Meteorite (biome)



A Meteorite biome is a biome created when a Meteorite crash-lands. This event always occurs off-screen, leaving a crater for players to find somewhere in the world. The crater is lined with Meteorite ore. A Meteorite event is triggered when a player destroys a Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart (see full conditions below). Players are alerted of a Meteorite crash via a status message: "A meteorite has landed!"

Meteorite biomes have the same theme music as Blood Moons, but only one unique enemy type: Meteor Heads (though Lava Bats also spawn near meteorites in the Mobile version). Meteor Heads fly, follow the player as they move, and can pass through all blocks. The spawning of Meteor Heads cannot be prevented, even with several NPCs in the area.

Meteorite crash sites provide Meteorite, a crafting material that can be crucial to game advancement; though it must be crafted into Meteorite Bars at a Furnace first. Meteorite can also be turned into Meteorite Brick, a new block type added in the 1.3 update that allows you to create Meteorite Furniture. Meteorite requires a Tungsten, Gold, Platinum, or higher tier pickaxe to mine. Alternatively, Bombs, Dynamite, and Bomb Fish may be used to mine them as well. Touching Meteorite blocks causes damage to the player, unless they have the Obsidian Skull or derivative accessory equipped, or are using an Obsidian Skin Potion. Mining can be achieved without Obsidian equipment, as picking up mined Meteorite Ore does not cause damage itself, though the player will likely have a harder time without being able to walk on Meteorite blocks.

Once most of the Meteorite has been mined away (less than 50 Meteorite blocks remain unmined; about 10% of an average Meteorite site), the area will cease to be considered a Meteorite biome.

If you have built a skybridge, the meteorite will not land beneath it. If a meteorite strikes your skybridge, only the bridge is converted into Meteorite ore. A meteor's blast radius is ~20 blocks.

Conditions
A Meteorite crash site has a 50% chance of spawning the next midnight after a Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart is smashed (the meteorite will spawn immediately if the Orb is smashed between midnight and dawn). Additionally, each night has a 2% chance that a Meteorite will fall, if at least one Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart has already been smashed in the World.

Once the conditions are met, multiple Meteorites will land in a World over time. However, none will fall if there are already a certain number of Meteorite blocks above 0 depth. The limits are:
 * Small worlds: 400
 * Medium worlds: 600
 * Large worlds: 800

16% of the world centered on your spawn point is protected from falling meteors. Meteorites will not land within 25 tiles of a player, NPC or a chest.

Tips

 * Meteorites impact the highest-altitude blocks they encounter in a given area. If you have built a sky bridge, even one composed of Platforms, the Meteorite has a good chance of landing on that bridge. Having a low density of blocks to replace means you will not obtain the intended yield of Meteorite from the event. Using a Minecart Track instead will alleviate this problem.
 * Use a tool with high Mining speed. Reforge the pickaxe for Light prefix for even better speed.
 * Dynamite is useful for mining Meteorites, as 2 or 3 sticks can rid the area of enough ore to stop Meteor Heads from spawning relatively quickly. Be sure not to throw Dynamite while uncollected ore is still present in the area or the uncollected ore may despawn. Explosives also effectively mine 3/4 of the Meteorite in a single blast, albeit expensively and requiring a little while to set up.
 * With two players, one player with the Vilethorn can protect the mining player rather easily if they stick together. The Vilethorn will kill a Meteor Head in one direct hit, and it fires through blocks, as do the Meteor Heads. If only one player is available, quickly switch between the Vilethorn and a Pickaxe.
 * Angled Meteorite blocks can be touched without taking damage. Leaving a brick alone every few rows and angling it with a Hammer will allow you to use it as a platform to dig deeper down. You can also dig underneath the crash site, using other block types to stand on while mining the Meteorite above you.
 * There are certain areas on the map a player may wish to protect from meteorite crashes, such as player-built structures, the Dungeon, Ocean, the entrances to the Underground Jungle/Temple, Underground Desert, and Chasm, or even perhaps a Living Tree. The easiest way to protect these areas is by placing down a chest near those areas. The chest will protect everything within a 25 tile radius.

Trivia

 * Meteorites crash sites' music is overridden by the theme music of The Corruption and The Crimson when crashed there.
 * Before 1.3, Meteorites had the same music as The Underworld.