Guide:Surviving in the Dungeon

Dungeon for the First time
When you go to the dungeon, you will see the Old Man. He is cursed by his master, Skeletron. You must defeat Skeletron in order to explore most of the Dungeon. Make sure you are prepared to fight Skeletron, making sure you bring plenty of potions and appropriate gear. To fight Skeletron you must talk to the old man at night. After clicking "Curse" Skeletron will appear. After defeating Skeletron you are able to explore the Dungeon fully. If you have a house available the Clothier NPC will move in, with the sprite of the Old Man. For tips on how to kill Skeletron, see Guide:Skeletron strategies.

Getting There
Finding the Dungeon relatively simple. It will be at one end of the map, opposite the Jungle. The Dungeon is on the same side of the world as the Snow biome.

Required Items
Once you have access to the Dungeon, you will want to bring:
 * Strong weapon, such as Light's Bane/Blood Butcherer or a strong bow
 * Torches and Glowsticks
 * Healing Potions
 * Shadow Armor/Crimson armor or better (Not required, but strongly recommended)
 * An alternative to higher-tier armor are well-reforged accessories, but it's advisable to spend some time farming for Demonite/Crimtane before you go to the dungeon.

Suggested Items

 * Magic Mirror (you don't want to die at the bottom of the dungeon; teleport back home if you are in serious danger)
 * Rocket Boots or Cloud in a Bottle (useful when you need to jump from a high ledge or when you accidentally fall; if you already have a Lucky Horseshoe, you don't have to worry about fall damage)
 * Grappling Hook, Ivy Whip, or another type of grappling hook
 * Vilethorn (good for killing Cursed Skulls; you will usually encounter them inside bricks)
 * Sticky Bombs
 * Nightmare Pickaxe, Deathbringer Pickaxe or better. Lower tier pickaxes are unable to break Dungeon bricks.
 * Ball O' Hurt (for dealing with large groups of enemies)
 * Potions (Ironskin Potion, Regeneration Potion, Hunter Potion or others)
 * Dart Trap or Pressure Plate (pick up the first one you find or bring one; when holding it, you will see all wires and can thus avoid the dart traps, which are very common in the dungeon)
 * Shine Potion (if you don't want to use torches or glowsticks)
 * Wire cutter (wires are plentiful in the dungeon and buying them from the mechanic can be very expensive pre-hardmode)

Tips
'''Go slowly. The faster you go, the more likely you are to run into a situation where you die or can't get back out of.'''
 * If you tear down and re-place the Dungeon walls, it will prevent monsters from spawning in those sections.
 * Removing any Water Candles you find can help you to survive, because they increase the spawn rate when placed. You can use them later in game when farming for rare enemies.
 * Use a Grappling Hook to avoid ground-based hazards and to get out of range of most enemies.
 * If a Weapon hits a projectile from a Dark Caster, the projectile will be destroyed. Used well, this can negate most damage from them.
 * It is generally very dark in a dungeon. Whilst you can place torches, using a Hunter Potion is a good idea, as it will help you to notice enemies quickly even in the dark, especially if you run out of torches.
 * A weapon that can pass through blocks such as a Vilethorn will help greatly, allowing you to kill Dark Casters and Cursed Skulls from behind blocks.
 * Blazing Wheels glow and thus are not hard to see, but they can be very annoying due to their fast speed.
 * Moving far enough off-screen causes an inconvenient Spiky Ball or Blazing Wheel to disappear.
 * Blazing Wheels can't go through closed doors, meaning that you can easily trap them inside already explored rooms.
 * Remember to kill any Dungeon Slimes you encounter, since you'll need plenty of keys for looting the chests.
 * Equip a Cobalt Shield as soon as you find it. Resistance to knockback is very valuable.
 * Keep a Pressure Plate in your hotbar and check every room for traps before you enter.
 * Spikes may be removed with a Pickaxe, or from a distance with Sticky Bombs. Use a grappling hook to get across or build a bridge above them.
 * Dart traps can be harvested with a pickaxe and used for custom traps or home-defense systems.

Dungeon after you defeat Plantera
The dungeon becomes extremely dangerous once you defeat Plantera. The message "Screams are echoing from the dungeon..." appears and much more dangerous enemies start to spawn. These enemies drop high tier items and useful crafting materials such as Ectoplasm.

Access and location
For fast access to the dungeon it's best to use a skybridge. If you have a skybridge at the floating island layer, you'll have to fight the occasional Wyvern and Harpy. It's recommended to dig a 'hellivator' down to the main part of the dungeon, so you don't have to maneuver through the zigzagging entrance shaft. Choose your farming spot carefully. Stay as close to the entrance as possible, so that when you die, you can get back your things with ease. The spot should be protected from monsters spawning above you. Last, but not least, choose a spot where there is more or less equal distribution of brick, slab and tiled walls. DON'T choose a spot where tiled walls are a majority, because Diabolists are the quintessence of death in the small dungeon corridors. Brick walls are probably the best, as you'll get Shadowbeam Staff quickly from the Necromancers, which is extremely useful against the casters. It's not recommended to walk around when farming for loot, because you can die in a far-away place and it can be hard to get back (if you play with a mediumcore character). See the picture on the left for more tips.

