Guide:Walkthrough

Welcome to Terraria! Whether you are a new player (increasingly unlikely after 4 years on the scene), or perhaps a returning player who can’t remember if it’s the Blinkroot or the Moonglow that goes in that Shine Potion, hopefully this guide can be of some help to you. At least it might be more useful than the other Guide.

When progressing through Terraria, many players can be confused about where they should go and what they should do next. This is not a design oversight: Terraria is an open-ended game and unlike most games, you are not forced to go anywhere or do anything. You are free to set your own goals and follow through with them, whether you are a builder, fighter, explorer, collector, or whatever else. This walkthrough merely aims to provide a logical order of progression through Terraria’s many different environments, called biomes, generally in order of increasing difficulty. But there is certainly no requirement to visit each biome, or in this order.

If you are unsure of what map size to choose as a new player, choose small. Even in a small world a player can face long travel times, and it would still take hundreds of hours to explore every cave in a small world at a normal pace. A more accurate description of the map sizes might perhaps be Large, Grande, and Venti.

New players may also want to refer to this guide: Getting Started

=The Forest: Starting Out=

 Biome: Forest

Monsters: Green Slime, Blue Slime, Red Slime, Purple Slime, and Pinky

Monster Drops: Gel

Notable Resources: Wood, Copper or Tin, Iron or Lead, Mushrooms, Daybloom, Goldfish

Notable Chest Contents: Aglet, Blowpipe, Spear, Wooden Boomerang, Throwing Knife, Glowstick, Climbing Claws, Umbrella, Grenade, Shuriken, Bottle

Recommended Equipment: Starting equipment

Recommended Life: 5 hearts

New players will almost always spawn in the Forest biome (rarely the player will spawn in the Snow biome.) This biome has the weakest monsters in the game.

A newcomer could easily be lulled into a false sense of security upon entering into the bright world surrounded by cute bunnies and harmless slimes. Don’t be deceived. You have 15 minutes before night falls and you are ripped into pieces by packs of zombies, if you are not prepared. Your goal in the daylight remaining to you should be to kit yourself out with some better starting equipment from your surroundings and find a source of shelter, preferably underground, to pass the night.

The first thing you should do is cut down several trees (using your axe, aim for the lowest block), as wood is needed for many things, then build a Work Bench, and then probably, a Wooden Sword, and perhaps a Wooden Bow, as your starting weapons are next to useless.

Next, you should explore your surroundings. There are usually a few Chests and Pots on or near the surface near your starting point, which will often contain useful weapons and other items. If you are lucky (a 12.5% chance per chest), you’ll find a Spear, which is one of the best starting weapons, especially against zombies, the biggest threat in the early going. There will also almost always be at least one cave entrance close by leading Underground. Use Ropes and Platforms to reach high ledges, bridge chasms, and safely descend.

Once you have explored your surroundings and cracked open all the chests and pots in sight, you should head to the safety of Underground before night falls to continue your search for useful items and resources.

For a more experienced player, you may wish to consider another option. The new Cactus/Ebonwood/Shadewood equipment is as effective as Copper/Iron, and far quicker to obtain, albeit at serious personal risk. Note that the Jungle always generates in a world opposite from the Snow and Dungeon, the Snow often generates close to spawn, and frequently the Corruption/Crimson generate just after or in the Snow biome, especially in small worlds. It is preferable to travel through the Snow as it is faster and safer than the Jungle, and knowing this, one can often quickly reach the Corruption/Crimson. Once there, it is advised to use any buff potions you may have picked up on the way (don’t forget to craft any arrows you’ve found into flaming arrows), nip in, cut one tree, duck out, make a Ebon/Shadewood Sword/Bow, then use the new weapon(s) you’ve made to defend yourself while you chop down a few more trees to make the armor. It only takes a minute or two and then you will have sufficient equipment to survive every surface biome as well as the caverns (if you’re careful.)

It should be emphasized that it is very easy to die doing this, it is a gamble, as there may not be corruption/crimson at all on one side of the world, and sometimes when the corruption/crimson generates in the snow, there will only be boreal trees around. On the other hand, this strategy frequently does pay off and allows you to quickly obtain superior starting equipment. Even if you don’t find shadewood/ebonwood trees, you can usually at least encounter numerous chests, a desert or even a pyramid, and collecting cactus is even faster and easier (tip: aim for the block under the cactus.)

 Event: Rain

Monsters: Flying Fish, Umbrella Slime, Rain Coat Zombie

Monster Drops: Rain Hat, Rain Coat

Notable Resources: Waterleaf Seeds, Worms, Goldfish

Chance: There is an 18% chance of rain per full day (once every 5.5 days, on average)

Rain occurs randomly and affects all surface biomes for its duration. Each Rain event begins at a random time and lasts for 24 in-game hours (24 real-world minutes), spanning both day and night portions. When a player is in a Snow biome during Rain, it appears as a Blizzard.

Effects of rain:
 * +20% Fishing Power while in rain (surface only, presumably)
 * Waterleaf blooms
 * Worms spawn frequently in Forest biomes
 * NPCs remain in their Houses as if it were night

 Event: Night

Monsters: Zombie, Demon Eye

Monster Drops: Shackle, Lens, Black Lens, Zombie Arm

Notable Resources: Stars

Recommended Weaponry: Iron or Ebonwood/Shadewood Broadsword and Bow, Spear, Throwing Knives, Shuriken

Recommended Life: 6 hearts

Zombies and Demon Eyes will spawn on the surface at night, regardless of the biome. They are much stronger than monsters from daytime.

It is recommended to stay underground during nighttime until you are strong enough to easily deal with zombie packs, as there is little to be gained and much to lose for a new character outside after dark. If you do (inevitably) find yourself outside at night, any weapon that pierces multiple times, such as the Spear (if you find one), Throwing Knives, and Shuriken are very useful. A bow + flaming/frostburn arrows also tend to deal more damage than most other starting weapons. If you are only used to playing other games, it is easy to forget your greatest ability: the power to move blocks.

=Going Under=

 Biome: Underground

Monsters: Blue Slime, Red Slime, Yellow Slime, Pinky, Blue Jellyfish, Giant Worm

Monster Drops: Gel, Glowstick, Whoopie Cushion

Notable Resources: Copper or Tin, Iron or Lead, Silver or Tungsten, Gems, Blinkroot, Crystal Heart

Chest Contents: The same as surface chests; pots are more common than on surface

Recommended Equipment: Starting equipment

Recommended Life: 5 hearts

The underground can be identified by its background (pictured to the right). It is the first layer below the surface. Copper and Iron deposits can be found in this layer. Silver and Gold can also be found, though infrequently.

The short depth of this layer (particularly on small worlds), combined with its limited rewards, means you will probably not be spending too much time here before moving on to the more lucrative Caverns. Copper/Tin are highly abundant, but with the advent of comparable cactus and wood based gear which are far quicker to acquire, a once borderline useless ore is now almost completely useless (save for the gem staves.)

For a more in-depth guide on mining, see Mining Techniques

 Biome: Cavern

Monsters: Black Slime, Mother Slime, Baby Slime, Pinky, Giant Worm, Skeleton, Cave Bat, Blue Jellyfish, Piranha, Undead Miner, Tim

Monster Drops: Gel, Whoopie Cushion, Hook (crafting material), Wizard Hat, Robot Hat

Notable Resources: Copper or Tin, Iron or Lead, Silver or Tungsten, Gold or Platinum, Gems, Silt, Obsidian, Glowing Mushrooms, Blinkroot, Crystal Heart

Chest Contents: Band of Regeneration, Magic Mirror, Angel Statue, Cloud in a Bottle, Hermes Boots, Enchanted Boomerang, Jester's Arrow, Extractinator, Flare Gun

Recommended Weaponry: Iron broadsword or equivalent, Iron bow or equivalent, or any of the surface Chest weapons.

Recommended Life: 6 hearts

The Caverns can be identified by their background (pictured to the right). It is the second layer below the surface. This layer is by far the largest pre-hardmode biome. The Caverns are divided into two halves. In the top half, lakes of water are found, while in the bottom half, lava is found instead. All pre-hardmode ores except Hellstone can be found frequently in this layer (demonite and crimtane rarely.) Caves of glowing mushrooms can also be encountered.

The Caverns are a massive biome with many useful items and treasures, and as such, players may find themselves spending a lot of time here. Although its monsters can prove quite dangerous for a new adventurer, the greatest threat in this layer may actually be the danger of falling into its vertiginous chasms, frequently with the aid of the ever-helpful bats. In Terraria, it seems the difference between stubbing your toe and breaking both your legs can only be the height of a handful of blocks. Should you find yourself falling to your doom, don’t forget there are a number of items that can break your fall: Cloud in a Bottle’s double jump, grappling any surface, including the ground you’re about to hit, even an Umbrella. Pools of water (2+ blocks deep) and cobwebs will also save you if you’re lucky enough to fall into them.

This ever-present danger is closely followed by the devious and near-invisible traps sprinkled generously throughout the inky blackness. Once confined solely to the Dungeon, apparently the thoughtful developers decided that stepping on things that kill you was such a good time that they spread them to the rest of the subsurface layers. At least these ones can be disarmed. A bold, fearless new adventurer skipping heedlessly through the caves for the first time will quickly meet with a boulder landing on their head, or even more hilariously, a landmine powerful enough to bring down a skyscraper. Hopefully, the adventurer will be able to share the developers’ sense of humour when this occurs, particularly if their character was hardcore. Needless to say, tread with extreme caution, and take advantage of the helpful new Dangersense Potion if you wish to avoid retrieving your own head. Using generous amounts of light sources is one of the best ways to mitigate both of these dangers. The Flare Gun, Mining Helmet, and Shine Potions can prove useful additions to the usual sources.

Although there are many helpful items to be collected in this layer, probably at the top of the list will be a Grappling Hook and a Magic Mirror. Both of them will make getting around much easier and faster. Fortunately, with the gem hooks, it is trivial to obtain one, and Magic Mirrors are also very common. Besides these two, a player may want to craft a Gem Staff, as even after being nerfed, they still tend to outclass most other weapons at this stage of the game, limited mostly by the number of stars you’ve managed to collect so far.

Note that should you descend too far, you will actually find yourself in the Underworld. This will be marked by a change in music and background to lava walls, and Underworld enemies will start spawning which you probably won’t want to face at this juncture.

