The Underworld



The Underworld or Hell is the deepest layer of the World and considered the most challenging environment outside of Hardmode. It is marked by a unique animated background that shows veins of flowing lava. The extreme heat of the Underworld evaporates any Water that enters this layer.

The Underworld terrain is largely made up of Ash Blocks, Lava pools, Hellstone ore, and numerous Obsidian and Hellstone brick structures that contain Chests and Hellforges. Fireblossoms sprout from ash blocks here.

The upper part of the Underworld is a ceiling made of ash blocks while the middle is largely an open area. Lower part of the Underworld is composed largely of vertical structures of ash which is filled with lava in between the gaps. There are also buildings which reach to the middle part of the Underworld which are mostly partially or sometime even completely submerged.

The Underworld contains many hazards, including large amounts of Lava and Hellstone, both of which can cause a fairly quick death on contact to players who are not properly equipped. It also contains unique and highly challenging enemies. The payoff for visiting The Underworld is access to large amounts of Hellstone, the main ingredient of Hellstone Bars, which are required to craft some of the best non-hardmode Armors, Weapons, and Tools. The Underworld is the place where Wall Of Flesh, a boss, appears. Defeating him is essential for game advancement.

After Hardmode has been activated, the Underworld is mostly unchanged, and so ironically becomes one of the safest locations. This, in combination to having easy access to many deep cave systems, keeps it a useful place to visit, especially when hunting for Adamantite Ore. Hardmode ore deposits can occasionally appear in the underworld.

Tips and tricks

 * You can dig a tunnel two blocks wide down to the bottom of the world. Since you're in a two-block-wide space, monster spawn rates are heavily reduced, especially for the annoying Fire Imps. However, this also reduces the chances of Bone Serpents (though if they do attack you try to make them run off the entire map/screen and they'll disappear.) This gives you the chance to mine as much Hellstone as you want, but use caution when expanding this tunnel; a larger cave has higher chances of Fire Imp spawns.
 * You can bring 50 pieces of Meteorite to the Underworld and thus create an artificial Meteor Biome.

by aleks ciempa