Crystal Shard

Crystal Shards are a common Hardmode crafting material found in the Underground Hallow, where they grow on Pearlstone Blocks and Pink Ice Blocks, even when submerged in Water or Lava. They respawn randomly on Pearlstone and Pink Ice blocks in the Cavern layer and below, making farming possible. Crystal Shards are most easily harvested using a Pickaxe, but can also be freed by mining the blocks surrounding them. They emit a small amount of light, similar to Demonite Ore.

Crystal Shards are also placeable in nearly any position (on walls, floors, and ceilings) as background Furniture, though they are not nearly luminous enough to replace other light sources, and placement has no other functional effect. Although new Crystal Shards will only spawn on Pearlstone blocks in the Cavern layer, once harvested they can be placed anywhere.

Crafting all items, including only one color of Phasesaber, but excluding Crystal Bullets and Greater Healing Potions, requires 135 Crystal Shards. Add 250 to this number for one of each color Phasesaber.

Tips

 * Crystal Shards only appear in the Cavern and Underground layers, and are an indication of actual Underground Hallow, as opposed to Hallow entities having strayed into other biomes.
 * They will grow in the Underworld, given Pearlstone to grow on. If you build your Hellbridge for fighting the Wall of Flesh out of stone, any section of it that gets converted to Pearlstone when hardmode is initiated will be a ready-made crystal shard farm.
 * Crystal Shards have an unusually high sell value relative to their commonness, so farming them can be one of the most effective ways of making money throughout Hardmode. A full stack is worth more than (platinum). Single horizontal rows of Pearlstone, separated by three tile-wide gaps for walking and harvesting, make farming easy. The farm must be in the cavern layer or below. It may be worth sealing the farm using an outer frame of Clay Blocks or Wood followed by a three-block gap to prevent Hallow from spreading.
 * Crystal Shards emit a glow, so getting rid of light sources makes it much easier to spot them.
 * Crystal Shards take time to grow; it takes a significant amount of days after entering Hardmode to start finding them in massive quantities.