Meteorite

A Meteorite is an unnatural Biome that can appear on the surface of the world after destroying a Shadow Orb (50% chance), or rarely on a random night. It is the only source of Meteorite Ore, which can only be mined with a Golden Pickaxe or better, Dynamite, or Bombs. There will be an announcement at the bottom-left of the screen when a new meteor has fallen. Meteorites crash-land into the ground (though this event always occurs off-screen), causing a crater lined with Meteorite Ore (Stone Walls and a Door may also appear if the impact occurs on a Sky Bridge). A single Meteorite can yield a little over 300 Meteorite Ore (enough for about 50 bars), though this number can vary. In abundance, this ore can be used to make Meteor Armor, tools, and Phaseblades.

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Meteorite Ore blocks cause damage to the player when touched, but the Ore itself is safe to pick up once mined. Meteorite Ore block damage is eliminated by wearing an Obsidian Skull or using Obsidian Skin Potion. With care, it can be mined without these defenses by placing other block types for the player to stand on as they mine.

When approaching a Meteorite crash site, Meteor Heads will spawn in an attempt to hinder your excavation of the Meteorite, and the game's music will change to a unique theme. Upon mining away the vast majority of the meteor (when the number of Meteorite Ore is below 50), the Meteor Heads will stop spawning, indicated by the music returning to the general overworld theme.

Tips

 * Dynamite is a very useful mining tool as it is quite powerful and can help excavate the meteor with a couple of simple explosions. Sticky bombs can also be used to mine meteorite, as they stick to blocks, letting you position explosions.
 * A strategy for dealing with Meteor Heads early to mid game: If you have 10 of the same kind of gem, try to mine 120 pieces of Meteorite Ore (20 bars), and craft a Phaseblade. With a Phaseblade, dealing with the Meteor Heads becomes much easier and should allow you to mine the entire area with few problems.
 * With proper positioning, Meteor Heads can be repelled by your Pickaxe as you mine.
 * If Meteorite Ore or any ore is mined with Dynamite, be careful to pickup the ore after each Dynamite is used. If you don't do this and throw multiple sticks of Dynamite, the first blocks of ore will start to disappear.
 * If you wish to spawn Meteor Heads to gain their drops, place 50 blocks of Meteorite Ore in close proximity, such as in a 7x7 box with one additional block extended (so you can quickly end the spawning when needed).