Twenty Questions About Terraria

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Twenty Questions About Terraria...Answered!

Terraria's popularity is largely derived from its immensity. The game's scope grants a wonderful degree of experimental, exploratory, and retail value, but the vast scale can sometimes be overwhelming. Terraria diehards spend dozens of hours mastering the nuances of exploration, crafting, and combat.

To give you a leg up on the learning curve, we've collected twenty helpful answers to common questions about Terraria. Feel free to add your own questions and answers below, or expand on what's already here. The Wiki is fully editable, so get to it!

How Do I Find Crystal Hearts?

Crystal Hearts are essential to advancing through the early stages of the game. In addition to adding vital durability necessary to survive boss fights and exploration in the more dangerous Biomes, Crystal Hearts are a prerequisite to the incidental appearance of the Eye of Cthulhu.

Frustratingly, there is no precise detection strategy for Crystal Hearts. They almost always spawn in natural caverns, so players starting new worlds are well advised to stock up on Torches and a grapple and then commit to a few hours spelunking in the huge caves which populate the underworld. Using Torches near block walls sometimes allows a player to spot hollows on the other side, and digging through opens new chambers, any of which may hide one of the precious life-granting Crystals. Systematic exploration will eventually turn up a few Hearts, but does tend to drag out the pre-Cthulhu section of the game. If you're in no hurry and just happy to explore, that's fine.

If you're impatient like the rest of us, another solution to finding Crystal Hearts is to cheat.

What? I Can Cheat at Terraria?

Absolutely, provided that you:

  1. Are playing the PC version.
  2. Don’t mind risking data corruption or other apocalyptic consequences.

There are a number of nifty Terraria cheating tools. [Moreterra] allows you to generate a map of your Terraria world in exquisite detail, including the locations of Crystal Hearts, the Meteor Site, Floating Islands, and every Chest, Diamond, and natural cavern in the game. [TerrariViewer] grants you the ability to adjust your character’s appearance, stats, Mana, and Inventory at will, saving you the trouble of locating or farming hard-to-get Items.

What is the purpose of an Armor Set?

Armor is divided into three types: head armor, body armor, and leg armor. Every grade of Armor includes one Item of each type. These three pieces combined are called a Set. For example, the Silver Armor Set includes the Silver Helmet, Silver Chainmail, and Silver Greaves.

Armor pieces can be mixed and matched between Sets, but doing so is almost always counter-productive, as wearing a complete Set of Armor grants special synergy bonuses. For less powerful Sets like Iron or Silver, these bonuses amount to simple increases in Defense. More advanced suits grant significant Set bonus increases in Weapon of Magic efficiency, often increasing fire rates or reducing ammunition consumption. for example, a full suit of Meteor Armor allows a player to use the Space Gun without consuming any Mana at all.

For a full account of Set bonuses, check out the Armor section.

Some Gear Seems Kind of Useless. Is it really?

Yes. Some gear is pretty useless, including some fairly difficult-to-acquire equipment. Terraria isn’t terribly concerned with balance, and a number of Items exist purely for variety's sake or collection purposes. While some Statues are useful for farming, many serve no practical purpose. Some outfits, like the Mining Armor, are significantly underpowered in comparison to suits acquired through similar labor-intensive efforts. These pieces exist to add flavor to the game, and acquiring them is entirely optional.

How is a Piggy Bank different from a Chest?

Chests are useful for storing Items, Weapons, and other gear in a limited space. Chests can be crafted, or reclaimed after looting.

Piggy Banks are a craftable item that appear identical to Chests in storage capacity and function. They also have a special, less obvious power. Piggy Banks allow access to a single pool of goods from many locations. Every Piggy Bank is connected to the same good pool, so two Piggy Banks placed in houses on opposite sides of the world can share goods between them. This makes Piggy Bank storage ideal for accessing essential Items that you might need at any time.

Note that because all Piggy Banks access the same common storage space, buying multiple Piggy Banks is only useful for increasing the number of places you can access your Items from. Doing so does not increase storage capacity.

I see floating houses in a lot of Terraria images. How do I build one?

Most solid blocks in Terraria require a foundation to place, but don’t require a foundation to sustain. For example, you can’t just place Stone blocks in midair. They require another block beneath or beside them to rest against. But once the blocks are placed, you can excavate blocks beneath or beside them with your Pickaxe, and the blocks above will stay in place suspended, floating without any support.

