Solar Eclipse

 "A solar eclipse is happening!" 

A Solar Eclipse is a Hardmode event that occurs rarely after at least one mechanical boss has been defeated. A Solar Eclipse has a 5*1/20 (5%) chance of occurring upon any particular dawn. On the  PC version,  Console version,  Mobile version,  Old Chinese version,  tModLoader version, and  tModLoader 1.3-Legacy version, it is also possible to summon a Solar Eclipse using a Solar Tablet (only legitimately obtainable after defeating Plantera, but can occasionally be obtained prior to that).

During a Solar Eclipse, unique and difficult enemies spawn at very high rates, even near NPCs. The event lasts for one entire day, from sunrise to sunset, regardless of the number of enemies that have been killed. The moon is visible in front of the sun, causing the ambient light level to drop to below-nighttime levels.

A Solar Eclipse is announced at the beginning of a day with the status message "A solar eclipse is happening!" The event only affects the surface layer, and can be avoided by moving into the underground layer or below.

Content

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Characters

Anytime:

• ​Eyezor
• ​Frankenstein
• ​Swamp Thing
• ​Vampire
• ​Creature from the Deep
• ​Fritz
• ​Reaper()
• ​The Possessed

After defeating all mechanical bosses:

• ​Baby Mothron()
• ​Mothron()
• ​Reaper()

After defeating Plantera:

• ​Baby Mothron()
• ​Mothron()
• ​Butcher
• ​Deadly Sphere
• ​Dr. Man Fly
• ​Nailhead
• ​Psycho

Unique Drops

From Eyezor:

• ​Eye Spring

From Vampire:

• ​Broken Bat Wing
• ​Moon Stone

From Creature from the Deep:

• ​Neptune's Shell

From The Possessed:

• ​Steak

From Mothron:

• ​Broken Hero Sword( pre-Plantera)
• ​Mothron Wings
• ​The Eye of Cthulhu

From Reaper:

• ​Death Sickle

From Butcher:

• ​Butcher's Chainsaw
• ​Butcher's set

From Deadly Spheres:

• ​Deadly Sphere Staff

From Dr. Man Fly:

• ​Toxic Flask
• ​Dr. Man Fly set

From Nailhead:

• ​Nail Gun
• ​Nail(only with Nail Gun)

From Psycho:

• ​Psycho Knife

From Frankenstein & Swamp Thing:

• ​Broken Hero Sword

Banners:

• ​Eyezor Banner
• ​Frankenstein Banner
• ​Reaper Banner
• ​Swamp Thing Banner
• ​Vampire Banner
• ​Butcher Banner
• ​Creature from the Deep Banner
• ​Deadly Sphere Banner
• ​Dr. Man Fly Banner
• ​Fritz Banner
• ​Mothron Banner
• ​Nailhead Banner
• ​Psycho Banner
• ​The Possessed Banner

For Sale

From Cyborg:

• ​Rocket IV
• ​Cluster Rocket II

From Steampunker:

• ​Purple Solution(Corrupt world)
• ​Red Solution(Crimson world)

Music

• ​ Eclipse
• ​ Eerie (Otherworldly)

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Notes

• There is a 5% chance for a Solar Eclipse to occur each dawn, even if one happened the previous day. It is possible for multiple Solar Eclipses to occur in a row. It is also possible for a Blood Moon to follow a Solar Eclipse, or vice-versa.
• It is possible for boss fights or other events to occur at the same time as a Solar Eclipse, such as a Goblin Invasion or a Pirate Invasion. Prior to 1.3.0.1, these events may also cancel Solar Eclipse enemy spawns.
• Unlike a Blood Moon, a Solar Eclipse only allows its exclusive enemies to spawn on the surface, except for in Corruption, Crimson, and Ocean areas.
• A Solar Eclipse also increases the spawn rate of Truffle Worms, since they are internally considered enemies.

Achievement

Kill the Sun • “Survive a solar eclipse, a day darker than night filled with creatures of horror.”

Survive a Solar Eclipse.

Category: Explorer

Tips

For more elaborate strategies on defeating Solar Eclipse, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Defending against events.

