Guide:Harvesting Souls

Souls are valuable Hardmode materials. They are used in important Hardmode crafting.

Light and Night
Souls of Light and Souls of Night are found in identical ways (though not in the same place). Every monster killed in the Underground Hallow has a 1:5 chance (1:3 on Expert) to drop a Soul of Light, and every monster killed in the Underground Corruption or its counterpart, the Underground Crimson, has a 1:5 chance (1:3 on Expert) to drop a Soul of Night. Because they are obtained in such similar ways, most farming techniques work the same for both.

These souls can be farmed by simply fighting the enemies that spawn in those environments. A Water Candle, Battle Potion, and/or Blood Moon can speed up the process. However, the enemies in these environments can be dangerous even to those with Hallowed Armor, so be careful to not be overwhelmed.

You can also "hunt" for Eater of Souls and Wraiths (as they normally spawn by destroying a Demon Altar) in the Underground Corruption, although this is more time consuming.

A moderately effective way is to hunt for Hallowed or Corrupted enemies in the Cavern layer near to lava. Staying in the same spot that is surrounded in or is in close proximity to many caves with lava in them will cause enemies to spawn in the caves and jump into the lava, killing them. Then, when you want, you can use a Lava Charm or Obsidian Skin Potion to dive into the lava and gather the souls (and possibly some unique items and weapons) dropped by enemies. Unfortunately, coins will burn in the lava.

You can easily farm souls by making a pillar to the roof of the underworld, directly under the underground hallow and place a water candle on it. Then stand on the pillar and kill all the bats that fly up to you.

For more controlled soul farming, create artificial Hallow/Corruption/Crimson within or very close to the Dungeon or Jungle Temple. Both locations will spawn only their respective mobs. The Dungeon is viable once Hardmode is started and the player is able to create an artificial Biome. The Lihzahrd might be more desirable in the late game, as the player may farm souls, money, Lihzahrd Power Cells, and Solar Tablet Fragments at the same time. In addition, there is the spawn boost from the Jungle Biome, which may be augmented with Battle Potions and Water Candles.

Another easy way to farm souls is to spawn King Slime in the Underground Hallow, Corruption, or Crimson. Due to the many slimes he spawns when taking damage, and that each slime can drop a soul, this makes farming souls much easier.

Dungeon farming
If part of your Dungeon crosses over with underground Corruption or Hallow, then you can rack up many souls quickly because the high spawn rates of the Dungeon. This is even more efficient before you kill Plantera, because before it is killed, the Dungeon keeps using weak pre-hardmode enemies which are easier to kill. Unfortunately, at least in the, Souls don't drop while you're in the Dungeon. It's still possible to lure Dungeon enemies out in the caverns, but it's not very convenient. They do, however drop if you are outside the dungeon (in Hallowed/Evil territory), but kill monsters inside the dungeon (with minions, sentries, or wall-passing weapons).

Flight
Souls of Flight are only used in the creation of wings, and can only be gathered from Wyverns. At the very beginning of Hardmode, these are formidable opponents, but as the player upgrades their equipment, the fight becomes progressively easier. Since late-game and endgame equipment make the fight trivial, this article focuses on the early encounters. One particular note: If you don't normally play on fullscreen, now is the time to do so -- the farther you can see, the better. The feature a variant form, Arch Wyverns. This guide does not discuss them in particular, but most Wyvern strategies will also work with Arch Wyverns.

Equipment: You will need at least the highest-tiered pre-Hardmode equipment: Molten Armor and your choices among the Night's Edge (or even Muramasa), Demon Scythe, Hellwing Bow, and Imp Staff. Piercing and area-of-effect attacks are the main goal here; by attacking multiple segments at once, they can inflict massive damage. Attacking from range both helps avoid the Wyvern's attacks, and lets you keep attacking while it loops around. As well, inflicting debuffs such as Frostburn will keep damaging the Wyvern not only when it flies away, but even if it hides behind blocks. The Minishark is limited by its low per-shot damage, but can do passably well if you can get Cursed or Ichor bullets. You will also want Spectre Boots or better for dodging, a Hook, fall protection just in case, and some Healing Potions (or better). A flying mount such as the Honeyed Goggles is also very helpful. Buff potions shouldn't really be needed, but some food can't hurt.

Hardmode equipment, as you acquire it, will make the fight easier: Aside from simply having better armor and weapons, anything with a damaging debuff is good, and as you advance, even the melee weapons will have projectile attacks. A Medusa Head is deadly here, simultaneously hitting all of the Wyvern's segments. In Crimson worlds, the Golden Shower is very helpful.

Arena and setup: You will need to get up to Space to find Wyverns, at the same levels where Harpies spawn. (Note that in small worlds, the landscape can often reach into Space, especially if a Living Tree is present.) Otherwise, getting up there can be done by placing blocks, platforms, rope, or minecart tracks. If you have fall protection, you can even use a Gravitation potion to fly up to a Sky Island. If you already have a long minecart track at that level (at least a couple of screen's worth), you can use that in the fight. Once up in the sky, build a long platform (perhaps 30 blocks) at that level, for easy running and to keep Harpies below you. Setting up for buffs (Campfire, Heart Lantern, Star in a Bottle, etc.) will help if your equipment is minimal. You can even set up a Heart Statue on a timer or pressure plate, or a cabin for the Nurse.

Combat: Wait near the middle of your platform, killing any Harpies that approach until a Wyvern appears. (Your imp will likely notice and attack it before you see it.) Wait until the Wyvern is visible flying at you, and attack as it passes, while dodging and/or jumping over it to avoid its attacks (the low gravity of space will help). If it does hurt you, focus on avoiding it while you recover, and you should be able to avoid it completely. If you have a long minecart track set up, you can also match its speed in your minecart and attack it while it chases you.

You can take advantage of the Wyvern's attack pattern, which is highly predictable. The Wyvern will always sweep next from the opposite side it just attacked from; that is, If it just attacked from the left, it will attack from the right, and vice versa, provided that you maintain the same horizontal position. With the rocket boots, jump and fly in the same direction the Wyvern is going to attack from. It will be tricky at first but once you get the timing down you will be hit less often. Use your Hook to pull yourself back to the ground to quickly prepare for the Wyvern's next sweep as well.

Wyvern's heads can do about twice the damage as the rest of their body, but they have half the defense of normal body segments. Since attacking multiple body parts at the same time is the goal, it does not really matter if you attack the head or not. If you have good weapons or armor, or are doing well at dodging the Wyvern, then you can target the head to speed up the battle. Otherwise, just try not to be hit by the head.

Might
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The Destroyer is generally the first hardmode boss you will fight. Adamantite armor/Titanium armor and a Mushroom Spear, Phasesaber or better are recommended. Magical Harp, Nimbus Rod , Golden Shower and Cursed Flames can be extremely useful as well, provided you have enough defense. However, you need to defeat The Twins first to get the souls for the Magical Harp.

Sight
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The Twins are generally the second hardmode boss you will fight. They require a powerful ranged weapon, such as the Megashark or even Clockwork Assault Rifle could suffice.

Fright
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Skeletron Prime is the strongest mechanical boss in the game. Even players with access to items such as Hallowed armor may have difficulty with him. You can easily beat him using a summoned pirate because he can take out the arms. After that, it will be pretty much be like a Skeletron fight.

Blight
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Make sure you have full Hallowed armor and a Megashark or Hallowed Repeater. It might be helpful to reforge accessories to Warding. You can also place a block of Meteorite to take advantage of its 1 damage per second. It is recommended to use the summoning glitch for this boss so you can summon him twice per night.