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BiomeBannerBloodMoon

You can tell a Blood Moon is out when the sky turns red. There is something about it that causes monsters to swarm.

The Guide

"The Blood Moon is rising..."

A Blood Moon is a random event that takes place at night, from 7:30 PM to 4:30 AM, affecting only the surface layer. A Blood Moon can also be initiated when the player uses a Bloody Tear. It causes several hazards for its duration: Enemy spawns increase, even near the player's Home and NPCs (where enemies do not normally spawn), Zombies become able to open Doors, and Bunnies, Penguins, and Goldfish transform into dangerous enemies, along with other effects (see below). Blood Moons are signaled by the message "The Blood Moon is rising..." in the lower left corner of the screen (or the top middle of the screen on Mobile version Mobile). The moon, sky, water, and rain will appear red for the duration of the event. A reddish-pink filter will also be present in all above-ground areas. Blood Moons disable the ability to speed up time whilst sleeping in a bed.

Criteria[]

In order for a Blood Moon to naturally occur, the following criteria must be met[1]:

  • It will only occur if at least one player in the world has more than 120 health.
  • It can only occur on nights when the moon phase is not new moon.
  • It will not occur if the Eye of Cthulhu will spawn on that night.
  • Given the above criteria, a Blood Moon has a 11.11*1/9 (11.11%) chance of occurring, determined at dusk each night.

A Blood Moon can be initiated manually at nighttime by using a Bloody Tear and does not require said criteria to be met.

Contents[]

Characters
Unique Drops
From The Groom:
From any Enemy or NPC (Dropped in Hardmode only):
From any Blood Moon Enemy:
From any Blood Moon Enemy caught during fishing:
From Clown (In Hardmode only):
For Sale
Music

Effects[]

Blood Moon rain

Red rain during a Blood Moon

Enemies[]

Sold items[]

Other effects[]

  • Deathweed blooms. Blood moons (and Full Moons on PC version PC, Console version Console, Mobile version Mobile, Old Chinese version Old Chinese, tModLoader version tModLoader, and tModLoader 1 tModLoader Legacy) are the only times you can harvest Deathweed Seeds from Deathweed (with the exception of harvesting with a Staff of Regrowth).
  • Most NPCs have their own unique lines commenting on the event.
  • The Zoologist NPC will transform into her werefox form regardless of the moon phase.
  • Fishing power is 1.1x stronger, and can provide some unique items and spawn unique enemies, including the Dreadnautilus.
  • Visual effects:
    • Almost all water will turn red, including Rain. Exception: The Ocean will not turn completely red, though it will be affected by the screen filter.
    • A red filter will be applied to the screen as well, shifting the colors of all entities and light towards red and purple shades.
    • This will also affect the projectile colors of many weapons.
    • Placed Living Cursed Fire Blocks turn yellow, making a unique effect.
    • The Glowing Mushroom Biome, which is normally blue, will have the red shader make it appear pink-purple.

Achievements[]

Achievement Bloodbath
Bloodbath • Survive a blood moon, a nocturnal event where the rivers run red and monsters swarm aplenty.
Survive your first Blood Moon.
Category: Explorer Explorer
Achievement Red Moon Rises
Red Moon Rises • “You have survived the Blood Moon!”
Survive your first Blood Moon.

Notes[]

