Guide:Empress of Light strategies

The Empress of Light is a Hardmode post-Plantera boss fought in the Hallow.

Spawn conditions
The Empress of Light can be spawned by killing a Prismatic Lacewing, which is a rare critter that spawns in the surface Hallow during the night once Plantera has been defeated in the world. As it is a rare creature, it can be detected by the Lifeform Analyzer. The Prismatic Lacewing can only spawn between 7:30PM and 12:00AM, and only one can have spawned in the world at any given time.

Like most critters, the Prismatic Lacewing can be caught with any bug net, which can then be released, and killed, by the player manually. This can be used to spawn the boss at a more desired place and time. However, the critter will almost instantly despawn if released outside of the Hallow, so it must be killed quickly in order to summon the boss.

Time of day
The Empress of Light, if summoned by a natural spawning Lacewing, will be fought at night. She will enrage if still alive or if summoned during the daytime, causing her attacks to do tens of thousands of damage, instantly killing players who are hit by her attacks. This enraged state is indicated by her attacks turning from rainbow to bright yellow.

She will always drop the Terraprisma if all damage dealt to her was during the day.

Attacks

 * Prismatic Bolts – Summons a cloud of prismatic bolts that home in on the player after a short time. These bolts do not have perfect tracking, and will miss if the player makes a sharp turn as they approach. If enraged, extra bolts are created, and they will spread out more before homing onto the player.
 * Dash Attack – Positions herself to the left or right of the player before charging horizontally in the player’s direction.
 * Sun Dance – Hovers above and slightly to the left of the player and emits 6 rays of light (8 if enraged) that slowly rotate clockwise. 3 sets of rays are created per sun dance, each positioned slightly more clockwise from the last.
 * Everlasting Rainbow – Releases a ring of 13 stars that spiral out clockwise, then spiral back in the same direction. These stars leave behind a trail of light that will damage the player.
 * Ethereal Lance – Summons a swarm of swords that launch in the direction the player was headed when they were summoned, telegraphed by colored beams. These swords are summoned behind where the player was moving, or all around the player if they were stationary. The swords do no damage until launched. If enraged, extra swords are summoned, and they will launch faster.

Attack pattern
The Empress has set attack patterns for both of her phases.

First phase
When spawned, the Empress will hover in place for a few seconds before executing the following attacks in order:


 * 1) Prismatic Bolts
 * 2) Dash Attack
 * 3) Sun Dance
 * 4) Dash Attack
 * 5) Everlasting Rainbow
 * 6) Prismatic Bolts
 * 7) Dash Attack
 * 8) Ethereal Lance
 * 9) Dash Attack
 * 10) Everlasting Rainbow

This sequence of attacks will repeat indefinitely until the second phase starts.

Second phase
When the Empress is below half of her max health, she will disappear for a second, then reappear above the next estimated location of the player before executing a new set of attacks, with slightly shorter attack intervals than before:


 * 1) Ethereal Lance Ver. 2:  Summons four evenly spaced waves of swords that travel across the screen, telegraphed by colored beams. The first wave travels from the left side of the screen to the right, the second from right to left, the third wave from top-left to bottom-right, and the fourth wave from top-right to bottom-left.
 * 2) * If enraged, there will instead be six waves of swords that target specific points around the player instead of traveling from one side of the screen to the other. The first wave travels from the left side of the screen to the right of the player, the second wave from the right side to the left of the player, the third wave from top side to the bottom-right of the player, the fourth wave from top side to bottom-left of the player, the fifth wave from the bottom side to top-right of the player, and the sixth wave from the bottom side to top left of the player.
 * 3) Prismatic Bolts
 * 4) Dash Attack
 * 5) * If enraged, she will cast Ethereal Lance after the dash before resuming her normal pattern (targets where the player is rather than where they will be, or do nothing if the player is stationary)
 * 6) Everlasting Rainbow
 * 7) Prismatic Bolts
 * 8) Sun Dance
 * 9) Ethereal Lance
 * 10) Dash Attack
 * 11) Prismatic Bolts (Cast in a circle around the Empress instead of a cloud directly above her)

This sequence of attacks will repeat indefinitely until she is defeated.

Terrain preparation
Seeing how Empress of Light's moves (namely Everlasting Rainbow, Prismatic Bolts and Sun Dance) can easily trap you; a wide, a large arena is strongly suggested for the fight against her if you don't possess an infinite-flying mount. The arena should span as far as your hallowed biome can be (this doesn't matter on Expert or Master as she will always use her enraged set, so you can span your arena even to space), and you should make it longer if your hallowed biome isn't large enough. At least long rows of 3-5 platforms fairly separated from each other will do.


