Guide:Martian Madness strategies
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This is a Guide page. This means the page will walk you through a specific task, strategy, or enemy/boss fight. Status: Subject to revision (This Guide does not meet certain quality standards and may be heavily outdated.) |
• Most likely outdated since 1.4 ![]() |
The Martian Madness is a post-Golem invasion that can be done anytime after beating it. The event rewards the player with very powerful items dropped from its exclusive boss, the Martian Saucer. However, due to the great amount of powerful Martians that spawn the event can prove to be extremely difficult if attempted without preparation.
Contents
Event[edit | edit source]





Type | |
---|---|
Environment | |
AI Type | Rider AI |
Damage | 50/100/150 (contact) 140200 (Martian Deathray) 300450 (Martian Deathray berserk) 060 (Saucer Scrap) |
Max Life | 270005400081000 (all parts) |
Defense | 100 |
KB Resist | 100% |
Immune to | All debuffs |
- Item (Quantity)Rate
- One of the 6
/ 9
following items will always drop
- 16.66%
11.11% - 16.66%
11.11% - 16.66%
11.11% - 16.66%
11.11% - 16.66%
11.11% - 16.66%
11.11% - 11.11%
- 11.11%
- 11.11%
- 10%
Greater Healing Potion (5-15)
100%
Hurt | |
---|---|
Killed |
- Internal NPC ID: 392
The invasion will only happen when the Player finds a Martian Probe
in the wild and lets it escape into Space. The Martians will then spawn in areas close to friendly NPCs.
During the invasion, all of the following enemies will spawn:
Gray Grunts
, the basic enemy of the event. Despite its simple appearance, it is one of the most dangerous martians due to its very high health and total immunity to knockback.
Ray Gunners
, who behave similarly, but with lower stats and the ability to shoot lasers from their gun.
- Occasionally, it will spawn riding on a
Scutlix
, becoming a Scutlix Gunner. The Scutilx moves very fast, deals high contact damage and its rider will shoot lasers, making this a deadly enemy. The Scutlix Gunner has a low chance to drop the
Brain Scrambler
, which allows the player to ride a Scutlix of their own.
- Occasionally, it will spawn riding on a
Martian Walkers
are a very fast enemy that can quickly shoot lasers, have a lot of health and are immune to knockback. Despite these attributes, their size and very low jumps make them prone to getting stuck on simple obstacles.
Martian Drones
are small enemies with low damage and health. They will lock on to a player, and then quickly charge towards them before exploding.
Gigazappers
behave like Gray Grunts, with lower stats and the ability to inflict the
Electrified
debuff on hit, which causes a player to rapidly lose health when moving.
Martian Engineers
have low stats but instead of attacking, they can deploy
Tesla Turrets
, which shoot an electric projectile at the player, which inflicts the Electrified debuff. The Engineers should be killed quickly, as they can easily overwhelm a player with Turrets.
Martian Officers
spawn protected by a Bubble Shield, which will need to be killed before the player can harm it. If the Officer isn't killed quickly after the Bubble Shield is destroyed, it will activate again.
Brain Scramblers
are similar to Ray Gunners, with their projectile inflicting the
Confused debuff on hit.
- The Martian Saucer is the boss of the event. It will alternate between firing lasers from its turrets at the player's position, shooting homing missiles from its Cannons, and then following the player while attacking with its Deathray. Players must destroy the Turrets and Cannon first, as its core can't be damaged. After these have been destroyed, the player will be able to damage its Core, and it will move more aggressively than before, and will only use the Deathray, which also does much more damage. When killed, it will drop a unique weapon or item.
General Strategies[edit | edit source]
General Tips[edit | edit source]
This content is transcluded from Guide:Practical tips § Combat.
- Starting the battle just after the sun sets (7:30 PM) will provide the maximum amount of time to defeat nocturnal bosses. In Hardmode, the
Moon Charm and/or
Moon Stone are also useful at night.
