Dungeon Settlers Carapace and Hard Shell Drops

Quick answer: In the current build the shell material you actually collect is called Hard Shell, and it drops from Gloth in the second region, the Festering Burrow. The Alpha Acid Slog boss drops 20 at once. Processing is unlocked by the Carropus Processing research, and the official roadmap states that this drop rule is going to change.

What the material is called in game

Search results for "carapace" will send you to item databases, but the material in your inventory during a run is Hard Shell. The research that turns it into equipment is Carropus Processing, and the gear it feeds into carries the Carropus name too. Keeping those three names straight — Carapace, Hard Shell, Carropus — is most of the confusion around this topic.

Where it drops right now

Gloth, the enemies of the second region, drop Hard Shell. They are also the enemies most likely to end your run: a Gloth has a Squeal ability that calls in allies, so a fight that starts as one enemy becomes a stream of reinforcements. A full-strength party that had cleared the first region's boss was wiped by a Gloth group on entering the second region, with two settlers permanently dead.

The Alpha Acid Slog boss drops 20 Hard Shell in one go, along with a soul stone. If you can beat it, that single kill is worth a long farming session.

What you can make with it

Confirmed Carropus equipment:

• Carropus bow
• Carropus club
• Carropus helmet
• Carropus armour
• Carropus Stick, which is the component for a greatsword

Given that head and torso health are tracked separately in this game, the helmet is not an optional upgrade — a body-armoured settler with an unprotected head is still a settler you can lose in one bad fight.

The drop rule is scheduled to change

This is the part no static item database will tell you. The official roadmap's planned-improvements list includes:

Modify or add monsters on Region 2 – Floor 2 so that Carapace can be obtained instead of Gloth-related materials.

Read alongside what actually happens in the build today — Gloth dropping their own Hard Shell — that line means the developers intend to split the two materials apart: region 2, floor 2 should eventually yield Carapace specifically, rather than routing everything through Gloth drops.

So there are two answers to "where does Carapace come from", and which one is right depends on when you are reading:

No date has been given for the change. It sits in planned improvements, not in a numbered update, so it could land in any patch.

Farming it without losing the party

The second region is a difficulty cliff, not a gradual step. Practical notes:

• Bring a camping kit. You cannot rest without one, and Gloth fights drain energy fast.
• Expect reinforcements every time. Fighting a Gloth in an open room means fighting whatever it calls; a corridor or choke point is worth walking to.
• Enemies respawn and patrol, so a floor you cleared is not safe on the way back. Staying too long on one floor gets you caught between two groups.
• Intermediate Mana Stones also come from this region, which is what makes it worth the risk — they are what levelling past 4 requires.

What we still cannot tell you

Unconfirmed: the exact drop rate per Gloth, and which specific monster on region 2 floor 2 will drop Carapace after the planned change. Item databases list Carapace-named gear such as clubs, shields and sticks, but we have not verified those entries against the live build and are not repeating their numbers here.

FAQ

See also: where clay drops, the roadmap, and the camping kit.