Guide:Moon Lord strategies

The Moon Lord is the Final Boss of Terraria, and predictably, there should not be much argument to say that he is quite the most difficult boss in the game. Cthulhu's brother is no joke. With lasers, orbs, and explosions shooting at you in every direction, each dealing around 80-150 damage, a leech attack crippling your precious healing abilities, the fact that he possesses almost TRIPLE the health of Duke Fishron, AND the fact that he takes up almost the entire screen, you might have some difficulty dealing with him. However, there are way to escape his devastating blows, and return some back to him. The strategies down below can help you dodge his attacks, take him down, and become champion of Terraria!

Movement
An almost essential item for fighting the Moon Lord is the Blessed Apple or Cosmic Car Key. While moving diagonally away from the Moon Lord with the UFO mount, the player is slightly faster than him, allowing for you to take out one hand going one direction across the map and take out the other one vice-versa. The Unicorn Via Blessed Apple is much faster than the Moon Lord, although it is recommended you equip an item with dash such as Master Ninja Gear in order to dash-boost to the max speed of the Unicorn. This makes it extremely easy to escape/kite the Moon Lord on a long open bridge.

The other (more risky) way is to fly circles around him, this is once again, much easier when performed with the Cosmic Car Key. Going around him allows for the player to dodge the head laser. The head laser can also be completely avoided by riding far in front of him and using a long ranged weapon such as any gun with Chlorophyte Bullets.


 * Note that this strategy requires much more dodging than the previous one, and that some of these items require rare drop(s) from the Martian Madness event

Another strategy is to build a very long Minecart Track and then ride back and forth whilst firing Chlorophyte Bullets at it. At One point you will take damage, but for most of the fight he will be left offscreen when using this method. The Mechanical Cart is ideal for this, and if you have already defeated him an SDMG Will make this fight fairly trivial, even without ranged armor (Beetle Armor and over can work very well with this method) A Chain Gun will do for a first fight though.

One final tactic which only works in multiplayer is to have two players widely spread apart, If both (or all) players wish to fight, Keep at most 1500 blocks (3000 feet) apart, And far enough away that the other player(s) can re-spawn before you die, With this tactic, Movement is less important

Terrain preparation
The easiest way to fight the Moon Lord is to build an enormous sky bridge, like you've probably already created to a certain extent for earlier boss fights. The skybridge needs to stretch quite far from either side of your spawn point for ideal kiting of the Moon Lord. The Moon Lord will not despawn unless all players are dead, meaning you can outrun him and heal for a while if need be without him vanishing on you. It also makes teleportation a very valuable tactic. The goal here is to be able to run away from the Moon Lord while shooting at him, and the teleporting back to your spawn once you reach the end of the bridge via a Magic Mirror. In order to do this successfully you will need a Blessed Apple ideally, although a Cosmic Car Key can work as well. The unicorn from Blessed Apple is substantially faster than the Moon Lord, where-as the Cosmic Car Key UFO mount is roughly the same speed. It is highly recommended that you have any of the dash items that can be used to immediately reach the unicorn's full speed. As of 1.3.0.4 the Moon Lord now teleports to the player when the player is sufficiently far away. Out running him is still one of the better ways to avoid many of his abilities though, so I would recommend simply creating a bed in the middile of your sky bridge, or using the mine cart you get from the mechanical bosses, in order to jump away from him and continue your running fight. It may be necessary now to stay somewhat within range to avoid causing the Moon Lord to teleport. This fight will probably remain quite easy in multiplayer as one player can sill lead him on a merry chase while the rest heal up. Minecarts work especially well now as you can zoom straight through the Moon Lord without taking much damage using them.

If you have more time on your hands you could also set up teleporters along your bridge for convenience/fun, but a Magic Mirror should work just fine.


 * Note that some of the Cosmic Car Key is a fairly rare from the Martian Madness event, and the Blessed Apple is a rare drop from the hallowed biome, and Hallowed Mimics.

This strategy should work perfectly well for both normal and expert mode, and is especially easy with a group of players.

