Terraria

Terraria

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Pre-Hardmode Checklist: Absurdly Overprepped Edition
By Enderspoons
This is an extensive (albeit super barebones and lazily-written) checklist of (nearly) everything one could possibly want to do before taking on the Wall of Flesh and initiating Hardmode.

Is this even remotely necessary to do? No, not really. As far as I know, you can absolutely go gung-ho into Hardmode with zero prep whatsoever and come out the other side completely fine o~o
But if you're a paranoid little goober like me who wants to be absolutely, 100% sure that you aren't mucking anything up by engaging Hardmode, then this checklist might be helpful for you like it is for me o^o

If there's something really obvious that I missed that clearly should be in here, please let me know :>
   
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─┤ Enemy Murder ├─
Things that you'll probably want dead.

■ Bosses ■
  • Kill King Slime (spawns naturally by causing 150+ Slime casualties during a Slime Rain event)
  • Kill the Eye of Cthlulhu (spawns naturally at 7:30 PM once you have 200+ Max HP, 10+ Defense, and 3+ NPCS living in houses)
  • Kill a Dark Mage during the Old One's Army event (spawns during wave 5 only; will respawn after death as many times as you can fit before the event completes, so he makes for an excellent early-ish money farm :>)
  • Kill Deerclops (spawns naturally at 12:00 AM if you're in a Snow biome while a blizzard is blowing)
  • Kill the Brain of Cthulhu/Eater of Worlds to craft a Hellstone-worthy Pickaxe (spawns naturally when you smash three Crimson Hearts/Shadow Orbs with a hammer)
  • Kill Queen Bee in an Underground Jungle Bee Hive (spawned by gently coughing whilst vaguely near a Bee Hive's Larve)
  • Kill Skeletron to unlock the Dungeon (spawned by talking to the Old Man at the Dungeon's entrance at night)

■ Enemies ■
Some get their spawnrates lowered by having to share with Hardmode enemies; others are just rare. Tagging these dudes is recommended so you can expand the Bestiary (and by extension the Zoologist's shop).
  • Kill an Angry Dandelion during a Windy Day weather event (spawns on outdoors grass tiles)
  • Kill an Angry Tumbler in the Surface Desert during a Sandstorm
  • Kill The Bride zombie during a Blood Moon
  • Kill Doctor Bones the zombie Archeologist in the Jungle/Underground Jungle (only spawns at night, even underground)
  • Kill a Giant Worm in the Underground layer (almost impossible to miss ngl)
  • Kill The Groom zombie during a Blood Moon
  • Kill an Ice Bat in the Ice (underground Snow) biome
  • Kill a Nymph in the Cavern layer (drops the Metal Detector, a Shellophone component; so be sure to seek one out)
  • Kill a Squid in the Ocean (only available source of Black Dye, which is very important for drip)
  • Kill Tim the skeleton wizard in the Cavern layer
  • Fish up and kill a Wandering Eye Fish (only fishable during a Blood Moon)
  • Fish up and kill a Zombie Merman (only fishable during a Blood Moon)
  • Pop a Windy Balloon during a Windy Day weather event (spawns attached to a slime when it airdrops in)
  • Note: While you can technically try gunning for the Dungeon Guardian before tackling Skeletron (who makes them go away forever on death), unless you want its unique skull pet drop there is no need to do so, as its Bestiary entry is unlocked by killing Skeletron. Would not recommend attempting it until you come back with a postgame character on a fresh world file.

■ Special Events ■
Some of these events get more dangerous in Hardmode. Others are simply... very easy to trigger on accident o~o
  • Survive a single Blood Moon night from start to finish for the achievement
  • Defeat the Goblin Invasion to spawn the Goblin Tinkerer (starts being rolled for after Brain of Cthulhu/Eater of Worlds dies for the first time)
  • Defeat the Old One's Army to unlock global use of the Tavernkeep's sentries (manually activated using an Eternia Crystal on its bespoke Stand) (becomes way harder later; you only need to beat 5 waves to win if you do it now)
  • Witness 150 slimes transition to a posthomous state during a Slime Rain to summon King Slime (Statue-spawned slimes don't count)
  • Incur the wrath of The Torch God and then dodge enough attacks to survive the onslaught (triggered by placing 100+ torches close together anywhere Underground)
─┤ Exploration ├─
Things you'll probably want to track down.

■ Biomes ■
  • Locate and Secure the Aether mini-biome to gain access to the uncrafting-capable Shimmer fluid (Shimmer is non-renewable until the final boss dies, so this stuff is ultra precious)
  • Locate and Secure a Floating Island with a lake (for fishing in)
  • Locate and Secure a Granite mini-biome (granite is a super drippy building block ngl, and you can farm the mobs here to get plenty of it)(you can also shimmer granite into marble and back :>)
  • Locate and Secure a Marble mini-biome (super-dangereous Medusas spawn here in hardmode, so having safe access to them is a smart plan)
  • Locate and Secure a Spider Nest mini-biome (cobwebs grow naturally on the walls here, making the stuff easily renewable & farmable)

■ Structures ■
  • Clip into the Jungle Temple (somehow) and do some sneaky sequence breaking (extremely unnecessary, but still possible to do which is really funny)
  • Find as many Bomb Statues, Heart Statues, and Star Statues as you can (these spawn free bomb items, HP hearts, and Mana stars respectively when activated, though the cooldown rate is very slow)
  • Find and Secure a Crimson Altar/Demon Altar (useful for crafting boss items, among other things)
  • Find three more Crimson Altars/Demon Altars (smash these once hardmode starts to unlock the hardmode ores)
  • Find as many Enemy Statues as you can (you can trigger these with wire and turn them into farms, though the drop rate is greatly lowered and you get no money)
  • Find a King Statue and a Queen Statue (activating these teleports a random male/female NPC to its location, respectively)
  • Locate the Jungle Temple (for later-game Hardmode)
  • Pillage and Secure the entire Dungeon (securing control over the whole thing makes it easier to tackle the lategame enemy spawns here later)
  • Pillage and Secure all of the Pyramids in your world, if any exist

■ NPC Rescues ■
  • "Rescue" the Angler from the Ocean (could be either one)
  • Rescue the Clothier by killing Skeletron
  • Rescue the Goblin Tinkerer from somewhere in the Caverns (only spawns when Goblin Invasion is defeated)
  • Rescue the Golfer from the Underground Desert
  • Rescue the Hair Stylist from a Spider Nest mini-biome somewhere in the Caverns
  • Rescue the Mechanic from the Dungeon
  • Rescue the Tavernkeep after killing Brain of Cthulhu/Eater of Worlds (could spawn anywhere, so it can be quite the manhunt)

■ Town Pets ■
These guys can stand in for real NPCs when it comes to Pylon use, so they're worth going out of your way to save as soon as you are able imo :>
  • Adopt the Town Bunny by buying the Bunny License from the Zoologist (Needs: 45% Bestiary completion (243 entries))
  • Adopt the Town Cat by buying the Cat License from the Zoologist
  • Adopt the Town Cat by buying the Dog License from the Zoologist (Needs: 25% Bestiary completion (135 entries))
  • Attract the Cool Slime by letting the Party Girl throw a random Party event
  • Fish up the Surly Slime during a Blood Moon
  • Recruit the Squire Slime by issuing a Copper Shortsword or Copper Helmet to any regular slime enemy
  • Rescue the Clumsy Slime from Space by popping its balloon
  • Rescue the Elder Slime from the Dungeon by unlocking the Old Shaking Chest mob with a Golden Key
  • Rescue the Nerdy Slime by killing King Slime
  • Transform a Mystic Frog from the Jungle into Mystic Slime by throwing Purification Powder on it (buy some from the Dryad for cheap)

■ Rare Critters ■
Simply moving next to one of these guys is sufficient for unlocking their Bestiary entry.
  • Catch a Bunny and craft it into the Explosive Bunny using Dynamite
  • Encounter an Enchanted Nightcrawler (most easily done by catching any Worm and crafting it with the Fallen Star, then releasing it onto the floor)
  • Encounter the Faeling in the Aether
  • Encounter the Firefly on the outdoors Surface at night
  • Encounter the Gem Bunny inside one of your Cavern-layer NPC Towns (any of the seven types will do)
  • Encounter the Gold Bird, Gold Bunny, Gold Butterfly, Gold Dragonfly, Gold Frog, Gold Goldfish, Gold Grasshopper, Gold Ladybug, Gold Mouse, Gold Seahorse, Gold Squirrel, Gold Water Strider, and Gold Worm (each of these spawns by rolling a 1/400 chance to replace the normal version of the mob when it tries to spawn)
  • Encounter the Ladybug in one of your Forest NPC Towns during daytime (only spawns during Windy Day weather events)
  • Encounter the Mystic Frog in the surface Jungle
  • Encounter the Tree Nymph Butterfly in the Forest during daytime
  • Encounter the Water Strider on a surface lake near Sand or Mud (only spawns during the daytime, on days with no rain and little wind)
─┤ Item Collection ├─
Things you'll probably want to buy/craft/loot in order to get properly geared up.

