Guide:Getting started

Welcome to the land of Terraria!

If you're here then chances are you've begun playing and have wondered what you're supposed to be doing (and perhaps how to keep from dying). Or maybe you haven't started playing yet, and are wondering what all the settings are about. Either way, don't worry. We've got you covered. Everyone has to start somewhere, and since we've all been there before, we made this handy guide to take you through surviving your first Terraria days, on through where to go afterwards.

This guide is intended to make a person with absolutely no knowledge of gaming, or of Terraria, into a bona fide Terraria explorer!

Tips

 * When Mining; enemies will take damage from your tool(Pickaxe/Axe).
 * When Mining underground make sure to bring dirt blocks to ensure you may build a way out if needed.
 * Don't build your base too far from your spawn point until you have a bed, so that you don't have trouble getting to it if you die at night.
 * If you need to get to spawn and you don't have a Magic Mirror exit to main menu and reselect your world

Game mode
In Terraria's opening screen, choose a game mode to play, by clicking either Single Player or Multiplayer.


 * It is recommended that you choose Single Player for your first Terraria experience. Learning is easier in Single Player mode. From this point on, the Guide is written from the assumption that you have chosen Single Player.

Character creation
After choosing which mode to play, click the Create Character button to create a new character. Once at the Character creation screen, you will see all the character properties that can be customized.


 * Note: The default settings (the settings that appear on the screen already, before you change anything) will be ideal for learning Terraria. You may customize these settings if you wish, but these steps can be skipped if you'd like to get directly to gameplay. If you want to skip character customization, skip to Finishing character creation below.

Looks
The first four character properties change the way your character appears: Hair, Eyes, Skin, and Clothes.


 * Note: These settings are purely for cosmetic purposes (for looks). If you find this step confusing or simply don't care what your character looks like, you do not need to change any of these settings: In that case, skip down to Difficulty below.


 * There are 51 hairstyles to choose from, as well as their color.
 * The Clothes menu has four more options to choose from. The color of your clothes can be changed in-game using a dresser.
 * In order to pick colors, use the sliders provided.

Gender
You can switch your character between Male and Female. This option is also purely cosmetic.

Difficulty
A Difficulty must be chosen. You will see that Softcore is displayed by default.


 * Note: You may click on Softcore in order to select a new difficulty. However, for your first Terraria experience, it is recommended that you leave your character in Softcore mode. It is the easiest mode, and will make learning Terraria a more pleasant experience.

The Difficulty setting determines what happens when your character dies. It does not affect any other aspects of gameplay, including how hard Terraria's enemies will be.


 * Softcore mode is the default mode presented to the player, and it's the easiest difficulty. When your character dies, they will drop half of their currently carried coins onto the ground, and the character will be sent back to their spawn point (generally the point where a character first started in the world, though this can be changed later). Their items will all remain intact, and any coins dropped this way can be found and picked up again afterwards.


 * Mediumcore mode is the second mode presented to the player, and it adds a more difficult death experience. When the character dies, all items, coins, and ammo will drop, and the character will be sent back to the spawn point. Once revived, in order to get the dropped items back, the player must go back to the location of death and pick up all equipment and currency. Under certain circumstances, items dropped this way can wind up permanently destroyed.


 * Hardcore mode is the final mode presented to the player, and has the harshest penalty for death. When the character dies, the character will be left as a ghost, and the character will be deleted upon logging out. All items will be dropped to the ground, which allows other players in a multiplayer game to pick them up. This mode is not recommended for the purposes of this guide. (Note: Hardcore mode is not the same thing as hardmode, which occurs in the later stages of the game at any difficulty setting.)

Finishing character creation

 * Click Create.
 * The next screen asks you to type a name for your character, so type a name (any name you like), and click Accept.
 * You will then see your new name listed on the screen. Click that name to choose it, and the World selection screen will display.

World creation
Click Create World.

You are now presented with three World Size options: Small, Medium, or Large.

