Guide:Obtaining a Terraprisma

The  is a powerful summon weapon that is dropped from the Empress of Light only when all damage dealt to the Empress occurs during the day. The Empress enrages during the daytime, causing all of her attacks to instantly kill the player, which vastly increases the difficulty of the boss fight.

Spawning
In order to spawn the Empress of Light, you need to kill a. They spawn in the Hallow after Plantera has been killed and only spawn between dusk and midnight (7:30 PM and 12:00 AM). An easy way to ensure that all damage is dealt during the day is to use a to catch a Prismatic Lacewing during the night and then release and kill it during the day.

Differences between Night and Day
The Empress of Light will enrage if still alive or if summoned during the daytime, causing her attacks to do tens of thousands of damage, similar to the Dungeon Guardian, instantly killing players who are hit by her attacks. This enraged state is indicated by her attacks turning from rainbow to bright yellow.

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. Because she is 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 8 rays of light 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. Because she is 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 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 6 evenly spaced 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.
 * 2) Prismatic Bolts
 * 3) Dash Attack
 * 4) Ethereal Lance
 * 5) Everlasting Rainbow
 * 6) Prismatic Bolts
 * 7) Sun Dance
 * 8) Ethereal Lance
 * 9) Dash Attack
 * 10) 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
A long straight section of terrain made of platforms, with a great amount of vertical space above is recommended. A few layers of platforms spaced vertically widely apart is also useful. Its up to the player how much horizontal space is required, but vertical space is key for this fight, as many of the attack patterns involve dodging by flying up or falling down. It's better to fight her in Medium or Large worlds, as Small worlds do not provide enough space to dodge her attacks effectively, and can cause the player to get stuck in low gravity and get hit, or spawn Wyverns in, which if left unchecked, can easily snipe a player.

Armor
Because this fight is particularly difficult, it is recommended to use high tier armor. As Defense is useless in this fight, it is also recommended to maximize DPS instead.


 * If you are not confident of your abilities to dodge the Empress of Light's attacks, or are using non-endgame gear, the use of for the  buff is highly recommended, which allows the player to dodge a hit once every 30 seconds. (outdated as of 1.4.4)
 * A good way to approach the fight with Hallowed armor is to try keep the Holy Protection buff active as long as possible by dodging her attacks, rather than being aggressive due to the presence of a safety net. This will help your general understanding of her attack patterns and how to dodge them, while giving you a a sort of safety net, in case you make a mistake or are affected by bad luck.
 * If you are confident in your abilities to dodge her attacks, then the following sets help maximize damage output -
 * Warriors should use a hybrid combo of the, , and the.
 * Rangers should use a hybrid combo of a, the , and the.
 * Mages should use the with the
 * Summoners should use the.

Melee

 * The and the  make great choices. Each sword shoots projectiles, a necessity for this boss fight. The Seedler is a little trickier to use however, as it needs to be aimed more carefully.
 * Though very late into the Game, The Zenith provides a long range attack, whilst each sword deals hits, allowing for consistent, rapid damage to the Boss
 * is the best yoyo available for this fight, but it is incredibly dangerous due to its range.
 * While its healing ability is a little useless here, the are still good due to the fact it launches multiple projectiles.
 * This weapon can only be found in Crimson worlds however.
 * The is useful due to the tiny eaters and can be used to hurt the EoL as well as other enemies.
 * This item can only obtained in Corruption Worlds however.
 * If has been defeated, the, is very useful.
 * However, the enemy that drops it,, is very dangerous.
 * The is a very useful weapon due to its damage and homing capabilities. It can even be obtained before fighting the Mechanical Bosses if the player is careful.

