Starter Guide

Terraria is a sandbox game. It features customizable characters, randomly generated worlds, day/night cycles, deformable terrain, and a crafting system that allows the player to "live off the land": crafting items that are required for survival. The crafting system gives the player the freedom to manipulate their environment by doing anything from digging mines to building towns; it is their prerogative. The game also features online multiplayer. As is rumoured, it is not capped at 8 players.

Controls
To change key bindings, go to the menu -> options -> controls.

You can change most of the controls.

Getting started
thumb|right|400pxThe very first thing you should do is build yourself a shelter. A hole in the ground will be enough if you are short on time, but if you want a proper house, just cut the Trees around you with an axe and build yourself a shack. As long as it protects you from monsters that emerge at night time, you and your Guide will be safe.

Now that you have a safe sanctuary, you will most likely want to go exploring. Feel free to do so. Here's a list of good things to collect: Once the day ends and nighttime begins, either get back to your shelter and hide in safety, or get ready to slay some Zombies and Demon eyes. It is strongly suggested you look into making a bow and arrows, as they combine for good damage and range.thumb|400px|right|House Building If you happen to get hurt, the heart count in the top right-hand corner of the screen will decrease. When it reaches 0, you will die. When you die you'll, 1. Lose half of the money you have on you (Softcore), 2. Drop your whole inventory (Mediumcore), or 3. Turn into a ghost, and your character will be deleted (Hardcore). To prevent this, you will need to eat food (such as Mushrooms or Goldfish) or use some potions. To do this, simply have the edible item you wish to eat in the item bar at the top, click on it, then click anywhere on the background, and your characters' health will be slightly refilled. A faster and easier way to heal is by clicking the "H" key, AND (more conveniently) the food doesn't necessarily need to be on your hotbar. You can also refill your health using Potions which can be made using an Alchemy Station. Another way to avoid dying is by hitting the Escape key and clicking Save and Exit before you die (this is easier if you have autopause on). You can refill your health if you have had a Nurse move into your world (for a fee). It's now up to you to discover the rest. Who knows what you will find in this mysterious world? If you happen to have any questions, look them up in the FAQ below or on the Tips & Tricks page. If you have any remaining questions, feel free to ask them in this thread. Good ones can be added to the FAQ.
 * Ore: There are various ore types in this game, the four main ores are: gold, silver, iron and copper. They can all be refined using a furnace and crafted into weapons, armor, or various tools using an anvil.
 * Mushrooms: There are three kinds of mushrooms. Normal (red) mushrooms grow on or near the surface and are relatively easy to find. they are also used in many potions. Vile (purple) mushrooms grow on or near the surface inside of corrupted areas and will be harder to find, with its only use being able to be crafted into Vile Powder . Glowing (blue) mushrooms grow deep underground. Red Mushrooms are a cheap way to restore health in the first parts of your gameplay. They restore 15 HP.
 * Pots: These are found in caves. They may contain everything from coins to potions, Bombs, or even rare items. Break them by hitting them with any weapon or tool (e.g. Hammer).
 * Chests: The better version of pots, often hiding rare accessories and loads of coins. If you're lucky enough you could find a Gold Chest, which contains even rarer items and powerful weapons. it is often a good idea to collect the chest with a Hammer, saving you 2 iron bars and 8 wood.
 * Fallen Star: These only appear at night, and are easily noticeable for they emit light. They fall from the sky. 10 of these can be crafted into a Mana Crystal, which will give you +20 maximum Mana. Mana isn't used until later in the game (to fuel various magical items), but it's still recommended you collect them as you go. The maximum mana you can have is 200. You can check how much mana you have by moving your mouse over the blue stars in the top right-hand corner of your screen.
 * Crystal Heart: These increase your maximum HP. Hitting these with a hammer and then "consuming" them will give you an extra heart (+20 hp). The maximum amount of health that you can have is 400. You can check how many health points you have by moving your mouse over the hearts at the top right hand corner of the screen.

Character Progression
That´s the typical way but it depends on you´re playstyle.Copper, Iron, and Silver can be found close to the surface (rarely gold too), however, there are more of them further down - so make a mineshaft to get deeper underground for the wealth of ores. Remember to craft a set of Armor to reduce the damage you take from monsters. Crafting a spelunker potion before descending may also be helpful, as it makes all ores glow.
 * You start with 100 Health, 0 Mana, no Equipment, a Copper Shortsword, a Copper Pickaxe and a Copper Axe. Not much, but it's all you'll need to start your adventure.
 * Heart Crystals increase your health by 20 and can be found randomly around the world. They're only obtainable with a hammer. Capped at 400 health.
 * Mana Crystals increase your mana by 20 and are crafted by combining 10 Fallen Stars. Capped at 200 mana.
 * Tools and Equipment become better based on the materials used. There are some exceptions, yet generally speaking it goes: Copper < Iron < Silver < Gold < Demonite < Meteorite < Hellstone

You must have a Gold Pickaxe to mine Demonite and Meteorite. Meteorite and Hellstone cause fire damage when touched, this can be avoided by using a Obsidian Skull. In order to mine Obsidian or Hellstone you must have a Nightmare Pickaxe (Demonite tier).

FAQs
Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions Page for answers to frequently asked questions.