 * Teleporters are recommended to easily avoid getting clustered by her moves, but be wary of her dash. Her prismatic bolts should also be taken note of due to them homing quite quickly and having a fair range.

Armor

 * Hallowed armor provides very solid stats and its incredible Holy Protection set bonus, making it a solid choice for all classes.
 * Beetle armor for a melee character will be better for maximum offense or defense, depending on the chest piece used.
 * The Hallowed Headgear, Valhalla Knight's Breastplate and Dark Artist's Leggings make for the best magic armor in the game due to Valhalla's regeneration and the solid DPS found in the other two armor pieces. The Spooky Breastplate may be preferable instead to use two extra minions at the cost of regeneration.
 * Spooky armor is the best armor for Summoners.

Weapons
All classes can fare well with the Empress of Light.

For melee users:

 * Influx Waver is the best sword available with a fairly strong projectile that can hit three times. The Seedler is a weaker alternative.
 * Flairon is also viable thanks to its good damage and homing capabilities.
 * The Eye of Cthulhu may also be used for good damage, although its reach is lacking.

For ranged users:

 * Tsunami is a very strong option with great accuracy and power when using Ichor Arrows or Venom Arrows. Aerial Bane can be seen as a weaker alternative.
 * Xenopopper is the strongest gun available, with very high damage and good accuracy. Crystal Bullets are the strongest available for use.
 * Piranha Gun is another good option, providing consistent and strong DPS with homing capabilities.
 * Electrosphere Launcher is great to use against the Empress of Light while she's using her Sun Dance.

For magic users:

 * Betsy's Wrath is ideal due to its powerful defense-lowering Debuff.
 * Blizzard Staff is a very good choice due to its consistent and high DPS on the fight. Razorpine is an alternative with roughly the same mana cost/DPS ratio but shorter range. Laser Machinegun is a weaker version of both but can still be viable.
 * Razorblade Typhoon may be utilized due to its homing capabilities at long range. However its very lacking DPS makes it a bad choice as a main weapon.

For summoners:

 * Xeno Staff is the best summoning weapon that you can use against the Empress of Light due to its constant DPS and perfect accuracy.
 * Raven Staff may be used as a 'weaker alternative', losing the perfect accuracy for some more raw damage.
 * For whips, Morning Star is your best bet for boosting your minions' damage. Dark Harvest may be utilized for you to be able to damage the Empress of Light yourself.
 * If using Summoner, reforge your Whip to Bulky or Slow. This gives more range at the penalty of DPS.

Accessories

 * Wings are a necessity in this fight, Fishron Wings or Betsy's Wings being the best available for a boss fight.
 * Mechanical Glove is the best accessory for Whips, giving them autoswing and boosting secondary melee weapons used after tagging the Empress.
 * Yoyo Bag must be used for The Eye of Cthulhu.
 * The Brain of Confusion and Worm Scarf are great items for survivability.
 * As a rangers, equipping both the Recon Scope and the Sniper Scope will maximize DPS. Due to their multiplicative increases, the Magic Quiver and its upgrades are slightly better choices for the Tsunami.
 * The Celestial Shell is a very good choice for all classes due to its solid boosts to both offensive and defensive stats.
 * The Celestial Emblem is a solid magic damage item that can be solid with Star Statues for mana economy.
 * The Papyrus Scarab and Necromantic Scroll are good offensive summoner combat accessories, giving a total of 2 extra minion slots with better damage.
 * Master Ninja Gear is an incredibly useful mobility item due to its dash alongside its dodge chance.
 * Amphibian Boots give a very noticeable ascent speed boost and some utility on the ground with its extra running speed. They can be used together with a Frog Leg or one of its tinkers for even higher ascent speed.
 * Charm of Myths can be used for free by keeping it on a vanity slot and only swapping to it when a Healing Potion is used.
 * Frozen Shield is the best knockback immunity shield due to its high defense and Ice Barrier effect.

Potions

 * The Flask of Ichor, Ale, Archery Potion, Mana Regeneration Potion, and Magic Power Potion are very helpful for their respective classes. Mana Regeneration in particular is by far the most important buff for magic users.
 * Lifeforce Potion, Ironskin Potion, Regeneration Potion, and Endurance Potion will assist in survivability.
 * Any item that provides a Well Fed buff, such as Pumpkin Pie and Bowl of Soup, can be used.