A quick note on weapons and armor: at this stage, you have a lot of choices of ore-based weapons and armor you can craft. It is entirely feasible to be constantly upgrading your weapons if you desire, as they don’t cost much. The Iron Broadsword, for example, only costs 8 iron bars – 24 iron ore – which is ~3 ore veins. Armor is a different question. Because of set bonuses, it is wise to try and complete an armor set rather than mixing and matching different pieces. Because of the way defense works, there isn’t a huge benefit from upgrading from one armor set to the next. The Copper armor set, for example, reduces damage taken by 3, Iron Armor reduces damage by 5, so the difference in damage reduction is only 2, which is barely noticeable. Yet to complete the Iron Armor set requires 225 ore, which represents a significant amount of mining time.

It is therefore recommended to start out with one of the surface Ebonwood/Shadewood or Cactus armors, which can be chopped down in under a minute and are as effective as Copper, and then targeting one of Lead/Silver/Tungsten/Gold/Platinum. Lead/Silver/Tungsten is recommended because they are good enough to take on all three of the normal bosses, significantly faster to complete than Gold/Platinum, and allows you to save your Gold/Platinum for weapons/tools.

=Building a Base=

Once you’ve filled your pockets with dirt, you may want to consider starting to build a base, as now you have some building materials and money to buy things. A base can take anywhere from a single in-game day to more than an in-game week to complete, depending on the player's tastes. It is not necessary, however, to build the entire base right away. Waiting to build the majority of the base can be advantageous, as it will allow the player to use the large stores of blocks they will end up gathering as a by-product of mining. Regardless of when or what the player builds, it is recommended to build houses for the Guide, Merchant and Nurse, a campfire, and an area for storage and crafting before progressing.

For a more in-depth guide on building bases, see Bases

=The Surface: Beyond the Forest=

Once the player obtains strong enough weapons many mid-tier biomes open up. These biomes contain crafting materials as well as other treasures.

 Biome: Snow

Monsters: Ice Slime, Zombie Eskimo

Monster Drops: Gel, Eskimo armor

Notable Resources: Boreal Wood, Shiverthorn

Recommended Equipment: Starting equipment

Recommended Life: 5 hearts

Your spawning location will often be close to or occasionally even in the Snow biome. The Snow biome will always lie opposite the Jungle in a world, and on the same side as the Dungeon. This biome offers similar challenges and rewards to the Forest biome, along with Boreal Wood and Shiverthorn.

 Biome: Underground Snow

Monsters: Ice Slime, Ice Bat, Snow Flinx, Spiked Ice Slime, Undead Viking, Cyan Beetle

Monster Drops: Snowball Launcher, Viking Helmet

Notable Resources: Shiverthorn

Chest Contents: Ice Boomerang, Ice Blade, Ice Skates, Snowball Cannon, Blizzard in a Bottle, Flurry Boots, Fish (item)

Recommended Weaponry: Ebon/Shadewood or equivalent Sword, Bow and Frostburn Arrows, Gem Staff

Recommended Armor: Cactus, or Ebon or Shadewood

Recommended Life: 8 hearts

The Underground Snow can be reached from the surface Snow, or from the Caverns, although sometimes there is no natural entrance from one or both. The Underground Snow ends where the lava layer begins. It is somewhat more difficult than the Caverns. Though there may not be as large a quantity of ore or gems in this biome, it is still worth exploring for its unique chest contents. Note that Ice Chests are less common than Gold Chests and it can take a lot of exploring to find all the Ice Chest drops / require exploring multiple worlds.

 Biome: Desert

Monsters: Vulture, Antlion

Monster Drops: Antlion Mandible

Notable Resources: Cactus, Waterleaf, Pink Prickly Pear

Recommended Weaponry: Cactus Sword, Ebon or Shadewood Bow, or equivalent

Recommended Armor: Cactus, or Ebon or Shadewood

Recommended Life: 6 hearts

The monsters in the desert are in the lower tier, and can be easily dealt with using ranged weapons. If you visit the desert very early on you can craft equipment from cactus, which is slightly stronger than wooden equipment.

If you are lucky, your desert may contain a Pyramid, either sticking slightly out of the sand, or buried just underneath. Digging down through the Pyramid's sandstone walls will bring you to a chamber with a chest which may contain a Flying Carpet or Sandstorm in a Bottle, both very useful accessories.

 Biome: Jungle

Monsters: Piranha, Snatcher, Jungle Bat, Jungle Slime, Doctor Bones (night only)

Monster Drops: Gel, Hook (crafting material), Robot Hat, Archaeologist's Hat

Notable Resources: Moonglow, Jungle Rose, Jungle Spores

Recommended Weaponry: Ebon or Shadewood Sword, Bow, Gem Staff

Recommended Armor: Cactus, or Ebon or Shadewood

Recommended Life: 8 hearts

The jungle is one of the more difficult surface biomes. The Underground Jungle should not be attempted until later on.

 Biome: Corruption

Monsters: Eater of Souls, Devourer, Corrupt Goldfish

Monster Drops: Rotten Chunk, Worm Tooth

Notable Resources: Ebonwood, Vile Mushroom, Deathweed, Demonite

Shadow Orb Contents: Ball O' Hurt, Band of Starpower, Musket, Shadow Orb, Vilethorn

Recommended Weaponry: Ebonwood Sword, Bow, Gem Staff

Recommended Armor: Ebonwood or Cactus

Recommended Life: 8 hearts

The Corruption can be a challenging biome for players with basic equipment. Demonite is found in small deposits in this biome, though a Gold Pickaxe is needed to mine it. Ebonstone can only be mined with a Demonite Pickaxe, which can only be obtained after defeating Eater of Worlds. You can use Purification Powder, Bombs, and/or Dynamite to destroy Ebonstone before you’ve defeated Eater of Worlds. You can also get Unholy Arrows here by killing Devourers and combining their Worm Teeth with regular arrows.

Shadow Orbs are also found encased in ebonstone at the bottom of the chasms. Breaking them with a hammer (or bombs) can yield powerful items. You may be tempted to ninja the Shadow Orbs early on, but you should also be prepared to deal with the events that will be triggered (see the Eater of Worlds section for more detail.) Breaking three Shadow Orbs will result in the Eater of Worlds being summoned.

You may wish to cover the chasms with blocks, which will seal Eaters that spawn inside the chasms and prevent them knocking you down to your death. Rope is also very useful here to ascend and descend the chasms rapidly and safely.

 Biome: Crimson

Monsters: Crimera, Face Monster, Blood Crawler, Blood Feeder

Monster Drops: Vertebrae

Notable Resources: Shadewood, Deathweed, Crimtane Ore

Crimson Heart Contents: The Undertaker, The Rotted Fork, Crimson Rod, Panic Necklace

Recommended Weaponry: Shadewood Sword, Bow, Gem Staff

Recommended Armor: Shadewood or Cactus

Recommended Life: 8 hearts

Sometimes the Crimson will replace the Corruption in your world. Most of what’s written in the Corruption section can also be applied to the Crimson. The Crimson is an upgrade to the Corruption in a similar way to how Lead is an upgrade to Iron; in general, the stats on crimson items are slightly better. However, in this case, it is not strictly better, as the Corruption has some very useful items like the Vilethorn, Shadow Orb, Worm Teeth (for Unholy Arrows), and Vile Mushrooms (for Poisoned Knives) that have no counterpart in the Crimson.

Crimson monsters are perhaps more difficult than Corrupt ones. Cave generation is also different: instead of deep shafts, it contains one big neuron-shaped cave that you can walk down more easily. Crimtane Ore replaces Demonite Ore and Crimson Hearts replace Shadow Orbs. The Brain of Cthulhu boss is the Crimson counterpart to Eater of Worlds, though Eater of Worlds is significantly easier.

 Biome: Ocean

Monsters: Shark, Pink Jellyfish, Crab, Squid, Sea Snail

Monster Drops: Glowstick, Shark Fin, Diving Helmet, Jellyfish Necklace, Black Ink, Purple Mucos

Notable Resources: Palm Wood, Coral

Chest Contents: Breathing Reed, Flipper, Trident, Beach Ball, Water Walking Boots

Recommended Weaponry: Shadewood Sword, Bow, Gem Staff

Recommended Armor: Shadewood or Cactus

Recommended Life: 8 hearts

Oceans are always found at the edge of the world, usually next to beaches containing Palm Trees and decorative seashells and starfish. Water Chests are found at the very bottom of the ocean typically in the deepest parts. New characters may have problems working in this biome because of sharks and a lack of air supply. Gills Potions can help in this regard.

Even without underwater breathing aids, you can loot the ocean chests by quickly running along the bottom and then teleporting home with the Magic Mirror before you drown (this can be made easier with Hermes Boots, Swiftness Potions, and Water Walking potions.) If you do this quickly, no sharks should bother you.

 Biome: Floating Island

Monsters: Harpy

Monster Drops: Feather, Giant Harpy Feather

Notable Resources: Silver or Tungsten, Gold or Platinum

Chest Contents: Shiny Red Balloon, Starfury, Lucky Horseshoe

Recommended Weaponry: Space Gun or other gun, or Ruby/Diamond Staff

Recommended Armor: Silver minimum, better recommended

Recommended Equipment: Gravitation Potion, Featherfall Potion, other buff potions

Recommended Life: 10 hearts

Floating islands are typically found around 475ft on small maps, at 500-700ft on medium maps, and at 600-1000ft on large maps. A small map generally has 3 floating islands, though sometimes 2; medium maps can have up to 5; large maps up to 8. Each island contains a Skyware Chest, along with ore deposits and unique blocks and skyware furniture.

It can be difficult to find, reach, and loot floating islands. Although there are many ways to approach this problem, the quickest and most straightforward is to use gravitation potions found in underground chests to fly across the map at the appropriate height (a Depth Meter can help if you are unsure.) Only two are needed to fly across and loot an entire small world. Featherfall potions will make flying quite a bit easier to control, and help prevent you turning into a splat on the ground should you impact at too high a velocity. (It should also be mentioned to set out early in the day to maintain good visibility of harpies.)

Loitering at cloud level, you will soon be surrounded by flocks of harpies, making floating islands a harrowing ordeal even with decent equipment. The key is to use as many speed-boosting items as possible: Hermes Boots, Swiftness Potions, Well-Fed, and be continually moving forward, only quickly pausing to loot, to minimize their harassment. If you do so, you really don’t need good equipment at all.

If you do fight Harpies, because of their attacks from distance and erratic flight pattern, it can be quite difficult to hit them, and it’s advisable to use a weapon with a long range and high velocity: the Space Gun (especially with Meteor Armor) is perfect for this job, but another Gun will do. If for some reason you plan to revisit a floating island, you may wish to drop a line of Rope.

It’s recommended to loot the floating islands as soon as you get gravitation potions, as it is fast and all the loot is highly useful: removing falling damage eliminates a huge pain, and Starfury is a very strong weapon at this stage, as well as making cave exploration immeasurably easier.

As you continue your exploration of the surface, you should also expect to encounter this event:  Event: Blood Moon

Monsters: Corrupt Bunny, Corrupt Goldfish, Corrupt Penguin, The Groom

Monster Drops: Bunny Hood, Top Hat

Notable Resources: Deathweed Seeds

Criteria: 1 player with at least 120 life, not a new moon

Chance: 1/9

During a Blood Moon bunnies and goldfish will turn hostile, and the spawn rate of all monsters on the surface will increase dramatically. Additionally zombies will become able to spawn near NPC's and force doors open (you can prevent this by blocking the doors with a block or platform on the inside.) This is the only time deathweed will bloom, and some NPC's will also sell special wares. If you do not wish to fight in a Blood Moon, you should probably seek shelter underground where you will be beyond its effects.

=The Bosses: Taking On The Big Three= Once you’ve survived the first couple nights and started work on a base, you should begin preparations for the upcoming boss battles, as even if you do not wish to go looking for them, they will come looking for you.

 Boss: King Slime

Life: 2000

Damage: 40

Defense: 10

Minions: Blue Slime

Drops: Lesser Healing Potion, Ninja Clothes, Slime Gun, Slime Hook, Slimy Saddle (rare)

King Slime is an entirely optional but fun mini-boss, although the word “mini” in this case seems grossly insufficient to describe this appropriately named King-sized slime. None of its drops are necessary for game advancement, or of much use at all. They’re mostly just for amusement, much like this boss.

King Slime can spawn rarely in Forests outside the middle third of the world, or by using a Slime Crown. As with all monsters that can spawn naturally, the King Slime has a better chance of spawning while standing near a placed Water Candle or under the effects of a Battle Potion. It is extremely unlikely you will ever come across King Slime without planning to. King Slime is a good challenge for a beginning player, and can be easily defeated by tactical use of terrain.

For more information, refer to Guide:King Slime strategies

Eye of Cthulhu
 Boss: Eye of Cthulhu

Life: 2800

Damage: 15 (First Stage), 23 (Second Stage)

Defense: 12 (First Stage), 0 (Second Stage)

Minions: Servant of Cthulhu (8 Life, 12 Damage, 0 Defense)

Drops: Lesser Health Potions, Unholy Arrows, Demonite or Crimtane Ore, Corrupt or Crimson Seeds

Recommended Weaponry: Gem Staff, Gold/Platinum Bow with unholy or frostburn arrows, Shurikens, Poisoned Knives

Recommended Armor: Silver or Tungsten

Recommended Buffs: Ironskin Potion, Regeneration Potion, Well Fed, Campfire

Recommended Life: 10 hearts

Eye of Cthulhu has a 1:3 chance of spawning each night if the player meets all three of the following requirements:


 * Eye of Cthulhu has not been defeated in the current world
 * At least one player in the world has 10 or more hearts (200 HP) and 10 or more defense
 * Three NPCs are present in the world

Shortly before Eye of Cthulhu appears, the player will receive the message, "You feel an evil presence watching you." Note that leaving the game and reopening it at this point will cancel the fight. Many players prefer to fight Eye of Cthulhu on their own terms by using a Suspicious Looking Eye to summon it. The Eye must be defeated by dawn.

Eye of Cthulhu looks like an enormous Demon Eye. Like most bosses, it travels through all blocks. The Eye has two forms. During the first, he spawns Servants of Cthulhu while floating around the player, which drop hearts and stars on death. When the Eye’s health falls below half (1400), it transforms into its second form, which charges the player more aggressively, no longer spawns Servants, and has lowered defense.

Ranged/magic weapons are recommended for this fight, especially piercing weapons as they will hit multiple times per attack. Using a flat, wide open space for an arena, such as the one around your original spawn point, will also make it easier to dodge the Eye’s attacks.This boss is generally the first boss players face.

For more information, refer to Guide:Eye of Cthulhu strategies

Eater of Worlds / Brain of Cthulhu
After the Eye of Cthulhu is defeated, you should head to the underground Crimson or Corruption to smash your first Shadow Orb / Crimson Heart (don’t forget the hammer.) Smashing your first orb/heart triggers two events to occur in short order:

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #7F5A5B; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Meteorite

Monsters: Meteor Head

Notable Resources: Meteorite

Recommended Weaponry: Vilethorn

Recommended Armor: Silver

Recommended Equipment: Dynamite, Sticky Bombs, Gold or Platinum Pickaxe, buff potions

Recommended Life: 10 hearts

Chance: 50% on breaking a Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart

Smashing an orb/heart will give a 50% chance for a meteorite to land the next midnight; smashing additional orb/hearts after the first one on the same day will not increase your chance of a meteorite landing. However, if it is between midnight and dawn (04:30), the meteorite “roll” will occur immediately. Therefore if you wish to maximize your chances of more meteorites landing, you should only smash orbs/hearts between midnight and dawn, or wait until midnight has passed to smash an additional orb/heart.

Meteorite mining can be a very tricky business. At this stage of the game you don’t have great equipment, but while trying to mine, you will be constantly harassed by spawning meteor heads, and touching any part of what you are trying to mine will burn you. Although an Obsidian Skull can prevent this damage, you can’t obtain one until after Eater of Worlds / Brain of Cthulhu has been defeated. Mining with a pickaxe is therefore slow, tedious, and frustrating.

The answer is to blow things up (isn't it always?) Dynamite is perfect with a large blast radius. You may wish to build a wood platform out over the middle of the crater to make it easier to get a perfect placement as well as allowing you to fire through at meteor heads coming from below. You can then quickly clean up remaining sections with sticky bombs. Once there are fewer than 50 meteorite blocks in the area, there will cease to be a meteorite biome and no more meteor heads will spawn.

One note: the Vilethorn is a weapon tailor-made to deal with meteor heads, as it one-shots them, knocks them back from hitting you, and also goes through blocks like them. Unfortunately it can only be obtained on half the worlds.

In case you’re wondering if it’s worth the hassle to mine meteorite, the answer is: yes! Once you get the Space Gun and Meteor Armor combo, basically you can just click on anything to kill it. This combination is good enough to see you through the end of normal mode, if you desire.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #A9AD48; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Event: Goblin Army

Monsters: Goblin Peon, Goblin Thief, Goblin Warrior, Goblin Archer, Goblin Sorcerer

Monster Drops: Spiky Ball, Harpoon

Recommended Weaponry: Space Gun, Platinum/Demon/Tendon Bow with Unholy/Jester’s Arrows, Ruby/Diamond Staff, Grenades, Molotov Cocktails, Spiky Balls

Recommended Armor: Silver or better

Recommended Buffs: Ironskin Potion, Regeneration Potion, Thorns Potion, Archery Potion (if applicable), Well Fed

Recommended Life: 10 hearts

Criteria: Breaking a Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart, 10 hearts

Chance: 1/3 for first invasion, 1/30 subsequently

The Goblin Army will invade at dawn, centred on the map’s original spawn point. You must kill 120 goblins (plus 40 per additional 200+ HP player) to defeat the invasion. Of the goblin types, the sorcerer is the most annoying due to its ranged, block-penetrating attacks and ability to teleport. The Goblin Army can be summoned with a Goblin Battle Standard.

As usual, the best arena is a perfectly flat, long space, such as the one conveniently found around your original spawn point. The ideal weapons are ones that travel in long, straight lines and pierce multiple enemies; as well as ones that deal AoE (area of effect) damage. Again, conveniently, the spiky balls dropped by goblins are a very effective weapon against them.

Every third Orb or Heart you smash in the world will spawn either Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu respectively: <div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #CECECE; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Boss: Eater of Worlds

Life: 65 (Head), 150 (Body), 220 (Tail)

Damage: 22 (Head), 13 (Body), 11 (Tail)

Defense: 2 (Head), 4 (Body), 8 (Tail)

Drops: Demonite Ore, Shadow Scale

Recommended Weaponry: Starfury, Rockfish, Phaseblade, or any melee weapon

Recommended Armor: Silver

Recommended Buffs: Ironskin Potion, Hunter Potion, Well Fed, Tipsy

Recommended Life: 8 hearts

Eater of Worlds is a worm-type boss with 50 segments, each with their own hp. When a segment in the middle is destroyed, the two severed parts will each become new worms, each with their own head and tail. This boss must be fought in the Corruption, and will disappear if you leave the Corruption at any point during the fight.

You will not face an easier boss in Terraria than EoW. You could probably beat it with a rusty shortsword if you have enough patience. EoW (and its hardmode counterpart) is the only boss against which melee is not only viable, it is the best option. The reason for this is when you swing your melee weapon as the worm glides past, the worm is running itself into your swing and damaging many segments per swing. Ranged/magic weapons at this point usually only hit 2-4 times per shot, generally have lower dps, and you also have to think about ammo/mana.

As you’ll notice from the stats above, the head does the most damage but has the least health. For this reason, you should aim for the head while trying to avoid it hitting you. Once you’ve worn down the overall hp of the body some, eventually you will sever the body in two. You may notice the new worm takes a second to get going, and there will be a new head just sitting there...right under your blade. If you have a high enough dps swing, you can one or two-shot the already damaged head before it even gets going, then kill the next head on the chopping block, then the next, etc. Employing this strategy will turn this fight from a mismatch into a literal execution.

For more information, refer to Guide:Eater of Worlds strategies

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #CECECE; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Boss: Brain of Cthulhu

Life: 1000 (body), 100 (creeper)

Damage: 30 (body), 20 (creeper)

Defense: 14 (body), 10 (creeper)

Drops: Crimtane Ore, Tissue Sample

Recommended Weaponry: Space Gun, The Undertaker, Platinum or Tendon Bow, Ruby/Diamond Staff

Recommended Armor: Silver or Meteor

Recommended Buffs: Ironskin Potion, Regeneration Potion, Swiftness Potion, Well Fed, Campfire

Recommended Life: 12 hearts

The Brain of Cthulhu is a boss that teleports and has two stages. In the first stage, it is invincible and surrounded by 20-30 Creepers. You must kill all the creepers before you can damage the Brain. In the second stage, you fight the Brain directly as it tries to charge you.

As with most bosses, attacking from distance is advised. You may elect to build an arena with levels of platforms in the central cavern where you will likely be fighting. It is not totally necessary but will improve mobility and make it easier to dodge attacks. Against the creepers in the first stage, it can be quite effective to use AoE weapons like molotov cocktails or grenades, as well as risky in the case of the latter. Please note this walkthrough will not accept any liability resulting from the consequences of tossing grenades straight up in the air towards creepers flinging themselves at you.

For more information, refer to Guide:Brain of Cthulhu strategies

Skeletron
<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #CECECE; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Boss: Skeletron

Life: 4400 (Head), 600 (Hand)

Damage: 32 (Head), 32 (Hand)

Defense: 10 (Head), 10 (Hand)

Recommended Armor: Shadow/Crimson, Jungle, or Meteor

Recommended Life: 15 hearts

To gain entrance to the dungeon, Skeletron must be defeated. To summon Skeletron, talk to the Old Man in front of the dungeon at night.

Your approach for this fight should be in line with most other boss fights. Once again, ranged and magic weapons that pierce are the preferred option, along with all the usual buffs and healing (and possibly mana) potions. The roof of the Dungeon can serve as a perfectly acceptable arena. Skeletron is of a similar difficulty to the other normal bosses compared to your current gear. As usual, aim for the head, especially when it does its slow spinning attack, when its defense goes to zero.

For more information, refer to Guide:Skeletron strategies

=The High-Tier Biomes= The three "late-game" (normal difficulty) biomes — the Underground Jungle, Dungeon, and Underworld — are all of roughly similar difficulty and can be done in any order or concurrently.

The Underground Jungle
<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #A0C544; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Underground Jungle

Monsters: Hornet (multiple variants), Man Eater, Jungle Bat, Piranha, Spiked Jungle Slime, Lac Beetle, Doctor Bones

Monster Drops: Stinger, Vine, Hook, Bezoar, Violet Husk, Ancient Cobalt Armor, Archaeologist's Hat

Notable Resources: Moonglow, Jungle Spores, Jungle Rose, Nature's Gift, Sky Blue Flower, Rich Mahogany

Chest Contents: Feral Claws, Anklet of the Wind, Staff of Regrowth, Boomstick, Seaweed, Fiberglass Fishing Pole, Honey Dispenser

Recommended Equipment: Shadow or Crimson, Meteor, Necro

Recommended Life: 15 hearts

The Underground Jungle lies below the surface Jungle, beginning at variable depths, and typically extends right to the Underworld. The UJ also contains multiple Bee Hives and a Jungle Temple, which can not be entered until hardmode (after defeating the Plantera boss.)

The primary threat in the Underground Jungle is the Hornet, which flies, attacks from range, and generally keeps its distance. For this reason, it can be quite dangerous to use melee weapons on them which is why ranged/magic weapons are recommended in the UJ, preferably with high velocity, such as the Space Gun. The Vilethorn is also outstanding if available. You may note that there are bigger, more open spaces than in the Caverns. This can lead to high spawn rates and swarms of hornets attacking from all directions which can be very dangerous. If you have low-tier gear when first exploring the UJ, it is safer to stay to the side tunnels and the edges of the large caves until you've acquired better gear/hearts.

The UJ also seems to have more and bigger bodies of water than other biomes, and accordingly, it can be helpful to have diving equipment like the Diving Helmet/Gills Potions.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #F7CF19; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Boss: Queen Bee Life: 3400

Damage: 30

Defense: 8

Drops: Bottled Honey, Beenade, Bee Gun, Honey Comb, Bee Keeper, Hive Wand, Bee costume, Nectar, Honeyed Goggles, Bee Wax

Recommended Equipment: Meteor, Shadow (with Thorn Chakram), Crimson, Jungle, or Necro

Recommended Life: 15 hearts

The Queen Bee boss spawns when you break the Larva in the Hive, or by using an Abeemination. She has three attack patterns: Queen Bee is not a terribly difficult fight at this stage in the game. Her attack is predictable and easy to dodge, and you can stand in the honey in the hive for a big healing boost (note the healing buff lasts for 30s even after leaving the honey.) It is probably wise to build a small platform of blocks in the hive for the fight so that you don't get stuck in the honey.
 * Charging horizontally
 * Shooting poisonous stingers while hovering and swooping
 * Hovering while shooting bees

The Dungeon
<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #576C89; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Dungeon

Monsters: Angry Bones, Cursed Skull, Dark Caster, Dungeon Slime, Blazing Wheel, Spike Ball

Monster Drops: Bone, Golden Key, Bone Wand, Clothier Voodoo Doll, Ancient Necro Helmet, Nazar

Notable Resources: Water Bolt, Water Candle, Switch, various Dungeon furniture

Chest Contents: Aqua Scepter, Blue Moon, Cobalt Shield, Handgun, Magic Missile, Muramasa, Shadow Key, Bone Welder

Recommended Weapons: Space Gun, Vilethorn, Jester's Arrows, Grenades, Molotov Cocktails, Spiky Balls

Recommended Armor: Shadow, Crimson, or Meteor

Recommended Equipment: Ivy Whip, Lucky Horseshoe, buff potions

Recommended Life: 20 hearts

The Dungeon can be found near the right or left edge of the map, always on the opposite side of the Jungle and the same side as the Snow biome. Note that attempting to enter the Dungeon before Skeletron is defeated will lead to an unpleasant surprise.

The Dungeon is arguably the hardest biome before hardmode. With its extremely high spawn rates, abundance of dangerous and invincible traps, and general inability to use terrain as cover, even experienced players can be overwhelmed. The key is to take your time and don't rush into a lethal situation. The Cobalt Shield, once you acquire it, can be quite helpful for preventing one hit knocking you into a deadly pit of monsters and spikes. If you find yourself overwhelmed by enemies, taking down every water candle you see will significantly reduce spawn rates (you may even want to use a Calming Potion.) Certain room geometries can lead to a continuous stream of enemies spawning, generally rooms with large sections offscreen and multiple hallways leading into them. In these cases, it may be wise to move on as quickly as possible.

Since most of the enemies in the Dungeon walk and don't fly, the Ivy Whip is invaluable to avoid enemies as well as traps. Sticky Bombs are helpful in disarming particularly obnoxious Spikes. Finally, the best weapons are obviously ones that can damage many enemies at once, eg the Space Gun, Vilethorn, Jester's Arrows, Grenades, Molotov Cocktails, Spiky Balls, etc.

The Underworld
<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #C24641; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: The Underworld

Monsters: Lava Slime, Hellbat, Fire Imp, Demon, Voodoo Demon, Bone Serpent

Monster Drops: Demon Scythe, Obsidian Rose, Guide Voodoo Doll, Plumber's Hat, Magma Stone

Notable Resources: Hellstone, Fireblossom, Hellforge, Demon Torch, various Obsidian furniture

Chest Contents: Dark Lance, Flower of Fire, Sunfury, Flamelash

Recommended Armor: Shadow, Crimson, Meteor, Jungle, or Necro

Recommended Equipment: Lava Waders or Lava Charm, Water Walking Potion, Obsidian Skin Potion, Obsidian Skull or other obsidian accessory, Night Owl Potion

Recommended Life: 17 hearts

The Underworld (aka Hell) is found at the bottom of the world. The best items pre-hardmode can be found in or crafted from items found in this biome. Shadow Chests found here can only be opened with the Shadow Key found in the Dungeon.

Hell is theoretically the hardest major biome in normal mode, and generally the last biome players explore pre-hardmode. In reality, by employing the appropriate strategies, the Underworld is not so difficult and it is even completely possible for a new character to adventure here.

The greatest danger working in Hell is, unsurprisingly, the wide expanses of molten lava. Fortunately, the game provides an array of tools to make working around lava safe and painless. The most important of these is probably the Water Walking Potion, which might well be called the Lava Walking potion as that is probably how it is used 99% of the time. Note that the water walking potion has an alarming tendency to still dunk you in lava pools from time to time, where you can seem to "slip" when walking onto the lava surface from blocks, which is why additional precautions should also be taken. The Lava Waders are the ultimate accessory in hell, although it can be difficult to find all the components, otherwise the Lava Charm is an invaluable aid. If you have neither of these accessories, Obsidian Skin Potions are a good alternative.

The other reason Hell is less dangerous than you might expect is that the primary economic activity in Hell is Hellstone mining, which has a surprisingly good safety record. Hellstone mining is quite time consuming and is the main reason to spend time in Hell. The first thing you'll need is an Obsidian Skull or other obsidian accessory to prevent Hellstone ore and bricks from burning you. There are many strategies to mine Hellstone, but perhaps the simplest and most straightforward is what might be called the low-hanging fruit method. Abundant deposits of Hellstone spawn next to the buried Ruined Houses, which act as preexisting mine shafts. Instead of going to significant effort to bury deep into the earth and construct lava channels, just nab the ones that spawn close to the walls and move on quickly to the next house. Monster spawn rates are low in the Ruined Houses, and the architecture and poor pathing AI prevent most of them from bothering you, except the Fire Imps and Bone Serpents which can penetrate blocks. You can block the Fire Imp shots like a Jedi with any weapon or projectile, including your swinging pickaxe, so even these are little more than annoying. As always, the Vilethorn is an MVP if you have one.

You can mine and pick up Hellstone up to 3 blocks away from your character, and Hellstone deposits are frequently around 3 blocks thick outside the houses. Remove the wall then mine the last two rows of Hellstone, leaving the row nearest you as a buffer for the lava. Then replace the wall and mine the last row and you need not worry about where the lava is going. In this way, even a small world should yield enough easily accessible Hellstone around the Ruined Houses to craft all the Hellstone items. For more Hellstone mining strategies, see Guide:Mining Techniques

One last note: if you kill a Voodoo Demon, you better be ready to get under that Voodoo Doll before it drops into the lava like Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots or you will be in for a nasty fight you're not prepared for. Should you accidentally awaken the Wall of Flesh, you might want to save and exit, as using a Magic Mirror will gib you.

=Activating Hardmode= Defeating the Wall of Flesh will activate hardmode. Once a world has entered hardmode, there is no way of going back to easymode. Hardmode is pretty self-descriptive: routine tasks in easymode can become difficult and time-consuming once there, and it is therefore wise to complete any tasks and preparations you can before entering hardmode.

Preparing For Hardmode
The following is a list of preparations you may wish to consider before summoning the Wall of Flesh:


 * Obtain maximum health and mana (if you have not already done so)


 * Craft Hellstone equipment. Hellstone equipment is the best equipment available in normal mode, although you may have reason to prefer Crimson Armor, Meteor Armor, Necro Armor, Jungle Armor, or Bee armor to Molten Armor. Night's Edge is the highest-tier sword.


 * Ensure you've obtained key normal mode accessories and items such as: Frostspark Boots, Lava Waders, Diving Gear, Frog Leg, Flying Carpet, Lucky Horseshoe, Obsidian Shield, Magic Cuffs, Feral Claws, Ivy Whip, Magic Mirror, and Mining armor. Many of these accessories can be combined at the Tinkerer's Workshop.


 * Ensure sufficient stock of potion ingredients. You may consider creating "farms" for certain ingredients. For more information on farming, see Guide:Gardening.


