The Destroyer

"You feel vibrations from deep below..."

The Destroyer is a Hardmode Mechanical Boss which is essentially a harder version of the Eater of Worlds. Like the Eater of Worlds, The Destroyer is a very large Worm. Though it appears to be similarly made up of many segments, individual segments cannot die, and The Destroyer will not split apart into multiple enemies. The entire body has a single shared health bar, and The Destroyer will remain at full size until it is killed.

The Destroyer can spawn randomly on any given night once a Demon or Crimson Altar has been smashed, as long as it has not yet been defeated in the current world. It can also be summoned manually using a Mechanical Worm at night. Nighttime is the only condition required for summoning (unlike Eater of Worlds, which requires a Corruption biome). Its arrival is announced by one of two messages: "You feel a quaking from deep underground..." or "You feel vibrations from deep below...." It must be killed before dawn, otherwise it will despawn. If this message pops up and you log out, it will not spawn.

Each of The Destroyer's segments contains a red-lit, which is an independent flying enemy that is launched periodically as The Destroyer takes damage. They fire lasers at the player, both while within The Destroyer and when detached. Probes can be killed individually once detached. If the red light is missing from a segment, it means the Probe was already launched from that segment. On the, The Destroyer's body and its Probes are immune to all debuffs.

While The Destroyer is alive, music Boss 3 will play.

Segments
And also see Probe.

Tips

 * Using a Magic Mirror or other methods to teleport away (ie. Wormhole Potion) to escape from The Destroyer will not cause it to despawn. It will follow the player back to their spawn, no matter how far away it is. Because of this, a great strategy for players is to set their spawn point near a Nurse and use a Magic Mirror when their health is low and heal back up.
 * The Star Cannon can shred The Destroyer if it is lined up with all the segments and ample amounts of Fallen Stars.
 * Water Bolts can be effective for the early Hardmode Mage against The Destroyer because they bounce on walls and can hit many pieces. Put a wall around the arena and a top and bottom for it to reflect back on The Destroyer. It is also likely these Water Bolts will take care of the Probes that come out of The Destroyer when damaged.
 * The Destroyer is an excellent target for cash farming by way of Light Discs; given ample supply (12-24) of Souls of Light, each kill will drop the makings for 4-8 discs worth apiece.
 * Piercing weapons can strike multiple sections, making them especially effective. Similarly, explosive weapons can catch multiple sections in their blast radius. Making a fully-enclosed room and using ricocheting weapons can also be effective.
 * The Fetid Baghnakhs, Flying Knife, Slime Mount, Nimbus Rod, Hellwing Bow, and Cannon are all effective.
 * You should ignore the fact that the head has 0 defense, because it is hard to hit the head, due to its speed.
 * If you are low on health, try killing The Destroyer's probes because they have a chance to drop hearts.
 * The Destroyer spawns off-screen bunched-up like a coil. If the player is quick enough, they can reach the Destroyer in that state and end the fight in a matter of seconds using a piercing or explosive weapon, such as a Magical Harp, Grenades or the . However, it will spawn a lot of Probes in the process, which may overwhelm the player.
 * Building a long skybridge of Asphalt Blocks and using a ranged weapon can make the fight easier — simply run continuously in one direction while firing backwards.
 * In Expert mode, avoid its head at all costs, as it can cause massive damage (over 250).
 * On the, using a Daedalus Stormbow with Holy Arrows and the Magic Quiver, a player can defeat The Destroyer in a matter of seconds, and is obtainable right after defeating the Wall of Flesh.
 * On the, firing Heart Arrows at its head will immobilize it entirely.
 * A Cannon with two people is effective, for one person can lure the Destroyer while another fires the cannon at it dealing 300 damage per hit. Having the cannon at a 45 degree angle is most effective for range.
 * Making a huge platform high above ground and then putting a 1x1 hole at the bottom can allow the player to shoot at the Destroyer without it hitting them.
 * Using the Minimap to see where the Destroyer will surface may help with dodging. This is especially useful in Expert mode, since the Destroyer can do 200+ damage with its head.
 * In Expert mode, The Destroyer reduces the damage it takes from the Golden Shower by 25%. In addition to being immune to the Ichor debuff, this makes this weapon effectively useless against it.
 * The Dart Rifle combined with Crystal Darts is good against The Destroyer as the darts can bounce between it's segments dealing high amounts of damage akin to a shotgun. The darts can also bounce between the Probes, destroying several in a single shot no matter the distance between them.
 * Firework Rockets are very effective against The Destroyer. Rockets can be bought from Party Girl for and deal 150 damage each.
 * The Destroyer cannot reach 300 Feet (150 Blocks) from the ground up to the air, so building a Sky platform will allow the player to shoot down The Destroyer easily. Using the Megashark or the Crystal Serpent to pick off the Destroyer is recommended.

Trivia

 * The Destroyer had the most total health of any Boss before the Moon Lord was added. It still has the most health of any single enemy, as the Moon Lord's total health is the combined health of all its body parts.
 * The Destroyer is the mechanical version of The Corruption's Eater of Worlds. However, there is no mechanical version of the Brain of Cthulhu from The Crimson, although the Probes it spawns are similar in function to the Brain of Cthulhu's Creepers.
 * The Destroyer has 10x as much health as Wall of Flesh.

History
Le Destructeur