Exploiting this tendency allows players to create all manner of floating structures. Even a narrow pillar of dirt or stone allows a player to build vast platforms, then remove the pillar to create a castle in the sky.

I Can’t Beat “Insert Enemy Name Here”. What gives?

Are you underequipped? Despite the side-scrolling motif, Terraria plays very much like a traditional role-playing game. Keeping competitive against the Mobs and Enemies of Terraria requires constant upgrades to your Weapons and Armor. Are you properly Buffed, Enchanted, and armed with the right class of gear for the job? Some foes are best dealt with with ranged attacks, others with melee. Some are vulnerable to Boomerangs, others to Firearms.

To learn more about what Weapons and tactics are best employed against particular foes, check out our full descriptions of Mobs and Enemies.

You mentioned Buffs?

Buffs allow players to gain advantages in mobility, durability, damage, or environmental resistance. Temporary Buffs are usually the result of imbibing Potions, though some are available through the use of magic items such as Orb of Light.

So How Do I Concoct Potions?

Some Potions are found in Chests, but most Potions a character needs are made at an Alchemy Station. Fortunately, Alchemy Stations are very easy to create, requiring little more than Wood and Glass to construct. The Items to concoct the Potions themselves may be somewhat more difficult to acquire. Check out IGN’s guide to Potions to learn the recipes and effects of each and every formula.

What About the Gravitation Potion?

Gravitation Potions allow the player to reverse gravity at will for a limited period of time. This ability can be toggled rapidly, allowing the player’s avatar to fly. The technique takes a little practice, but once you get it down it is well worth the investment.

The ingredients of a Gravitation Potion are not terribly difficult to find. Fireblossom will probably present the greatest difficulty for new players, as it is found on hot-to-the-touch Hellstone in Hades. This means that a player will need access to Obsidian Items to stock up on a healthy supply of Gravitation Potion. These Potions can also sometimes be found in Chests.

How Do I Find Floating Islands Without Flying?

Well, you can cheat of course, or you can wait until you have access to Gravitation Potion. But if you’re determined to play it straight, you might want to consider searching sooner rather than later by using a simple Skybridge. 

Skybridges are long platforms built at very high altitudes. They are very useful for catching Falling Stars at night, and allow the player to enjoy rapid transit across the world. At their most fundamental they are nothing more than single-thick strings of dirt or stone accessible by simple stairs, platforms, and grapple points. They take a while to build, and many players wait until the midgame to construct them, because skybridges limit the amount of Meteorite Ore that appears after Meteors fall.

However, Meteor events are not triggered until the Eye of Cthulhu is summoned. Players eager to reach Floating Islands early can use the large amounts of Stone and Dirt to reach Floating Islands, and then disassemble the bridges immediately before confronting Cthulhu to avoid losing any Meteorite benefit.

And why would a new player want to reach Floating Islands so early in the game? After all, the special Golden Chests on Floating Islands require Keys locked deep in the Dungeon, and the Dungeon is almost inaccessible until Cthulhu, the Eater, and Skeletron are defeated. So why bother?

The single reward for accessing floating islands early are their precious metal content. Floating islands tend to be crammed with Gold and Silver, two resources difficult for players to acquire in the early game. A new player may consider the tedious process of Skybridge construction a small price to pay for access to a large cache of precious metals. The Harpy Feathers gained during the construction process will also come in handy later when Crafting flight-oriented Potions and Items.

Whenever you do choose to search out Floating Islands, note that they exist high, high, high in the sky. Don't underestimate the altitude you need to reach to spot them.

What's Up With Enchantments?

Once the Goblin Tinkerer joins your happy little town, a new world of customization opens up to you thanks to the presence of the Goblin Tinkerer. This handy fellow will enchant almost any Item...for a price.

And what, pray tell, is an enchantment? Enchantments are permanent modifiers which add inherent bonuses to items, with advantages indicated by a prefix. You've likely already found some naturally occurring enchanted Weapons or Items through your exploration. They're characterized by descriptive words like "Deadly" or "Murderous" in the item description.

Some enchantments are negative, making items less useful. Examples include "Dull" or "Weak" Items.

Each weapon may only have one enchantment at a time. Every enchantment is granted by giving cash to he Goblin Tinkerer". Undesirable enchantments can be erased by buying a new enchantment for the same item, which supersedes previous enchantment. There is no limit to the number of times this strategy may be applied.

Lower-powered items generally only accept lower-powered enchantments, while Hardmode Items are capable of greater enchantments, like "Godly" and "Legendary".

Enchantments are almost essential to success in Hardmode, where Mobs and Bosses are ridiculously durable.

Enchantments cannot be applied to Armor.

How Deep is Too Deep for a New Player?

The deeper you delve into the surface of Terraria, the more dangerous the environment becomes. The Mobs and Enemies in lower Strata are significantly more powerful than the assorted Slimes encountered the surface.

Beneath the fourth Strata, the added threat of Lava lends a certain danger to descents. Without the proper Buffs or Obsidian equipment, Lava presents a barrier to direct travel, and a careless excavator may fall through a cavern and into a pool.

The lowest Strata, Hades, should not be explored without Obsidian equipment, as most blocks are heated and almost immediately fatal to an unprepared explorer.

A good rule of thumb is to stick to the first or second Strata until acquiring a Grappling Hook and decent Armor, and only then descend into the third and fourth Strata for rarer elements and treasures.

Advance cautiously, take your time, breathe in, and have fun. Terraria is a long haul.

How do I Deal With Water Pockets?

Descents into the Terraria underworld regularly require players to navigate large pockets of water. Because your Terraria avatar cannot swim, deep pools represent an intimidating health hazard. Fortunately, canny and well-prepared players can greatly reduce the dangers of cave diving.

The first trick is making sure you have the right gear in hand. Deep water is dark at the bottom, and Torches don’t light while submerged. Glowsticks do function underwater, and conveniently can be tossed to the lowest point of a waterway. They are available from the Merchant, or as a drop from Jellyfish. Always keep a supply prepared on your quick bar when exploring underground.

A key strategy in exploring underwater is tunneling your own air pockets. Water in Terraria always flows downhill. By quickly digging a short horizontal shaft parallel to the floor of a water pocket and then hollowing out a two-square area above, a player can create a tiny breathing space just large enough to accommodate the avatar’s head. Jumping into this area allows a player to refill their lungs indefinitely.

Grappling gear is also extremely useful in escaping water pockets. Gravitation Potions can be a lifesaver as well.

I’m Starting a New Game. What Gear should I craft/buy?

We cover this some in the Starter Guide, but it is helpful to know that you shouldn't venture too far from home without at least a few essentials. After you get your house in order, spend a little time mining for Iron and farming Gel, then create the following gear.

Why Are the Unicorns Trying to Kill Me?

Unicorns are evil, bloodthirsty creatures. Don’t buy into the My Little Pony propaganda. They’re insidious beasts at heart.

Unicorns are symptomatic of a larger reality: everything in Terraria is trying to kill you. Outside of birds, Bunnies, and a few NPCs, the entire universe conspires to maim, drown, and devour your avatar. Beyond the hordes of Enemies, Terraria players can fall victim to falling Sand, dropping from heights, molten Lava, Drowning, damage-dealing surfaces, Debuffs, and a host of other dangers. Even time works against you as the Corruption slowly spreads.

The Hallowed Biome is no safer than any other area, in fact, it’s among the more dangerous areas in the entire game.

Why Does the Starter Guide make such a big deal about the Minishark?

Because for a good portion of the game, it’s the best newbie-friendly Weapon money can buy.

There are a lot of good Weapons in Terraria. But the Minishark is simplicity itself. Point your mouse in the general direction of the enemy, hold down the left button, and the enemy dies. It’s effective against Bosses and Mobs alike, and ammunition is readily available via the Arms Dealer.

Trust us, it’s worth the money.

But I Don’t Want to Use a Gun! And I Hate Farming For Gold. What’s Another Option?

Ok, ok. Stock up on your best ranged weapons and armor, grab a grapple and a heaping helping of Torches, and head for the Underground Jungle. You’re going to build yourself a Boomerang, the mighty Thorn Chakram.

The Chakram is a powerful, reusable ranged Weapon. It can pass through closed doors and inflicts the Poison Debuff at random. The Chakram is a fair match for almost any enemy, and its a lot of fun to wield thanks to Terraria’s return pathing.

Boomerangs sound cool. Are there any other good ones?

Yes indeed. The Hardmode-exclusive Light Disc is rad. You can keep five of them in the air at once, allowing you to fill the air with scythes of death. It’s not terribly difficult to construct by Hardmode standards, and is a rewarding and enjoyable weapon to toss around.

I Heard I Can Turn Into a Werewolf. Can I Really Turn Into a Werewolf?

Yes. And it's awesome.

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