Sludge

Sludge is a boss in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. It is a lizard-like monster that haunts the Phantasmal Bog and, by extension, Kolima Village.

As a boss
Fighting Sludge is required for the party to be able to navigate Kolima Forest, and thus progress to Talon Peak. In battle, Sludge will be accompanied by its Skull minions, and starts with a Haunt Skull and a Shield Skull. Sludge also has access to Curse Skulls. As the battle progresses, Sludge can call upon more Skulls to replace those that are destroyed. Statistically, Sludge has 1906 HP, 321 Attack, 113 Defense, and 147 Agility. Sludge has a resistance to Mercury-based attacks and a weakness to Jupiter-based attacks.

Arsenal

 * Crush: A Mars-based Psynergy that attacks a single target with a power rating of 70 points. It consumes 7 PP.
 * Tail Slap: Sludge strikes up to 3 targets with its tail for a moderately strong attack.
 * Call Skull: Summons either a Curse, Haunt, or Shield Skull, with a limit of three Skulls at any one time
 * Healing: Sludge heals itself around 300 points of damage.

Sludge, by himself, will give 6859 experience points, and 1179 coins. However, the total amount of experience and coins rewarded from the battle will depend on how many of Sludge's skulls were defeated. Also, Matthew can acquire the Crush Tusk after returning to Kolima.

Strategies
The battle with Sludge is similar to the Star Magician, in that Sludge can call upon allies, his Skulls, to assist him in battle. Sludge has access to an apparently unlimited number of skulls, though only three can appear in battle at any one time. Unlike the Star Magician, however, he battle with Sludge is fairly easy, relatively speaking. Most of Sludge's own attacks are fairly weak, though the player must be alert of the Skulls that accompany him.

All of Sludge's skulls are capable of physical Attacks. Additionally, The Shield Skull can reduce the amount of damage Sludge takes, the Curse Skull can inflict the Curse status, or potentially down unlucky Adepts with Condemn, while Haunt Skulls can inflict the Haunt status via Witchlight. While the curse status can easily be removed via Restore, the player should have Dewdrop handy to heal any Haunted Adepts. An Adept with Revive is also handy for Reviving any victims of Condemn.

Sludge and its Skull minions are all weak to Jupiter-based attacks. Thus, unleashing Jupiter Djinn and summoning Thor is an excellent offensive strategy. Alternatively, the player can use Jupiter-based Psynergies to do damage. While concentrating on Sludge will help end the battle quickly, the existence of the Skulls mean the battle is excellent for gaining experience. Should the player wish to take advantage of this, they should instead focus damage on the Skulls. Having a designated healer can assist in this strategy, by healing the damage from Sludge's attacks so that the battle can be prolonged.

Background and Story
Sludge was once an inhabitant of marshland located near Saha Town. After the Golden Sun event moved Kolima Village and Kolima Forest on top of the marshland, Sludge's home was destroyed. Sludge took to haunting the area underneath the Village, and placed a curse on the area surrounding Kolima Village. This not only caused Kolima Forest to become un-navigable, but sickened Kolima's Dream Tree, causing Kolima's Dream Leaves to cause nightmares.

Matthew and his party encounter Sludge while they are exploring the Bog after eating the cursed Dream Leaves. Sludge is seen using Crush to destroy parts of the pathway that Matthew is taking. After reaching the end of the Phantasmal Bog, Sludge attacks the group. Defeating Sludge reverses its curse, allowing the party to continue on their quest.