Note: Choosing Small is recommended for your first Terraria experience. This will make it easier for you to find and experience the various different area types (referred to as "biomes") that Terraria has to offer. Medium and Large Worlds have the benefit of providing more area to explore, which you'll likely want once you've gained some experience, but as a beginner you'll appreciate having to travel less distance to see the various game aspects. Don't worry, as Small worlds are still quite massive, especially for a beginner, and fully exploring a Small world would take many days (real-world days!) of play.


 * Small Worlds are relatively compact. The oceans are much closer to the starting point, and the entire world is not as deep. The Corruption/The Crimson (a difficult area type with deadly hazards) is only in one or two places.
 * Medium Worlds are, well, medium-sized. Traveling to the edges will take a new player roughly one in-game day (15 minutes in the real world). The Corruption/The Crimson is in two or three places.
 * Large Worlds are massive. To reach the deepest sections of the map will take quite a while, and the oceans are easily several days apart. The Corruption/The Crimson is in three to four places.

Upon clicking a size option, you're asked to enter a name for your new World. You can leave the displayed name (usually "World 1"), or erase that name and type any name you like. Click Accept.

You will now see your new World listed on the screen. Click it to enter.

Now it's time to finally enter Terraria!

Beginning gameplay


Upon entering your World for the first time, your character will spawn (be placed into the game), usually in a Forest. This location is at the center of the map, so you have half of your World to explore to the left, and half to the right.

This location is known as the Spawn Point (or simply, the "Spawn"), and will be where your character is placed each time this World is entered.


 * Note: The Spawn Point can be changed later using the Bed, but we'll get to that later.

Movement and tool use
Your character is moved using the keyboard, while most interactions like fighting, mining, and building, are done with the mouse. These can be customized in the settings menu before entering a World, but for now, we'll assume you haven't used the game settings to change these buttons. For a quick recap of the available keys, refer to the game controls page.


 * A makes the character go left.
 * D makes the character go right.
 * Space makes the character jump into the air.
 * S makes the character fall through platforms and climb down ropes.
 * W makes the character climb up ropes.
 * Left Clicking uses the item in the currently selected (in your Hotbar, see Inventory below). If autopause is off then, in addition, you can open up your full inventory, pick an item out of it, move it out of the inventory grid, and the left click to use it.  Some items you can continuously use by holding down the left mouse button, but for most items you have to click once for each time you want to use it.
 * Right Clicking interacts with the world in various ways, such as opening Doors. The mouse cursor will change accordingly when an item it is pointing to can be interacted with.

Inventory
In the upper-left corner of the screen are ten boxes numbered from 1 to 0 (zero). These are special Inventory slots referred to as the "hotbar", and they contain the items you currently have access to for use. Press the Esc key to see the rest of your inventory slots. These are empty right now since you haven't acquired any items yet but don't worry, before long you'll have more than you can carry. Press the Esc key again to close your inventory.

You begin the game with the following tools in your hotbar slots: a Copper Pickaxe, a Copper Axe and a Copper Shortsword.


 * The Copper Pickaxe is used to dig up blocks, the most common being dirt and stone, as well as detaching placed items like furniture. You can hold down the left mouse button to use it continuously.
 * The Copper Axe is used for chopping down trees to obtain wood. You can hold down the left mouse button to use it continuously.
 * The Copper Shortsword is used for stabbing at enemies. You must click the left mouse button for each attack.

The slot of your hotbar that's currently selected is slightly larger than the other slots, and will have the name of the item listed above the hotbar. The item selected will be used when you click the left mouse button. The current selection can be changed by:
 * Pressing the number key indicated in the box's upper left hand corner
 * Using the mouse scroll wheel
 * Clicking on a slot with the mouse pointer.

Rearranging the Hotbar
Press the Esc key to open up your inventory again. Click the slot on your hotbar that contains the Copper Axe. Notice that you've picked up the Axe with your mouse pointer and can now move it around. Point to one of the empty slots in the lower portion of your inventory, and click the left button again. The Axe now appears in the new slot.

What you've done is moved an item from your hotbar into a storage slot. Items in storage slots cannot be used directly when the inventory is closed, unlike items in the Hotbar - they are simply being carried by your character.

Open your inventory once again (press Esc) and move the Axe back to a Hotbar slot. While your inventory is open you may pick up and rearrange the items in your hotbar to your liking.

Later in the game, when you acquire more items you'll have to make smart choices about which items to keep in your Hotbar for immediate access, and which items to keep in storage. In general, though, you'll want to keep your best Tools and Weapons in your Hotbar, along with at least one Light Source, and one set of Blocks.

If you'd like more information now on how the Inventory screen works, refer to the article: Inventory.

A test run: Mining and building
Start by selecting the Copper Pickaxe in your hotbar. Position your mouse pointer over some Dirt or Stone near your character, then click and hold the left mouse button and hit each block two or three times. Some blocks will be freed, and assuming you're close enough to them, your character will automatically pick them up (if they're still sitting on the screen, move closer to them, until they are picked up). Do this repeatedly, and notice that the blocks you picked up are now displayed in another slot of your hotbar. Continue until you have at least 5 or so blocks. The number of blocks in the slot is indicated by the number displayed there.

You've gotten your intro to mining. Now on to building!

Select a slot of your hotbar that contains blocks, and left-click in a space that's near your character. The space should be next to - or on top of - some other material, like the land surface. The space itself should be free of any material. If you've done this correctly, a block from your hotbar should "thump" into place. Try placing another block on top of the one you just placed, and then try holding the left mouse button while you move the pointer, to continually place connecting blocks.

Notice that you can remove any previously placed blocks with your pickaxe, even the block originally connecting to the ground - blocks above it will not fall due to gravity. This is true for most blocks except for a small handful like sand, which do fall down when their support is removed.

Other Interface elements
The “hearts” beside the inventory indicate the character's health. The character's health will start at 100 health points (Or five hearts) and can currently go up to 500 health points (or 20 Golden hearts) with the use of Life Crystals - or Life Fruits later on in the game.
 * When a character takes damage, the hearts will slowly fade away to show the progression towards zero.
 * When a character reaches zero health points, they will die. Difficulty will affect the consequences of death.
 * Health is slowly regenerated over time. After a short period of not taking damage natural regeneration will kick into effect, slowly increasing in speed until the character is at full health. Standing still further increases the natural regeneration.
 * There are items that can recover health. See Health for more information.

Mana is also present in the game, and will show up as blue stars on the right side of the screen. Newly made characters have 20 mana. To obtain mana, one must use Mana Crystals. For the purpose of this guide it will only be glossed over.

Expanding the inventory screen by pressing Esc shows the rest of the game's interface.


 * Right below the hotbar is the player's inventory. In addition to the 10 hotbar slots; there are 40 more slots for items, up to 50 total items. Right below the inventory is the trash slot, and any items placed here will be deleted upon logout, or overwritten by another item. To the left, there are four coin slots (for storing currency) and four ammo slots (for storing ammunition).
 * The lower left section is the crafting interface, which allows players to create different items to be used in the world. This section is affected by the various crafting stations in the game. You will be shown how to craft your first items further below in this guide.
 * The right hand section of the inventory screen is the equipment section, which has a total of 14 slots: Three for the actual armor (helmet, shirt, and pants), three for social armor (aesthetically replaces the graphics of the currently worn armor), three for dyes (that change the color of your armor), and five Accessory slots. At the bottom of the slots, there will be a listing for Defense, which decreases the damage taken, and can be increased by equipping armor and accessories.
 * Also in the right hand section of the inventory is the Housing section, which is used to change the locations of NPCs. This will be glossed over for the purpose of this guide.

The beginning of the first day
During the first day, it is best to cut down some trees immediately with the Copper Axe to collect some wood. While you are doing this, if an enemy appears, select the Copper Shortsword so you can attack the enemy with it. If it is a Slime, it will take only a few hits to dispatch and will normally drop some Gel. More combat information will be available further into the guide.

When a world is created for the first time, there will only be one NPC: The Guide. The Guide is there to help new players learn the game, and he is a valuable source of information. The Guide also can tell the player how to craft various items.
 * It's important to note that the Guide himself is an inherent problem for beginners in that he can open doors. More information on this later.