■ Weapons & Tools ■
  • Craft the Axe of Regrowth (auto-plops a free replacement sapling whenever you chop down a non-Gemcorn tree)
  • Craft a Molten Pickaxe (only pre-Hardmode pickaxe that can one-tap Stone and blocks of similar toughness)
  • Craft the Multicolor Wrench, useful for both mechanism building and trap defusal (All five pieces can be bought directly from the Mechanic)
  • Craft the Night's Edge sword if you're a melee boi (Needs: Light's Bane/Blood Butcherer; Muramasa; Blade of Grass; Volcano)
  • Farm a Cascade from any Underworld enemy (only necessary if you want 100% item collection, tbh)
  • Obtain any Mount equipment for faster land trave
  • Loot two Staffs of Regrowth from the Underground Jungle (one for farming herbs, and one for crafting into the Axe of Regrowth)l
  • Craft the Ultra Absorbant Sponge (the final word when it comes to liquid control) (Needs: Honey Absorbant Sponge; Lava Absorbant Sponge; Super Absorbant Sponge)
  • Craft the Void Bag and one or more Void Vaults at a Crimson Altar/Demon Altar (provides access to a portable chest that can be toggled to merge with your main inventory or not)

■ Raw Resources ■
  • Gather enough raw Meteorite to craft and set aside 60 (Sixty) Meteorite Bars for later Hardmode gear (the Meteoric Staff takes 20 and the postgame super-duper drill mount thing takes 40)
  • Gather enough materials to make Blocks and Walls to build everything you want/need to build (you will ideally want a material that you can readily farm/gather/mine by the tens of thousands — those hellevators and subways won't build themselves!)
    • Note: The following blocks (and their respective walls) are vulnerable to biome spread in Hardmode, and thus should not be used as building material:
    • Grass (both regular and mowed)
    • Hardened Sand Block
    • Ice Block
    • Jungle Grass
    • Jungle Thorny Bushes (if you were somehow able to do that)
    • Mud Block
    • Sand Block
    • Sandstone Block
    • Stone Block ← this lad being corruptible is the #1 reason why biome containment is so important

■ Accessories ■
  • Craft the Hand of Creation for easier/faster building (Needs: Brick Layer; Extendo Grip; Paint Sprayer; Portable Cement Mixer; Ancient Chisel; Treasure Magnet; Step Stool)
  • Craft the Shellophone for easy teleportation/info display (Needs: Magic Mirror/Ice Mirror; Platinum Watch/Gold Watch; Depth Meter; Compass; Radar; Tally Counter; Lifeform Analyzer; DPS Meter; Stopwatch; Metal Detector; Fisherman's Pocket Guide; Weather Radio; Sextant)
  • Craft the Terraspark Boots for quicker navigation (Needs: Rocket Boots; Sailfish Boots/Hermes Boots/Dunerider Boots/Flurry Boots; Aglet; Anklet of the Wind; Ice Skates; Water Walking Boots; Obsidian Rose; Lava Charm; Obsidian Skull)
  • Craft/Loot/Shimmer for the Adhesive Bandage, Bezoar, Cobalt Shield, Megaphone, Nazar, and Obsidian Skull (components for crafting the Ankh Shield; you'll stiil need Hardmode accessories to finish the job, but starting now while you're ahead is a good plan all the same imo)
  • Obtain a Guide to Plant Fiber Cordage from a Chest, Wooden Crate, or the Skeleton Merchant during a First Quarter moon phase (allows for rapid bulk-harvesting of vines to use as rope)

