How to Craft the Infernal Helmet in 99 Nights in the Forest

The Infernal Helmet is the best head slot in 99 Nights in the Forest and the only way to get one is to craft it — which means killing a boss you have to summon on purpose, plus six scorpions.

Last verified: 2026-09-30.

Quick Answer

The Recipe

Every source that gives a number gives the same one:

Five independent sources agree on both the materials and the counts, which is unusually clean for this game. Take 8–10 Scorpion Shells rather than 6 if you are farming them in one trip: the shells are the easy half and running short after you already have the Antler is annoying.

Where to Craft It

Craft it at the Anvil, which sits in the Tool Workshop. This is worth stating plainly because guides split the answer between "the Anvil" and "the Tool Workshop" — they are describing the same place, and at least one guide makes that explicit by telling you to unlock the Anvil in the Tools Workshop area.

To use it you need the Anvil repaired first: clear the cultists guarding the Tool Workshop, gather the scattered anvil pieces inside, and place them on the blueprint. One source adds that the Tool Workshop itself requires campfire level 3 or higher; that is a single-source claim, so treat it as likely rather than certain.

For more on the building itself — it is the large stone-brick structure with the anvil icon, also called the Anvil Building, with parts scattered across floors — see How to Get the Chainsaw, which crafts at the same station.

One genuine outlier: a Meteor Anvil recipe list includes the Infernal Helmet. The Meteor Anvil is a separate, event-only station that appears after a Meteor Shower from day 5 onward, so either the recipe is available at both stations or that list is wrong. If the normal Tool Workshop Anvil does not offer it to you, that is the second place to look.

Farming Scorpion Shells

Scorpions spawn only in the Volcanic Biome. They are not hard to kill one at a time; they are dangerous in groups, because their attack applies a poison damage-over-time that stacks up fast.

• Run the outer edges of the biome. Multiple sources describe the perimeter as where scorpions are most common, and looping it is faster than hunting them one by one.
• Kill them from range. Their threat is the poison, not the burst damage. A ranged weapon removes the problem entirely.
• Bring healing. If you pull a nest, the poison will out-damage your health regen.

Scorpion Shells have a second use worth knowing: the Big Game Hunter class can consume them for a permanent damage buff. If you play that class, shells are not purely helmet fuel — see All Classes.

Getting the Antler

This is the real gate. The Cultist King Antler drops from the Cultist King and from nothing else, and he has to be summoned:

1. Collect 4 Cultist Gems — cultist kills or Volcano sacrifices. A Cultist Stronghold run is the fastest way to gather cultists in one place.
2. Find the Cultist King Base in the Volcanic Biome.
3. Place one gem on each of the four altars; he spawns on the fourth.
4. Beat him and take the Antler.

Full walkthrough, tactics and his complete drop table are on The Cultist King. He can reportedly be summoned repeatedly, so multiple helmets are possible if you want one per teammate.

What It Actually Does — Read This Part

The Infernal Helmet reduces incoming damage and grants immunity to burning. The fire immunity is the reason to build it: the Volcanic Biome is full of enemies whose damage is fire and lava, and Hot Chests sit in the middle of lava pools.

But the immunity does not cover everything, and sources disagree on how much.

• Two sources are explicit and pessimistic: the helmet protects you from lava damage caused by enemy attacks only. If you step, fall or swim in environmental lava, you still take fatal damage.
• One source is more generous, saying stepping into lava pools no longer applies burning at all.

Assume the pessimistic version. If you believe the generous one and it is wrong, you die in a lava pool with your best helmet on. If you believe the pessimistic one and it happens to be generous, you only lose a little convenience. The downside is asymmetric, so treat terrain lava as lethal regardless.

Two smaller details from single sources: the helmet reportedly cannot be transferred to other players once equipped, and it is said to pair especially well with the Fire Bandit class. Verify both yourself before relying on them.

Is It Worth Building?

Yes, if the Volcanic Biome is where you are spending your time. It is the difference between farming the biome comfortably and losing health to every encounter. The Cultist King fight is the barrier, not the scorpions.

Skip it if you only dip into the biome occasionally. You can loot the biome's Hot Chests without the helmet if you are careful about where you stand, and the Anvil, gems and boss fight add up to a real investment.

Either way, do not do it purely for the helmet: the same boss drops Infernal weapons, and the Antler is the reason to fight him regardless. See How to Get the Infernal Sword for that side of it.

FAQ

Can I find the Infernal Helmet in a chest? No. Every source agrees it is craft-only.

Is 6 Scorpion Shells definitely the number? Yes for every source that states one. Nobody publishes a different count.

Which station — Anvil or Tool Workshop? The Anvil inside the Tool Workshop. Guides naming either are describing the same station.

Does it make me immune to lava? To lava damage from enemy attacks, yes. To standing in lava — probably not, and the sources that address it directly say you still die. Plan around that.

Do I need a high campfire level? One source says campfire level 3 for the Tool Workshop. If wood is the bottleneck, start with How to Get Wood Fast.

Sources

Checked 2026-09-30. The recipe — 6 Scorpion Shells and 1 Cultist King Antler — is identical across five independent sources (99-nights-in-the-forest.com, Deltia's Gaming, Stealthy Gaming, bo3.gg and Noleep), which is why it is stated without hedging. The station question is resolved by Deltia's Gaming naming the Anvil within the Tools Workshop area, reconciling the "Anvil vs Tool Workshop" split; the Meteor Anvil listing from Stealthy Gaming is recorded as an outlier rather than silently dropped. The environmental-lava caveat is stated explicitly by two sources and contradicted by one, so the page recommends the safer reading. Scorpion farming tactics, the Big Game Hunter use and the transfer restriction are each single-source and flagged as such.

Related Pages

• The Cultist King — where the Antler comes from, and how to summon him
• Cultist Stronghold — the fastest route to 4 Cultist Gems
• How to Get the Infernal Sword — the other reason to fight that boss
• All Classes — including Fire Bandit, which pairs with this gear
• How to Get Wood Fast — the campfire level that gates the Tool Workshop
• Update Log & Patch Notes — the Volcanic Biome Update Part 2 that added it