• Like the Blood Moon, the effects of Water Candles and Battle Potions stack with the event's spawn rate, increasing the opportunities for rare drops.
• Solar Tablet Fragments, which are used to create the event-summoning Solar Tablet, can be acquired before gaining access to the Jungle Temple by defeating the Lihzahrds that spawn outside the Jungle Temple, who will drop the Solar Tablet Fragments.
  • Note that crafting the Solar Tablet requires a Hardmode Anvil, but even then, the item has a chance to spawn in a Lihzahrd Chest that has been placed close to or in front of the door. Nevertheless, the Solar Tablet cannot be used before Hardmode is initiated.
• Fetid Baghnakhs are a great weapon in surviving Solar Eclipses because of the fast speed and high damage.
• The KO Cannon is very effective against the pre-mechanical boss Solar Eclipse.
• On the Nintendo 3DS version, a Solar Eclipse can be escaped by moving to a Floating Island. The enemies spawning there naturally (Harpies and Wyverns) will still pose a threat, however.
• As there are very high enemy spawn rates, it is a good idea to use a Minishark or Megashark (low damage for more coins) with Golden Bullets to farm for money. A Lucky Coin can maximize the outcome.
• Because the event can happen anywhere on the surface and lasts from dawn to dusk, placing banners is crucial to avoid being chain killed in higher difficulty levels.

Trivia

Solar Eclipse enemies and their relationship to classic 20th century horror films.

• Every enemy that spawns during a Solar Eclipse (except the Reaper and Eyezor) share the theme of classic 20th century horror films. (See image on the right and each enemy's individual page for movie references.)
• The type of Solar Eclipse displayed is an annular solar eclipse.
  • An annular eclipse occurs when the sun and moon are exactly in line with the earth, but the apparent size of the moon is smaller than that of the sun. Hence the sun appears as a very bright ring, or annulus, surrounding the dark disk of the moon.
  • In real life, such eclipses are extremely rare, happening less than once a year and rarely where people can see it.
  • Additionally, real solar eclipses only occur on new moons. In Terraria, the event can occur on any phase of the moon.
  • Real-life solar eclipses usually only last for about seven minutes (and about only 2 minutes of total eclipse), while the one in the game can last for an entire 15 in-game hours.
• When loading a world with a Solar Eclipse in progress, the sun that rises and sets on the loading screen is also in its eclipsed state. Leaving a world while a solar eclipse is happening will have the same effect.
• During an Eclipse, the moon icon on the Sextant will turn red, like it does with a Blood Moon.
• Originally, another enemy was planned for the Solar Eclipse, named the Severed Hand, but it was never added to the game, being deemed too hard to see in an already chaotic event.
  • Despite this, there is still an unobtainable Severed Hand Banner.
  • The Severed Hand is a reference to Thing, a fictional character in The Addams Family series.

History

 PC version

• Desktop 1.4.1: Mothron and Baby Mothron now spawn after Plantera has been defeated after previously spawning after defeating all three Mechanical bosses.

• Desktop 1.4.0.1: Cluster Rocket II, Dr. Man Fly set, and Butcher's set added.
• Desktop 1.3.5: Vampire sprite updated.

• Desktop 1.3.0.4: Chance of a natural Solar Eclipse occurring decreased to 1/20.

• Desktop 1.3.0.1:
  • Can now be summoned manually using a Solar Tablet.
  • Added Dr. Man Fly, Mothron, Nailhead, Fritz, The Possessed, Butcher, Deadly Sphere, Creature from the Deep and Psycho along with their banners and drops.
  • Changed sprite for Swamp Thing and Vampire.
  • Other Events will no longer block spawns from the Solar Eclipse.
  • Chance of a natural Solar Eclipse occurring increased to 1/14.

• Desktop 1.2.2: NPCs will now take shelter in their houses during a Solar Eclipse.

• Desktop 1.2.1.2: No longer requires defeating Plantera to happen, only defeating a Mechanical Boss.

• Desktop 1.2.0.3.1: Now only occurs after defeating Plantera.

• Desktop 1.2.0.3:
  • Slightly increased the chance for a Solar Eclipse to happen, from 1/30 to 1/25, but they will now only happen after killing a Mechanical Boss.
  • Solar Eclipses are no longer persistent between worlds.

• Desktop 1.2: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.02: Introduced.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.2.6508: Introduced.

Nintendo 3DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced.