Moon Lord


 * "Impending doom approaches..."

The Moon Lord is a Hardmode, post-Golem boss summoned by defeating all four Celestial Towers from the Lunar Events or using a Celestial Sigil. In either case, it will spawn after about one minute. The Moon Lord serves as Terraria's "final boss".

If all players die during the Moon Lord encounter, the Moon Lord despawns. It can be re-summoned by completing the Lunar Events again (initiated by again defeating the Cultists at the Dungeon's entrance, then defeating the Lunatic Cultist again), or by using a Celestial Sigil.

The Moon Lord has two hands and a head that must be killed before its "core" becomes available for attack. Each hand, as well as its head, contain a vulnerable eye-like target area that are each periodically closed off and opened via an eyelid. These may only be damaged during their "open" states. Once these parts and then its core are killed, the boss is defeated.

During the fight, the Moon Lord positions its two hands on either side of the player some distance away. Its mouth periodically attaches a tentacle to the player. Tentacle spawns multiple Moon Leech Clot, essence-like monsters that go to the lord's mouth. If not killed by the time they reach the mouth, one of the Moon Lord's "living" parts is healed for 1000 health for each of them. This tentacle will also inflict the Moon Bite debuff, preventing any healing from weapons/armor like Vampire Knives or Spectre Armor for 14 seconds and 16 seconds in Expert mode.

Achievement
Champion of Terraria is the achievement you earn for defeating the Moon Lord for the first time.

Tips

 * The Moon Bite debuff, which prevents regenerative abilities, is reliant on a tentacle making contact with the player. It is possible to move outside of its maximum range, avoiding the debuff and allowing effects to once again heal the player. One such method is by using asphalt. Another one, if you have beaten all the Mechanical Bosses in expert mode, is to make a huge minecart track with bumper ends and use the Mechanical Cart. The bumper ends makes it easier to turn when the track ends, making it even harder to be reached by his tentacle.
 * It is best to start by damaging the two hands until they are both at very low health. Next, kill the head. As soon as you kill the head, kill the two near-death hands. This will cause the eyes to come out of the hands at the second half of the fight, increasing your survivability during the first half.
 * If all players are killed during the battle, the entire event can be repeated to spawn him again, however a Celestial Sigil can be crafted to summon him without going through the event again.
 * Since the hands will begin to start dealing melee damage after they are defeated, running away on an asphalt sky bridge will become an issue if not properly prepared to dodge the hands.
 * It is possible to avoid the laser beam that the first-stage Moon Lord fires at you using the Cosmic Car Key mount by staying close to where the laser beam is fired from (as opposed to farther away from where the laser is fired from), and flying over the Moon Lord's head.
 * Another strategy to avoiding the Moon Lord's laser is to use the Rod of Discord to teleport behind the laser as it is firing, freeing up a lot of time while it is firing elsewhere to attack the head.
 * The Cosmic Car Key, depending on which direction you are traveling at the same time as Moon Lord, may not gain enough velocity to outrun his own when he starts to rise. Rely upon Solar Wings or Fishron Wings instead, as they gain a massive bonus to upwards speed, especially if the laser is very close behind you.
 * An accessory that allows you to dash, such as the Master Ninja Gear, is very useful for keeping distance from the Moon Lord and avoiding the True Eye of Cthulhu laser.
 * A large portion of the Moon Lord's attacks, including the laser he emits from his head, are incapable of passing through walls. Consider seeking cover to avoid these attacks during the fight.
 * Having the Nurse nearby to constantly restore your health greatly increases your chances of beating the Moon Lord.
 * It is not wise to use Vampire Knives or the Spectre Hood as the Moon Bite debuff occurs very often, which disables life steal from these weapons/items.
 * Consider using an actuator roof with a lever attached to it, as the Phantasmal Deathray cannot travel through blocks. Turn on the roof whenever the Moon Lord is using his Phantasmal Deathray.

Trivia

 * Despite a mid-development comment by Cenx that this would not be the case, the Moon Lord resembles common depictions of Cthulhu, a creature first imagined by H. P. Lovecraft in his story, The Call of Cthulhu. This is partially a nod to broad fan speculation prior to the release of 1.3 that Cthulhu would be the final Terraria boss. This speculation arose in part due to an early concept design floated by the development team. Cenx later stated that the Moon Lord actually represents Cthulhu's brother.
 * The Moon Lord's design may have been inspired partially by Chandrashekara ("Moon-Crowned Lord"), one of the names of Shiva, god of Destruction, in Hindu mythology. Chandrashekara is often depicted as having three eyes, with one vertically on the forehead.
 * Terraria's final boss was originally going to be the Moon itself descending on the world, but Cenx later stated that this idea had been abandoned in favor of a new, unknown concept proposed by Crowno. The new concept was presumably the Lunar Events and the Moon Lord.
 * With a combined health of 145,000 (217,500 in expert mode), the Moon Lord has the most health of any boss in the game. It is also the largest enemy in Terraria; one of very few that deal no melee damage on contact (aside from the hands during the second phase); the only enemy that goes behind background walls; and one of the two enemies with a special animation when they die, the other one being the Flying Dutchman.
 * When the Moon Lord is present, both the foreground and the background become very dark. Despite this, the Moon Lord is still fully visible.
 * After destroying the fourth pillar, but before the Moon Lord spawns, whatever music is playing starts to fade out, stopping completely a few seconds before he spawns.

Bugs

 * Sometimes it just says your name instead of your name and what you were killed by.

History
Лунный Повелитель Seigneur de la Lune 달의 군주 Moon Lord