Guide:Blood Moon strategies

The Event
A Blood Moon is a common randomly occurring event that takes place over the course of an entire night; however, a Blood Moon can also be initiated when the player uses a Bloody Tear. Blood Moons are signaled by the message "The Blood Moon is rising..." in the lower left corner of the screen (or the top middle of the screen on ).

A Blood Moon will only occur if at least one player in the world has more than 120 life, and only on nights when a moon is present (any night except a new moon). Given those criteria, a Blood Moon has a chance of occurring. It will also not spawn if another event is currently taking place, such as Lantern night or Slime rain. Weather related events do not count as events, so there can be crossovers.

Effects
While a Blood Moon is active, multiple effects can happen:

Rewards
While a Blood Moon can be dangerous to new players, it can also wield great rewards.
 * can drop the, and when killed for the first time, will give the Till Death achievement.
 * In Hardmode, enemies can drop the.
 * In Hardmode, more enemies can be fished and can give more Blood Moon exclusive items
 * The can drop the, a summoning weapon.
 * The can drop the, a magic weapon.
 * can drop the, a melee weapon.
 * Enemies exclusive to the Blood Moon can drop the.
 * Enemies caught during fishing can drop the ,an item that increases fishing power. Other fishing drops include the, the , and the , an item that permanently increases NPC's Attack and Defense.
 * and can drop the, a decent early-game accessory and the , an item that lets you access your  anytime, anywhere.

Arena
Due to the NPCs being vulnerable to enemies during this event, it is recommended that you make your base in the sky at the beginning. If you have already made a base, a simple barricade of a block behind a door will prevent most enemies from getting in. You will want to move your base above ground level before Hardmode, as the increased enemy spawn rate will result in more spawning, which can be a nuisance; however, they can only move upward if they're inside a block. A simple ditch can take care of most ground level mobs, even in hardmode. Even better, line the bottom of the ditch with lava and it will kill them for you. You will want to place a thin layer of lava in the ditch, enough to burn, but not. To make sure that the amount of lava is correct, throw a copper coin in. If it burns, you have met the minimum requirement. If not, add more until it does, but slowly until the coin disappears. Next, throw a silver coin in. It shouldn't burn. If it does, remove some and try again. Repeat until the copper coin burns, but not the silver. As said above, traps can make the arena even deadlier when used correctly. Keep in mind that Drippers can hover and fly above your defenses.

Also, if you do not want to build an arena, you can use weapons that attack through blocks (such as the vilethorn pre-hardmode, or a Daedalus stormbow or Life drain in hardmode) to attack mobs while being safe in your house.