Sun and moon as seen during the event
A Solar Eclipse is a Hardmode event that occurs rarely after at least one Mechanical Boss has been defeated. A Solar Eclipse has a 1/20 (5%) chance of occurring on any particular day (for comparison, the Blood Moon has a 7/72, or 9.72% chance, each night.) It is also possible to summon a Solar Eclipse using a Solar Tablet, which is made from Solar Tablet Fragments, which are obtained from Lihzahrds, Flying Snakes, and Lihzahrd Chests in the Jungle Temple. The tablet itself can also be found in Lihzahrd Chests.
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 near-nighttime levels.
A Solar Eclipse is announced at the beginning of a day with the message, "A solar eclipse is happening!" The event only affects the surface layer, and can be avoided by burrowing well into the underground layer or below, or by using an Enchanted Sundial, but this carries the risk of triggering other events.
Content
| Solar Eclipse | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characters | Unique Drops | For Sale | |||||||||
After defeating all
After defeating Plantera Template:Pc icon: |
From Reaper: From Eyezor: |
From Vampire: From Mothron Template:Pc icon:
From Deadly Spheres Template:Pc icon: From Psycho Template:Pc icon: From Butcher Template:Pc icon: From Dr. ManFly Template:Pc icon: From Creature from the Deep Template:Pc icon: From Nailhead Template:Pc icon: |
From the Cyborg: From Steampunker:
| ||||||||
Achievement
Kill the Sun is the achievement you earn for surviving your first Solar Eclipse.
Notes
- It is possible for other events to occur at the same time as a Solar Eclipse, such as a Goblin Invasion or a Pirate Invasion. Other events may cancel Solar Eclipse enemy spawns (except in the
PC version after 1.3.0.1). - Before defeating Plantera on the
PC version and always in other versions, Swamp Things seem to be the most common Solar Eclipse enemies to spawn, followed by Frankensteins, Reapers, and Vampires, with Eyezor being the least common. - Unlike a Blood Moon, the Solar Eclipse allows only its own enemies to spawn on the surface, where Blood Moons have most regular enemies (with a few exceptions such as Dripplers and Blood Zombies). The only exceptions to this rule are the surface Corruption, Crimson, and Ocean.
- A Solar Eclipse can occur the day before or after a Blood Moon. One will not affect the chances of the other following, and the same event can follow the next day or night as well.
- It is important to note that the more difficult enemies (with more powerful item drops) will not spawn as soon as the event is available. Reapers and Mothrons will only spawn after defeating all three Mechanical Bosses; Butchers, NailHeads, Deadly Spheres, Psychos, and Dr. ManFlies will only spawn after defeating Plantera.
- On the Mobile version, if you quit the game when the Solar Eclipse message is shown, the event will not occur.
- On the Mobile version, instead of getting the Broken Hero Swords from Mothron, you get them from Frankensteins and Swamp Things.
Tips
- Like the Blood Moon, the effects of Water Candles and Battle Potions stack with the event's spawn rate, increasing the chances for rare drops.
Trivia
Solar Eclipse enemies (including those in 1.3.0.1) and their relationship to classic 20th century horror films.
- Every enemy that spawns during a Solar Eclipse (barring 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 experienced is an annular solar eclipse.
- 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.
- The moon icon of the Sextant turns red.
- Originally, another enemy was planned for the Solar Eclipse, named the Severed Hand (it can still be seen in the image to the right). It exists within the game files, but it was unimplemented for unknown reasons.
History
- 1.3.0.4: Chance of a natural solar eclipse occurring decreased.
- 1.3.0.1:
- Can now be summoned manually using a Solar Tablet.
- Added Dr. ManFly, 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.
- 1.2.1.2: No longer requires defeating Plantera to happen, only defeating a Mechanical Boss.
- 1.2.0.3:
- Slightly increased the chance for an eclipse to happen, from 1/30 to 1/25, but they will now only happen after killing a Mechanical Boss.
- Eclipses are no longer persistent between worlds.
- 1.2: Introduced.
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