And, Once again, If you wish to do the multiplayer way, You can simply set up houses spread out with beds in them to set your spawn points, So you can spawn safe distances away and still get back into the fray when it comes your turn.

Asphalt can still be used to dodge the tongue if you value the ability to use vampire knives. When the moon lord teleports with his tongue already chasing you, the tongue does not go with him. The tip will still be in the same position while chasing you, only its base will be re-angled to the moon lord's mouth. This incidentally gives another opportunity to strike with the vampire knives where possible.

Gearing up
A set of Spectre Armor (either version, but he does have a tentacle attack that disables healing via this armor or vamp weapons for about 15 seconds. You can potentially outrun the attack that inflicts this debuff using the Blessed Apple as mentioned earlier) or Beetle Armor will do well on him. A good pair of wings such as Fishron Wings will help you dodge his lasers. For melee, equip a Flairon or another melee weapon with an equal or higher DPS rate. For a ranged weapon, a Phantasm Bow with Holy Arrows, or the Vortex Beater with Chlorophyte Bullets. Make sure you bring plenty of Greater Healing Potions. You may craft the Phantasm Bow and Vortex Beater by intentionally dying during the Moon Lord Boss fight to destroy the Vortex Pillar again when the event is reset.
 * A good idea would to use a 2 floor arena, with the 1st floor being platforms, the second made of thick blocks such as wood.This prevents his strongest attack, the Phantasmal Deathray, from coming into contact with your character. Run along the 1st floor constantly while spamming Vampire Knives, while wearing Beetle Armor, to heal while he attacks. A good weapon to assist would be the Solar Eruption, to blast through the thick blocks to hit his head.

General Tips

 * It is best to first kill the head first, as it may be harder to damage later on.
 * You have to kill all his body parts BEFORE you can damage his core.
 * If you see the eye on the head opens, get ready for his powerful laser attack.
 * Because of its slow speed and the fact that it does not despawn, it is possible to spawn it at the edge of the world, do some damage until the player is low on health, then mirror home to recuperate. This allows players to have ample time to switch armour, weapons, and / or heal up a second time with the nurse. Repeating this strategy and drawing the Moon Lord away from the spawn boosts the effectiveness of the strategy. (Very helpful in Expert.) Note that this strategy will no longer work as of 1.3.0.4., and doing so will instead instantly teleport the Moon Lord to the player.
 * Having a friend fire Ichor causing items or using a Flask of Ichor can make the fight go much quicker, as the Ichor lowers the Moon Lord's defense.

Caster
Armor Weapons
 * Spectre Armor either version will work, but he does have a tentacle attack that disables healing via this armor or vamp weapons for about 15 seconds. You can potentially outrun the attack that inflicts this debuff using the Blessed Apple as mentioned earlier.
 * Razorblade Typhoon
 * Nebula Arcanum
 * Spectre Staff
 * Laser Machinegun
 * Blizzard Staff
 * Heat Ray
 * Shadowbeam Staff

Accessories
 * Master Ninja Gear/Shield of Cthulhu (Master Ninja Gear is much better for boss fights, but both work)
 * Celestial Cuffs
 * Ankh Shield
 * Celestial Shell
 * Celestial Emblem
 * Any wings.

Ranger
Armor
 * Shroomite Armor with headpiece matching your weapon type.

Weapons
 * Vortex Beater with chlorophyte bullets
 * Chaingun with chlorophyte bullets
 * Tsunami with either venom or holy arrows
 * Snowman Cannon with Rockets III
 * Phantasm with Endless Quiver or chlorophyte arrows

Accesories
 * Hoverboard (Not needed if player posesses Cosmic Car Key or Shrimpy Truffle)
 * Sniper Scope
 * Destroyer Emblem
 * Celestial Stone
 * Any Hermes Boots (If player is using asphalt skybridge)
 * Magic Quiver
 * Master Ninja Gear

