The Corruption



The Corruption is an ominous environment. It is best to explore this mid game where you have some of the better items (silver/gold items/armour). Purple corruption spreads over nearby dirt blocks, Grass blocks and trees, and Thorny Bushes sprout, making it a difficult land to traverse. Deathweeds can be found here. Purification Powder can be used on corrupted dirt to turn it into grass, and Sunflowers can be placed to stop the corruption from spreading further. (As said when the 1.1 update releases, you now have to use Hallowed Seeds)

Many chasms dot the landscape in the Corruption. It is recommended that you don't explore these until you have a Grappling Hook or some other form of vertical transportation, as chasms can be hundreds of feet deep. Chasms are covered in Ebonstone Blocks which can only be mined using a Nightmare Pickaxe or better, or by using Bombs or Dynamite, which also destroys Shadow Orbs. Alternatively, Purification Powder can be used to turn the Ebonstone into normal Stone Blocks which can be mined with any pickaxe.

Caves can often be found surrounding the chasms. In these caves, Pots, Chests And Life Crystals are common. Demon Altars are highly common in this environment.

Corruption vs. "The Corruption"

 * Corruption is a purple grass-like substance that infects grass blocks and spreads quickly to any connected Grass blocks, similar to ordinary grass.
 * "The Corruption" is a term used to describe the biome that takes effect when a significant amount of Corruption exists in an area of the World; theme music is changed in such areas (to The Corruption's theme), Trees turn purple, the sky darkens, and corrupted enemies like the Eater of Souls and Devourers spawn.

A small amount of Corruption can exist in other biomes, the same way Jungle Grass can exist in biomes that are not yet actual Jungle biomes, and Meteorite blocks can exist in biomes that are not Meteorite biomes. A multitude of any of these in an area will cause the respective biome to exist though, with altered theme music and spawned enemies appropriate to those environments.

Hardmode Corruption
Once the Wall of Flesh is defeated, a world enters hardmode; in this mode, Corruption can spread through stone and sand, which allows it to grow at terrifying rates. Sunflowers and Purification Powder will no longer be able to stop it. It also spreads through mud and replaces it with dirt, but very slowly. As Corruption grows into normal un-corrupted areas, chasms will spawn, making it even more difficult to stop it spreading into underground areas, and making purifying it even harder.

Only the Hallow is able to counter it. Its spread can also be halted by Hallowed Seeds, as well as clay or ash blocks.

Corrupted Desert
When the Corruption spreads through desert, it becomes Corrupted Desert. It is very similar to the Corruption: the music theme is the same, the mobs are the same (excepted the Dark Mummy), and the background is just slightly different.

The sand is replaced by ebonsand. Although their color is different, cacti still drop cactus when cut, and waterleaves are also able to grow.

Getting through
The Corruption is infamous for being hard to get through. Here are a few pointers on making it through:
 * Defend yourself. Make sure you have at least Copper armor, or better yet, Iron armor.In Hardmode, Cobalt Armor or better is recommended.
 * Have good weapons. Ranged weapons are useful in taking out the Eaters of Souls and his closely related friends, especially if you use piercing ammo.
 * Don't fall down chasms. The deep Corruption chasms are a surprisingly large danger, so either get something to help you jump over, such as a Cloud in a Bottle, or get some blocks to make a bridge.
 * At the very least get a Grappling Hook.