■ Fishing ■
  • Fish up the Advanced Combat Techniques during a Blood Moon (buffs NPC offense/defense capabilities)
  • Fish up the Bottomless Lava Bucket from lava (useful for farming Obsidian)
  • Fish up the Demon Conch from lava (used to craft the Shellophone)
  • Fish up the Lava Absorbant Sponge from lava (used to craft the Ultra Absorbant Sponge)
  • Fish up the Fledgling Wings from a Sky Crate (spent several hours trying with no dice, so i'ma just take my losses and get a hardmode wings instead o~o)
  • Get the Angler Set from the Angler (each piece guaranteed on the 10th, 15th, and 20th quest completed respectively
  • Get a Bottomless Honey Bucket from the Angler (only given when the quest item is a Bumblebee Tuna, but if this is the case then odds are quite high)
  • Get a Bottomless Water Bucket from the Angler (guaranteed on the 25th quest completed, but can be earned as early as the 10th) (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT for mastering one's control over the Underworld)
  • Get the Golden Bug Net from the Angler (capable of netting lava-compatible critter baits)
  • Get the Golden Fishing Rod from the Angler (guaranteed on the 30th quest completed) (strongest of all fishing rods)
  • Get the Super Absorbant Sponge and Honey Absorbant Sponge from the Angler (used to craft the Ultra Absorbant Sponge) (this can soak up Shimmer as well as water, so be careful with it)
  • Stockpile some Bloody Tears for easily controllable Blood Moon events (Blood Moons have some exclusive fish & other fishing rewards)

■ Functional Furniture ■
  • Craft or Loot a Bookcase (crafting station for
  • Fish up or Loot an Extractinator (used for extracting valuables out of Silt, Slush, and Desert Fossils)
  • Loot an Alchemy Table from the Dungeon (improved potion crafting efficiency compared to a Bottle)
  • Loot a Bewitching Table from the Dungeon (semi-permanent +1 minion capacity on use)
  • Loot a Bone Welder from the Dungeon (furniture station for Bone)
  • Loot a Hellforge from the Underworld biome (used for smithing Hellstone)
  • Loot a Honey Dispenser from the Underground Jungle biome (furniture station for Honey)
  • Loot an Ice Machine from the Ice (underground Snow) biome (furniture station for Ice)
  • Loot a Sharpening Station from an Underground Cabin in the Underground Jungle Biome (semi-permanent +12 armor penetration for melee weapons on use)
  • Loot a Sky Mill from a Floating Island House (furniture station for Sunplate)
  • Loot a Solidifier from King Slime (furniture station for Slime; can also make Frozen Slime Block, whose zero-friction properties make it useful for earlygame highways)
  • Loot a War Table from a Dark Mage during the Old One's Army event (semi-permanent +1 sentry capacity on use)

■ Shopping ■
  • Buy the Digging Molecart from the Zoologist (Needs: 35% Bestiary Completion) (Insanely useful for excavating out subways)
  • Buy the Grey Zapinator from the Traveling Merchant (if you want to keep one around for 100% item collection)
  • Buy the Magic Lantern from the Skeleton Merchant during a Full Moon night (passive light source that makes nearby ores & statues & chests & stuff get all sparkly-shiny)
  • Buy the Brick Layer, Extendo Grip, Paint Sprayer, and Portable Cement Mixer from various Traveling Merchants (used to craft the Hand of Creation)
  • Buy three Illegal Gun Parts from the Arms Dealer at night (three is all you need to craft everything they're usable for)
  • Buy the Imbuing Station from the Witch Doctor (specialist potion table for effect-on-hit potions)
  • Buy as many Piggy Banks and Safes from the Merchant as you think you need to keep your bases stocked with 'em
  • Buy an extra pair of Wire Cutters from the Mechanic (the Multicolor Wrench, while being generally the most convenient-available tool for dismantling traps while exploring, can't dismantle Actuators like the Wire Cutters and The Grand Design can)
─┤ Construction Projects ├─
Things you'll probably want to get built.

■ Bases & Outposts ■
  • Build an NPC Outpost in your Surface Glowing Mushroom biome for the Mushroom Pylon (also to attract the Truffle + house the Guide)
  • Build an NPC Outpost in the Snow biome for the Snow Pylon (also to house the Cyborg, Goblin Tinkerer, Mechanic, and Steampunker; and possibly Santa Claus if the Christmas Event gets going somehow)
  • Build an NPC Outpost in an Ocean biome (also to house the Angler, Hair Stylist, Party Girl, and Pirate)
  • Build an NPC Outpost in a Desert biome for the Desert Pylon (also to house the Arms Dealer, Dye Trader, and Nurse) (my main base borders a desert, so I'm using this pylon as my main)
  • Build an NPC Outpost in the Jungle biome for the Jungle Pylon (also to house the Dryad, Painter, and Witch Doctor)
  • Build an NPC Outpost outside any special biome for the Forest Pylon (also to house the Golfer, Merchant, Wizard, and Zoologist) (I put mine near the Dungeon's entrance for easy access)
  • Build an NPC Outpost in the Underworld or Caverns for the Cavern Pylon (also to house the Clothier, Demolitionist, Tavernkeep, and Tax Collector) (should probs put it near the Aether mini-biome for easy access)
  • Note: Once you attract everybody (except Santa Claus) you'll also be able to attract the Princess, who can be homed anywhere you like (so long as you've got 3 other NPCs living in very close proximity to stave off her autophobia)

