The Corruption



"Making the world evil..."

The Corruption is an Evil Biome that presents a dark purple death and decay theme. It may exist somewhere in a generated world, generally far from a player's original spawn point. It is the counterpart to The Crimson biome and its red gore theme. A generated world will contain one of the two, generated randomly (each with a 50% chance of occurring), or, as of version 1.3.2, chosen by the player upon world creation (Desktop Version) after having reached Hardmode in any world - although you can still leave it up to chance with the Random setting. Both the Corruption and Crimson contain similar hazards, though each has its own unique enemies, items, and blocks. The tools, weapons, and armor obtained via Corruption materials are slightly less powerful than those obtained via Crimson materials, while Corruption enemies tend to have slightly lower stats (health, defense, damage).

The Corruption contains purple Grass and Trees, and hazards like Eater of Souls, Devourers, and Thorny Bushes. The Corruption can also extend into the Snow biome, which will be evident by purple ice, and into the Desert, which will contain Ebonsand and purple cactus. New players should generally avoid the Corruption until they obtain decent gear and a fair amount of health (via consuming Heart Crystals). The Corruption also features a dark background with limited daylight and unique theme music.

The Corruption area that generates initially with the World is home to Chasms that lead to Shadow Orbs and Demon Altars. Corruption Chasms are especially hazardous to beginning players due to Fall Damage, and players who have not yet acquired fall protection (eg. Lucky Horseshoe), a climbing aid (eg. Grappling Hooks), or a decent amount of Rope will have a tough or impossible time contending with them. Chasms are lined with Ebonstone, which can only be mined with a Nightmare Pickaxe/Deathbringer Pickaxe or better. Ebonstone can also be destroyed by explosives, like Bombs or Dynamite.

Corruption, like Crimson, can also spread via corrupt grass and Thorny Bushes into areas not initially infected, though slowly. Corruption spreads much more quickly in Hardmode. Corruption can be seeded in new locations by the player using Corrupt Seeds. Chasms, Shadow Orbs, and Demon Altars will not spawn in Corruption that has formed through spreading; however, Corruption enemies like the Eater of Souls, as well as Thorny Bushes, will spawn. If enough Corruption takes hold in a new area, this area will adopt theme music, background, and water color.

Purification Powder can be used on corrupted blocks to turn them into their regular counterparts. "Purified" blocks can still become Corrupted again afterwards.

Spread
In normal mode (Pre-Hardmode worlds), corruption can spread, but only under limited conditions:
 * Corrupt grass can spread in a manner similar to normal grass, converting adjacent Dirt tiles with at least one side open to air (only in the Surface Layer).
 * Corrupt grass can also displace normal grass. Until version 1.2.4.1, this is true unless the grass has a Sunflower planted on it.
 * Corrupt grass may sprout Thorny Bushes, which can grow six tiles in all directions, and will spread corrupt grass to any normal grass it touches.

Naturally-occurring corruption will often be halted by various natural barriers (stone, clay, etc.) before it is even discovered, but care should be taken when creating an artificial corruption biome that it does not spread further than intended.

If all corruption/crimson and hallow blocks are purified, then when speaking to the Dryad about the world status, she will say "[name of world] is completely pure. You have done an amazing job!".

Hardmode
Once the Wall of Flesh is defeated, a world enters Hardmode. New areas of Corruption and Hallow are immediately created that extend from the Underworld up to the Surface, sometimes intersecting existing Corruption. Corruption begins spawning more dangerous enemies, such as the Corruptor, the World Feeder, and underground, the Clinger.