Building a home...


Your very first goal is to cut down trees for wood while fending off any slimes that spawn. When you have gathered about 100 pieces of wood (a large tree can yield over 20 pieces and go as far as 200), it's time to build a house.
 * Find a nice spot and begin to clear a flat surface with the Copper Pickaxe. If the chosen location has missing places that need to be filled in, open your inventory and drag any blocks you have to the hotbar, and place them down.
 * When finished creating a flat surface, select the wood on the hotbar. Using the selected wood, lay down a layer of wood blocks to create the following: a floor, two walls, and a ceiling at least four blocks high. Do not worry about opening a space for a door, and use the current box around the location as protection.
 * Housing Requirements are the game rules that decide whether a house is 'suitable for living', which will allow NPCs to come to the world, or not.
 * If a piece of wood is misplaced somewhere, simply use the Copper pickaxe to remove it. Wood chopped like this does not disappear and can be picked up again.

You should now have a box-like structure, measuring 10 blocks wide by six blocks high. The exact dimensions aren't terribly important; as long as you have enough wood you are good to go. You can construct as large a structure as you like, it will simply require more wood.

Now it's time to do some crafting. Crafting is one of the major ways of obtaining most of the items in the game; for example, all armor must be crafted.
 * Expand the inventory and look down at the bottom left corner of the interface. This is the crafting corner, which will display what items you may currently craft. Its contents will change based on what you are carrying, and which Crafting stations you are standing close to.
 * Even though you do not have any crafting stations yet, there are still a few crafting recipes available to you based on what you have in your inventory.
 * Since you likely have some wood (from chopping down trees) and gel (from killing slimes), you should see crafting available for making Torches, Wood Platforms, and a Work Bench. The work bench is an important item because it is the first crafting station available to you.
 * Click on it to make it the current craft recipe selection, or scroll to it using the mouse wheel, then click once more on it to create one. A work bench will automatically be crafted from your store of wood and placed in your inventory.


 * Drag the newly crafted work bench to the hotbar, then close the inventory and select it the work bench from your hotbar.
 * Click a spot on the floor of the home to place it.

Now that you have a crafting station (the work bench you just placed down), you will have additional crafting recipes available to you when you stand near it and open up the crafting interface by expanding your inventory.
 * Clicking and holding the right mouse button on the item to craft allows you to continuously create multiples of the same item.

With a Work Bench now in place, let's make a few more items:


 * A Wooden Hammer – requires: 8 wood
 * For now, use the hammer to clear out the dirt back walls that may have been left after the construction of the home. While back walls serve to prevent monsters from spawning inside a home, naturally occurring Dirt Walls do not.

Next, create a door for the house so that it can be entered without needing to leave a permanent hole in the wall open.


 * A Wooden Door – requires: 6 wood
 * Select the Copper Pickaxe, and pick one of the wooden walls created when making the home.
 * Begin to remove blocks using the Pickaxe, and remove a three (3) block high section of the wall.
 * Open your inventory and drag the door to the opening. As long as the requirement is met, the door will furnish the home. Alternatively, you may place the door in a free spot in the hotbar, then close the inventory, select the hotbar position the door is in, and leftclick to place it. This allows you to place multiples of an item quickly, for example to place a line of torches; you can simply leftclick to place each torch instead of having to drag each one from your inventory.

Doors can be opened and closed by right clicking on them, and the direction the door will open is based on the direction the character is facing. All NPCs can open doors, while monsters cannot except for very specific events like a Blood Moon or an Invasion. Due to the ability of NPCs to open doors, it is possible that the Guide may try to enter a home, which means monsters can be let in, even if being kept out. A great way to prevent this is to make the guide his own house.
 * Note that monsters generally push on doors to open them. You can exploit this behavior by placing something close to the door on the inside side, for example a chair or a table. This allows the door to swing open the other way only, stopping monsters from outside pushing the door open inwards. NPCs can still open these "one-way" doors so it is a good construction habit to get into. This does not stop monsters that can destroy doors from getting through, though, nor does it stop NPCs from occasionally forgetting to close a door they go through.

