Ant Lion enemy line

The Ant Lion, Roach, and Doodle Bug are species of monsters randomly battled in Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age. These monsters, resembling huge bugs with visible pincers, are palette-swapped variants of each other that have differing levels of power and defense and are fought in different locations in the games. This is a monster line that was introduced in Golden Sun and expanded upon in The Lost Age.

Full details on each monster's programmed statistics can be found in the raw data.

Ant Lion
An Ant Lion is a giant-sized tan-skinned variant with red pincers and legs. Statistically, this monster has 400 HP, 32 PP, 160 Attack, 45 Defense, 58 Agility, and 19 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Mars Resistance rating of 175, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100, and a Mercury Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Mars-based attacks with a power rating of 115 and its available Jupiter and Venus-based attacks with a power rating of 95 each.

The Ant Lion uses these battle commands:
 * Sonic Wave: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill that launches rings of orange energy through a targeted Adept, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 45.
 * Earthquake: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Psynergy spell that launches multiple Adepts into the air twice each, dealing a Venus-based attack with a power rating of 35 and a range of 5. This ability consumes 7 of its user's PP.
 * Flare Wall: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Psynergy spell that generates a 2-stacked mass of fire that goes through multiple Adepts, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 40 and a range of 3. This ability consumes 7 of its user's PP.
 * Attack: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.

Felling an Ant Lion yields 168 Experience Points and 320 Coins, and there is a 1/8 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Vial. If it is felled by the attack effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 218 EXP and 416 Coins, and the chance to drop its item becomes 1/2. In Golden Sun it is battled throughout Lamakan Desert, but not as a traditional randomly battled monster; at several points throughout the desert, casting the Reveal Psynergy and approaching a now-visible Ant Lion's nest will trigger a scripted battle with a single Ant Lion. After defeating it, casting Reveal again at the same spot will ensue the same battle again, and this process is infinitely repeatable.

Being the "scripted single big monster" of Lamakan Desert that is repeatable but not a Boss encounter like the Manticore at the end of the desert, the Ant Lion is of course much stronger and more durable than any single normal monster randomly battled throughout the desert, but since it always appears one at a time by itself, it is manageable with a party of 4 Adepts. At that point in the game, however, it is an excellent enemy to level-grind with, felling it with a Mercury Djinni each time, because of large EXP and Coin rewards, and the extremely common chance to earn a powerful Vial.

Roach
A Roach is a normal-sized light-blue-skinned variant with dark purple pincers and legs. Statistically, this monster has 211 HP, 27 PP, 252 Attack, 72 Defense, 92 Agility, and 4 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Mars Resistance rating of 175, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100, and a Mercury Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Mars-based attacks with a power rating of 115 and its available Jupiter and Venus-based attacks with a power rating of 95 each.

The Roach uses these battle commands:
 * Sonic Wave: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill that launches rings of orange energy through a targeted Adept, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 45.
 * Quake Sphere: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Psynergy spell that launches the entire party of Adepts into the air three times each, dealing a Venus-based attack with a power rating of 65 and a range of 7. This ability consumes 15 of its user's PP, meaning that it can only use Quake Sphere once in a battle.
 * Flare Wall: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Psynergy spell that generates a 2-stacked mass of fire that goes through multiple Adepts, dealing a Mars-based attack with a power rating of 40 and a range of 3. This ability consumes 7 of its user's PP.
 * Attack: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.

Felling a Roach yields 144 Experience Points and 120 Coins, and there is a 1/32 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Bramble Seed. If it is felled by the attack effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 187 EXP and 156 Coins, and the chance to drop its item becomes 1/8. In Golden Sun it is battled throughout Suhalla Desert.

Roaches are, in general, not quite as strong or durable as the other random monsters in where it is fought, such as the Brutal Troll.

Doodle Bug
A Doodle Bug is a normal-sized violet-skinned variant with red pincers and legs. Statistically, this monster has 202 HP, 22 PP, 329 Attack, 109 Defense, 173 Agility, and 12 Luck. In terms of resistance, it has a Mars Resistance rating of 175, Venus and Jupiter Resistance ratings of 100, and a Mercury Resistance rating of 25, and in regards to its abilities it uses its available Jupiter and Venus-based attacks with a power rating of 95 each.

The Doodle Bug uses these battle commands:
 * Sonic Wave: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Monster Skill that launches rings of orange energy through a targeted Adept, dealing a Jupiter-based attack with a power rating of 45.
 * Wild Growth: Used 1 out of 8 times, this is a Psynergy spell that causes a mass of long spiked vines to sprout out of the ground and damage multiple Adepts, dealing a Venus-based attack with a power rating of 110 and a range of 5. This ability consumes 19 of its user's PP, meanind that it can only use Wild Growth once in a battle.
 * Briar: Used 2 out of 8 times, this is a Psynergy Spell that generates a mass of thorny spiked vines at the position of the party of Adepts, dealing a Venus-based attack with a power rating of 70 and a range of 3. It costs the user 11 PP, meaning that this monster will either be able to use this Psynergy twice in a battle or use Wild Growth once.
 * Attack: Used 3 out of 8 times, this is this monster's standard physical attack.

Felling a Doodle Bug yields 417 Experience Points and 176 Coins, and there is a 1/32 chance that the monster will randomly drop a Smoke Bomb. If it is felled by the attack effect of an offensive Mercury Djinni, its rewards increase to 542 EXP and 228 Coins, and the chance to drop its item becomes 1/8. In Golden Sun: The Lost Age it is battled throughout Mars Lighthouse, the game's general final dungeon.

Considering how it actually has less HP than the Roach, this "endgame enemy" should be no problem to swat, and is the least durable enemy in Mars Lighthouse.