The GCD hide strategy
This strategy is based on well-constructed shelter and shooting at Moon Lord from it through walls. To realise it, you will need Tsunami with holy arrows, some Heart Statues, bucket of Honey, Campfire, Heart Lantern, skybridge and stone/other building blocks. At first, make a 3/4 screen-width wide, 6-12 tiles high shelter on the skybridge. Pull the honey on floor, set statues to 1-sec timer, place campfire and heart lantern somewhere nearby. If You don't have Rod of Discord, make entrance at either left or right side. When all is done, get your prepare Tsunami with holy arrows and summon Moon Lord. As soon as he appears, enter your shelter, activate statues, and keep shooting the ceiling with Tsunami, exactly beneath his vital points. As arrows won't directly damage Moon Lord, falling stars will propably crush him in few minutes. Remember, however, to dodge projectiles that pass through walls. It works best when player buffs himself with defensive potions, and uses shelter's height for effective horizontal dodging.

Melee
Armor
 * Beetle armor, it is recommended that you use the shell as tanking will be much more important than being able to move fast against the moon lord, as the only way to outspeed it involves mounts, such as the Cosmic Car Key

Weapons
 * Terra Blade
 * Flairon
 * Golem Fist
 * Scourge of the Corruptor
 * North Pole
 * Possessed Hatchet
 * The Horseman's Blade
 * Solar Eruption

Accessories
 * Warrior Emblem
 * Master Ninja Gear
 * Avenger Emblem
 * Celestial Shell
 * Destroyer Emblem
 * Star Veil

"The Houdini" Melee Strategy (Doesn't work as of 1.3.0.4 w/ Magic Mirror)
Obtain and equip the Beetle Armor with Beetle Shell for the Beetle Endurance buff, the Cosmic Car Key, a Magic Mirror or equivalent, the Influx Waver and Scourge of the Corruptor weapons, and the Cross Necklace (or Star Veil) and a Cobalt Shield (or any accessory of which it is a component). Set up a Teleporter from the Nurse's room to one of your Ocean biomes. Set your Spawn in the Nurse's room along with a Sharpening Station to ignore some of the Moon Lord's Defense.

Movement accessories are irrelevant when riding in the UFO, so forget them in favor of accessories that favor offense or defense.

If you have a Crimson world and are against hacking in a Scourge of the Corruptor, you can likely substitute it with a Flairon or other ranged melee weapon that is either very fast, such as the Paladin's Hammer, or with a homing effect.

Part 1
Engage the Moon Lord. Get in your UFO mount and move towards spawn, staying close to the ground. Move diagonally if you need to distance yourself from the Moon Lord. Fire your Scourge of the Corruptor at the ground and let the mini-eaters whittle away at the health of the hands. If you're feeling accurate, fire directly at the hands. They will likely destroy one hand long before they destroy the other, but do not let that stop you. Destroy them both. If you are low on health, use your Magic Mirror to return to the Nurse, heal, sharpen, and use the Teleporter to return to the fight.

Part 2
This is where the "Houdini" part comes in. Now that both of the hands have been defeated, move on to the head. Fly diagonally upward and attempt to strike the head's Eye with the blade of your Influx Waver. This will do a surprising amount of damage very quickly. Ignore all damage you take -- it's imperative that you deal as much damage as you can before the head's eye closes. If you reach the top of the map, fall straight down while firing your Influx Waver's projectile upwards at the Eye. When the eye closes, the Moon Lord is about to attempt to heal. Immediately use your Magic Mirror before he can, and heal yourself using the Nurse. Return to the fight and repeat. You will notice that his health has not recovered since your last engagement. If the Moon Lord's mouth is open and he attempts to latch onto you when you get there, don't bother -- use your Magic Mirror and try again.

Part 3
After the Head has been defeated, fly straight up and fire the projectile of your Influx Waver downward at the Moon Lord's Core. When you reach the top of the map, fly straight down and attempt to hit it with your blade. If the Moon Lord opens his mouth, he is about to attempt to heal, so stay still and swing your sword to defeat some of the Essences before they are consumed, continuing to aim your weapon's projectiles downward to damage the Core. If you run low on health... you know the drill.

After his stereotypically long and tedious fight, Moon Lord will be defeated.