 * Identify Demon Altar or Crimson Altar locations. Most Demon Altars and Crimson Altars are found in the Corruption/Crimson, so explore each Corruption/Crimson biome in the world. You may need to dig tunnels to visible Altars. They need to be easily accessible when hardmode begins (further information in the Hardmode section.)


 * Consider creating quarantines. You may wish to contain the spread of the Corruption/Crimson, and Hallow biomes in Hardmode which will otherwise quickly overtake your world. There are a few reasons you might want to do this: these biomes are very hard when first entering hardmode, your base can be converted and NPC's will not live near Corruption/Crimson, there are some unique drops only available from "natural" biomes, and many fish, especially quest fish, can only be caught in "natural" biomes (at the least you may wish to take steps to quarantine fishing lakes.) You may particularly wish to protect the Jungle and Ocean biomes in their natural state.

Note that building quarantines can be painstaking and very time consuming, particularly on larger maps, and may be more trouble than it's worth. To make a long story short, hallow/corruption/crimson blocks can convert certain blocks up to 3 blocks away, therefore containing them requires digging trenches 3 blocks wide (eg a 3-block wide Hellevator or a horizontal tunnel as tall as your character.) Killing the Wall of Flesh will spawn two stripes of Hallow and Corruption/Crimson in a V from the top to the bottom of the world, so to do a full containment you would need to dig trenches around all the existing Corruption/Crimson, then once in hardmode around all the "V" from the surface to hell, and then you need to contain all the random Hallow/Corruption/Crimson that springs up when you break Altars. We are talking about a looooot of digging, even if it is made much faster with the new automining feature + Mining Armor + Mining Potion (back in the old days, we used to dig quarantines with our bare hands!)

For more information on building quarantines, read Guide: Containing the Hallow/Corruption.


 * Reforge weapons and accessories. You'll generally want +defense or damage/critical strike. Don't go overboard with this as all your equipment will quickly be replaced with WoF drops and hardmode gear anyway, plus you've yet to obtain the super-duper Discount Card. For more information about item prefixes, see Reforge.


 * Consider farming money. Some vendors sell new, very expensive items in hardmode and reforging Hardmode weapons is extremely expensive. For more information on farming money, see Guide:Making money.


 * Construct a surface Mushroom biome with a house for the Truffle NPC. The Truffle is an NPC who sells the Mushroom Spear, a very powerful weapon in hardmode. However, it can now only be purchased when you have defeated at least one hardmode boss. Note that a room of sufficient size in your base with mushroom blocks should qualify.

Wall of Flesh
<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #C97291; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Boss: Wall of Flesh

Life: 8000 (Eyes, Mouth), 320 (The Hungry), 60 (Leech)

Damage: 11-15 depending on health (Eye laser), 50 melee (Eyes, Mouth), 30-75 depending on health (The Hungry), 18-26 (Leech)

Defense: 12 (Mouth), 0 (Eyes), 10-40 depending on health (The Hungry), 2-10 (Leech)

Drops: Pwnhammer; Breaker Blade, Clockwork Assault Rifle, Laser Rifle, Warrior Emblem, Ranger Emblem, Sorcerer Emblem

Recommended Weapons: Minishark, Phoenix Blaster, Molten Fury w/ Hellfire Arrows, Grenades, Space Gun, Demon Scythe

Recommended Armor: Crimson, Necro, Meteor, Jungle, or Molten

Recommended Life: 20 hearts

The Wall of Flash (WoF) will be summoned when a Guide Voodoo Doll is dropped by you or a Voodoo Demon into the lava in the Underworld, which will kill the Guide. Note that it will not spawn if the Guide is not alive, if you are running WoF multiple times. Once the battle is started, you cannot run away or get behind WoF: if WoF catches up to you or you attempt to leave the Underworld, you will be grabbed by The Tongue and take serious damage. If you attempt to teleport away such as with a Magic Mirror, you will be gibbed instantly. You can save & exit to cancel the battle without dying.

WoF will spawn just outside of the screen in the direction closest to the end of the world and start moving slowly towards you, speeding up as its health decreases. WoF is preceded by a pack of The Hungry, which will try to attack the player and are attached to the WoF by veins. When they take enough damage, they will detach and fly and attack the player. WoF will also burp Leeches from its mouth which chase players. Both the flying Hungry and Leeches drop hearts when they die.

WoF has two eyes that shoot lasers and a mouth that share HP. These are the only 3 body parts that take damage, and as the eyes have zero defense, you should aim for them.

As usual for boss fights, attacking from distance is recommended. Because the pack of the Hungry can block shots at the eyes at the beginning of the fight, you may wish to begin by using AoE weapons such as grenades, hellfire arrows, or demon scythes to clear out the Hungry before switching to your main weapon.

You may wish to build an arena for this fight, consisting of a long, uninterrupted landbridge of 500 blocks or more. Although it is not necessary to beat WoF, there is no doubt it will make the fight significantly easier. You won't have to dodge terrain, the bridge will catch hearts and other drops, and it will typically block the lasers from the lower eye from hitting you, effectively halving the damage you take. If you intend to run WoF for all its drops, a landbridge is highly recommended. It will take 15 kills on average to get all 6 of WoF's drops. Subsequent runs become easier as you can use the WoF drops to make the fight go much faster. (Pro tip: if you make your landbridge out of mud and plant some mushroom seeds on it, you'll soon have a nice little glowing mushroom farm for zero additional effort. Using ash will yield fireblossoms and dirt will yield blinkroots.)

If you don't wish to build a landbridge, it is recommended to start the fight at the edge of the Underworld where it is flat and use a Water Walking Potion so you can walk on the lava almost like it is paved.

Once Wall of Flesh is defeated you will receive a message which says "The ancient spirits of light and dark have been released." You have now entered Hardmode.

=Hardmode=

Hardmode in a nutshell: same scenery, new stuff (this should be familiar for those who've played Diablo.) For complete details, read Hardmode. Summary of changes:
 * New biomes (Hallow & Underground Hallow, Underground Corruption or Crimson) that generate in a V shape (see picture) and quickly spread and convert your world
 * New hardmode enemies in existing biomes (alongside normal enemies), and bosses
 * New events
 * New items (including weapons, armor, and accessories)
 * New hardmode ores
 * New NPC’s

How Hallow/Corruption/Crimson Spread and How To Contain It (scroll down to “Consider Creating Quarantines”)

Smashing Altars
Setting foot in a hardmode world is much like being a babe in the Forest all over again. You’re inadequately equipped and almost everything is much better than you. To remedy that, once again, you will venture underground in search of ore to get some decent kit. But first, you’ll need to make a detour because none of that shiny new ore actually exists yet. You’ll have to whack a few Demon Altars or Crimson Altars with the Pwnhammer to make it. Every time you whack an Altar, ore will be generated in various places underground, spawning more densely at lower depths. The first altar destroyed will spawn Cobalt / Palladium. The second altar destroyed will spawn Mythril / Orichalcum. The third altar destroyed will spawn Adamantite / Titanium. The pattern will repeat with additional altars destroyed, spawning more Cobalt, then more Mythril, then more Adamantite. 12 Altars is a good number to aim for (you should try to ensure you smash a multiple of 3.)

Also note, however, that each altar destroyed may spawn a new block of Ebonstone/Crimstone, or Pearlstone somewhere in the world, causing the respective biomes to spread from another location.

The easiest place to find altars is in the Underground Corruption or Crimson biomes, at the bottom of chasms. You may notice that many often generate in a row: you may be able to even fill your quota in one go. Note that this is quite a dangerous activity. In addition to the challenging Underground Corruption/Crimson enemies you encounter, every time you smash an altar you will also generate 1-3 Wraiths. You may want to carefully dispatch them one at a time (note: they can float but can’t actually fly so hang from the ceiling), or perhaps go full Captain Kirk and smash them all at once and Magic Mirror out of there before your innards get rearranged.

On your way to smash altars, you may find yourself passing through some of these biomes:

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color:#4F5D80; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Night (Hardmode)

New Monsters: Possessed Armor, Wandering Eye, Wraith, Clown (Blood Moon), Werewolf (Full moon)

Recommended Equipment: Molten

Be cautious when exploring the surface at night. New, more powerful monsters come out at night. A player used to traveling at night may find it difficult to progress when they are out after dark.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #BAA854; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Desert (Hardmode)

New Monsters: Mummy (unconverted desert only), Dark Mummy (Corrupted/Crimson Desert) Light Mummy (Hallowed Desert)

Monster Drops: Dark Shard (Corrupt/Crimson Desert) or Light Shard (Hallowed Desert)

Recommended Equipment: Molten

Natural deserts typically don't last long in hardmode. When corrupted, crimsoned, or hallowed, they become very similar to their respective biomes. Hardmode deserts are the only places where the Mummy can be found.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #FFD7F8; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: The Hallow

Monsters: Pixie, Unicorn, Gastropod (night only)

Monster Drops: Pixie Dust, Unicorn Horn

Recommended Equipment: Molten

The Hallow spreads rapidly through the world, just like the Corruption. Be wary of the seemingly whimsical denizens of the Hallow. All of them are hostile, and are just as dangerous as their corrupted counterparts. Like with the evil biomes, players new to Hardmode should avoid staying in this biome for longer than necessary.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #635F89; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Corruption (Hardmode)

New Monsters: Corruptor, Slimer, Corrupt Slime

Recommended Equipment: Molten

Corruption now spreads through the world at a fast clip. Players that are new to Hardmode should move through this biome as quickly as possible. An undergeared player will be easily overwhelmed in this biome.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #9F1E1E; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Crimson (Hardmode)

New Monsters: Herpling, Crimslime, Blood Jelly

Monster Drops: Meat Grinder

Recommended Equipment: Molten

Crimson spreads identically to corruption, and is just as dangerous. Maybe even worse, since the Herpling, which has no corrupt counterpart exists. They are very fast, have a low hitbox, high health and defense, absurd attack power and are generally a pain to deal with, even mid-hardmode. Their only significant weakness, or rather, lack of strength, is rough terrain, as they will have difficulty reaching the high speeds they often use to surprise players. Extra caution is advised, especially in flat terrain.

