Relic Hunt completion | Return the Final Relic to the dome and finish the triggered resolution. | The run succeeds even if the relic activates after the dome falls. |
| I Came Prepared achievement | Survive the final wave without the relic activating. | This is the main incentive for defeating the entire final wave manually. |
| Minerals and upgrades | Mine resources and discover caves during the run. | No verified standard enemy drop should replace mining. |
| Assignment progress | Meet that assignment's listed goal and conditions. | Rules vary substantially between assignments. |
Enemy statistics and availability have changed across updates, and some community pages retain older page-specific revision notes. Use behavior and priority guidance first; use displayed numbers only when the platform and patch match.
FAQ
Common questions
Is there a named final boss?
No separate named boss has been verified for the standard Relic Hunt ending. The final wave is generated from the available enemy pool. Scarab and Tormentor are the closest boss-like enemies.
Can I lose after bringing back the relic?
You can lose control of the fight and see the dome reach zero health, but in standard Relic Hunt the relic then activates, destroys the attackers and completes the run. You only need to defeat the wave manually for the clean-survival achievement.
What is the hardest enemy?
Scarab, Tormentor, Stag and Driller are the most important late-game threats. Which is hardest depends on your dome, weapon, positioning and the other enemies generated alongside it.
Do enemies drop cobalt or other minerals?
No regular enemy drop table could be verified in the current references. Mine for iron, water and cobalt, and treat enemy defeats as defensive progress rather than guaranteed income.
What should I upgrade before the final wave?
Prioritize reliable weapon damage, a way to handle flying enemies, dome health or repairs and at least one emergency defensive tool. Automated gadgets are useful, but do not rely on them without testing their targeting and current patch behavior.
Sources
What we checked
Official listings establish current availability and product facts. Community pages are used for mechanics and build history, then labeled separately.
- OfficialDome Keeper on Steam, official store page
- CommunityRelic Hunt rules and final-wave conditions
- CommunityEnemy roster and reference statistics
- CommunitySortable enemy list with late-game threat values
- CommunityTormentor behavior and encounter conditions
- ReferenceDome Keeper version history and balance changes
- CommunityWorld-specific monster availability