Bosses

Bosses are large, aggressive, resilient enemies that offer a substantial challenge to players. Defeating bosses is usually instrumental in advancing the game in some way. Each has its own particular way of being summoned, and warning messages appear whenever one is about to appear. Defeating a boss concludes with a congratulatory message and several items. Most of the bosses can pass through blocks, with exception of King Slime, Lepus, and Golem.

During Hardmode, each night has a one in two chance of spawning one of the three Mechanical Bosses that have not yet been defeated in the current world.

Quick Answers

How does defeating a boss in Terraria advance the game?

In Terraria, defeating a boss is a significant event that propels the game forward. Each boss defeated usually grants the player new materials, which can be used to craft higher tier items like pickaxes. This progression allows players to explore new areas, face tougher enemies, and continue their journey towards becoming as strong as possible. The order of bosses in Terraria can vary, but each one presents a unique challenge and contributes to the overall progression of the game.

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What are the conditions for manually summoning a boss in Terraria?

In Terraria, bosses can be manually summoned under specific conditions. Most bosses have associated summoning items that can be used to spawn them. For instance, Skeletron, one of the bosses, is summoned by speaking to the Old Man at the Dungeon's entrance at night and selecting the 'Curse' option. However, it's important to note that each boss has its own unique summoning method and conditions.

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How many bosses are there in Terraria?

There are currently 8 pre-Hardmode, 11 Hardmode, and 14 event bosses (33 in total) in Terraria. Each boss presents a unique challenge and defeating them is usually instrumental in advancing the game in some way. For instance, they often grant the player new materials for crafting higher tier items.

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What is the progression of bosses in Terraria?

In Terraria, boss progression typically starts with the Eye of Cthulhu, followed by either the Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu based on world the Corruption/Crimson. Skeletron must be defeated to enter the Dungeon, and the Queen Bee is found in the Jungle. The Wall of Flesh triggers Hardmode and is followed by the Mechanical Bosses (Twins, Destroyer, Skeletron Prime). Plantera in the Jungle is a key Hardmode boss, leading to Golem and the Lunar Events. The final boss, Moon Lord, concludes the game. Each boss drops unique items crucial for advancing and defeating tougher challenges in Terraria's expansive world. Some bosses (like the King Slime, Duke Fishron, etc.) are optional and it's not necessary to defeat them.

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Pre-Hardmode Bosses

Are the ones you initially start the game with before you progress to certain mile stones (mostly defeating these).

King Slime

King Slime

For strategies on defeating the King Slime, see Guide:King Slime strategies. King Slime is a giant blue slime with 2000 health. It is summoned with a Slime Crown, and can also rarely appear in the outer thirds of the map completely by itself. As with all monsters that can spawn naturally, the King Slime has a better chance of spawning while standing near a placed Water Candle or under the effects of a Battle Potion. King Slime is a good challenge for a beginning player, and can be easily defeated by tactical use of terrain. King Slime does not provide access to game-advancing items upon defeat, but will drop one Gold Coin, one piece of Ninja clothes, and a one of several slime related items.

Eye of Cthulhu

Eye of Cthulhu

For strategies on defeating the Eye of Cthulhu, see Guide:Eye of Cthulhu strategies. Eye of Cthulhu has a 1 in 3 chance of spawning at the beginning of each night, once the player has 200 HP or more, 3 or more NPCs living in houses, and over 10 Defense. It will continue to do so until defeated for the first time. It can also be summoned using a Suspicious Looking Eye at night. This is generally the first Boss a player must face. It travels through blocks, and spawns Servants of Cthulhu.

Eater of Worlds

Eater of Worlds

For strategies on defeating the Eater of Worlds, see Guide:Eater of Worlds strategies. Eater of Worlds will appear every time you shatter three Shadow Orbs. These orbs are found in the Corruption, surrounded by Ebonstone. Ebonstone requires a Pickaxe with 65% power or higher to mine, though you can also use Explosives or Purification Powder. Once you are close, shadow orbs can be destroyed with a Hammer. Eater of Worlds can also be summoned with the Worm Food. Eater of Worlds can only be summoned in the corruption, and if it manages to get out of the corruption, it will flee and disappear. Eater of Worlds can be a challenge even for intermediate players, as it is a large Worm enemy that travels through tiles, and is made up of multiple sections that can each attack separately (with separate heads, no less) when they are cut off. To defeat this boss, every section must be brought down to less than two body parts to be killed (the smallest possible section is a head and a tail with no body pieces). Due to how helpful corrupted items are, the EoW will probably be the second boss faced in worlds that have corruption, rather than Crimson. Eater of Worlds is the only source of Shadow Scales in the game, and drops a large amount of Demonite Ore. The Demonite Ore Can also be sold for More than seven Gold coins a stack! This is largely considered the best boss farming boss in the game. (Pre hardmode).

