Guide:Surviving in the Corruption

Surviving in the Corruption can be tricky for new players. It holds powerful enemies, deep chasms, and can spread across the world. There are things in the Corruption that are needed to progress through the game. One example is the that can be broken to summon the Eater of Worlds, which is needed in order to craft Shadow armor and, most importantly, the Nightmare Pickaxe.

Recommended Gear

 * Have at least 200 health. Magic users should have at least 100 Mana.
 * It is recommended to have at least Silver armor or Tungsten armor. Althrough you can also bring Gold armor or Platinum armor, these are more expensive to craft.

Weapons

 * Gold Broadsword.png Melee users should bring Gold Broadsword or Platinum Broadsword at minimum, or Light's Bane if you already defeated Eye of Cthulhu (which is recommended to defeat it first). Enchanted Sword or Arkhalis should definitely be used if obtained.
 * An Enchanted or Ice Boomerang is also a good weapon to bring with you. They greatly help at keeping Eater of Souls at bay.
 * Silver Bow.png Ranged users should bring a Silver Bow with, if possible, Frostburn Arrows. They are easy to craft and farm, as Wood and Ice are very easy to obtain, and Slimes are very common and easy to slain.
 * Sapphire Staff.png Magic users should bring at least Sapphire or Emerald Staff at minimum. If you found a lot of Rubies or Diamonds, use these staves instead.
 * Shuriken.png Throwing users can easily bring one stack of Shurikens or Knives, as they're easy to obtain. Grenades can also be used, althrough you may need to be careful to not be caught in its explosion blast.
 * If you already killed Pinky, you can instead craft Molotov Cocktails, which are very powerful throwing weapon.

Miscellaneous

 * Bring with you at least a half stack (15 out 30) of Lesser Healing Potions. Also bring Lesser Mana Potions if you use Magic.
 * A Grappling Hook is highly recommended. They can help you navigate the chasms.

Dealing With Enemies
The most common enemies in the Corruption are the Eater of Souls: these are flying enemies that will fly out of reach, then charge the player. With proper gear, they can be dispatched with relative ease, but they are hard to deal with if they are in a pack.

Another, although not as common as Eater of Souls, foe is the Devourer: these worm enemies will pop out of the ground to attack the player. They can be detected by the noise they make while travelling underground. The best way to kill these is to hit them with a Broadsword while they are arcing over to go back into the ground.

Into the chasms
The are circular, glowing entities that are located in the Corruption's many chasms. Finding these is vital, as they allow the player to summon the Eater of Worlds, which is needed to fight as it drops Demonite Ore and Shadow Scales, which are needed to craft Shadow armor and the Nightmare Pickaxe, the latter being crucial to the player's advancement into the game.

Shadow Orbs let off a faint glow which will allow the player to easily locate them, but can only be reached initially by use of Bombs, or Purification Powder purchased from the Dryad. They can be destroyed by using a Hammer or Bombs.

Destroying the orbs will give you the following messages:


 * When the first Orb is broken, "A horrible chill goes down your spine..." will appear;
 * When the second is broken, "Screams echo around you..." will appear;
 * When the third one is broken, the Eater of Worlds will spawn, with "Eater of Worlds has awoken!" appearing.

It is recommended only to destroy two Orbs, until the player feels like they are ready to battle the Eater of Worlds.

Hardmode
As soon as the Wall of Flesh is defeated, a diagonal strip of Corruption will appear in the world, and all corrupted blocks such as Ebonstone will start spreading. Much stronger enemies will also start spawning, so surviving in the biome will be much more difficult than before.

The player can use the Pwnhammer dropped from the Wall of Flesh to smash the Demon Altars. Destroying them will generate new ores, which are almost mandatory to progress in the game. Smashing 9-12 Altars will be more than enough for most of Hardmode, since more than that won't generate too many new ores. Breaking altars will swarm the player with Wraiths, so they should be very quick when doing so to avoid dying.

Altars are also crafting stations, so it isn't a bad idea to leave one for the special recipes requiring them.

Note that smashing Altars has a chance to corrupt a random block in the world. This will barely affect the overall spread, but it can infect areas the player tried to protect.

After the altars are smashed, the Corruption should be avoided until better gear is obtained, since Pre-Hardmode weapons and armors won't be enough to deal with the new enemies.

Recommended Gear
As the bare minimum, the best Pre-Hardmode armors of the player's class should be used, such as Molten armor, Necro armor, Jungle armor or Wizard set and Bee armor for Melee, Ranged, Magic and Summoner users respectively. Armors made with Hardmode materials should definitely be used if obtained.

The player should also get a strong Hardmode weapon before venturing in. There are many choices depending on the class used:


 * Melee users should grind for an Amarok in the Snow biome as it can be easily obtained at the beginning of Hardmode and will last until the Mechanical Bosses are defeated. A Sword or Spear made with the new ores will also do fine against them.
 * A Ranged character is better off with the Clockwork Assault Rifle dropped by the Wall of Flesh or a Shotgun. The Repeaters made with the new ores will also do just fine against them.
 * A Mage may want to farm for a Sky Fracture, made with a Hallowed Desert's materials. They can also fish for a Crystal Serpent, or just use the Laser Rifle dropped by the Wall of Flesh until better weapons are obtained.
 * Summoners will need a Spider Staff and Queen Spider Staff, made with Spider Nest's materials.

Underground
With good gear, it is a lot easier to survive in the Underground Corruption. Once the diagonal strip has been located, the main thing to do is to find a good area to farm Souls of Night and Cursed Flames, as the two will be needed for many recipes in the game. The best place would be a wide, open area with a little "safe zone" like an Underground Cabin where the player can take cover from enemies and heal. If no such place is found, with a couple Mining potions or Explosives it can be built.

The Player will have to deal with new, stronger enemies: Corruptors, World Feeders, Corrupt Slimes, Slimers, Clingers and Cursed Hammers. Purple Pigrons will also appear if the player is in a Corrupted Snow biome.

Corruptors are the Hardmode version of Eaters of Souls, as they possess the same AI but with the added ability to shoot a projectile, the Vile Spit. They are the most common enemies, and with their high health and damage stats they can be dangerous to the player. Their projectile can be destroyed by the player's attacks and it does not go through blocks, so these traits can be exploited to take them out more easily.

World Feeders are the Hardmode version of Devourers, with a longer body as well as higher health and damage. They are more common than Devourers were in Pre-Hardmode, so the player should always watch out for them. Like any other Worm type enemy, the sound of them digging can be heard when they spawn, and any explosive or piercing attacks will easily take them out. They drop Cursed Flames when killed.

Corrupt Slimes can be considered a Hardmode version of Mother Slimes, as they have higher health than the average Slime, and they spawn multiple Slimelings when killed. Compared to the other enemies, they aren't too big of a threat. The Slimer is a flying variant which will drop a Corrupt Slime when killed.

Clingers act like most Plant type enemies such as the Angry Trapper, with the added ability to shoot a cursed fireball, which inflicts the Cursed Inferno Debuff. They deal a lot of contact damage, and the Cursed Inferno will drain the Player's health as well as stopping their regeneration. The fireballs cannot be destroyed like the Vile Spit, but they also can't go through blocks. They also drop Cursed Flames when killed.

Cursed Hammers are a very rare enemy that can go through blocks, and can inflict the Cursed debuff on hit. While this status effect can be devastating, they will stop moving if attacked, so they are fairly easy to deal with.

Pre-Hardmode enemies can still spawn, but at a lower rate than before.