Exploration Guide

Needs some editing (pictures too), but please wait one day after the first editing so I may proof edit.

Introduction
For new comers there are many things to explore in Terraria. Not only are there various environments in the game there are also many items to collect and monsters to fight all across the ‘world’. The world itself is randomly generated so every new world created will be different.

Not only is there interesting things on the surface but there are more things to encounter underground. The game’s quote “Shut up and dig Darius”, seems to emphasise one of the key concept of the game which is mining but the whole purpose of mining in this game is to explore (the quote is actually from the reference to another game Chef Boyardee's Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, the text may change over next update). Not only means of traveling underground an option, players could look for sky islands which are small masses of land above the surface. It cannot be seen from the ground in most cases and require special means of finding it or purely by coincidence.

This guide is to aid in what to expect and things to prepare when exploring strange and exotic places for beginners (to that area/biome) and a little bit more for those who are less informed. This also contains some references to other guides.

Beginners' Exploration
Always keep some healing items at hand. This is about the most important thing to keep in mind if you don't want to spawn all the way back to your spawn location. You can pick up mushrooms in the Forest and some cases loot for healing potions. Without these you're exploration will be short-lived (maybe not after the 1.0.6 since there will be a auto health regeneration). This section is divided up into two major environments, the surface and the underground.

Most often the common essential items that players should carry are: weapons, armour, healing items, mining pickaxe, axe, and hammer.

Small trivial thing to recognise is that different monsters live in different environments (biomes).

Surface Exploration

 * This should only be attempted once you have explored some underground areas or when in need to collect wood.

It is not advised to adventure too far from the initial spawn location as the Forest that you will be in is one of the safe points in the game (unless it’s night). Always return to your house when it gets dark especially when you do not have healing items or higher tier gears.

For surface exploration you must have some healing potion at hand for monsters that might be too strong to fight. Carry some wood or platforms too in cases when players might fall into deep ditch they need to build a stair back up. Always carry the essential equipment such as armour, an offensive weapon, mining pick, axe and hammer. The best weapon for early players is bows as it’ll prevent you from getting into close encounters that may injure you.

If there is a cave enter it and you’ll most likely find pots or chests that have loot in them. You can take the chest with you (if it’s empty) to your home by breaking it with a hammer or the blocks below it. Gold chests are rarely found and cannot be crafted so players prefer to take those with them. Some caves leads into long tunnels that lead underground.

If you think you went too far and want a fast way of travel back to your house just save-exit your world. When you re-enter you will end up in your spawn spot. You could always use the magic mirror but for new players it will be unheard of.

At night if you’re brave enough or have nothing to lose you might want to look for fallen stars on the surface. It’s a hazardous thing to do especially if you do not have armour or healing items.

Underground Exploration
One of the first thing players should do is to explore underground (most of the time players do spend a lot of time digging). It is still as dangerous as the surface though most of the things required early in the game is mainly underground. Players should look for ore deposits and pots/chest to find/loot. Alternatively you could ask for things in multiplayer but it is often seen as grieving.

For a start you need the necessary equipment at hand, weapon, mining pick, hammer and torches. Axe is not a must but if you do encounter glowing mushrooms you will need it to harvest the large ones (glowing mushrooms should be collected since they're required in healing potion crafting). You could also carry some platforms that you might need to build a ladder back up the hole you dug into. Instead of platforms you could use dirt that you've been collecting to make stairs back up. Always place torches for light and possibly to mark where you have explored. Mining helmets are very useful if you don't like placing torches everywhere, since it lights your way while you dig.

Don’t just dig downwards. Try digging sideways too since there are hundreds of caverns and ore veins in the underground. You might just find a very big ore deposit too. Don’t bother yourselves with venturing into the underworld as things that are in there are mostly useless unless you have advanced equipment.

If you happen to enter a cave that runs deep into the ground from the surface it is wise to use that to explore underground. This is due to the fact mining in a long downward shaft is dangerous and time consuming. Also there is a good chance that there will be loot, as mentioned previously. It is better to mine through cavern to cavern. Reason being caverns underground most likely contain pots and chests (therefore more loot). Be careful though, some caverns are very big and you might fall to your death (if digging from the top).

Sometimes there may be a deep pool of water in your way. You could take a risk and jump in to see what's inside (you need a glow stick to light up the space in water). It may contain pots or chests too. Even some ore deposits on the sides. Always remember you have limited amount of breathing and you'll drown if you don't resurface. There are tricks to getting through water, sometimes without even touching it (even lava too). It can be found in the water page.

There are few more things to keep in mind. Sand blocks will always fall if there is space below it. If you are in the its way it will damage you. Mud also fall as well, but this soil has a chance of falling and will not always fall, the chance of falling is activated if anything near it is being disturbed.

Sometimes making a very long shaft is good for travel. You might want to just fall into it and end up in a pool of water (to break your fall, these are not necessarily hellevators). You might alternatively want to make a shaft that has platforms. Becareful when making one. Monster can fall into the pit with you.

Advanced Exploration

 * MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

If you are a beginner do not try to find these things. You will most certainly not be able to visit them, as you'll often die or get stuck. Nonetheless it's good that you will read ahead. Most useful items in exploration are cloud in a bottle, rocket boots, magic mirror, Hermes boots, anklet of speed, necro armour set and grappling hooks (and ivy whip). The things listed are to have fast means of travel. Cobalt shield is also very useful as players can ignore knock backs; this may become less needed after the next update.

Sky-Island Exploration
There aren't many tips to add to these since they're exactly like forests except they're very small. They always contain a chest with a chance of rare and unique items. They're unreachable almost always unreachable by simple grappling or jumping. There are methods to find these floating islands are, one way is just by pure coincidence, others can be found on their own separate page.

