The Destroyer


 * This article is about the boss. For the painting, see The Destroyer (Painting)

 is the Hard Mode version of the Eater Of Worlds that was added in the 1.1 update. It has a total of 80,000 health spread over 82 segments (including the head and tail segments) and is made of metal, just like Skeletron Prime's head and hands and The Twins in their second form. The Destroyer sends out small flying enemies called Probes that shoot lasers as you "defeat" each segment ( doing enough damage to deactivate the red lights in his body) and eventually killing it.



The Destroyer, unlike the Eater of Worlds, does not break apart when individual pieces lose all of their HP. Instead, it dies as one entity with loot dropping from the segment closest to the player.

The Destroyer sometimes spawns at night during hardmode, with the message "You feel vibrations coming from deep below " or "You feel a quaking from deep underground " appearing the previous dusk.

Tips

 * Base level, recommended equipment for this fight is Adamantite Armor. At least 2 potions of each kind that increase your stats or help you fight (Ironskin Potion, Thorns Potion, Gravitation Potion, Hunter Potion, Swiftness Potion, Shine Potion, Night Owl Potion ) and Greater Healing Potions for recovery.
 * It is advised to use weapons that can pierce through multiple targets, such as Holy Arrows, Unholy Arrows, Jester Arrows, Flamethrower, the Demon Scythe, or just a broadsword or spear. The Flamethrower is effective because it rapidly inflicts high damage and passes through at least 3 segments per shot. The Magical Harp,Cursed Flames and Golden Shower are also efficient against this boss.
 * The boss is immune to debuffs, but the probes aren't, so cursed attacks or the Dao of Pow will be very effective on them.
 * Much like its lesser form, The Destroyer is not very effective when faced with players on platforms. Making platforms with 15 spaces in between each will ensure the boss itself doesn't reach the player, however its lasers can still shoot you, and be sure to give yourself plenty of running space, about 80 blocks wide.
 * Probes are useful for healing (100% chance of dropping a heart). If you have good defense and ration these hearts, it is possible to win without using any potions.
 * It is advised to fight the probes and other projectile shooting monsters such as Gastropods as the lasers combined can finish you off from The Destroyer's attack.
 * A Nimbus Rod can be used to deal some extra damage while the player attacks the boss with other weapons, but if used correctly, can take the destroyer down all by itself.
 * Recommended accessories for this boss are Star Cloak, Philosopher's Stone, Cross Necklace or their upgrades to increase survivability. For more defense, all accessories should be reforged to Warding.

Melee 'Pow!' method
For this method, all you need is at least 2 Heart Statues, 1 Meteorite/Hellstone, a few wires, a timer, and a Dao of Pow.
 * First, mine one block out from any surface.
 * Next, place the Meteorite/Hellstone were you mined that block.
 * Then, place down the 2 Heart Statues next to the Meteorite/Hellstone.
 * Next, you then mine out another block to set the timer down.

Finally you just simply grapple onto your fire block and throw down the Dao of Pow and let the Destroyer run through you.
 * Connect the timer to the statues with wires.

Ranged 'Death From Above' Methods

 * 1) You'll need: an Adamantite/Titanium Repeater and/or a Clockwork Assault Rifle, a large number of Hellfire Arrows and/or Crystal/Exploding Bullets, and a few Gravitation Potions.
 * 2) * Start the battle and fly over The Destroyer, firing away with your ranged weapon of choice.
 * 3) * A long sky bridge built away from your house with a hole to shoot through would also aid with this method.
 * 4) * You can also use spells with piercing abilities using this method. Magical Harp, Golden Shower and Demon Scythe are considered good choices. Combining them with a Nimbus Rod will increase your DPS. For best effect, aim the spells so they pass through multiple segments of its body.
 * 5) Make a giant ceiling just out of its reach, grapple onto it and shoot it with a powerful weapon such as the Star Cannon or the Hallowed Repeater.
 * 6) * Instead of grappling, you can drink a Gravitation Potion for ease of maneuverability.
 * 7) * Laser shooting probes will still be able to reach you with this method; have a plan to deal with them.
 * 8) * Alternatively, use a Rope line for ease of maneuverability. Allow for possible slips by making 'safety' lines further down.
 * 9) * With this method, a Nimbus Rod is very helpful, as you can build a sky bridge, make a hole, put in platforms, and the rain will go through, and hit him.

