Guide:Surviving in the Corruption

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See also: Guide:Surviving in the Crimson

See also: Guide:Eater of Worlds strategies

Surviving in the Corruption can be tricky for new players. It holds powerful enemies, deep chasms, and can spread across the world. There are things in the Corruption that are needed to progress through the game. One example is the Shadow Orbs that can be broken to summon the Eater of Worlds, which is needed in order to craft Shadow armor and, most importantly, the Nightmare Pickaxe.

Pre-Hardmode

Recommended Gear

• Have at least 200 health. Magic users should have at least 100 Mana.
• It is recommended to have at least Silver armor or Tungsten armor. Gold armor or Platinum armor are better although much harder to obtain.

Weapons

• Melee users should bring Gold Broadsword or Platinum Broadsword at minimum, or Light's Bane if Eye of Cthulhu has already been defeated.
  • Enchanted Sword or Arkhalis(Terragrim) should definitely be used if obtained.
  • An Enchanted or Ice Boomerang are also great at keeping Eater of Souls at bay.
• Ranged users should bring a Gold or Platinum Bow with Frostburn Arrows. They are easy to craft and farm, as Ice is very easy to obtain, and Torches can be bought from the Merchant.
• Magic users should bring at least Sapphire or Emerald Staff. Ruby Staff or Diamond Staff are the best available.
• Throwing users should bring a bunch of Throwing Knives, as they aren't too difficult to obtain. Grenades can also be used, although they may damage the player if used recklessly.
  • If Pinky has been killed, Molotov Cocktails should be crafted, as they are very powerful throwing weapons.

Miscellaneous

• Bring with you at least a half stack (15 out 30) of Lesser Healing Potions. Some Lesser Mana Potions should be brought as a Mage.
• A Grappling Hook is highly recommended. They can help you navigate the chasms.
• It is also good to bring Rope or Platforms, as they help when climbing out of the chasms.

Exploring the Corruption

The Surface of the biome is home to the deep Chasms that lead to Shadow Orbs and Demon Altars. These pits make it very hard to navigate in the early game, as an accidental fall can easily lead to a death by Fall damage. The most common enemy found will be the Eater of Souls, with the more uncommon Devourer spawning occasionally.

• Eater of Souls are flying enemies that will fly out of reach, then charge the player. They are much harder to deal with in a pack, and they can knock a player into a chasm.
• Devourers are worm enemies that will pop out of the ground to attack the player. They can be detected by the noise they make while travelling underground. Like with many other Worm enemies, the best way to kill these is to attack them with a piercing weapon.

In the Corruption's many chasms, the Shadow Orbs will be found. They let off a faint glow which will allow the player to easily locate them, but can only be reached initially by use of explosives or Purification Powder purchased from the Dryad. They can then be destroyed by using a hammer or explosives.

Destroying the orbs will drop a random item and give you the following messages:

• When the first Orb is broken, "A horrible chill goes down your spine..." will appear;
• When the second one is broken, "Screams echo around you..." will appear;
• When the third one is broken, the Eater of Worlds will spawn, with "Eater of Worlds has awoken!" appearing.

When killed, The Eater of Worlds drops Demonite Ore and Shadow Scales, which are then needed to craft Shadow armor and the Nightmare Pickaxe, the latter being important for Game progression.

For strategies against the Eater of Worlds, refer to: Guide:Eater of Worlds strategies.

Hardmode

As soon as the Wall of Flesh is defeated, a diagonal strip of Corruption will appear in the world, and all corrupted blocks such as Ebonstone will start spreading. Much stronger enemies will also start spawning, so surviving in the biome will be much more difficult than before.

The player can use the Pwnhammer dropped from the Wall of Flesh to smash Demon Altars. Destroying them will generate new ores, which are almost mandatory to progress in the game. Smashing 9-12 Altars will be more than enough for most of Hardmode, since more than that won't generate too many new ores. Breaking altars will swarm the player with Wraiths, so they should be very quick when doing so to avoid dying.

