Exploration Guide

Introduction
There are many places to explore in Terraria. Not only are there various environments in the game, but there are also many items to collect and monsters to fight all across the world, which is randomly generated so every new world created will be different.

There are interesting things on the surface and a multitude of things to encounter underground. The game’s quote, "Shut Up And Dig Gaiden", seems to emphasise one of the key concept of the game which is mining. The whole purpose of mining in this game is to explore (the quote is actually a reference to another game Chef Boyardee's Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, the text may change over future updates).

Players could also look for Floating Islands which are small masses of land above the surface. They cannot be seen from the ground in most cases, except perhaps at very high resolutions, and require special means of finding it stumbling upon it by coincidence.

This guide is to aid beginners in what to expect and what to prepare for when exploring the strange and exotic land and may also provide finer information for those more experienced with the game. There are also references to other guides.

Beginners' Exploration
Always keep some healing items at hand. This is the most important thing to keep in mind if you don't want to spawn all the way back to your spawn location. You can pick up mushrooms in the Forest or find healing potions among loot. Without these, your exploration will be short-lived. Also, once you do have potions, be careful not to allow lesser healing items such as mushrooms to be used first; When pressing the H key on your keyboard, the game will begin counting through your inventory, from top-left to top-right then wrapping back to the left column and repeating the process, until it encounters some variety of healing item which is then consumed. Because of Potion Sickness, this can be disastrous if it encounters mushrooms or a Lesser Healing Potion before a Healing Potion.

The exploration section is divided up into two major environments, the surface and the underground.

The essential items that most players should carry are: weapons, armour, healing items, a Pickaxe, an Axe, and a Hammer. Later on, the Meteor Hamaxe and Molten Hamaxe perform the functions of both Axes and Hammers, allowing two hotbar slots to be folded into one.

Keep in mind that different monsters live in different environments (biomes).

Surface Biome

 * This should only be attempted once you have explored some underground areas or when in need to collect wood.

It is not advised to adventure too far from the initial spawn location as the Forest that you will be in is one of the safest points in the game--in the daytime. Always return to your house when it gets dark especially when you do not have healing items or better protection gear.

For surface exploration, you must have some healing potions ready for monsters that might be too strong to fight. Carry some wood or platforms in case you fall into a pit. You may need to build a stairway to get out. Always carry the essential equipment (refer above). An excellent weapon for early players is a Bow, as it can prevent you from getting into close encounters that may injure you. Even the most basic of bow can use the highest tier of Arrows, possibly allowing for improved damage even before the bow itself can be replaced.

If there is a cave, enter it and you’ll most likely find pots or chests that contain loot. In addition, you may take the chest with you (if it’s empty) to your home by breaking it with a hammer or the blocks below it. Gold chests are rarely found and cannot be crafted so you may prefer to take those with you.

If you think you went too far and want a fast way of travel back to your house just save and exit your world. When you re-enter, you will end up at your spawn point. Later on, the Magic Mirror can be used to teleport back to the spawn point, but this requires mana.

At night if you’re brave enough or have nothing to lose, you might want to look for fallen stars on the surface. It’s a hazardous thing to do especially if you do not have armour or healing items, but they increase your mana count.

Underground Biome

 * All players should explore the underground. It is a must and you should know a few things to get through it.

One of the first things you should do is to explore the Underground (most of the time, players do spend a lot of time digging). It is still as dangerous as the surface, though most of the things required early in the game are mainly contained underground. Players should look for ore deposits, pots, and chests to find loot. Alternatively, you could ask for things in multiplayer, but this is often seen as panhandling.

First of all, you need the necessary equipment; a weapon, a Pickaxe, a Hammer and a fair amount of Torches. An Axe is not a must, but if you do encounter a deposit of glowing mushrooms you will need it to harvest the large ones (Glowing Mushrooms are required in healing potion crafting, and so should be prioritised). A Hammer is absolutely essential, as it is the only way to liberate the life-increasing Heart Crystal from the rock. You could also carry platforms that you might need to build a ladder back up the hole you dug into. Instead of platforms, you can use dirt blocks that you've been collecting to make stairs back up; However platforms have the advantage that they will not block movement from below or the sides. Always place torches for light and also for marking areas where you have previously explored. Torches will not burn up over time, and can be used to permanently illuminate an area once visited. Mining helmets are very useful if you prefer not planting torches, since it lights your way while you dig, but this becomes less viable once a full set of armour is available due to losing set bonuses.

If you happen to enter a cavern, explore it because it may run deep into the ground and potentially be filled with chests or posts. After you have explored that cavern and lit it with torches, look for a nearby adjacent cavern and tunnel to it. This will greatly speed up exploration and increase your loot discovery. Be careful, however, as some caverns are very big and you might fall to your death.

Do not just dig downwards, but try digging sideways as well since there are hundreds of caverns and ore veins underground. This could help you find very big ore deposits that you might have missed. Do not bother with adventuring into The Underworld at this point as the biome is extremely hostile, even to players with high-tier equipment.

