Your first useful upgrade might be hiding under the dirt. Dig into a cave for ore, haul it home to craft stronger gear, then keep a valid house free so a town NPC can move in. Bosses open each new stretch of the world, and the Wall of Flesh is the big switch that flips the world into Hardmode.
The details follow the PC version, Terraria 1.4.5.8. Console and mobile versions, mods and special seeds can play differently.
- Developer
- Re-Logic
- Publisher
- Re-Logic
- Release
- PC (Windows): 2011-05-16
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android
Game data
NPCs
Town NPCs bring shops, healing and crafting help to your base. Most have a move-in condition to meet first, and their stock and favorite biome decide which ones are worth chasing early. Hardmode brings more residents, some of them after a boss falls, so keep a spare house ready as you go.
Biomes
Each Terraria region brings its own enemies, loot and traps, so the layer you dig into matters as much as the biome name. Hardmode cuts diagonal Hallow and world-evil stripes through the map, then those biomes spread across eligible blocks. Check a region's enemies before you commit to a dig.
Collectibles
Bosses
Terraria's progression bosses mark the main gates. The Wall of Flesh starts Hardmode, the Twins, The Destroyer and Skeletron Prime must all fall before Plantera's Bulbs appear, and the Lunatic Cultist starts the Lunar Events that lead to Moon Lord.
Terraria Controls
| Action | Desktop |
|---|---|
| Move | A and D |
| Jump | Space |
| Use item or attack | Left mouse button |
| Interact with objects | Right mouse button |
| Open inventory and crafting | Esc |
Terraria gameplay tips
- Talk to the Guide, pick Crafting and show him a new material before you spend it. He'll tell you what you can craft with it and which station each recipe needs.
- Keep one valid house free as you explore. The Merchant moves in once a valid house is vacant and your own inventory holds a gold coin (100 silver). Coins in chests and the Piggy Bank don't count, so keep the cash on you. The town NPCs page covers who moves in and what they offer.
- Journey mode is a low-pressure place to learn crafting and building. Its Power Menu adds godmode and time control, so you can test a build without worrying about a fight.
- Know which evil biome your world has before you chase an early boss. Corruption worlds have the Eater of Worlds, which drops Shadow Scales, and Crimson worlds have the Brain of Cthulhu, which drops Tissue Samples. Every third Shadow Orb summons the Eater and every third Crimson Heart summons the Brain, so break them when you're ready. Meteorites don't start falling until you've beaten the Eater of Worlds or the Brain of Cthulhu for the first time. The bosses page lays out both routes, and the biomes page shows what else changes.
- Only throw a Guide Voodoo Doll into lava in the Underworld, and only when you're ready for the Wall of Flesh. Voodoo Demons drop the doll there, and the Guide has to be alive when it hits the lava. He doesn't need to be nearby, but lava anywhere else kills him and summons nothing.
- The Aether is easy to miss. It's a mini-biome in the Underground or Cavern layers on the same side of the world as the Jungle, with a big Shimmer pool at its center. Most crafted items break back into their materials when they touch Shimmer, so test on something cheap first. You can't scoop Shimmer with an empty bucket, and worlds made before 1.4.4 never get one.