One of the final steps in making a home is placing a back wall. Without back walls, monsters are free to spawn inside the home. Any player created back wall is considered 'safe' by the game. These back walls do not take up the space of regular blocks - hence why they are called "back" walls: they serve to "cover up" the background so that your structure looks like it is actually enclosed instead of being able to see the background through it.
 * A Wood Wall - requires: 1 wood to craft 4 wall pieces
 * Head to the Workbench, and create at a minimum of 70 of the Wood Wall back wall. If you made your structure larger you will require more.
 * Drag the newly made wall to the hotbar, and begin to place it. Note that back walls must overlap each other and any small openings or cracks must be sealed.
 * Back walls do not have to extend outside the building, although you must ensure that the inside is completely covered.

This house is now considered safe; monsters cannot spawn in it. However, you may have noticed that it is somewhat dark inside. If you dispatched any slimes earlier they should have dropped you some Gel. Open the crafting interface and craft some torches. To place torches, point them at where you want to place them and left click (don't forget to place them in the hotbar, and that they are currently selected). The small home is now lit with light. If the time of day is approaching Night, and the player has not yet killed a slime, don't worry: As long as the home is protected, it is safe. Make sure to watch that Guide, however.
 * At night, NPCs will return to their designated houses and stop moving about. If night falls before you have completed construction of a house, you can temporarily surround NPCs with blocks of dirt to prevent monsters from reaching them. You can even do this for yourself if you don't feel up to defending yourself from the noticeably stronger nocturnal monsters.
 * While it may feel humiliating to be forced to hide in a hole blocked up with dirt, rest assured that we've all been there. Hey, at least you'll survive to see the next sunrise.

( Future tip, if you ever want to build a house without gathering resources, attempt to find a small cave, and dig into it, A door at the enterance, will stop anyone from getting in, and allowing you to build downwards freely )

Now it's time to do some exploring (and killing!)

... And defending it


While making a home, the player may have fought off and dispatched several Slimes. However, there is a small chance that your first day went by without a single monster spawning. Here, the guide will show players how to fight in Terraria. During the night, you will find many sorts of Demon Eye and zombies. As they are hard to slaughter in the beginning, you'll find many more weapons making it easier to kill zombies, demon eyes, and many more mobs. But for now, lets stick to the basics.
 * When wielding a tool or weapon, left clicking will cause the weapon to swing, or be thrown in the case of a Boomerang, Shuriken or Throwing Knife, or fire an arrow in the case of a Bow.
 * A dedicated weapon is usually the best and with the leftover wood that was gathered from earlier, the player can create a Wooden Sword (7 pieces of wood) at the Workbench to replace the Copper Shortsword.
 * The Wooden Sword deals more damage.
 * The Wooden Sword, like other broadswords, is swung overhand in an arc rather than just being stabbed forward. This allows it to protect the player from far more angles of attack, which is important as Slimes move by jumping around, and may often attack from above.

Taking damage and dying will be an inevitable part of early life in Terraria.
 * At the start of the game, a good way to gain health is by eating Mushrooms. When a mushroom is found, simply swing a weapon or a tool at it. It can then be picked up and consumed to recover 15 health.
 * Consumables like these have a 60 second cooldown between uses, so it's a good idea to avoid taking damage as much as you can.
 * The effects of death can be lessened by periodically depositing all money and items into a Chest or a Piggy Bank at home, where they will remain safely regardless of an unfortunate demise.

Depending on the time of day, there will be different kinds of enemies. All monsters in the game drop Coins in addition to a possibility of a monster type specific drop. The three monsters listed below will drop a few Copper Coins and rarely some Silver Coins, which are used later to buy supplies from NPCs.

During the day:
 * Slimes are prevalent during the day hours, and will drop Gels, which are used to create Torches. There are a couple of slimes that can spawn, and most can be killed in a few swings.

During the night:
 * Zombies are aggressive and will try to get to the character whenever they can. They may drop Shackles, which are an Accessory that provide one defense.
 * Demon Eyes will float around and occasionally try to ram the character. They will drop Lenses, which are useful for later down the road. If the player manages to collect 2 lenses they can craft a Goggles. They give one defense.