Brain of Cthulhu

Brain of Cthulhu

For strategies on defeating Brain of Cthulhu, see Guide:Brain of Cthulhu strategies. Brain of Cthulhu will appear every time you shatter three Crimson Hearts. These hearts are found in the Crimson, surrounded by Crimstone. Crimstone requires a Pickaxe with 65% power or higher to mine, though you can also use Explosives or Purification Powder. Once you are close, Crimson Hearts can be destroyed with a Hammer. Brain of Cthulhu can also be summoned with Bloody Spine. It can only be summoned in the Crimson. Brain of Cthulhu has only 1,000 HP but has two forms: In the first form, the brain cannot be harmed and Creepers will float around it. After the creepers are killed the brain will go into its second form, where it will charge at you, it will also teleport while it's chasing you, so you might want to have a ranged weapon. Unlike other bosses, the Brain of Cthulhu is not immune to knockback. Brain of Cthulhu is the only source of Tissue Samples in the game (Other than the creepers spawned while fighting it), and drops a large amount of Crimtane Ore.

Queen Bee

Queen Bee

For strategies on defeating Queen Bee, see Guide:Queen Bee strategies. Queen Bee is summoned by destroying the Queen Bee's offspring encased in honey in the beehive structure, which is located in the underground jungle, or by the use of an Abeemination anywhere in the jungle, and is the only source of Bee Wax, except on the console. Queen Bee is immune to knockback.

Skeletron

Skeletron

For strategies on defeating Skeletron, see Guide:Skeletron strategies. Skeletron is summoned by speaking to the Old Man and activating his curse at the entrance of the Dungeon at night. It can be summoned again by killing the Clothier with the Clothier Voodoo Doll equipped at night (Clothier arrives after defeating Skeletron, and it is assumed he is the Old man due to the tip the guide gives indicating the old man freed from the dungeon may want a house to live in, Template:Mobile iconthe tips at the loading screen, and his dialogue thanking the player for freeing him from his curse). Defeating Skeletron allows you to freely access the Dungeon without being attacked by the Dungeon Guardian. The Dungeon contains many unique items, as well as hazards. It is not recommended to enter without strong armor. The Dungeon has items such as a Cobalt Shield, Handgun, Muramasa and a Blue Moon. It has enemies such as Angry Bones, and a Dark Caster, they're just some of many hazardous things.

Wall of Flesh

Wall of Flesh

For strategies on defeating the Wall of Flesh, see Guide:Wall of Flesh strategies. The Wall of Flesh is summoned by throwing the Guide Voodoo Doll into a pool of lava in the Underworld while the Guide is alive. It is known by most players as the hardest pre-Hardmode boss, at 8,000 health, and defeating it will irreversibly enable Hardmode in that given world. Its defeat will also allow the creation of the summoning items for various Hardmode bosses. It can drop several powerful items, one of them being the guaranteed drop Pwnhammer which can be used to break Demon Altars in order to spawn Hardmode Ores.

Hardmode Bosses

Hardmode Bosses are significantly harder upgrades of and new additions to previous bosses. Defeating them is usually instrumental in advancing the game in some way. Each has its own particular way of being summoned, and warning messages appear whenever one is about to appear. Defeating a boss concludes with a congratulatory message and several items.

During Hardmode, each night has a one in two chance of spawning one of the three Mechanical Bosses that have not yet been defeated in the current world.

The Twins

The Twins

For strategies on defeating The Twins, see Guide:The Twins strategies. The Twins are the Hardmode version of the Eye of Cthulhu. They spawn as two eyes, one with 20,000 HP (Retinazer) and one with 23,000 HP (Spazmatism). Unlike the Eye of Cthulhu, they do not immediately transform at half health - Retinazer transforms at 8,000 HP and Spazmatism transforms at 9,000 HP. The Twins are summoned by using a Mechanical Eye at night. It is worth noting that The Twins will gain defense in their second forms, unlike the Eye of Cthulhu. The two eyes have different fighting styles. Spazmatism focuses on slamming into the player and firing green flames. Once it reaches its second form, it will resemble a mechanical version of the Eye of Cthulhu's second form. It will deal a lot more damage, and the flames it shoots are more consistent like the Flamethrower instead of the Cursed Flames, but the flames will still inflict Cursed Inferno debuff on the player. The other eye, Retinazer, focuses on shooting the player with Death Lasers like the Destroyer's Probes. Once it reaches its second form, it will replace its pupil with a laser cannon. During this form, it will shoot lasers extremely fast, sometimes having the same fire rate as a Megashark. The last Twin destroyed will drop all of the loot