Mining Hardmode Ores
Once enough ore has been spawned, the player should begin mining Cobalt/Palladium with a Molten Pickaxe. Mythril/Orichalcum and Adamantite/Titanium can not be mined with normal mode pickaxes. Proceed with extreme caution. The most difficult biomes in Hardmode are found underground. The player should bring a stock of Ironskin potions, Regeneration potions, and Spelunker potions to use as they mine. If the player created a hellevator in normal mode, they should use it to access the lower layers quickly. Hardmode ores are more abundant deeper underground.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color:#CC9966; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Underground (Hardmode)

New Monsters: Toxic Sludge, Digger, Possessed Armor (night)

Recommended Equipment: Molten, Molten Pickaxe

This previously trivial biome has had its difficulty increased significantly. Hardmode Ores are not very common in this layer. It is best to pass through to lower layers.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color:#CCCCCC; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Cavern (Hardmode)

New Monsters: Armored Skeleton, Skeleton Archer, Giant Bat, Digger, Angler Fish (water), Green Jellyfish (water)

Recommended Equipment: Molten, Molten Pickaxe

This biome is very dangerous, but it is less dangerous than the Underground Corruption and the Underground Hallow. It is for this reason that this biome is one of the ideal biomes for mining hardmode ores. Don't underestimate the monsters in this biome. All of the monsters in this biome are very strong; the Armored Skeleton's "Broken Armor" debuff is particularly lethal, even for an endgame character. Consider returning to town and talking to the Nurse if hit by the debuff. They sometimes drop Armor Polish, which prevents the debuff and will be very helpful later on.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #C9A5C3; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Underground Hallow

Monsters: Chaos Elemental, Illuminant Bat, Illuminant Slime, Enchanted Sword

Monster Drops: Soul of Light

Notable Resources: Crystal Shard

Recommended Equipment: Mythril or Palladium; Ironskin Potions and Regeneration Potions

This is one of the most difficult biomes in Terraria. It is recommended to mine elsewhere until Mythril Armor or better is obtained. Chaos Elementals and Enchanted Swords can easily reach the player, even when they are boxed in.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #5B4F66; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Underground Corruption

Monsters: Clinger, Corrupt Slime, Corruptor, Cursed Hammer, Devourer, Slimer, World Feeder

Monster Drops: Soul of Night, Cursed Flame

Recommended Equipment: Mythril or Palladium; Ironskin Potions and Regeneration Potions

As with the Underground Hallow, it is recommended that the player avoid this biome until they obtain Mythril Armor. The denizens of this biome will make mining extremely difficult for a player without hardmode armor.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #802C2D; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Underground Crimson

Monsters: Ichor Sticker, Floaty Gross, Blood Jelly, Blood Feeder, Crimson Axe

Monster Drops: Soul of Night, Ichor

Recommended Equipment: Mythril or Palladium; Ironskin Potions and Regeneration Potions

Like the underground Corruption and Hallow, the Crimson should be avoided early on in hardmode.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #2C49CB; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Underground Mushroom Biome

Monsters: Fungi Bulb, Anomura Fungus, Mushi Ladybug, Giant Fungi Bulb, Fungo Fish

Monster Drops: None

Recommended Equipment: Mythril or Palladium; Ironskin Potions and Regeneration Potions

The player can find Truffle Worms in this biome, which are used to summon Duke Fishron. The other monsters in the biome don't drop any special items. Their health is comparable to those of other underground biomes and their attacks, especially those of the Giant Fungi Bulb, can be very dangerous.

It can be very difficult to survive long enough in Hardmode biomes to mine enough ore. If the player finds they are having difficulty mining, they should consider looking for ores in the ceiling of the Underworld. This biome has the same mobs as it did pre-Hardmode, making it considerably safer than almost anywhere else in the world.

Aim to upgrade to a Cobalt Drill or Palladium Drill as quickly as possible. The Cobalt Drill and its counterpart can mine Mythril/Orichalcum. The first 100 Mythril/Orichalcum ore mined should be used to craft a Mythril Anvil and then a Mythril Drill (or their Orichalcum counterparts). The Mythril Drill can mine Adamantite/Titanium (as can the Palladium Drill on console, letting you get a head start if you had Palladium instead of Cobalt. However, the drill's power was reduced in 1.2.3., so this exploit no longer works on PC.). The first 30 Adamantite/Titanium ore mined should be used to create an Adamantite Forge or Titanium Forge. Upgrading to an Adamantite Drill or Titanium Drill isn't crucial, as it does not grant access to any new ores.

Be mindful when opening chests. A seemingly innocuous treasure chest may be a Mimic posing as a chest. Mimics will chase the player when they approach or when attacked. A good approach is to shoot any chests with a ranged weapon before opening them. This will cause any Mimics to break their ruse and attack. With this danger comes great reward, as Mimics can drop items that are incredibly useful in hardmode, such as the Cross Necklace.

Use any leftover ore to upgrade armor, then weapons, and the chainsaw last. Keep mining until enough Adamantite or Titanium is collected to craft a full set of armor, and any weapons or tools the player may want.

Collecting Souls
Collecting souls (and other miscellaneous items) is the last task the player should complete before fighting the mechanical bosses. There are three types of souls dropped by normal monsters: Soul of Light, Soul of Night, and Soul of Flight. Soul of Light can be obtained from any monster found in the Underground Hallow. Soul of Night can be obtained from any monster found in the Underground Corruption or Crimson. Soul of Flight can be obtained from Wyverns. The order in which the player obtains these souls does not matter. However, it can be advantageous to gather Souls of Flight first, as the Wings can be very useful when navigating the Underground Hallow or Underground Corruption.

Soul of Flight
Wyverns can be found at very high altitudes, at around the same level as Floating Islands. Look for Wyverns on Floating Islands, as it is much easier to fight them this way. Another popular method is to fight them in the air using Gravitation potions.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #EEEEEE; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Floating Island (Hardmode)

New Monsters: Wyvern

Monster Drops: Soul of Flight

Recommended Equipment: Adamantite, Piercing Weapons (Demon Scythe is particularly effective), Gravitation, Ironskin, Regeneration

The only hardmode addition to floating islands is the Wyvern enemy. These Wyverns are of interest because they drop Souls of Flight, which are required to craft wings.

Wyverns are very difficult to kill. They fly through the air using the same AI as worms, but they move much faster, do much more damage, and have a lot more life. They are very difficult to dodge and attack at the same time. Piercing weapons are very effective against the Wyvern, like with all segmented monsters.

Soul of Light
Souls of Light can be found by killing enemies in the Underground Hallow. Underworld Enemies spawned below the Underground Hallow will also drop Souls of Light. Keep a stock of Regeneration potions and Ironskin potions when exploring this biome. The easiest way to deal with hallowed enemies is to grapple to the ceiling and shoot at them with a ranged weapon. The opposite is true when dealing with Illuminant Bats. Drop to the ground and swing a melee weapon to deal with them. Try to gather crystal shards while looking for souls. Try to gather at least 50 souls, although more is better. If the Hallow in your world went through a Spider Nest, you can also farm the spiders, taking advantage of their fast spawn rate, for Souls of Light.

Soul of Night
Souls of Night can be found by killing enemies in the Underground Corruption and Crimson. Underworld Enemies will also drop Souls of Night if they spawn below the Underground Corruption or Crimson. Much of the same rules apply with this biome. Use Ironskin and Regeneration potions when exploring. Try not to stay in one place for too long in this biome. Clingers and Corruptors can both shoot projectiles, and World Feeders can easily attack a stationary player. Make use of the Rocket Boots and/or Wings to dodge projectiles and keep moving around. Gather at least 50 souls, more is better. Look for Cursed Flames or Ichor while gathering souls. Also, the spider nest farming method works well for Souls of Night too.

Miscellaneous Items
There are a few other important items not mentioned above.


 * Pixies from the surface Hallow will drop Pixie Dust, which is needed to make Greater Healing Potions, or combined with Unicorn Horns to make Holy Arrows.
 * Mummies from Corrupted Desert will drop Dark Shards; Mummies from Hallowed Desert will drop Light Shards. Collect these to craft the Dao of Pow.
 * Biome Key Molds have an extremely rare chance to drop from enemies in the five main biomes (Hallow, Corruption, Crimson, Jungle, and Snow). These allow you to craft keys to open the Biome Chests in the Dungeon, which contain extremely powerful items.
 * Mimics can appear in just about any biome. Look for Mimics using Hunter Potions. Hunt for mimics until one drops a Philosopher's Stone.

=The Three Mechanical Bosses=

Once you have a stockpile of the various hardmode resources, it's time to begin preparing to defeat the first three hardmode bosses. Each must be summoned with an item that can be crafted or dropped by enemies. It's also possible for one to spawn on its own at sunset, though the player will probably not be able to defeat it unless they are well prepared.

Recommended Equipment for Mechanical Bosses
Following is a list of equipment recommendations for use against the mechanical bosses. This is not an exhaustive list; other items may prove to be effective. This list assumes no Hardmode bosses have been defeated yet:

Ranged Characters
Recommended Weapons: Adamantite or Titanium Repeater or Clockwork Assault Rifle or Uzi

Recommended Armor: Titanium armor with Titanium Helmet, Adamantite Armor with Adamantite Mask

Recommended Accessories: Frostspark Boots, Wings, Ranger Emblem, Obsidian Shield, Star Veil Charm of Myths; all with Defense (highly recommended) or Damage enhancing prefixes

Recommended Buffs: Ironskin Potion, Regeneration Potion, Shine Potion, Swiftness Potion, Bowl of Soup, Archery Potion (with Adamantite or Titanium Repeater)

Magic Characters
Recommended Weapons: Laser Rifle, Flamelash, or Crystal Storm/Golden Shower. (Golden Shower works extremely well against the Destroyer when you aim along the arc of the Destroyer.) Also, the Crystal Storm, being the mana Megashark of the game, works very well against all hardmode bosses.

Recommended Armor: Titanium armor with Titanium Headgear, Adamantite Armor with Adamantite Headgear

Recommended Accessories: Frostspark Boots, Wings, Mana Flower, Celestial Cuffs, Star Veil, Obsidian Shield, Charm of Myths; all with Defense (highly recommended) or Damage enhancing prefixes

Recommended Buffs: Ironskin Potion, Regeneration Potion, Shine Potion, Swiftness Potion, Mana Regeneration Potion, Magic Power Potion, Bowl of Soup, Crystal Ball

Melee Characters
Recommended Weapons: Dao of Pow, Titanium Sword, Beam Sword, Frostbrand or Titanium Trident, or Mushroom Spear, Flamarang, Bananarang

Recommended Armor: Titanium armor with Titanium Mask, Adamantite Armor with Adamantite Helmet

Recommended Accessories: Frostspark Boots, Wings, Warrior Emblem, Star Veil, Obsidian Shield, Charm of Myths; all with Defense (highly recommended) or Damage enhancing prefixes

Recommended Buffs: Ironskin Potion, Regeneration Potion, Shine Potion, Swiftness Potion, Bowl of Soup, Ale

Summoning Characters
Recommended Weapons: Spider Staff, Queen Spider Staff, Imp Staff

Recommended Armor: Spider armor

Recommended Accessories: Panic Necklace, Wings, Avenger Emblem, Star Veil, Obsidian Shield, Frostspark Boots, Charm of Myths; all with Defense (highly recommended) or Damage enhancing prefixes

Recommended Buffs: Ironskin Potion, Regeneration Potion, Shine Potion, Swiftness Potion, Bowl of Soup, Ale, Summoning Potion,Healing Potion

Building a Hardmode Arena
Proper terrain preparation is almost completely essential to successfully defeat all three mechanical bosses. Players who intend to solo the hardmode bosses will find the task very challenging without an adequate arena.

