Solar Eclipse



A Solar Eclipse is a Hardmode event that occurs rarely after at least one mechanical boss has been defeated. A Solar Eclipse has a chance of occurring upon any particular dawn. On the, it is also possible to summon a Solar Eclipse using a Solar Tablet (only legitimately obtainable after defeating Plantera, but can occasionally be obtained prior to that).

During a Solar Eclipse, unique and difficult enemies spawn at very high rates, even near NPCs. The event lasts for one entire day, from sunrise to sunset, regardless of the number of enemies that have been killed. The moon is visible in front of the sun, causing the ambient light level to drop to below-nighttime levels, as well as sleeping not advancing time, similar to a Blood Moon.

A Solar Eclipse is announced at the beginning of a day with the status message "" The event only affects the surface layer, and can be avoided by moving into the underground layer or below.

Tips

 * Like the Blood Moon, the effects of Water Candles and Battle Potions stack with the event's spawn rate, increasing the opportunities for rare drops.
 * Solar Tablet Fragments, which are used to create the event-summoning Solar Tablet, can be acquired before gaining access to the Jungle Temple by defeating the Lihzahrds that spawn outside the Jungle Temple, who will drop the Solar Tablet Fragments.
 * Note that crafting the Solar Tablet requires a Hardmode Anvil, but even then, the item has a chance to spawn in a Lihzahrd Chest that has been placed close to or in front of the door. Nevertheless, the Solar Tablet cannot be used before Hardmode is initiated.
 * Fetid Baghnakhs are a great weapon in surviving Solar Eclipses because of the fast speed and high damage.
 * The KO Cannon is very effective against the pre-mechanical boss Solar Eclipse.
 * On the, a Solar Eclipse can be escaped by moving to a Floating Island. The enemies spawning there naturally (Harpies and Wyverns) will still pose a threat, however.
 * As there are very high enemy spawn rates, it is a good idea to use a Minishark or Megashark (low damage for more coins) with Golden Bullets to farm for money. A Lucky Coin can maximize the outcome.
 * Because the event can happen anywhere on the surface and lasts from dawn to dusk, placing banners is crucial to avoid being chain killed in higher difficulty levels.

Trivia

 * Every enemy that spawns during a Solar Eclipse (except the Reaper and Eyezor) share the theme of classic 20th century horror films. (See image on the right and each enemy's individual page for movie references.)
 * The type of Solar Eclipse displayed is an annular.
 * An annular eclipse occurs when the sun and moon are exactly in line with the earth, but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than that of the sun. Hence the sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the dark disk of the moon.
 * In real life, such eclipses are extremely rare, happening less than once a year and rarely where people can see it.
 * Additionally, real solar eclipses only occur on new moons. In Terraria, the event can occur on any phase of the moon.
 * Real-life solar eclipses usually only last for about seven minutes (and about only 2 minutes of total eclipse), while the one in the game can last for an entire 15 in-game hours.
 * In game eclipses occur at a daily rate of 5% whereas eclipses on earth occur roughly every six months, which comes out to 0.005% of the time somewhere on the planet. The in game eclipse therefore occurs about 1000 times as often as real life eclipses. Since eclipses are only visible from one side of the planet with each occurrence, visible eclipses in game would be closer to at least 2000 times more frequent.
 * When loading a world with a Solar Eclipse in progress, the sun that rises and sets on the loading screen is also in its eclipsed state. Leaving a world while a solar eclipse is happening will have the same effect.
 * During an Eclipse, the moon icon on the Sextant will turn red, like it does with a Blood Moon.
 * Originally, another enemy was planned for the Solar Eclipse, named the Severed Hand, but it was never added to the game, being deemed too hard to see in an already chaotic event.
 * Despite this, there is still an unobtainable Severed Hand Banner.
 * The Severed Hand is a reference to Thing, a fictional character in The Addams Family series.