The Anti-Tongue Technique
If you are capable of handling the moon lord's damage without much trouble, and are capable with the Vampire Knives, the changes done in 1.3.0.4 are actually quite beneficial to those with Teleporters. Before the patch, someone outrunning the tongue would possibly have to guess when it might go away before they go back to the other side. This may include attempting to catch up with him before he prepares another tongue leeching, usually met with less fruitful efforts. Now, it's possible to not only avoid it, you can also keep up the barrage and kill him faster than ever.

This involves the use of Vampire Knives, so make sure to at least include Master Ninja Gear and Star Veil to allow bigger build-up times for regaining health. Ankh Shield is recommended but may not be needed if you can handle hooking yourself to the teleporter's pressure plate.


 * Set up a very long line of asphalt. A good 800-2000 blocks will be idealistic to ensure the tongue is very far away when you teleport.
 * Set up two teleporters on either end of the asphalt with two pressure plates on the outermost portion of the teleporter. While the focus is going to be on teleporting just after he shoots his tongue at you, having some run space to recover will help.
 * Avoid removing the head from the fight until last. You can bring it down to almost depleted health if you wish first, but if the tongue catches you, focus fire on the siphoning life forms going to his mouth.
 * Heart statues coupled with the heart reach buff will also help keep the player alive, but if this is needed, make sure to teleport back to the other side with the heart statues after his tongue retreats. This allows you to stay more exposed than not to spawning hearts and allow less dependency on the Vampire Knives.

The Fight

 * Fight him as one normally would, using (almost) any of the strategies listed here, but bring and use the Vampire Knives, Master Ninja Gear, and Star Veil when needed. Make sure to get a little distance from the teleporter during the fight, so you have some space to run when the tongue emerges.
 * The tongue comes in a stage after the head's laser has fired. Pay attention to when he blinks. He will blink once and expose his head's eye for about two seconds which will do nothing, and then it will start to close.
 * Ground yourself to the asphalt after his first blink while still throwing the knives if you need health. Otherwise, use whatever works best to damage him the most.
 * Dash or hook your way over to the teleporter just after his eye stays shut. You'll have about 0.5 to 1 seconds span of time to get moving before the tongue comes out.
 * Teleport AFTER the tongue emerges. If you are successful enough to not be debuffed, then he should teleport shortly after you, and the tongue will appear to be retreating towards his mouth, possibly with a broken texture, if not outright removed.
 * The tongue may wind up disappearing from time to time, which is in your favor.
 * Also in your favor is the fact that he takes until the screen turns completely white when teleporting, which masks him suddenly appearing again on top of you.
 * Keep attacking relentlessly through your favored manner. Tactics will change if the eye in his head is destroyed.

Head Eye Destroyed

 * When the head's eye has been removed from the fight, he will start to use his tongue a lot more often. Keep on the run and try to avoid running into his hands. It may take anywhere from 2-3 seconds after the tongue expires. Try to strike a middle ground to keep enough distance from his head while there's enough time to burst-speed over to the teleport and make you follow him again.
 * When the core opens, you will need air time to surface the core, otherwise it'll remain underneath the entire time. Try not to fly too high, and start using a grappling hook to dismount if mounted, to help reel yourself in away from the tongue.
 * If things become overwhelming, use a minion to do damage for you while you work on staying alive. Focus upon keeping away from the tongue, and keep nailing him with Vampire Knives to help your survival until he dies.

Summary
Moon Lord is a pretty hard boss to beat as a solo caster as he will rip you apart at close range, and few spells have the range needed to actually hit him. It is still doable as a caster; but in general a Ranger setup is highly recommended, especially for Expert Mode. If you are playing in expert mode it is important to keep in mind that defense is worth more, and enemies deal massively more damage, so ALL of your accessories should be reforged to warding. In normal you can probably get away with reforging some items as damage though. If needed, the Nebula Arcanum can be crafted prior to fighting the Moon Lord as its materials drop from the precursor events. The Ankh Shield can be replaced with a Destroyer Emblem, but you lose 4 defense and dealing with the knockback effects can be rough.

Though multiplayer he can be a bit of a joke. If the players keep their distance from each other, though still capable of killing each player multiple times, he will fall.