Mutated zygomites are monsters that appear as Fungi until provoked (Pick Fungi) that require level 57 Slayer to damage. They resemble giant mushrooms, and are only found in Zanaris, near the Cosmic altar (level 65), or near the furnace (level 58). To kill one a player needs to reduce it to below 20 life points then players use fungicide spray on it to kill it, which is available from any slayer master. The fungicide spray must be reloaded every ten kills, and the reloads can be bought from the slayer master at the same time. Fungicide canisters fully reload the fungicide spray. Players cannot sell the spray or reloads back to the slayer master afterward, so only buy what is needed. Zygomites are usually only killed as slayer assignments, but some players may kill them for their fairly common drops of Strawberry seeds.
Zygomites can be occasionally assigned as an optional Slayer Challenge by Chaeldar. If you accept the challenge, she will tell you to use an experimental spray on them for tests, and you must bring back the results to her when you're finished. She will reward you with 10,000 Slayer experience and 15 Slayer Reward Points.
Zygomites mostly use magical melee attacks which consist of a headbutt that does up to 88 life points, but they occasionally use more powerful magical ranged attacks by shooting spores, with a max hit of around 140. Dragonhide armour is strongly recommended while fighting them, as the high Magic defence will reduce the chance of them hitting you. If praying against their attacks, Protect from Missiles or Deflect Missiles is recommended, as their ranged attacks are stronger and more accurate than their melee attacks.
When its remaining life points are around 10 to 20, use the fungicide spray on it in order to destroy it. If life points are not low enough and a player uses the fungicide spray, the zygomite will not be killed but one use of the fungicide spray will be expended.
Slayer Challenge
After a player has performed several slayer tasks for Chaeldar, she will occasionally offer a special task in place of a regular slayer task. The player can decline to take the special task without penalty. If the player accepts the special task, completing the task:
Counts as a task for the player's consecutive task count, which is used for slayer reward points. Does NOT count as task completed if it is a 10th or 50th task to be completed, meaning the player can safely complete the challenge without forfeiting their consecutive task bonus.
Chaeldar's special task is for the player to test an experimental fungicide spray against ten Mutated zygomites and survive to return to her and tell her the results of the test. The player uses the spray in place of the normal Fungicide spray, when the zygomite the player is attacking has been reduced to 20 life points or less. When applied, the experimental spray will have one of the following effects, chosen randomly:
"The experimental spray has sent the zygomite into a furious rage!" The zygomite temporarily turns red, heals a bit, and attacks faster. It can be killed by reducing its life points to 0, without needing another application of the spray.
"The experimental spray has healed the zygomite!" The zygomite temporarily turns green and its life points are restored to maximum. It can be killed by reducing its life points to 0, without needing another application of the spray.
"The experimental spray has killed the zygomite!" The zygomite is killed.
Note that the challenge is only complete when the player returns to Chaeldar and speaks to her; simply killing 10 zygomites with the experimental spray does not finish the task. The spray cannot be used to kill more than the required 10 zygomites.
The name Zygomite is probably based on the class of fungus Zygomycota, though these fungi do not produce mushrooms.
If players try and attack something else while you are still in combat, instead of the usual "I'm already under attack" message, the message box will display "There's a rather large mushroom monster trying to attack you at the moment. Maybe you should deal with it first."
If a frog or other Zanaris event happens during battle, the Zygomite will keep attacking you with a "thump" sound (melee attack) without any hitsplats, but will still be doing damage while you can't attack it until the event leaves. This may be a glitch.
Once a Zygomite's life points reach zero (before fungicide is used to kill it), its ranged attack will continue to inflict damage, but its melee attack will no longer inflict damage. This may be a glitch.
If another player picks one of the fungi and runs away and another player is still there, the Zygomite will eventually turn around and start attacking the other player, shouting "I'm coming for you!"
Zygomites were originally called Mutated Zygomites before the Zanaris update. This was changed back on 21 February 2011.
If you're fighting a Zygomite and you run away while there are no other players around it, it will return to its original fungus form but will still move around so it looks like a little moving mushroom. This is a glitch, and has not been fixed yet.