For solo players, build a very long bridge out of wood platforms. The bridge should be at least 1000 platforms long, but 2500 is recommended. Build the bridge a large distance from the ground; the ground should not be visible from any part of the bridge. Place blocks at each end of the bridge to prevent running off of the sides.

For team players, the arena can be much shorter. A team arena can be between 250-500 platforms long, but should also have 2-3 separate rows. Space the rows so they are not too close together, but are reachable with rocket boots.

Consider setting up Heart Statues and Star Statues on 1 Second Timers, as well as Heart Lanterns, Campfires, and pools of Honey as these can make the battles much easier.

Fighting the Mechanical Bosses
The Destroyer is arguably the easiest of the three bosses, and should be fought first. The Destroyer has a chance of spawning naturally at sunset with the message "You feel vibrations deep below..." It can also be summoned by using a Mechanical Worm at night. Fight The Destroyer first if you prefer melee, as its souls can be used to craft Light Discs.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #CECECE; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Boss: The Destroyer

Life: 80000

Defense: 0 (Head), 30 (Body), 35 (Tail)

Damage: 60 (Head), 40 (Body), 20 (Tail), 22 (Death Laser)

Minions: Probes

Drops: 20-44 Hallowed Bar, 20-40 Soul of Might, 5-15 Greater Healing Potion

Recommended Equipment: See above section "Recommended Equipment for Hardmode Bosses"

The Destroyer is the hardmode version of Eater of Worlds. The Destroyer uses worm AI, burrowing into the ground and making long sweeping passes at the player. The Destroyer is much longer than the Eater of Worlds, and moves much faster. Unlike the Eater of Worlds, the Destroyer does not break into segments. The Destroyer's segments all have a shared life of 80000. All of its segments will be destroyed when this this life reaches 0. The Destroyer will release Probes as it takes damage. Probes will drop hearts when killed. If the Destroyer is not defeated before the sun rises, it will run away.

Piercing weapons and AoE weapons are particularly effective against this boss. The Destroyer will frequently try to trap you with its body. Use the grappling hook to get out of these situations. The Destroyer's drops come from its head when it is killed. When its health is very low, wait until the head is visible before finishing it off.

As of 1.2, hallowed equipment (except for the Drax/Pickaxe Axe, which is necessary for progression) doesn't require boss souls, only Hallowed Bars, which you can farm up from the Destroyer. This means that the next 2 hardmode bosses can be easily skipped - especially considering that the Flamethrower and Magical Harp are seemingly underpowered compared to something like Death Sickle. Rainbow Rod is useful, though.

The next 2 bosses are roughly the same at the level of difficulty, so you it's up to you to decide who to fight now. Skeletron Prime is recommended for the ranged player, as you can make a Flamethrower.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #CECECE; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Boss: Skeletron Prime

Life: 25000 (Head), 6000 (Cannon), 8000 (Saw), 8000 (Vice), 5000 (Laser)

Defense: 25 (Head), 50 (Head, while spinning), 25 (Cannon), 40 (Saw), 35 (Vice), 20 (Laser)

Damage (Melee): 50 (Head), 100 (Head, while spinning), 30 (Cannon), 52 (Saw), 45 (Vice), 29 (Laser)

Damage (Grenade): 40

Damage (Laser): 25

Drops: 19-35 Hallowed Bar, 20-40 Soul of Fright, 5-15 Greater Healing Potions

Recommended Equipment: See above section "Recommended Equipment for Hardmode Bosses"

Skeletron Prime is the hardmode version of Skeletron. Skeletron Prime behaves very similarly to its predecessor. It alternates between attacking with its various appendages and using a deadly spinning attack with its head. Skeletron Prime has very high life and can take a long time to kill. If Skeletron Prime is not defeated before the sun rises, it will use an attack that instantly kills the player on touch.

The damage from all of its arms can add up quickly. Try to destroy the arms before focusing on the head. The Prime Saw and Prime Vice are very difficult to avoid and should be destroyed first. The Prime Laser is only a medium threat and should be killed after the Vice and Saw. The Prime Cannon can be ignored. There are two methods to avoiding Skeletron Prime's attacks. The first is to use the maximum speed of Hermes Boots to stay out of reach (Prime Saw will always be able to keep up), combined with well-timed jumps to throw off the aim of Skeletron Prime's spinning head attack. The second method is to use Gravitation potions for a similar effect, though it can be harder to dodge some of Skeletron Prime's attacks this way.

The last of the three mechanical bosses are the Twins. This boss is the hardest of the three for most players, and should be defeated last. The Twins have a chance of spawning at sunset with the message "This is going to be a terrible night..." They can also be summoned by using a Mechanical Eye at night. The Twins are recommended for magic and summoning players, as the Rainbow Rod, Magical Harp, and Optic Staff are very good weapons

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #CECECE; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Boss: The Twins

Retinazer

Life: 20000

Defense: 10 (First Stage), 25 (Second Stage)

Damage (Melee): 50 (First Stage), 75 (Second Stage)

Damage (Laser): 20 (First Stage), 25 (Second Stage), 20 (Second Stage, Rapid Fire)

Spazmatism

Life: 20000

Defense: 10 (First Stage), 35 (Second stage)

Damage (Melee): 50 (First Stage), 75 (Second Stage)

Damage (Cursed Flame): 25 (First Stage), 30 (Second Stage)

Drops: 20-35 (Hallowed Bar), 20-40 Soul of Sight, 5-15 Greater Healing Potion (Drops from last boss to be killed)

Recommended Equipment: See above section "Recommended Equipment for Hardmode Bosses"

The Twins are the hardmode version of Eye of Cthulhu. Both Twins will alternate between their signature attack (Laser for Retinazer, Cursed flame for Spazmatism), and charging at the player. The two choose attacks independently of the other. There will be times when one uses their signature while the other charges, when they both use their signature, and when they both charge. When a Twin gets down to half health (12000 hp), it will transform into a more powerful second stage. They will gain a rapid-fire version of their signature attack and a much more damaging melee attack. The first Twin killed will not yield any drops. When the second Twin is killed, the listed drops will appear where it was killed. The eyes can be killed in any order. If the Twins are not defeated before the sun rises, they will run away.

Each twin is much more dangerous in its second stage. Focus on one Twin at a time, and only move on to the second Twin when the first is destroyed. Retinazer's stage one signature is less dangerous, so kill Spazmatism first. The Twins have a charging attack that is extremely difficult to dodge. This charging attack will cripple a player if they can't consistently dodge it. There are two methods to dodging the attacks, like with Skeletron Prime. The first method is to reach max running speed with Hermes Boots and use timed jumps to throw off the trajectory of the charge. Jump just as a Twin is about to start a charge, while maintaining run speed. This will cause the charging Twin to charge too high, and then overcorrect as they try to charge again. The second method is to use Gravitation Potions and constantly fall - they won't be able to catch up to you. If a Twin is off screen too long, it will despawn like any other enemy. This can be used to make Spazmatism despawn and simplify the fight greatly.

=Return to the Underground Jungle=

Once any mechanical boss has been defeated, new challenges unlock, and the player gains access to new materials to work with, starting with the souls and bars dropped by the boss. Hallowed Bars can be used to craft Hallowed Armor and several melee weapons, but most importantly the Drax or Pickaxe Axe which will be used to harvest the next tier of ore. The new souls (Might, Fright, and Sight) are used to craft 2-3 new weapons and tools each.

Once any mechanical boss is defeated, changes are made to the Underworld and the Underground Jungle, and a new event has a chance of occuring.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #CECECE; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Event: Pirate Invasion

Monsters: Pirate Deckhand, Pirate Deadeye, Pirate Corsair, Pirate Crossbower, Pirate Captain, Parrot

Monster Drops: Coin Gun, Lucky Coin, Discount Card, Cutlass, golden furniture, sailor outfit

Recommended Armor: Hallowed Armor

Recommended Weaponry: Death Sickle, Chlorophyte Saber, Chlorophyte Partisan, Optic Staff, Golden Shower, Uzi, Megashark

It can occur after certain conditions are met, or alternatively, when the player uses a Pirate Map.

When a Pirate Invasion spawns or is summoned using a Pirate Map, a message will appear saying "Pirates are approaching from the (East/West)!" When the Pirates' initial wave reaches the spawn, their arrival is announced with "The Pirates have arrived!" See Pirate Invasion for more info and tips.

The Solar Eclipse is a very rare event and one recommended for melee characters. You may need to do many before obtaining every item.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #CECECE; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Event: Solar Eclipse

Monsters: Frankenstein, Swamp Thing, Reaper, Vampire, Eyezor

Monster Drops: Death Sickle, Moon Stone, Broken Hero Sword, Broken Bat Wing, Eye Spring

Recommended Equipment: Hallowed or Chlorophyte

Solar eclipses occur randomly at dawn and last throughout the day, much like the Blood Moon. The enemies here are extremely dangerous and it may require gear from the hardmode jungle and dungeon to efficiently farm them. The Death Sickle is good for melee characters for high DPS and piercing ability. Sword users should also take special note of the Broken Hero Sword that rarely drops -- one can create the True Excalibur or True Night's Edge, while three are required for the Terra Blade.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #C24641; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: The Underworld (Hardmode)

New Monsters: Lava Bat, Red Devil

Monster Drops: Magma Stone, Unholy Trident, Fire Feather

Recommended Equipment: Hallowed

Two new enemies now spawn in the Underworld. Lava Bats are simply a stronger version of the Hellbat. Red Devils are the real danger, being able to deal over 100 damage with their trident attack. It's recommended that the player does anything they need to do in the Underworld (such as farming the Wall of Flesh for its special drops) before defeating mechanical bosses; otherwise, doing anything here may become much harder.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #A0C544; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Underground Jungle (Hardmode)

New Monsters: Moth, Moss Hornet, Angry Trapper, Arapaima, Giant Tortoise

Monster Drops: Uzi, Bezoar, Turtle Shell, Butterfly Dust, Tattered Bee Wing

Notable Resources: Chlorophyte Ore, Life Fruit

Recommended Equipment: Hallowed

Now that one or more of the mechanical bosses have been defeated, chlorophyte ore spawns throughout the underground jungle, and life hearts can occasionally be found growing amongst the foliage. Harvesting these two items should be top priority. Life fruits increase the player's health by 5, up to a maximum of 500, and chlorophyte can be crafted into weapons and armor a step above hallowed equipment.