Recommended items

 * At least Adamantite/Titanium armor.
 * Well-reforged weapons. You'll need weapons with high knockback and fast firing rate to keep the enemies away.
 * Frost Staff is deadly with its stacked damage and fair knockback and one of the best weapons to use against dungeon enemies
 * Crystal Storm or the higher-tier Leaf Blower are good for their low mana requirements and high speed
 * The Magical Harp's only disadvantage is the lack of knockback, but it also comes in handy against hordes of monsters. Additionally you may spam the room with its projectiles as a precaution against casters
 * The Rainbow Rod's controlled projectiles aren't very useful, because there will be no time for you to control the projectile.
 * The Golden Shower, Poison Staff, Flower of Frost, Cursed Flames or Nettle Burst may also come in handy. Try them and see which work for you.
 * Strong pickaxe.
 * Light source.
 * Magic Mirror.
 * Lots of health and mana potions.
 * At least 1 Hardmode summoner weapon.
 * A Biome Chest weapon if you get the key for it.
 * A Megashark, Uzi, or Gatligator with Chlorophyte Bullets for the fast fire rate, homing and high damage.
 * Chlorophyte Shotbow for spread, can be switched with Hallowed Repeater if one desires damage and speed instead.
 * Beam Sword, Frostbrand, Chlorophyte Saber/Chlorophyte Claymore, True Excalibur, True Night's Edge, or Terra Blade are all convenient melee options.
 * Flower Pow is good for its high damage and petal attack.
 * The Dungeon frequently gets clogged with baddies. An explosive weapon will help you take down the clumps.
 * TONS of potions.


 * Useful accessories:
 * Wings/Hoverboard.
 * Spectre Boots or their upgrades.
 * Mana Flower.
 * Charm of Myths.
 * Magic Cuffs.
 * Cobalt Shield or its upgrades.
 * An Emblem.
 * Cross Necklace or its upgrade. // The cross necklace can be reforged to the Warding, Lucky or Menacing prefixes incredibly cheaply.
 * Celestial Stone.
 * Master Ninja Gear.

Tips

 * Avoid being within the range of sight of Paladins. Their fast hammers can surprise you and deal enormous damage, not to mention that it can hit you twice, even when it falls down. Either hide from them or shoot at them continuously, focusing only on them.
 * Kill casters as soon as they spawn, and use a very strong weapon, at least with 60 damage. The casters teleport away after being hit (except for Ragged Casters), which means that weapons like Crystal Storm are useless due to their low damage.
 * Once dropped, use Shadowbeam Staff against casters, Inferno Fork against common enemies and Magnet Sphere when you aren't in danger (it moves very slowly, which makes it dangerous to use as a primary weapon).
 * Wisp in a Bottle can keep your surroundings lit infinitely without the need to use torches.
 * Place a wired Heart Statue/Star Statue near your dungeon base to save potions. Additionally, you can use Heart Lanterns and the like for faster health regeneration.
 * You can enhance your damage and defense using potions, but you will drain them quickly. Better buy an extra Crystal Ball to keep in the dungeon.
 * Which enemies you should kill sooner than others?
 * You can't avoid Diabolists and their projectiles, making them arguably the deadliest dungeon enemies. Kill them as soon as possible. Ragged Casters are also very annoying, since they shoot rapidly and inflict the Blackout debuff, which can easily blind you in dimly lit areas. Necromancers shoot more slowly and their beams can be avoided with some skills, but don't leave them alone for too long.
 * Paladins should be avoided at all costs. Don't give them a chance to throw their hammers and don't get cornered, because they are immune to knockback.
 * Watch out for Tactical Skeletons, Skeleton Commandos and Skeleton Snipers. Use a fast weapon like Frost Staff or Laser Rifle to keep them from shooting and finish them when you get closer.
 * Giant Cursed Skulls spawn occasionally, but they usually fly through walls, which makes them difficult to target. If you don't have Nettle Burst, fly away from them to make them leave walls, then shoot them like any other enemy.
 * Other enemies are fairly easy to defeat and once you make Spectre armor, use the set with hood to quickly regenerate your health by killing them.
 * When fighting an enemy, keep shooting for a second or two after they are dead, because you never know when the Dungeon Spirit will spawn. The spirits fly around you rapidly, which makes it difficult to hit them with small-projectile weapons. If you don't have the Inferno Fork yet, then use a ricocheting weapon like the Magical Harp.
 * If you are only interested in the chests, you can just dig around the entire dungeon, avoiding all the enemies. Make sure you block the path behind you, though.