Guide:Lunatic Cultist strategies

The Lunatic Cultist is a post-Golem boss. Defeating him will summon the Celestial Towers. Though he is a very small boss and has less health than Golem and Duke Fishron (as well as Plantera in expert mode), do not underestimate him, as he makes up for the relatively low health with very powerful attacks that are hard to dodge.

Summoning
He spawns after the 4 other Cultists are slain. The Lunatic Cultist will be invincible when he first spawns. After he moves away from his spawn point, you can begin to deal damage to him.

Attack Pattern
After moving away from his spawn point, the Lunatic Cultist will begin to cycle through three attacks: Once the Lunatic Cultist is damaged enough, he adds a fourth attack, which summons in two spreads of five destroyable Ancient Light projectiles. In Expert Mode, the Cultist may also spawn Ancient Dooms that fire purple projectiles in a cross shape.
 * A rotating ball of ice that fires six shards at equal intervals before disappearing
 * Three homing fireballs that explode on impact
 * A stationary orb similar to the Magnet Sphere that summons streaks of lightning in a straight line

After performing 4 to 5 of his attacks, the Cultist will spawn in duplicates of himself that remain stationary. If one of these duplicates are damaged (or after a certain amount of time without damaging any one of them), a Phantasm Dragon will spawn, or an Ancient Vision if a Phantasm Dragon is already present. If the actual Lunatic Cultist is damaged, neither of these two powerful minions will spawn in. The amount of duplicates the Lunatic Cultist spawns in increases, the more clones you hit. It is recommended to fight the Cultist at night, as the fake cultists will glow.

Side Note: Moving in circles around him with the UFO mount can allow you to dodge his attacks for the most part.

Terrain Preparation
A basic arena with some rows of platforms will suffice. If the player made an arena for Skeletron, they can reuse it here.

Gearing up
While the Cultist himself doesn't require as much preparation as Plantera or Duke Fishron, killing him will start the Celestial Event, so it is better to fight with the best gear available.

Armor
For Melee users, the Beetle armor is the best available. Due to the Cultist's overall low base damage, the Beetle Shell's higher defense isn't very useful here, so the Beetle Mail is preferred to end the fight earlier.

Ranged users will want to use the Shroomite armor with the helmet that fits their weapon of choice.

The best choice for Magic users is Spectre armor with the Mask equipped, occasionally switching to the Hood when low on health.

Summoners should summon their minions with Spooky armor, and then switch to Tiki armor for an extra, although weaker minion and some better defense.

Weapons
For Melee users:
 * is a very strong choice with its homing, high damaging projectiles.
 * The is an even stronger choice with its higher DPS. The   is a weaker alternative.
 * , deals high damage and will help with taking out the Lunatic Cultist and the Phantasm Dragon he summons.
 * Also, you can use, due to their healing effect. But due to the low damage output, a different weapon should be used when not at low health.
 * has high damage and low use time, as well as homing projectiles.

For Ranged users:
 * It is highly recommended to use the with  as it will track/follow the Lunatic Cultist and is a good weapon to fight the Lunar Pillars' minions when you have killed the Lunatic Cultist. Also it should be noted that, because the Lunatic Cultist stays stationary when summoning duplicates, the  can be used in this situation to deal some extra damage before switching back to the Chain Gun.
 * For rocket class rangers, use the, as its projectiles will also home in on the Cultist. It is very useful in taking out the Phantasm Dragon in a few short seconds, because the rockets do splash damage and will hit multiple segments of the Dragon at the same time.
 * For arrow class rangers, the bow or the  with  are very recommended.
 * Using the will help as it deals continuous damage to the Cultist and prevents him from summoning minions.

For Magic users:
 * The is always a strong weapon.
 * The has extremely high DPS when up close. The,  or the  are weaker, but more accurate alternatives.
 * will does a lot of damage, and can be used in combination with other weapons.
 * The, and the should be used with caution, as their stationary attacks could accidentally damage a duplicate of the Cultist, causing the Phantasm Dragon or Ancient Vision to spawn in.

For Summoners:
 * The, the , the and the  are good choices. However, the deadly spheres and ravens deal contact damage and may accidentally provoke the Phantasm Dragon or Ancient Vision into spawning.
 * The will also deal pretty good damage.

Accessories

 * Wings are important for every boss fight. The best ones available are the.
 * The makes all wings significantly faster, making dodging his attacks easier.
 * The greatly helps in dodging the attacks and is recommended for all classes.
 * The is extremely useful for melee characters with Yoyos as it can double their damage output.
 * The and/or the  are always good to have.
 * Other damage increasing accessories include every other Emblem, the, the and the.
 * For magic users, the can help regenerate mana.
 * The or  can help when battling the Phantasm Dragon,as it is a Wyvern-like enemy that hits hard and fast.
 * The reduces the Potion Sickness cooldown as well as providing some extra health regen, meaning that this is also a good accessory to have. A good strategy is to only use the Charm of Myths when you need to heal, and then switch to another accessory until you need it again.

At this point in the game, it is almost required to have all accessories on Lucky, Menacing or Warding.

Potions

 * ,, , and will greatly increase survivability.
 * Any food item that provides the buff is good.
 * is a must for mages.
 * will increase mobility.
 * and will improve DPS.
 * ,, or  and  will further improve it for Mages, Rangers, Melee, and Summoner users respectively.