User:Spinfx

Greetings
Hello all, Spinfx here.

Terraria is a wonderful game, I haven't played any world building/exploring games previously (Minecraft?) so this is a novel experience for me. I can say it's easily one of the best purchases I've made ever, right along with the Exile/Avernum shareware series. I like indie games like those, commercial boxed games are all well and good but far too many of them nowadays are shallow and more glitter than substance.

2015-10-02: Things are getting unwieldy on this page, I'm splitting off the old content (/Old_Guide). Also, how the hell do you link to a UserWiki page (i.e. like this one)? Typing it out literally doesn't work: UserWiki:Spinfx. This is stupid - the only way of reaching this page would then be via the actual User page, like so: User:Spinfx. (I mean, it's not a link there, because obviously we are already on this page, but it does work on other pages - yes, I've tested.)

Anyway, it's time for a new guide. I'll try to keep it briefer than previously, I'm aware I tend to ramble (but this verbosity really helps me when I explore my old notes on other games). You may want to skim my old guide anyway, the game's fundamentals haven't changed that much especially when starting out with a fresh character on a fresh world. Note that I will be referring to the PC version of the game, and am using information current as of build 1.3.0.8.

One last thing, this page will be full of spoilers. I repeat, THIS IS A GUIDE. THERE WILL BE SPOILERS. No last chance warnings, you're already on a freaking wiki, what are you doing reading this if you don't like spoilers. I won't go out of my way to reveal everything explicitly in excruciating detail, but neither will I bother to conceal anything.

Guide
As a preface, note down the link to the various existing Guides. They'll come in handy especially since I won't repeat every detail. First make sure to skim the ones listed under the first category, Basics. Yes I know everyone is in a hurry, but at the very least look through the Getting Started guide. Now consider that your character doesn't have that many stats, so your progression in this game is item-based. This means you will spend the bulk of your time collecting material for crafting, even if it seems to involve whacking a lot of enemies.

There are several large progression arcs in the game which I shall attempt to explain. The game can be loosely divided into two phases, Hardmode and Pre-Hardmode. Killing the pre-hardmode boss Wall of Flesh will permanently transition your world into Hardmode. The main feature of Hardmode is the accelerated spread of The Corruption (or The Crimson) and The Hallow, as well as the availability of new bosses.

Many bosses function as checkpoints in the sense that defeating them either gives you drops you can't obtain elsewhere (and which are required to expand your crafting capabilities), or access to a different area - for example, you cannot enter the Dungeon without beating Skeletron.

(WIP)

- Spinfx (talk) 02:47, 2 October 2015 (UTC)