The Destroyer

The Destroyer

For strategies on defeating The Destroyer, see Guide:The Destroyer strategies. The Destroyer is the Hardmode version of the Eater of Worlds, with 80,000 HP. It is considered the easiest hardmode boss by many players, despite having the most health. Although it is similar to its easy mode counterpart, it has some key differences: it won't divide into smaller segments, will shoot lasers from its body if space is available, and will deploy Probes to attack you as well. The Destroyer is summoned by crafting and using a Mechanical Worm anywhere, but can only be spawned at night. The Destroyer will shoot Death Lasers at you, increasing the attack speed with the lower health it has. Weapons that do damage to multiple segments like Flails, Water Bolt, and the Demon Scythe are recommended, because they will do a lot of damage as The Destroyer passes through them. As of 1.2.3, The Destroyer's drops now come from the closest body part.

Skeletron Prime

Skeletron Prime

For strategies on defeating Skeletron Prime, see Guide:Skeletron Prime strategies. Skeletron Prime is a far more difficult Hardmode version of Skeletron, with the head having 28,000 HP. His limbs are different: instead of two hands, he has a vice, a laser gun, a saw and a cannon that shoots bombs. With the head and all limbs combined, Skeletron Prime has 59,000 HP. However, like Skeletron, you only have to kill the head. Skeletron Prime can be summoned as many times per world as you want, by crafting and using a Mechanical Skull, but can only be summoned at night. It is worth noting that when his head spins, his Defense increases, unlike Skeletron, whose Defense is dropped to 0 when spinning. He will drop Hallowed Bars and Souls of Fright, which are both used to craft many kinds of armor and tools. Be warned that when Skeletron Prime is still alive during morning (4:30 AM to 7:30 PM), he will be in Dungeon Guardian mode and effectively one-shot you, despawning afterwards.

Plantera

Plantera

For strategies on defeating Plantera, see Guide:Plantera strategies. Plantera is summoned prior to version 1.2.3 (and in the current console version) by destroying Plantera's Bulb in the underground jungle after slaying a mechanical boss. As of 1.2.3, you'll first need to kill all three Mechanical Bosses. Plantera has two stages: In the first stage Plantera clings to solid blocks using vine-like extensions. In this stage Plantera fires spiky projectiles much like Spiky Balls. In the second stage Plantera has increased speed and charges at the player. Once Plantera is defeated, the dungeon will automatically spawn hardmode monsters, such as the Paladin.

Golem

Golem

For strategies on defeating Golem, see Guide:Golem strategies. The Golem is summoned by using a Lihzahrd Power Cell at the Lihzahrd Altar in the Jungle Temple. In order to access the Jungle Temple, you must first defeat Plantera to obtain the Temple Key. Golem has two phases. During the first phase, the pieces you can attack are his fists and his head. Once his fists are destroyed he can not shoot them at you, which is recommended before you begin the second phase. After you destroy his head, the second phase begins, and all parts of his body will be vulnerable. The body jumps around a lot more during this phase, and the head will remain in battle, flying above the body shooting fireballs and lasers, but can't be harmed.

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Duke Fishron

For strategies on defeating Duke Fishron, see Guide:Duke Fishron strategies. Duke Fishron is a Hardmode boss. It is a fish-pig-dragon hybrid with 50,000 health and 50 defense. It is summoned when a Truffle Worm is used as bait with a higher-powered fishing rod in an Ocean biome. In its first stage, Duke Fishron will attempt to ram the player 5 times before either firing explosive bubbles or summoning Sharknados. In its second stage, Duke Fishron gains glowing eyes and a boost to attack and defense (needs confirmation.) Although its ramming attacks remain the same, instead of shooting bubbles directly at the player, it flies quickly around in circles, sending bubbles everywhere. Instead of summoning Sharknados in this stage, Duke Fishron summons larger Cthulhunados. These remain in place until Duke Fishron is defeated. He is said to be the hardest boss in the game, but Duke Fishron becomes much easier when the player has equipped Wings.