Ranged

 * The, when used with , can tear down the boss pretty quickly.
 * The, when used with , is very powerful. are also good.
 * Ichor Arrows can only be made in a Crimson world, unless the player has made an artificial Crimson via the or transporting Seeds. The  can also be used with.
 * The is one of the best bows in the game and should be used with  for damage, or the  for ammo conservation. Keep in mind that the weapon cancels out debuffs.
 * The can decimate the EoL and should be used with  or . This can be obtained before the Mechanical Bosses.
 * If the Martian Madness event has been defeated, the should be used with  as this can destroy the boss.
 * If the Frost Moon event has been defeated, the can be used with  or . This weapon has an absurd rate of fire and therefore high DPS.
 * The is another good option, providing consistent and strong DPS with homing capabilities.
 * The is a very powerful weapon with higher DPS than the, but doesn't have consistent damage. It should be used with  or.
 * The is great to use against the Empress of Light while she's using her Sun Dance. This should be used with  or.
 * The is true to its name and can take out the EoL pretty quickly. Use with the.

For Magic users:

 * is a great secondary weapon due to its powerful defense-lowering Debuff. It can be hard to hit, however, and should only be used during the Empress's Sun Dance phase.
 * The is a very good choice due to its consistent and high DPS. The  is an alternative with roughly the same mana cost/DPS ratio but shorter range. The  is a weaker version of both but can still be viable.
 * The may be utilized due to its homing capabilities and long range, however it's very lacking DPS, making it a weaker choice as a main weapon. However, it has the significant advantage of not requiring the player to focus on aiming at all, letting the player dodge attacks more effectively.

Summoner

 * For Summoners intending to get the Terraprisma, there are a variety of options available depending on the players progress -
 * The is a viable option, should the player have defeated a Solar Eclipse.
 * The is one of the best staves to use due its near perfect tracking and good damage output, allowing you to focus on dodging her attacks better.
 * The can be used, but isn't recommended, due to it being a ground summon.
 * The is the highest damaging staff available pre-Golem, and can be used for good DPS. However, its tracking is subpar, which can drag out the fight unnecessarily.
 * If the and  have been defeated, then it's recommended to use the  for its very high DPS.
 * It's recommended to fight the Empress of Light in the nighttime before hand, in order to gain the, the theoretical best whip in the game. It enables minions to deal critical hits, and has a large range, allowing you to greatly increase the DPS of your minions. This whip pairs exceptionally well with the Blade Staff, and outperforms even the sanguine and raven staff.
 * The Firecracker is the best whip for the Stardust Dragon Staff.

Accessories

 * Wings are highly recommended. The or  are the best wings available for the fight. Empress Wings are also useful if the player has beaten her during the night due to their high upward acceleration. Endgame players can use the Lunar Wings (,, , and )  or the  instead. If nothing else, the player can use the , or  at the bare minimum.
 * It's also recommended to use the along with the wings for greatly increased mobility and infinite flight. Due to the nature of infinite flight, Wing choice can be made based on special abilities alone, making the  a viable choice.
 * The and its tinkers is a useful accessory for using Whips, giving them autoswing and boosting secondary melee weapons used after tagging the Empress.
 * However, the melee bonuses do not apply to Whips, and one may prefer using the instead, which remains useful for other boss fights as well.
 * The is a must when using a yoyo for the fight.
 * The is an incredibly useful mobility item due to its dash.
 * The can also be used for added dodge chance.
 * While the and  can allow a player to dodge an attack that would normally instantly kill them, these dodges are chance-based. This makes them inconsistent compared to other dodges such as that granted by the Hallowed Armor.
 * However, these dodges take priority over, allowing you to preserve the guaranteed dodge for longer. Stacking them is a useful way to try and keep Holy Protection active for longer as the guaranteed dodge . (outdated as of 1.4.4)
 * Using the or the  extends the invincibility frames to 2 seconds, allowing you to phase through her attacks for a significant amount of time, which is extremely useful if the player becomes trapped between multiple attacks.
 * As a ranger, equipping both the and the  will greatly increase DPS. The  and its tinkers should be used if the player is using a bow as their main weapon.
 * The  is a very good choice for all classes due to its large boosts to both offensive and defensive stats.
 * The is a strong magic damage accessory that can be used with Star Statues for mana regeneration.
 * The and the  are good offensive summoner combat accessories, giving a total of 2 extra minion slots along with increased damage.
 * The give a very noticeable ascent speed boost to Wings and some utility on the ground with its extra running speed.
 * Shields are not recommended for this fight at all, and can be forgone in favor of a mobility or damage boosting accessory.