There are events that periodically happen to the player that can add extra challenges to the game. At first, there is only one event that the player will have to deal with: The Blood Moon.
 * Blood Moons are random events that can happen anytime night is approaching and it isn't a new moon, and at least one player ingame has over 100 life. (Having over 100 life also allows the Nurse NPC to spawn. How to get a higher maximum life comes later.)
 * Players are notified of this with the message 'The Blood Moon is rising...'. During this time, Zombies will swarm in greater numbers and will have the ability to open doors.
 * To safely wait out a Blood Moon, just place a block on the inside of the door. Zombies cannot destroy blocks, so they will not be able to get in.
 * Additionally, putting furniture around doors can prevent zombies from entering.
 * You can also dig a 1 deep 2 wide hole outside, just to the side of the door, the zombies will not break the door down, because they are too low.
 * The Blood Moon article has more strategies for offense as well as more tips on defense.

Mining in Terraria
It's time to begin the wonderful process that is getting upgrades, as there are no advancement paths apart from the power that comes from better gear. However, a Workbench will not be enough to craft our gear; a Furnace is needed. A Furnace will serve to transform Ore into Bars (and can also be used to make glass and ceramic items), which are the main building materials of weapons, tool, and armor. Venture out and find deposits of Stone, and mine up at least 20 blocks of stone. Torcheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees are also needed for creating a Furnace, so make sure to kill a few slimes to get a bit of Gel. Finally, a small bit of Wood is all that's needed. Head to the Workbench and craft a Furnace, then place it down.

Ore is a fundamental material in Terraria, and in order to survive the later sections of the game you will forge and create a lot of Bars. While exploring the world keep an eye out for odd colored blocks as these will most likely be ore deposits. The picture to the right (1) shows the four most common types of ore and stone.

We also need to make an Iron Anvil or Lead Anvil (some worlds will have lead instead of iron; iron and lead are identical except for appearance and name). Anvils are used to create items from Bars. Go out and find some Iron Ore or Lead Ore. In order to smelt one Iron Bar/Lead Bar, three Iron/Lead ore must be present. As we need five bars total; to successfully create the Anvil we need 15 Iron/Lead Ore. Once the ore is gathered and smelted at the Furnace, head to the workbench and create an Iron/Lead Anvil (you can also buy an anvil from a Merchant for 50 silver). When placed down (preferably next to the Furnace) an entire new set of Recipes become available. The surface has its share of ore, but in order to get the best items in the game, you have to dig a bit deeper.

It is highly advisable to begin gathering materials for a few Buffs. A fresh character on a new map can quickly gather Sand and Daybloom necessary for some early buff potions, as well as the Daybloom Seeds and Clay used to begin Gardening with Clay Pots. All Buff potions used Bottled Water, at least one of the six Herbs, and in most cases another item such as Ore, enemy drops, or other naturally occurring objects. Two of the earliest buffs that can be easily concocted are the Regeneration Potion and the Ironskin Potion, and for the early game can significantly improve your survivability.

Cave exploration
There are a few options when choosing how to dig: Digging straight down or searching for an open cave to explore. At this early stage in the game use caution when digging holes. Using the blocks picked up while digging or creating Wood Platforms, you can construct a way back. Another thing to watch out for is deep caverns. When falling great distances the character will take damage.

When underground there will be no light. To illuminate your area and see, you can hold a torch in your hand by putting a torch stack in your hotbar and selecting it. However, you will be unable to use anything else while holding the torch. You can stick a torch on a wall or on the ground by left clicking where you want to place it. This will not only let you see mobs so you can fight them, but you can leave behind a trail of torches to see mobs coming at a greater distance, mark the way back out, and show where and how far you've gone if you come back to the same cave to explore further. In addition to placing torches, you can throw one (the T button by default), which is useful for seeing what's at the bottom of a pit, and how far down it goes (unlike with all other items in the game, throwing a torch only throws one item in the stack, instead of the whole stack).