Event Bosses

Mourning Wood

Mourning Wood

Mourning Wood is a semi boss that spawns during the Pumpkin Moon. Like many other bosses, it has the ability to move through necessary blocks. It shoots flaming projectiles and has a large amount of hp. It is recommended to fight from a distance.

Pumpking

Pumpking

Pumpking is found during the Pumpkin Moon event. Multiple Pumpkings can be out at the same time, up to six at the final, fifteenth, wave (or even more in multiplayer). It has three modes of attack, indicated by the face carved in the pumpkin it uses as a head.

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Everscream

Everscream can be found during a Frost Moon and acts much like the Mourning Wood. The biggest difference is that its projectiles can NOT go through blocks.

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Santa-NK1

Santa-NK1 is the second boss you encounter in Frost Moon event. Some people consider him harder than Ice Queen. He attacks using his minigun, that cannot fire through blocks and rockets that go through blocks (similar to Mourning Wood). His third attack is a shower of slow falling presents.

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Ice Queen

Ice Queen is the third and final boss you encounter in the Frost Moon event. She has three alternate attacks. She drops the Baby Grinch Mischief's Whistle, Reindeer Bells and also endgame weapon for each class.

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Ocram

Ocram is a boss that exists only on the console version and mobile version of Terraria. To summon Ocram you must get the Suspicious Looking Skull. It requires two Mechanical Eyes, one Mechanical Skull, ten Adamantite Bars, five Souls of Night, and five Souls of Light, crafted at a Mythril Anvil. Upon death, he drops 5-10 Souls of Blight. Souls of Blight are used in the crafting of console-exclusive armor, Dragon Armor, Titan Armor, and Spectral Armor. They are also used to craft the new sword, spear and repeater, Tizona, Tonbogiri and the Vulcan Repeater. It is generally considered the hardest boss in the console version.

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Lepus

Lepus is a large rabbit-like boss exclusive to the Mobile version of Terraria. It's summoned with a Suspicious Looking Egg at any time of day. During combat it lays two types of Easter Eggs: small ones that hatch Diseaster Bunnies and bigger ones that hatch another ,weaker, Lepus; these eggs can be damaged and destroyed by the player before hatching. A maximum of 5 Lepus can be spawned from the large eggs laid by the original Lepus.

Notes

• The messages for all the bosses are:
  • Eye of Cthulhu: "You feel an evil presence watching you..."
  • Eater of Worlds and Brain of Cthulhu: "A horrible chill goes down your spine..." after the first and "Screams echo around you..." after the second Shadow Orb/Crimson Heart is broken. The third only produces a standard summon message.
  • The Destroyer: "You feel vibrations from deep below..."
  • The Twins: "This is going to be a terrible night..."
  • Skeletron Prime: "The air is getting colder around you..."
• As of 1.2.3, worlds generated in earlier versions, in which a player defeated all mechanical bosses before upgrading, will not have those bosses register as defeated; for instance, Plantera's Bulbs will not spawn, and the Steampunker will not arrive.

History

• 1.2.4:
  • Duke Fishron added.

• 1.2.3.1:
  • Mech bosses no longer spawn randomly if another boss is alive.
  • You can still summon multiple bosses manually. Hardmode bosses will no longer spawn if no player is above ground.

• 1.2.3:
  • Various boss changes and/or bug fixes.
  • Mech bosses are now slightly more difficult.
  • You can no longer waste boss summon items by using them after that boss has spawned.
  • Fixed a bug where numerous NPCs could spawn if you beat a hardmode boss in a non-hardmode world.

• 1.2.1.2: Some Plantera and Destroyer changes.

• 1.2.1.1: Mechanical Bosses will no longer spawn during Pumpkin Moons.

• 1.2.1: Reduces the chance for a mechanical boss summon to drop during hardmode.

• 1.2.0.3:
  • Hardmode Crimson, Corruption, and Hallow spread is now slowed after killing Plantera instead of any Mechanical Boss.
  • Slightly increased the chance for an eclipse to happen, but they will now only happen after killing a Mechanical Boss.

• 1.2:
  • There are 4 new bosses.
  • Each boss has a rare chance to drop a placeable boss trophy.
  • Hardmode bosses have a chance to spawn on their own to help players progress through the game.
  • Current hardmode bosses now do slightly less damage and have had their health decreased.

• 1.1:
  • There are 4 new bosses, 3 of which are upgrades of the older ones.

• 1.0.4:
  • King Slime introduced.

• Pre-Release:
  • Introduced Eye of Cthulhu, Eater of Worlds and Skeletron.