Altars are also crafting stations, so it isn't a bad idea to leave one for the special recipes requiring them.

Note that smashing Altars has a chance to corrupt a random block in the world. This will barely affect its overall spread speed, but it can infect areas the player tried to protect.

See also: Guide:Maintaining world purity.

After the altars are smashed, the Corruption should be avoided until better gear is obtained, since Pre-Hardmode weapons and armors won't be enough to deal with the new enemies.

Recommended Gear

At the bare minimum, the best Pre-Hardmode armors of the player's class should be used, such as Molten armor, Necro armor, Jungle armor or Wizard set and Bee armor for Melee, Ranged, Magic and Summoner users respectively. Armors made with Hardmode materials should definitely be used if obtained.

The player should also get a strong Hardmode weapon before venturing in. There are many choices depending on the class used:

• Melee users should grind for an Amarok in the Snow biome as it can be easily obtained at the beginning of Hardmode and will last until the Mechanical Bosses are defeated. A Sword or Spear made with the new ores will also do fine against them.
• A Ranged character is better off with the Clockwork Assault Rifle dropped by the Wall of Flesh or a Shotgun alongside Crystal Bullets. The Repeaters made with the new ores will also do just fine against them.
• A Mage may want to farm for a Sky Fracture, made with a Hallowed Desert's materials. They can also fish for a Crystal Serpent or use the Laser Rifle dropped by the Wall of Flesh.
• Summoners will need a Spider Staff and Queen Spider Staff, made with Spider Cave's materials.

Underground Corruption

With good gear, it is easier to survive in the Underground Corruption, but still challenging. Once the diagonal strip has been located, the main thing to do is to find a good area to farm Souls of Night and Cursed Flames, as the two will be needed for many recipes in early Hardmode.

The best place would be a wide, open area with a safe, enclosed area where the player can take cover from enemies and heal. If no such place is found, with a couple Mining Potions or Explosives it can be built.

See also: Guide:Enemy farming.

The Player will also have to deal with new, stronger enemies:

• Corruptor are the Hardmode version of Eaters of Souls, as they possess the same AI but with the added ability to shoot a projectile, the Vile Spit. They are the most common enemies, and with their high health and damage stats they can be dangerous to the player. Their projectile can be destroyed by the player's attacks and it does not go through blocks, so these traits can be exploited to take them out more easily.

• World Feeders are the Hardmode version of Devourers, with a longer body as well as higher health and damage. They are more common than Devourers were in Pre-Hardmode, so the player should always watch out for them. Like any other Worm type enemy, the sound of them digging can be heard when they spawn, and any explosive or piercing attacks will easily take them out. They drop Cursed Flames when killed.

• Corrupt Slimescan be considered a Hardmode version of Mother Slimes, as they have higher health than the average Slime, and they spawn multiple Slimelings when killed. Compared to the other enemies, they aren't too big of a threat.
  • The Slimer is a flying variant which will spawn a Corrupt Slime when killed.

• Clingers act like most Plant type enemies such as the Angry Trapper, with the added ability to shoot a cursed fireball, which inflicts the Cursed Inferno Debuff. They deal a lot of contact damage, and the Cursed Inferno will drain the Player's health as well as stopping their regeneration. The fireballs cannot be destroyed like the Vile Spit, but they also can't go through blocks. They also drop Cursed Flames when killed.

• Cursed Hammers are a very rare enemy that can go through blocks, and can inflict the Cursed debuff on hit. While this status effect can be devastating, they will stop moving if attacked, so they are fairly easy to deal with.

• Corrupt Mimics are by far the toughest things you'll see here, even compared to the Eater of Worlds. (The EoW may have twice the total health, but that's split into segments, and biome mimics have many times the EoW's defense and damage. Also the EoW is slow and predictable, while biome mimics are fast and aggressive.) They do drop great items when killed, but given their threat level, killing them is not an option until you have much better gear.

Pre-Hardmode enemies can also still spawn, but at a lower rate than before.