- Prepare your Boss-fighting arena with adequate lighting,
Campfires and
Heart Lanterns for health regeneration, and
Stars in Bottles for mana regeneration if you use magic.
Bast Statues
will provide a significant defensive boost.
Garden Gnomes
and (if underground) proper torch placement
will reduce damage taken and increase damage dealt due to the luck.
Honey pools can also be used for extra health regeneration.
Sunflowers provide the Happy! buff to players within a 50-tile radius, which grants a +10% movement speed bonus and 17% reduction in enemy spawn rate.
- Always carry at least one stack of the highest-tier healing potion available (
Lesser,
Normal,
Greater, or
Super Healing Potions
). Relying only on natural Health Regeneration is not a good idea.
- The same goes for
Lesser,
Normal,
Greater, or
Super Mana Potions
, if you use Magic. The
Strange Brew
could also be used.
- The same goes for
- It is suggested to build houses for the
Dryad and the
Nurse NPCs in your arena. The former casts the
Dryad's Blessing
buff, which increases your defense and provides you with a thorns-like effect, while the latter can heal and remove debuffs instantly, at the cost of some
coins.
- Bosses are displayed on the Minimap: Follow the boss's icon to track it when you're struggling to find it. You can identify the boss icons by checking their respective wiki pages.
- Once you have freed the
Mechanic in the Dungeon, you can use
Wire to enhance your arena with
Traps and helpful
Heart and
Star Statues. The former help to damage the enemies, though be careful to set them up correctly in order not to hurt yourself during the battle. The latter will spawn heart and star pickups, respectively. Connect these devices to
timers.
- It may be useful to summon and kill the Eye of Cthulhu or King Slime before summoning any harder boss in order to spawn an extra one-use pool of Hearts. Note that this will prevent any Heart Statues from spawning new Hearts.
- Remember to use the
Sharpening Station
,
Ammo Box
,
Crystal Ball,
Bewitching Table
, and
Slice of Cake
before you go to explore or battle bosses/invasions. These will give boosts that are useful to take, with the first four being class-specific. They give
Sharpened
,
Ammo Box
,
Clairvoyance,
Bewitched
, and
Sugar Rush
, respectively.
Terrain Preparation[edit | edit source]
The great amount of enemies with high stats and/or projectiles makes it very hard to survive the invasion in the open. The event is better fought around your base, where the martians will be much less likely to overwhelm you with projectiles. Make sure to protect your NPCs however, as the enemies will easily kill them.
Like many other invasions, all pre-1.4 enemies completely lack the ability to attack through blocks, as only explosions from the Martian Drone and Martian Saucer have the ability to do so. This can be exploited by safely killing the enemies inside a tall box above the ground. Additionally, a Pit with a shallow layer of Lava and Traps can be built to trap the Martians and kill them safely, Using Summon weapons you can safely and quickly beat the Martian Saucer from inside the box. And you can use Track since enemies cannot spawn on it, serves as a great way keeping non-flying enemies at bay. You can also hop on the Track if you have a mechanical cart due to their great speed. Recommended weapons are the Tempest Staff,
Deadly Sphere Staff
and
Raven Staff. If you manage to have a
Xeno Staff
drop you can use that for the rest of the fight.
You can still do it in 1.4 but you need either a Rod of Discord or a
Hook of Dissonance
to teleport out of the way of the deathray.
Note that the Martian Saucer will not fire it's deathray through some blocks as long as the player is not under them.
Gearing Up[edit | edit source]
Armor[edit | edit source]
- For Melee characters, the
Beetle armor is the best available. The
Beetle Scale Mail is better for offensive bonuses, while the
Beetle Shell is better for those that can’t avoid taking hits frequently.
- For Ranged characters, the
Shroomite armor is the strongest available.
- The
Spectre armor is the strongest for a Mage. The
Spectre Hood should be used only when at low health to maximize damage output.
- A Summoner should summon their minions while wearing
Spooky armor and then equip
Tiki armor for an extra, although weaker minion and slightly higher defense.
