Shadow Orb


 * This article is about the environment object. For the usable light source, see Shadow Orb (item).

Shadow Orbs are floating purple spheres found deep in the Chasms of the Corruption. If a world generated with Crimson instead of Corruption, Crimson Hearts will be present instead, and operate similarly.

Each world generated with Corruption will contain several Shadow Orbs, and destroying at least some of these will usually be a crucial step in game advancement. This can be done using any Hammer, or Bombs/Dynamite. Shadow Orbs release a fair amount of their own flickering light, similar to Demon Altars, which helps players spot them underground.

Shadow Orbs are usually located just below the bottom of each respective Corruption Chasm, separated from the main Chasm's cavity by some amount of solid Ebonstone, and are also surrounded by Ebonstone on all sides. Mining Ebonstone requires at least a Nightmare Pickaxe. Ebonstone can also be broken up using Dynamite or Bombs, or can be mined with lower-tier Pickaxes by first converting it to normal Stone Blocks using Purification Powder.

Consequences of destruction

 * Each Orb drops items when destroyed.
 * The first Shadow Orb you break on any given map will always drop a Musket and some Musket Balls. Carrying the Musket or Musket Balls will fulfill the criteria for the Arms Dealer to arrive.
 * The first Shadow Orb broken also fulfills one of the two criteria for a Goblin Army to attack, which has a 1/15 chance of occurring on each subsequent day (you will also need to have found and used at least 5 Crystal Hearts in order for the Army to begin invading. This means full life in the Mobile Version).
 * Each Orb destroyed carries a chance of causing a Meteorite to land. If destroyed between dawn (4:30am) and midnight (12:00am), there is a 50% chance that a Meteorite will fall at the next midnight. If destroyed between midnight and dawn, there's a 50% chance that a Meteorite will fall immediately.
 * The third Shadow Orb destroyed summons the Eater of Worlds, which spawns immediately and attacks the player. Eater of Worlds is re-summoned with every third Orb destroyed.

Messages
The following messages appear upon destruction of Shadow Orbs:


 * First Orb: "A horrible chill runs down your spine..."
 * Second Orb: "Screams echo around you..."
 * Third Orb: "Eater of Worlds has awoken!"

Tips

 * If you destroy multiple orbs between a single sunrise and midnight, you'll only get one 50% chance of a Meteorite falling the following midnight. If you destroy multiple orbs between a single midnight and sunrise, each destroyed orb gives a separate 50% chance of immediately causing a meteorite to fall. Thus, if you want to harvest multiple orb drops quickly without having to wait a day between each smashed orb or waste potential meteorite falls, do so between midnight and dawn. Keep in mind that a world can only hold a limited number of unmined meteorite tiles before meteorites stop falling, so don't let too many meteorite crash sites accumulate before mining them.

Trivia

 * Shadow Orbs may be a reference to the Seven Seals in the Book Of Revelation. Similarly to how the opening of the seven seals unleashes cataclysmic events according to the bible, Shadow Orbs release powerful forces of destruction, including Goblin Armies (possibly related to the first and second Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Conquest and War), Meteorites, and the Eater Of Worlds.