Players using melee or ranged weapons can make even better armor by acquiring an additional material. Creating a house in the glowing mushroom biome will spawn the Truffle NPC, who sells the autohammer. The autohammer turns chlorophyte bars into shroomite bars, which are used to create Shroomite armor, the best armor in the game for ranged attackers. Giant Tortoise drop Turtle Shell, which when combined with Chlorophyte Bars make Turtle armor, a powerful melee armor set.

Plantera
Also found in the underground jungle is a mysterious purple bulb. Destroying this bulb with a drill or pickaxe summons the boss Plantera.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #E694D6; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Boss: Plantera

Life: 30000

Defense: 14

Damage: 50

Drops: Temple Key, Grenade Launcher, Pygmy Staff, Venus Magnum, Nettle Burst, Leaf Blower, Flower Pow, Wasp Gun, Seedling, The Axe

Recommended Equipment: Chlorophyte or Turtle; piercing weapons

Plantera is one of the easier bosses if you have an arena. Simply bomb out a large cave and put a short wall in the middle of the cave. Put platforms below the wall so that you have a place to grapple to, and summon Plantera. Run around the wall you built and you should be fine.

Upon defeating Plantera, the message "Screams are echoing from the dungeon..." appears, and powerful new enemies are added to the dungeon. The boss also drops the Temple Key, which is used to open the Jungle Temple.

Lihzahrd Temple
<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #B87333; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Lihzahrd Temple

Monsters: Lihzahrd (NPC) Flying Snake, Golem

Monster Drops: Lihzahrd Power Cell, Lizard Egg

Recommended Equipment: Chlorophyte, Turtle, or Shroomite

After defeating Plantera, you will pick up a Temple Key that is used to unlock the door to the Lihzahrd (also known as the Jungle Temple). It is small compared to the normal dungeon, but it contains far more traps.

Golem
At the bottom of the Lihzahrd there is a boss room with a lihzahrd altar. Using a lihzahrd power cell on it summons the Golem.

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #CC6516; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Boss: Golem

Life: 15000 (Head), 8000 (Body), 6000 (Fist)

Defense: 24

Damage: 70

Drops: Stynger, Stynger Bolt, Possessed Hatchet, Sun Stone, Eye of the Golem, Picksaw, Heat Ray, Staff of Earth, Golem Fist, Golem Trophy, Beetle Husk

Recommended Equipment: Chlorophyte, Turtle, or Shroomite and post-Plantera weapons

The Golem drops the Picksaw, which enables the player to mine Lihzahrd Brick. The Stynger is a very effective explosive weapon. Possessed Hatchet and Golem Fist are melee weapons with considerable range. Beetle Husk can make the best form of melee armor. Heat Ray and Staff of Earth are efficient in the Hardmode Dungeon, where you should go next. The bonuses of the Sun Stone and Eye of the Golem will help as well.

=Return to the Dungeon=

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #576C89; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Biome: Dungeon (Hardmode)

New Monsters: Rusty Armored Bones, Blue Armored Bones, Bone Lee, Paladin, Tactical Skeleton, Dungeon Spirit, Skeleton Commando, Necromancer, Giant Cursed Skull, Diabolist, Ragged Caster, Skeleton Sniper

Monster Drops: Shadowbeam Staff, Keybrand, Ectoplasm, Sniper Rifle, Rifle Scope, Tactical Shotgun, Paladin's Shield, Paladin's Hammer, Wisp in a Bottle, Magnet Sphere, Tabi, Black Belt, Spectre Staff, Inferno Fork

Recommended Equipment: Hallowed, Chlorophyte, Shroomite, Turtle, Beetle

After defeating Plantera, the dungeon's difficulty increases dramatically. There are stronger enemies and new drops from each. Also note that the dungeon has 5 biome-related chests. To unlock each one, you may need to defeat many of the respective biome's enemies to get a key mold, which is used to craft the key to unlock the chest. Dungeon Spirits, which may spawn after the player kills enemies in the dungeon, drop Ectoplasm, which is used to craft Spectre armour, an endgame armour for mages.

=Duke Fishron=

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #30F8AB; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Boss: Duke Fishron

Life: 50000

Defense: 50

Damage: 100 (melee)

Drops: Flairon, Tsunami, Razorblade Typhoon, Tempest Staff, Bubble Gun, Fishron Wings

Recommended Melee Equipment: Turtle or Beetle armor, and Vampire Knives

Recommended Ranged Equipment: Shroomite armor and Stynger

Recommended Magic Equipment: Spectre armor (Hood), Bat Scepter, Golden Shower (maybe); Celestial Cuffs, Sorcerer Emblem or Celestial Stone; Magic Power Potion, Mana Regeneration Potion, Crystal Ball

Recommended Accessories (all classes): Hoverboard, Frostspark Boots, Destroyer Emblem

Recommended Buff Potions (all classes): Ironskin, Regeneration, Swiftness, Thorns, Water Walking, Well Fed, Wrath, Rage, Lifeforce, Endurance, Summoning, Gravitation (optional)

Duke Fishron is the hardest boss in the game (by a large margin), as of 1.2.4.1. Just summoning the Duke is a significant challenge in itself, as you will need to capture the wily and elusive Truffle Worm. The spawn rates in naturally occurring Underground Mushroom biomes are low, and if you intend on getting the Fishron Wings (1/15 chance), as well as all his drops, you’ll need to defeat him on average 15 times. Add in a few more for the times you die and because the RNG hates you, and you could easily be looking at 20-25 truffle worms needed. Trying to net that many manually, even with the help of a Clentaminator & Blue Solution, is tedious and frankly boring. Your best bet is to build a Truffle Worm farm, for which you can find a guide here.

Once you’ve collected sufficient Truffle Worms, you should select your class. Melee, ranged, and magic are all viable options. Ironically, the Ranger, which has up till now been a mainstay of boss fights, is probably the worst option. Although the Ranger is still great at dealing high dps, the lack of a self-healing attack, unlike the other two, also makes this the most dangerous approach, and with the Duke’s extremely high damage, leaves you very little margin for error. With the Ranger, one mistake and you’re dead. Melee using Vampire Knives is the second option, which is relatively safe. And despite Spectre Armor (Hood) getting its damage nerfed by 40%, and mana potions nerfed a further 25%, the Magic approach is probably still the best one (which goes to show how overpowered it was.)

Unlike most boss fights, an arena is of little help. Duke Fishron seems to have been designed with the intention of being farm-proof (he’s not), and if you sit still or linger in the same area, he can literally take you from a full 600hp to zero in two seconds flat in his second stage, whereas if you keep moving and keep your distance, you shouldn’t take very much damage.

Once you’re ready to fight the Duke, summon him by fishing in the Ocean using a Truffle Worm as bait. From there, the best strategy is to just continually run away while firing until he’s dead. Don’t stop moving, don’t stand still at any time or you’ll die. In theory it’s best to use a Gravitation Potion for maximum mobility: in reality you may actually have very little experience using Gravitation Potions, they can be disorienting, you can run into floating islands, mountains, or worst, lakes (which will kill you), and you can’t fly too high or you will float and it will be very difficult to dodge (which will kill you.) With wings and frostspark boots, you’re very mobile on the ground too and both approaches are viable, so go with what you’re most comfortable with.

Although Duke Fishron is a very difficult boss, he’s probably still easier than the moon invasions and it’s probably best to beat him before taking on the Moons. If you’re running him multiple times, once you’ve acquired his weapons the fight will be somewhat easier.

For more strategies to defeat The Duke, see Guide:Duke Fishron strategies

=The Pumpkin Moon=

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #E6802C; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Event: Pumpkin Moon

Monsters: Scarecrow, Splinterling, Hellhound, Poltergeist, Mourning Wood, Headless Horseman, Pumpking

Monster Drops: Scarecrow costume, Spooky Wood, Cursed Sapling, Spooky Twig, Spooky Hook, Necromantic Scroll, Stake Launcher, Mourning Wood Trophy, Jack 'O Lantern Mask, The Horseman's Blade, Pumpking Trophy, Candy Corn Rifle, Raven Staff, Jack 'O Lantern Launcher, Bat Scepter, Black Fairy Dust, Spider Egg

Recommended Equipment: Chlorophyte, Turtle, Spectre, or Shroomite

The Pumpkin Moon is summoned at night using the Pumpkin Moon Medallion. Unlike the Blood Moon and Solar Eclipse, enemies appear in up to 15 consecutive waves, similar to an invasion. During this event, the moon turns orange with a jack 'o lantern face.

=The Frost Moon=

<div style="width: 600px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:3px; background-color: #DBE9F6; padding: 1em 1em; font-size: 100%; border: 1px outset #717D7D; border-bottom:2px outset #717D7D; border-right:2px outset #717D7D; -moz-border-radius: 15px;"> Event: Frost Moon

Monsters: Present Mimic, Flocko, GingerBread, Zombie Elf, Elf Archer, Nutcracker, Yeti, Elf Copter, Everscream, Krampus, Ice Queen, Santa-NK1

Monster Drops: Christmas Tree Sword, Festive Wings, Razorpine, Christmas Hook, Everscream Trophy, Blizzard Staff, North Pole, Ice Queen Trophy, Snowman Cannon, Baby Grinch Mischief's Whistle, Reindeer Bells, Elf Melter, Chain Gun, Santa-NK1 Trophy

Recommended Equipment: Chlorophyte, Turtle, Spectre, or Shroomite

The Frost Moon is summoned at night using the Naughty Present. It is the most difficult event in the game, as it is meant for endgame players. Like the Pumpkin Moon, enemies appear in 15 standard waves as well as 5 extra bonus waves. During this event, the moon changes color to look like the face of a snowman.

=The Post-Game=

After defeating the moon invasions and acquiring all their drops, the player is free to do anything. You could try designing an ultimate castle or PvP with other top-tier players, or even overcome incredibly difficult challenges (eg Frost Moon wave 15+ with Ranger, no arena.) The only end is the player's imagination! (Until the 1.3 update.)

Some things you might try:
 * Reach top tier in Fishing and acquire the Hotline Fishing Hook
 * Beat multiple Bosses at once
 * Defeat the Dungeon Guardian
 * Play on an online server
 * Explore player-made custom maps and content
 * Make your own theme park using minecarts
 * Experiment with the extremely elaborate combinations possible with wiring and teleporters, such as making your own in-game computer(!)
 * Try to complete the game as different Classes
 * Do a hardcore playthrough
 * Do speed runs
 * Acquire all the best weapons and tools
 * Collect every single Trophy and Banner
 * Seek out the rarest items in the game, such as the Nymph Banner and The Axe
 * Find bugs so developers can fix them
 * Become a wiki contributor!