You may encounter a deep pool of water in your way. You could take a risk and jump in to see what's inside (you need a glow stick to light up the space in water). It may contain pots or chests too, even ore deposits on the walls of the pool. Always remember that you have limited amount of breathing and you'll drown if you don't resurface soon enough. There are tricks to getting through water, even for avoiding touching it (this goes for lava too). These tips can be found on the water page.

Sometimes, making a very long shaft is good for travel. You might want to just fall into it and end up in a pool of water (to break your fall, these are not necessarily hellevators). You might alternatively want to make a shaft that has platforms. Be careful when making one for a monster can fall into the pit with you and inflict damage.

Advanced Exploration

 * MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

If you are a beginner do not try to find the things mentioned in this section. It will be difficult to visit them and you will often die or get stuck.

Most useful items in exploration are Rocket Boots, Cloud in a Bottle, Magic Mirror, Hermes Boots, Aglet or, better, an Anklet of the Wind, a Shadow Armor set, and a Grappling Hook or Ivy Whip. The things listed are meant for faster means of travel. A Cobalt Shield is also very useful as players can ignore knock backs (this may become less needed after the next update).

Things to explore from here onward are for interest and are not places you have to visit. However, the Dungeon is the exception. Every player will want to visit the dungeon because of the rewards tucked inside. Also, there are items only found in dungeons that cannot be found anywhere else. (the aforementioned Cobalt Shield being an example) To reach the dungeon, you will need to get past some of the biomes mentioned below.

Floating Island Biome
The sky-islands always contain a chest in a room with a chance of rare and unique items. They are unreachable by simple grappling or jumping. The methods to find these floating islands by pure coincidence or they can be found on their own separate page.

If you happen to encounter these islands, the things you will need are lots of blocks. You can make a stacked stair to reach the top. Rocket Boots could be used along with a Grappling Hook or Ivy Whip in older versions, however as of 1.0.5 this tactic no longer works. If you have a Grappling Hook or Ivy Whip, you can simply build a single column of blocks all the way up to the island, using the Hook/Whip to scale it.

Ivy Whips and Grappling Hooks are used to climb up high cliffs and also can be used to cross distances quicker by grappling on to the ground at a distance away.

Sky Islands have been recorded on a small map to generate mostly inbetween 220-450ft in the air, medium at 431-650ft, and large 450-950ft. If you come across a sky island, the best way to explore the sky for another one is to make a Sky Bridge going straight off the side of the island across the sky.

Harpies are a persistent hazard at high altitudes, and players should ideally equip a Cobalt Shield before attempting to access an island.

As of 1.0.6, the chests found on floating islands cannot be unlocked without Golden Keys, which can only be found in the Dungeon.

Corruption Biome
These are mainly a part of the world that people tend not to visit, due to high monster spawn rates. Players often visit to find Demon alters, for mining, and to summon bosses. In most cases, people tend to pass them.

The unique thing about this zone is that they contain rocks called Ebonstone. These are indestructible unless the required tier or higher mining pick is used. These rocks tend to cover the walls in the corrupted biomes. Corruption can spread and there are items that helps it spread further or stop it from spreading (look into the Corruption page for more information).

In this biome the caves are always a deep cavern in which you might fall quite a long way down. Take precautions when when going into these. A Lucky Horseshoe is highly recommended.

If you are looking for the Shadow Orbs, you may want to carry a hammer to break them for loot or summoning bosses. Unfortunately, some of the orbs are locked away by Ebonstone surrounding it so you will need either a Nightmare Pickaxe, or Molten Hamaxe, neither of which can be considered easy to acquire for a new character. Purification Powder, which can be purchased from the Dryad, can turn Ebonstone into regular Stone. Dynamite is also able to destroy the ebonstone.

Apart from the high monster spawn rates, thorns can grow from the ground instead of trees (though there are trees, but they were pre-existing). They injure players and can be easily destroyed with a weapon.

Note: With the 1.1 update, defeating the Wall of Flesh causes the Corruption to become significantly more difficult.

Desert Biome
The Desert is a biome comprised mostly of sand and cacti, which damaged players on contact before the 1.1 update. Before 1.0.6, the damage cacti caused to players would also cause knockback. Vultures and Antlions will spawn here along with Mummies after the Wall of Flesh has been defeated.

The large amount of sand is useful if you’re looking to making glass. It may also be used for decorative purposes or as ammunition for the Sandgun.

Ocean Biome
Oceans contain the largest body water. In older versions, players have flooded The Underworld with the ocean water to attempt to make large supplies of Obsidian; however, as of version 1.0.5, water now evaporates when reaching The Underworld. Large bodies of water can still flood the Underworld temporarily, but only temporarily.

Oceans are deep and may require you to have special gear to cross it. Simpler but more laborious method is to build a bridge to get across. Flippers help you swim in the ocean. This allows you to resurface since it allows the player to swim toward the surface by jumping. Another way is to get a Gills Potion that allows you to breath underwater. The Diving Helmet can be found by killing Sharks, but beginning players should not attempt this - Sharks deal dangerous amounts of damage and can tear an unprepared player apart in short order.