Corruption spreads much more aggressively once the world is in hardmode:
 * In addition to corrupt grass, thorns and plants, Ebonstone, Ebonsand and Purple Ice also generate corruption.
 * Grass can still be converted to corrupt grass, and corrupt grass can cover new dirt as in pre-hardmode.
 * Mud can now be converted into dirt.
 * Jungle grass can also be converted into corrupt grass (changing the underlying block type to dirt).
 * Jungle Thorny Bushes can be converted into Corruption Thorny Bushes.
 * Stone can be converted to Ebonstone.
 * Sand can be converted to Ebonsand.
 * Ice can be converted to Purple Ice.
 * Blocks that are up to three tiles away from an existing corrupt block can be converted (even if incorruptible blocks are in the way).
 * Sunflowers can no longer stop the spread

The Corruption does not spread through other materials, even natural materials like clay and snow. Silt can be converted as part of the initial burst when you first defeat the Wall of Flesh, but not at other times.

In order to stop the spread of Corruption in Hardmode, a player must create a 3 tile gap filled with incorruptible blocks (or empty space). However, in the Surface layer, exposed dirt blocks will need a 6 tile gap of incorruptible blocks (or empty space) since corrupt grass could grow thorny bushes spanning 6 tiles. Replacing exposed dirt blocks with another block type (incorruptible blocks may be preferred) will prevent thorny bushes from growing. One must also be wary of tunnels and shafts in the Surface layer, which could become corrupted without intervention. Hallow blocks will also stop the spread of Corruption but will spawn its own hazards as well.

Killing Plantera reduces the speed at which the Corruption spreads to 33% of the default Hardmode speed.

Corrupted Desert
In Hardmode, Corruption spreads through Deserts, transforming it into Corrupted Desert. It is very similar to The Corruption: The theme music is the same, and enemies are the same, with the addition of Dark Mummies.

Sand is replaced by Ebonsand. Although their color is different, cacti still drop ordinary cactus when cut. Waterleaf is not able to grow in corrupted deserts.

Tips

 * Any of these items can be used to completely negate fall damage: Wings, Lucky Horseshoe, Featherfall Potion, Umbrella (only works when held), the Bunny Mount, any flying mount (Bee, hardmode mounts: Pigron, Cute Fishron, Rudolph, UFO). Grappling hooks can be used to lower oneself down. Rope can be used to climb down, but enemies can knock the player off the rope, resulting in a fall. If none of these items have been obtained yet, there are several items that can reduce fall damage (see Fall damage for more information).
 * To climb back out of the chasm: flying mounts, wings and/or grappling hooks are ideal. The player may also find climbing gear useful, such as Climbing Claws, Shoe Spikes, Tiger Climbing Gear or Master Ninja Gear. Rope can be climbed up, but an enemy could knock the player off. If none of these items have been obtained yet, there are several items that can increase a player's jump height (see Guide:Jump Height Comparison for a complete list).
 * Slimy Saddle with multi-jump accessories combined with a hook is a very effective way of getting out of Corruption's chasms. (Although, the Unicorn Mount can jump slightly higher, is capable of double-jump, and reduces fall damage by 80%)
 * Another way is to place platforms every few blocks (this will take some time, but will come in handy for climbing back up). They can be used to dodge enemies, make quick shelters to hide, place campfires on and use hooks safely.

Trivia

 * Though the Crimson came after the Corruption, the Crimson has more enemies.
 * Many Corruption enemies have rotten bodies, sometimes with green pus dripping out of them, as seen with the Eater of Souls and Corruptor. This contrasts with the Crimson enemies' abnormal cancerous-like growths.
 * The Dead Space series features an organism also called the Corruption, which spreads and terraforms affected areas, serving as habitats for the franchise's signature zombie-like creatures; the Necromorphs. Terraria's Corruption may have been based on this.
 * The game Anti-Idle features an area called the Corruption, based heavily on the Terraria biome.
 * The Corruption and its shadow orbs seem to be based heavily on a story by H.P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space". In the story, a meteorite crashed near the small fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts. The meteorite twisted the land, drove people insane, drained the life forces of anything around it, and deformed animals into grotesque abominations.
 * This may have something to do with why meteorites begin falling after a shadow orb is smashed.
 * In Blood Moons three Critters turn Corrupt (the Corrupt Bunny, Corrupt Goldfish and Corrupt Penguin), a reference to The Corruption. (You also can manually corrupt these critters with Vile Powder.)