  • The Blood Moon's effects on enemy spawn rates stack with that of the Water Candle and Battle Potion.
  • A Blood Moon only affects spawn rates above the surface. Spawn rates below the surface remain the same.[2]
  • Whether or not a Blood Moon will occur is determined at dusk each night.
  • Every nightfall has an equal chance of being a Blood Moon and does not change if the previous night was a Blood Moon. It is possible to have four or more Blood Moons in a row and, conversely, a Blood Moon will not necessarily occur even over the course of many in-game weeks.
  • In a multiplayer game, using the time adjustment server commands (dawn, noon, dusk, midnight) will not trigger the Blood Moon check, and so using "dusk" repeatedly does not force a Blood Moon to occur.
  • Water in an Ocean biome will not turn red even though all other water in biomes will. However, the blue water is still affected by the red shader, giving it a purple color.
  • If a player chooses to, they can cancel a Blood Moon by summoning the Pumpkin Moon or Frost Moon.
  • A Blood Moon can happen in the middle of a Pirate Invasion. The invasion will still go on until it ends, then the Blood Moon starts. A Blood Moon can also occur during Slime Rain.
  • Blood Moons occur more often than Solar Eclipses, as Solar Eclipses have a 5*1/20 (5%) chance to happen each day (when the criteria are met).
  • If a Blood Moon and Full Moon coincide, Werewolves will spawn with increased frequency, rather than Zombies, but the special Zombies will still spawn.
  • Similar to the Solar Eclipse, a Blood Moon will increase the spawn rate of Truffle Worms once in Hardmode.
  • The player cannot speed up a Blood Moon by sleeping.
  • At daybreak, all unkilled special enemies will attempt to flee the screen.

Tips[]

For more elaborate strategies on defeating Blood Moon, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Defending against events.
  • During a Blood Moon in Hardmode, every enemy and NPC has a 0.1*1/1000 (0.1%) chance of dropping the KO Cannon. This means that even though it is rare, like with the Blessed Apple, the large number of drop chances makes this easier to farm, and the KO Cannon is likely to aid a player in early Hardmode.
  • Simply placing a block in front of a door will prevent Zombies from being able to open the door.
  • If the player sees the notification that a Blood Moon is rising and they are under-equipped to defeat it, they should get underground as quickly as possible. Going indoors will not save them, nor will standing around outside. The Blood Moon gives enemies dangerous abilities, such as the ability to open doors.
  • Although the Blood Moon is typically treated as a deadly event, it is possible to enjoy the event. Once the player has max health and good weapons and armor, the new enemies are not a serious threat, especially if they have prepared their base. As the Tavernkeep says, "You know, where I'm from, a Blood Moon is actually just an excuse to get some fresh air."
  • The Blood Moon is a great place to use weapons with the Cursed Inferno debuff. It does significantly increased damage since 1.4.1, and most Blood Moon enemies are fast, meaning you'll be dodging a lot more than in regular gameplay, and making Cursed Inferno (with its damage over time) much more useful.

Trivia[]

  • In real life, the Moon appears red during a lunar eclipse, which is sometimes referred to as a "Blood Moon". As sunlight passes into the shadow through the atmosphere, the Moon is given a red/orange color due to the amount of air the light passes through. This is the same phenomenon that gives sunsets and sunrises such colors.
  • When a real Blood Moon occurred on April 14, 2014, a warning was jokingly announced on the official Terraria forums.[3]
  • The Blood Moon and Underworld share the same track on the Nintendo 3DSNintendo 3DS version version. Verify
  • During a Blood Moon, all female NPCs except the Party Girl and the Princess use more irritable or aggressive dialogue than normal. This is a reference to the fact that some women in real life become irritable or aggressive due to premenstrual syndrome. Both the menstrual cycle and the real-world Moon cycle occur approximately every 28 days.
    • Female player characters are not subject to such changes - all dialogue between the player and NPCs is as normal for blood moons and the player is not implied through the NPCs to appear more irritable.
  • The Blood Moon is the only thing in the game with its song title (Eerie) not being named after what it plays for. (e.g. The song that plays at nighttime in the Forest biome is named "Overworld (Night)")

History[]

  • Desktop 1.1: The chance of a Blood Moon was decreased to 1/9 from its previous chance of 1/7.

References[]

  1. Information taken from the PC version PC 1.4.3.6 source code, method UpdateTime_StartNight() in Terraria.Main.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current PC version PC version is 1.4.4.9.
  2. Information taken from the PC version PC 1.4.0.5 source code, method SpawnNPC() in Terraria.NPC.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current PC version PC version is 1.4.4.9.
  3. www.terrariaonline.com → Forums → News → Dev Blog → thread: The Blood Moon is Rising...
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