Explosives Method
Each individual block of Explosives inflicts about 500-800 damage. About 2-3 groups of explosives should be enough to kill the boss.
 * 1) Rig up a wire system with Explosives in several groups and a lever.
 * 2) Place the clusters of explosives about 15 blocks apart.
 * 3) Activate the trap when The Destroyer is crossing them.

Fireworks Method
This method is similar to the Explosives Method, although easier and quite a lot more colorful. Fireworks deal heavy damage to the boss, and because The Destroyer is so long, he should be very easy to hit. Note: More or less fireworks may be needed depending on how many fireworks hit the boss, but if you do this correctly, the boss goes down relatively quickly and you do not have to use any form of ammunition. Also, the fireworks make the boss kill quite marvelous to look at.
 * 1) Buy about 200-300 fireworks from the Party Girl. (any color will do)
 * 2) Place all of your fireworks along a flat piece of land where you wish to fight The Destroyer.
 * 3) Summon The Destroyer, and let loose all of your fireworks when the boss is above you.

Arena Methods

 * 1) Build a room or arena out of dungeon bricks, buy as many explosives as possible and throw Grenades, Dynamite or Bombs.
 * 2) * An arena that has several small rooms can prevent The Destroyer from firing lasers at you, effectively reducing taken damage, however you must still avoid the rest of The Destroyer's body as well.
 * 3) * You could make a room for the Nurse at the top to help you with healing. Prepare some coins for this
 * 4) * Note that a Wyvern could spawn and kill the Nurse.
 * 5) Any weapon that can bounce off the walls multiple times (Water Bolt, Crystal Storm or Cursed Flames) will be useful with this method.
 * 6) Another method is to build a 10x10 square of any material, place spiky ball traps across the top, and use wire to connect them to a 5 second timer. This causes a constant stream of spiky balls inside that square. This strategy requires good defense and a good weapon or spell, at least full hallowed armor and a Cutlass or an equivalent weapon.. Stand on top of the "Boss Cruncher" and swing your cutlass. This method should dispatch the boss in a minute or so. This strategy is great for farming Souls of Might and Hallowed Bars.

Tanking Methods
The below strategies require that you have a high defense rating (50+), which can be achieved with accessories reforge to warding and Adamantite/Titanium Armor. Additionally, you may also use Nimbus Rod with this setup for extra DPS or a Cobalt Shield for no knockback.
 * 1) Simply battle him on the ground, melee him and retreat when your health falls to dangerous levels (it'll take a good while though). Auto-swing weapons like the Cutlass, Phasesaber are the best choice with this method.
 * 2) * A flail(ideally, the Dao of Pow) can also be used with this method. Simply use the flail and keep it out, and let the boss run through both you and the flail.
 * 3) * Death Sickle is also a good choice for this method, as it deals massive DPS against the boss.
 * 4) *Making a small box and fill it with Spiky Balls so when the destroyer comes, he'll deal more damage to himself than you.
 * 5) *The Fetid Baghnakhs are also useful because they deal damage so fast.
 * 6) For this method you will need approximately 50-60 armor and the Crystal Storm spell. Create a tower and just stand inside it for the entire battle.
 * 7) * The Destroyer will pass through you and you can use the Crystal Storm weapon to deal immense amounts of damage to him really quickly.
 * 8) * You will likely be heavily harmed, but the probes will die quite quickly and can be relied upon for healing.
 * 9) For this method, at the very least have a Cross Necklace, a phasesaber and about 40 defense. The rest is optional, but consider having melee speed increasing accessories. Make a small box, then summon the destroyer.
 * 10) * Immediately take out your phasesaber and hold down the fire button. With the cross necklace, you are invincible longer, and the phase saber hits multiple parts fast. Healing potions are not needed, as you can simply walk to a edge to kill some probes/collect hearts from fallen probes.