Weapons[edit | edit source]
- For Melee users
- The
Seedler
or
Terra Blade are both very good all around swords. If the Old One's Army has been defeated, the
Flying Dragon
is excellent against crowds.
- The
Paladin's Hammer is very useful for crowd control, and useful against the first phase of the Martian Saucer. The
Possessed Hatchet makes a good combination with it, as it can deal with single targets and the second phase of the Saucer.
- The
Flairon is very powerful due to its many high damaging bubbles.
The Eye of Cthulhu
is the strongest yoyo available until the Terrarian.
- The
Vampire Knives are a strong weapon with lifesteal capabilities.
- The
Scourge of the Corruptor has low damage, but many homing projectiles.
- The
Death Sickle can pass through blocks. It is useful if the player has trouble dodging enemy attacks.
- For Ranged users
- The
Chain Gun is the strongest gun available, while the
Megashark is an acceptable alternative.
Crystal Bullets are the strongest for damage, while
Chlorophyte Bullets are better against the second phase of the Saucer.
- The
Candy Corn Rifle is good against crowds and a decent choice against the Saucer.
- The
Tsunami with
Holy Arrows is the strongest bow. The
Chlorophyte Shotbow is an acceptable alternative.
- The
Snowman Cannon is excellent for the event due to its homing rockets with big explosions.
- The
Piranha Gun can easily kill enemies while standing in an enclosed area. Be wary not to be caught by the saucer's death ray.
- For Magic users
- The
Razorpine is the strongest weapon against single targets. The
Inferno Fork and
Bat Scepter are weaker but still effective.
- The
Blizzard Staff deals high amounts of damage and covers a wide area. Also Useful if you decide to box yourself, dealing damage to the Saucer without getting out the box.
- The
Razorblade Typhoon is an excellent weapon against both crowds and the Saucer.
- The
Rainbow Gun,
Magnet Sphere and
Golden Shower are all great secondary weapons.
- For Summoners
- The
Tempest Staff,
Deadly Sphere Staff
and
Raven Staff are the strongest minions available.
- The
Staff of the Frost Hydra is a useful sentry to have.
Accessories[edit | edit source]
- Any pair of Wings, such as
Fishron Wings or
Hoverboard are all useful for mobility.
- The
Frog Leg makes all Wings ascend significantly faster.
- The
- The
Master Ninja Gear will help greatly in dodging attacks.
- A
Celestial Shell
or
Celestial Stone gives very welcomed increases to all stats, most notably damage and health regeneration.
- Damage boosting accessories such as the
Destroyer Emblem,
Magic Quiver, or
Mechanical Glove are all very good.
- The
Charm of Myths reduces the length of the
Potion Sickness debuff by 1/4 (15 seconds) as well as giving a small life regeneration increase. For the Philosopher's Stone effect to work, it only needs to be equipped the instant a potion is drunk.
Specific Strategies[edit | edit source]
Circle and Shake (Expert/Master)[edit | edit source]
In Expert and Master mode, you have access to a flying mount from killing either Duke Fishron or Mourning Wood.
When a Martian Saucer appears, it will cycle through three attacks: shoot rapid lasers to the side, shoot homing rockets, and shoot a downward laser.
For the first attack, stay above the saucer. As it releases the homing rockets, circle down and underneath it, coming up on the other side and dodging the rockets. This means that you'll be flying up and away when the downward laser fires.
After it loses half its health, it begins aggressively chasing you, too fast to escape unless you're using Shrimpy Truffle with the water/rain buff. Instead of running away the whole fight, only flee until its laser turns off, then go in the opposite direction. It will fire and chase you again, but once the laser turns off, go in the opposite direction. Once you get the rhythm down, it becomes a much easier fight.
Watch out, though, as burning Saucer Scrap projectiles fall from it as it fires. These do minor damage, but can knock you into the laser, so it's recommended to equip knockback-cancelling accessories like the Cobalt Shield or the Hero Shield.