Dungeon



The Dungeon is a vast underground brick labyrinth that is generated on world creation, being located on either the far right or left of the map, and contains unique enemies whose spawn rates increase the deeper a player travels. It begins at an above-ground entrance structure resembling a castle, and extends down to near-Underworld depths. A single Dungeon is generated in each world. Accessing the Dungeon requires first defeating Skeletron (see Access below). The Dungeon can appear in one of three Dungeon Brick colors, and with one or more Dungeon Brick Wall patterns, which the game randomly picks when the world is first created.

The Dungeon contains a dense assortment of unique furniture and Mechanisms that can be retrieved by the player (using a Pickaxe) for later use. Several Dart Traps are Wired to Pressure Plates, providing an extra hazard to players. Traps like these can also sometimes be found above-ground at the Dungeon's entrance. Chain Lanterns are found wired to Switches, which the player can toggle on and off. The bound Mechanic is also found here, and is freed when spoken to.

There are several locked Golden Chests containing both Dungeon-only loot and standard underground loot. A Golden Key is required to open each of these, which can be obtained from Pots, Dungeon Slimes, a random drop from any other Dungeon enemy (1/65 chance), or from other Golden Chests in the Dungeon. Locked Biome Chests are also present, but they can only be opened after Plantera is defeated.

After Plantera is defeated, the Dungeon spawns new, more powerful enemies, which offer access to new items. Not all enemies spawn in all Dungeons: The particular background wall type generated for a particular Dungeon, as well as the corresponding Faction Flags scattered around, determine which post-Plantera enemies spawn there (''see below)

On the, after a player defeats Golem and skeletron in a world, a group of 4 Cultists will spawn at the entrance of the Dungeon. Killing them will summon the Lunatic Cultist boss, and killing the Lunatic Cultist will initiate the Lunar Events, an end-game event.

Access
In order to gain unrestricted access to the Dungeon, Skeletron must first be defeated. Skeletron is summoned by speaking to the Old Man, who guards the Dungeon entrance, at night. A "curse" option will be displayed, which will turn the Old Man into Skeletron when clicked. Speaking to the Old Man during the day will not allow you to fight Skeletron. Another effect triggered by Skeletron's defeat is that the Clothier NPC becomes available, and will spawn when a suitable vacant house is available.

The Dungeon can be entered but not fully explored before Skeletron is defeated. Traveling below zero depth in the Dungeon before Skeletron has been defeated will summon one or more Dungeon Guardians which will generally kill any player with a single hit. These Dungeon Guardians are practically invincible, and killing them will not grant access to the dungeon, so attempting to fight them is almost pointless.

You can tell if the requirements to spawn Dungeon Guardians are met if the music changes to the unique Dungeon track, or if you have a Depth Meter equipped that reads "Level" or "X feet below". Dungeon entrances are located at varying heights, but are always some distance above zero depths, making their entrance structures and 1-2 screens of depth generally safe from Guardians.

Hardmode post-Plantera Dungeon
When Plantera is defeated for the first time in a world, the status message "Screams are echoing from the dungeon" appears, signifying that new enemy types will now spawn in the Dungeon. These are generally much more difficult than ordinary Dungeon enemies (and in fact include the most dangerous non-event enemies in the entire game), and drop powerful new items. It also becomes possible to open the Biome Chests present in the Dungeon.

It is theorized, that the particular post-Plantera enemies that spawn in a Dungeon area depend on its background wall type, which will also correspond to the Faction Flags found naturally placed in the area. A single Dungeon can contain multiple background wall types in different sections, or just one type. Whether a Dungeon contains different types can only be determined by exploring the Dungeon. A player will often need to generate more than one world, and defeat Plantera in each, in order to encounter all post-Plantera enemy types, and to collect all of their unique drops.



History

 * New enemies:
 * Blazing Wheel
 * Dungeon Slime
 * Spike Ball