There are chests found at the bottom of the ocean and uncommon items are easily found. Flippers and Breathing Reeds can often be found in undersea chests.

Jungle Biome
These are similar to forest except they frequently covered in shallow waters, giving the impression of swamps or flooded jungles. This biome also exists underground and is considered to be a separate environment to the surface.

Most of the biome is covered in mud. As of 1.0.6, mud is no longer affected by gravity, but an unwary player of prior versions could be damaged by falling mud blocks. Most of the time players use rocket boots to traverse across this biome, avoiding the shallow water pits.

On rare occasions, you will encounter a shrine on the surface and underground. These are very small and always contain a chest to loot, frequently containing items which cannot be found elsewhere. They have been seen floating in the sky.

Just as in the Corruption biome, there are thorns that grow from the ground and can injure players. These can be easily removed by attacking them. This damage is minimal, but can add up quickly.

Underworld Biome
This layer of underground is slightly different to that of the other layers. The Underworld is the only place where Hellstone can be found. Unfortunately, there are strong monsters and lava everywhere. Hellstone can burn the player, as can Hellstone bricks.

This place is mainly to collect ores but also there are pots and chests to find. It is strongly advised to carry decent amount of healing items as some of the monsters can attack through walls and do a fair amount of damage. The Obsidian Skull prevents the player from being burned by contact with Hellstone and Hellstone Bricks, but it does nothing to protect from lava; only the Obsidian Skin Potion will protect a player from lava damage.

Shadow Chests were added to newly-generated maps in 1.0.6. They contain rare and powerful items such as Sunfury and the Flamelash, but are locked and can only be unlocked using a Shadow Key, which is only obtainable in the Dungeon.

Ash is the mud of The Underworld. Most players regard them as completely useless as there is no crafting for it, although Fireblossom may randomly grow from Ash Blocks. Much like mud, prior to 1.0.6 Ash blocks had a chance of collapsing but are no longer affected by gravity.

Meteor Biome
After breaking a Shadow Orb, a Meteor may land on the surface somewhere, leaving a large hole surrounded by many pieces of Meteorite Ore, typically 250 or more. However, meteors will land on whatever surface they encounter first from the top of the map, which can be frustrating if the player has gone to the effort of creating a skybridge. Equally, a meteor landing at the top of a Chasm can leave little Meteorite Ore to harvest. In essence, when a meteor lands, it leaves a hole and turns a large number of blocks around this hole into Meteorite Ore. If the meteor lands in an area with little material, the resultant Meteorite Ore can number very little. Meteors can also land in the ocean, creating their own challenge to harvest. The Meteor biome can also be formed artificially - Any area with 50 pieces of Meteorite ore in the environment is considered to be a Meteor biome. In any meteor biome, natural or artificial, Meteor Heads spawn endlessly. These enemies can set the player on fire if they make contact, so be cautious when mining the site.

Since meteor ores are considered hot they will hurt the player if in contact. Equipping an Obsidian Skull or using an Obsidian Skin Potion will negate this damage. A Cobalt Shield is also a very useful item to employ when harvesting Meteorite Ore. Meteor sites do not create any pots or chests to find.

Dungeon Biome
One of the favourite places players come to visit is the dungeon. It is one of the few pregenerated buildings, others including Jungle Shrines, houses in the Underworld, and the shrines in sky islands. The dungeon is located at the near-edge of the world on either sides, more frequently to the east than to the west. This place contains rare loot and strong monsters to fight. Before entering, you must fight the boss Skeletron via the Old Man. Skeletron is largely-considered to be the most difficult enemy in the game; Be very careful before attempting to fight him. After defeating Skeletron, you may proceed into the dungeon and search for loot. Attempting to gain access to the Dungeon without killing Skeletron will cause one or more Dungeon Guardians to spawn. The Dungeon Guardian has 9000 HP, is large and fast-moving, and will inflict 9999 damage if it touches the player, rendering the dungeon effectively-inaccessible until Skeletron is dead.

The dungeon is not straight forward, as it is a two dimensional maze. You can easily walk around in circles if you do not think of where you’re going. The general trend is to go down but there are side passages that lead you to the next ‘maze’.

It is speculated there are better loot as you go lower down the dungeon, although it gets more difficult.

There are some novelty items that you can take with you, such as books and lanterns. These are decorative but Water Candles can be found infrequently.

In the future update it is said the dungeon will be more challenging and harder to raid. There will be better traps and balancing.

Additional reads

 * Things that players should read when exploring

- Environment

- Underground

- Water

- Lava

- tips &amp; tricks

Additional tips

 * Tips related to exploration

There are ways to prevent mud or ash falling under you (does not work with sand). You dig through the wall one block above your head. In most cases the mud/ash will not collapse. Replace the space with dirt or other non-collapsible block such as stone. It will prevent the mud above to not collapse when something near it disturbs it. This is very useful as it’ll something of a real mining shaft with support to prevent collapsing and unnecessary damage.

Note: With the 1.0.6 patch, mud and ash no longer fall.