If you happen to encounter such an islands the things you will need is lots of blocks. You can make a stacked stair to the top. Other way is to use rocket boots and when you see the island grapple onto it using a grappling hook/ivy whip.

Ivy whips and grappling hooks are used to climb up high cliffs and also can be used to cross distances quicker by grappling on to the ground at a distance away.

Sky Islands have been recorded on a small map to generate mostly inbetween 220-450ft in the air. Medium at 431-650ft, and Large 450-950ft. If you come across a sky island the best way to explore the sky for another one is to make a Sky Bridge going straight of the side of the island across the sky.

- Look into Sky Islands (also known as floating islands)

Corruption Exploration
It is mainly a part of the world that people tend not to visit, due to high monster spawn rates. Players often visit to find demon alters, or for mining, or to summon bosses. In most cases people just pass them. The unique thing about them is that they have rocks called ebony. These are indestructible if the required tier or higher mining pick is used. These rocks tend to cover the walls in the corrupted biomes. Corruption can spread and there are items that helps it spread further or stop it from spreading.

In this biome the caves are almost certainly deep cavern and you might fall quite a long way down. So be careful when going into these.

Nothing special is required in this area; just the standard. However if you are looking for the dark orbs you may want to carry a hammer to break them for loot or summoning bosses. Unfortunately some of the orbs are locked away by ebony surrounding it so you will need a high tier mining pick, demon pick or greater.

Apart from the high monster spawn rates thorns can grow from the ground instead of trees (though there are trees but they were pre-existing). They injure players and can be destroyed.

- Look into Corruption

Desert Exploration
This is about the most ignored and less favoured areas of the map. This is due to it having cacti present. They're similar to trees except they can injure the players and knock them back (at 1.0.6 there are no knock backs). This annoys a lot of players and they tend to just rocket their way across, or even dig underneath.

The large mass of sand is useful if you’re looking into making some glass. It may also be used to decorate or act as ammunition for the sand gun.

- Look into Desert

Ocean Exploration
Oceans contain the largest body water. In older versions players tend to flood the Underworld with the ocean water to make supplies of obsidian. Unfortunately that seems to be obsolete as the water ‘evaporates’ when reaching the underworld.

Oceans are deep and so may require you to have special gear to cross it. Simpler but more laborious method is to build a bridge to get across. Flippers help you ‘swim’ in the ocean. This allows you to resurface since it has the ability to enable the player to jump infinitely upwards in water. Another way is to get a water breathing potion that makes you breathe underwater.

There are chests found at the bottom of the ocean and uncommon items are easily found.

- Look into Ocean

Jungle Exploration
These are similar to forest except they frequently covered in shallow waters giving the impression of swamps or flooded jungles. This biome also exists underground and is considered to be a separate environment to the surface.

Most of it the biome is covered in mud. Hence when you are digging be cautious of the mud falling. Most of the time players use rocket boots to traverse across this biome, avoiding the shallow water pits.

On rare occasions you’ll encounter a shrine on the surface and underground. These are very small and always contain a chest to loot. They’re even said to be found floating in the sky.

Be warned though. Just as the corruption biome there are thorns that grow from the ground and can injure players. These can be removed by attacking them.

- Look into Jungle

Underworld Exploration
This layer of underground is slightly different to that of the other layers. These contain a lot of hellstones to make hellstone bricks/bars. Unfortunately there are strong monsters and lava everywhere. Hellstones can burn the player, so can hellstone bricks.

This place is mainly to collect ores but also there are pots and chests to find. It is strongly advised to carry decent amount of healing items as some of the monsters can attack through walls and do decent damage. It is suggested you have a high tier mining pick such as demonite or higher and an obsidian skull. The obsidian skull prevents the player from being burned by hot surfaces, it does not include lava; there is a separate potion for that.

Ash is the mud of the underworld. Most players regard them as completely useless as there is no crafting for it. Ash does have a chance of collapsing and so treat it just like how mud works.

- Look into Underworld

Meteor Exploration
They are not pre-generated biomes. They are activated randomly or if you break a dark orb. They leave a crater filled with meteor ores which are valuable in making weapons, armours and bullets (commonly used in pvp).

Since meteor ores are considered hot they will hurt the player if in contact. Meteor sites do not create any pots or chests to find.

It is recommended to carry an obsidian skull to prevent burn damage the ores can easily be avoided with rocket boots.

- Look into Meteor

Dungeon Exploration
One of the favourite places players come to visit. This place contains rare loots and strong monsters to fight. Before entering however you must fight the skeletron via the old man. After which you may proceed into the dungeon and look for loot.

The dungeon is not straight forward. It is a two dimensional maze and you can easily walk around in circles if you do not think of where you’re going. The general trend is to go down but there are side passages that lead you to the next ‘maze’.

It is speculated there are better loot as you go lower down the dungeon. Also it gets more difficult.

There are some novelty items that you can take with you, such as books and lanterns. These are decorative but also water candles can be found (look it up if you want to know the importance).

In the future update it is said the dungeon will be more challenging and harder to raid. There will be better traps and balancing.

- Look into Dungeon

Additional reads

 * Things that players should read when exploring

- Environment

- Underground

- Water

- Lava

- tips &amp; tricks

Additional tips

 * Tips related to exploration

There are ways to prevent mud or ash falling under you (does not work with sand). You dig through the wall 1 block above your head. In most cases the mud/ash will not collapse. Replace the space with dirt or other non-collapsible block. It will prevent the mud above it not collapse when something near it disturbs it. This is very useful as it’ll something of a real mining shaft with support to prevent collapsing.