Coil Method
A method that takes advantage of the Destroyer's unusual spawning tendencies, the coil method is one of the fastest ways to kill the Destroyer in late-game play, when farming for souls and money.
 * This strategy takes advantage of the fact that the Destroyer spawns in a single "coil", with half or three-quarters of its body overlapping within a 5-10 block space.
 * To begin with, create a thin layer of 10-20 blocks (optional) for the boss to spawn on, positioned a good bit off the ground. The Destroyer tends to spawn on whatever "structure" is closest to the player, but still off-screen, and this will ensure the coil is created above ground.
 * Next, position yourself well above the ground. Use any type of Wings to carry yourself up to a platform ,and summon the boss using a Mechanical Worm. It is recommended for the ground to be well out of your view.
 * Finally, fly down to the ground where you created the block layer. If done correctly, you should see the coil of Destroyer parts above ground. Fire at this with a penetrating weapon (Golden Shower, Magical Harp, etc.), and massive damage should ensue.

Cannon Method
A method used to take advantage of the Destroyer`s body length, with each shot dealing a high amount of damage. This strategy is also in version 1.2 or higher.
 * This strategy takes advantage of the fact that the Destroyer is really easy to hit.
 * First, create 2 or 3 levels of wooden platforms. Then, somewhere near the center on the top level, add a cannon (pointed upwards).
 * Then, go to the pirate and buy a lot of cannonballs from him. Also, make sure you have a decent amount of potions and a relatively high defense stat.
 * Before summoning the Destroyer with the Mechanical Worm, go to the cannon. Finally, continuously launch cannonballs into the air, and you should easily defeat the Destroyer.

Summoner method
This method includes using summoned minions to aid in the boss fight, spiders to be exact since they are the best obtainable minion before killing any of the mechanical bosses.
 * First you will need the Spider Staff and a whole set of Spider Armor. The maximum number of minions used with this setup will be 4. The Queen Spider Staff is optional since the damage done by it is underwhelming and since it despawns after time, it will need to be placed again. This can cause distractions which can cost you health. Place background walls in your arena to allow the spiders to roam free and attack Destroyer with greater efficiency.
 * Combining this method with other weapons with high DPS is quite effective.
 * If you have defeated the Twins, using a Optic staff helps because of the Piercing damage.

Carpet Bombing Method
This method involves use of the Daedalus Stormbow and Hellfire Arrows. This is one of the easiest and simplest ways to kill The Destroyer.
 * Build a simple yet tall arena for The Destroyer.
 * After summoning The Destroyer and buffing yourself (optional), bomb The Destroyer with the Daedalus and Hellfire Arrows as ammunition.

No Arena Method
This method also will require a Daedalus Stormbow and Holy Arrows. This method allows you to defeat the Destroyer in about 1 minute.
 * Simply carpet bomb him the the bow and the stars will damage him heavily.
 * For best results, wear full Titanium Armor, though, Adamantite or Orichalcum are acceptable.

Bugs

 * If the Destroyer is summoned when the player is on a Floating Island and the player jumps off, the Destroyer's body will be stuck in one place in the air.
 * A bug causes the Destroyer's head to get detached from the body if more than two are spawned at a time.
 * Sometimes, The Destroyer will get stuck for a short time for no reason.
 * There is a very rare chance that when you summon a Destroyer it may look like an Eater of Worlds. It will still act like the Destroyer and have exactly the same health as the Destroyer.
 * Rarely the Destroyer will die and the achievement/trophy will be given "The jungle will grow restless" but no drops will be given.
 * On mobile version, if you fight The Destroyer near the edge of the world and his head goes out of the world, the head will be replaced with the nearest mob. The Destroyer's body will follow the "head" and after a little while, the Destroyer will die with no death message or drops.