When exploring caves you will frequently come across pots. You can smash these with a weapon or tool to get some loot. Less common are chests and golden chests. When you are near or in front of a chest you can right click, which will show your inventory and below your inventory the contents of the chest. You can click on a chest item to grab it, then click again on an inventory square to put it in your inventory. Alternatively, you could click "Loot All" to the right of the chest contents grid to grab everything in the chest. Once the chest is empty you can repeatedly hit it with your pickaxe in order to pick it up and take it with you, and then place it elsewhere like you'd place any other piece of furniture (if the chest isn't completely empty then it will remain there no matter how many times you hit it). It's recommended that you take a few of the chests you find back to your house to store stuff with, since crafting your own chest or barrel uses Iron Bars, and you'll want to save up your iron for other purposes.

Another thing you'll run into underground is cobwebs, which slow you down when you try to move through them. You can cut them down with any weapon or tool and then pick them up. Harvested cobweb can be turned into silk, which is used to make a bed, which can be used to change your spawn point. Silk can also be used to make some type of decorative items and vanity clothing, or can be sold for two silver coins a piece if you need money. Harvested cobweb itself can be placed like furniture or a torch (select it and left click), either for use as decoration, or placed at the bottom of a tall pit to break your fall for preventing fall damage.

While mining underground it is possible to come across pools of water. Torcheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees do not work underwater. Glowsticks work underwater, but they cannot be crafted and must be found at this stage of the game. Also, they cannot be attached to blocks. You can throw them, but they will bounce and move around and may be hard to place exactly where you want them. You can craft Sticky Glowsticks anywhere by combining Gel with a Glowstick; these will stick to walls when thrown, making them easier to place. No matter which you use, however, glowsticks are not permanent when thrown, unlike placed torches, though they do last for 5 minutes.

Also note that just as with other projectiles, a glowstick should be thrown with the attack command.

The default button to "throw" an item is the "T" button, but using this method the entire stack of glowsticks will be thrown. Using the throw command is for dropping a stack of the item from your inventory on the ground. Instead, you should use the attack command, which throws an individual glowstick.

When stepping into a pool of water the character will sink as if weighted down. Don't fear diving down underwater to continue moving downwards, as the character has a rather large air meter. However, if close to running out of air there is a way to regain air quickly. First either find a wall or make a small shaft at the bottom of the water. (The shaft should be around 10 squares deep) Then dig a 3 high 1 wide hole in the wall and then a 4-6 high and 2 or more wide hole in this wall. The water will not fill the upper squares. As the air supply runs low jump into the hole. This will restart the meter. (2)

There are many deep chasms inside the caves. An efficent way to traverse them is to create a gapped bridge (3). To do this create a background wall of any material. Stone and dirt will be in excess so those are recommended. Place a strip as far as the character can reach then build stepping stones at least one block apart. There are two benefits to this:
 * Light can still reach below the blocks.
 * Most enemies cannot actually pass through the blocks.

Note that the character cannot pass through the one space gaps either; so it would be a good idea to leave an opening somewhere along the bridge.

More information
For more advanced information, please check out the guides listed below.

Crafting 101 - This is the introductory crafting guide. It contains a detailed explanation of how crafting works, and the ideal crafting station setup.

NPCs - There are more NPCs than just the Guide that you'll want to make homes for.

Bases - How to create an effective homebase.

Mining techniques - This guide goes into detail on easy and efficient ways to mine ore, and what to expect when venturing deeper into Terraria.

Gardening - How to grow gardens of Trees, Mushrooms, and other less savory things. This is a wonderful guide for learning how to properly organize and maintain a garden.

PvP - A great place to start when looking for information on Player vs. Player combat. Not quite for beginners, however it's a great read for those who would like to study beforehand.

Eye of Cthulhu Boss Fight - One of the few Bosses a player might run up against early on in their worlds.

List of Bosses - A list of all the Bosses players will come in contact with in their worlds. Bosses are powerful monsters that have a lot of health and do devastating damage to the unprepared.

Video guides

 * Warning: These videos (as of version 1.2.4.1), are very outdated and not true. Do not fully rely on the information shown.

A Guide to getting started by Terraria Wiki