■ Travel Mechanisms ■
  • Build a full-size Hellevator at the main base that spans the entire world height from bottom to top, with floors going up the entire way
  • Build a skybridge that spans from world edge to world edge (I recommend building it slightly below the edge of Space, so you have better odds of encountering Sky Islands while you build)
  • Dig out a secondary Hellevator underneath/next to each of your Pylons (for easy vertical access)
  • Dig out a lava subway in the Underworld to accomodate a Lava Shark mount (if you have one)
  • Dig out a super-subway that spans from world edge to world edge (both for transport and for biome containment) (I made mine at Depth 1,000 for personal satisfaction :>)
  • Dig out a second super-subway to segment off the upper/lower caverns at Depth 2,000 (complete overkill ngl but i'm doing this regardless)
  • Make the Underworld pedestrian-accessible (i.e. traversable from edge to edge without having to jump at all) (Making a flat Hellbridge or two is 100% easier, but I wanna make it a little bumpier for a spicier fight >w<)

■ Biome Management ■
  • Build a Graveyard mini-biome with 7+ Gravestones in close proximity to gain access to Ecto Mist-exclusive shop items & crafting recipes (be sure to include a vacant NPC house and a full crafting station suite in here)
  • Note: The Graveyard's presence will counteract the enemy spawnrate reduction provided by an NPC Town (and its ambiance filter change can be quite visually/aurally disruptive at times), so you may want to build it some ways outside your base to minimize unwanted side effects
  • Fully Quarantine the evil biome(s) with artificial tunnels (My own tunnels are fully sealed and walled in so that not even the background walls can leak out)
  • Leave some room inside the quarantine zones to culture Underground Evil Biomes (I recommend connecting them to a 1000-block deep subway for convenience in building + ease of access)
  • Place 400 or more raw Meteorite blocks somewhere in your world to shut off random meteorite impact events (meteorites can cause some pretty severe land damage if you get unlucky)
  • Pre-build a Quarantine Zone so you can culture an Artificial Evil Biome of the type your world does not have (be sure to leave room for an Underground Evil Biome too :>)
  • Pre-build a Quarantine Zone for culturing an Artificial Hallow Biome (be sure to leave room for an Underground Hallow Biome too :>)
  • Prep a mini Underground Desert inside each quarantine zone for future use (Needs: 1500+ Sand/Hardened Sand/Sandstone Blocks; Sandstone Walls)
  • Prep a mini Underground Snow inside each quarantine zone for future use (Needs: 1500+ Snow/Ice Blocks)

■ Farming & Fishing ■
  • Build an Ash Tree farm near your main Hellevator for easy access to Ash Wood
  • Build a large Gemcorn Tree farm for easy access to quick cash (be sure to include all seven gem types :>)
  • Build an outpost with a little pier next to the Ocean to gain access to Ocean fishing (minimal setup is needed to prep for ocean fishing ngl)
  • Make an Herb Garden for farming each of the 7 types of herb (both plain Grass and the Dryad's Planter Box platforms (any type) are valid soil for planting herb seeds)
  • Make/Secure a Cavern lake for Cavern-layer fishing
  • Make/Secure a large Forest lake for non-biome fishing (must have a volume of at least 1,000 water tiles if you want one big enough to fish for salmon; must be 300-999 otherwise)
  • Make/Secure/Prep a Corruption lake for Corruption fishing (only place you can catch Ebonkoi)
  • Make/Secure/Prep a Crimson lake for Crimson fishing (only place you can catch Crimson Tigerfish and Hemopiranha)
  • Make/Secure a Surface Desert lake for Oasis fishing (any surface lake in the desert counts as an Oasis mini-biome)
  • Make/Secure a Glowing Mushroom lake for quest fishing (only place you can catch the Amanita Fungifin quest fish)
  • Make/Secure a Honey lake for Honey fishing (you can only fish up Honeyfins (and one type of Angler quest fish) here, but they make for good healing items so is still worth)
  • Make/Secure a Surface Jungle lake for Jungle fishing (only place you can catch Double Cod)
  • Make/Secure an Underground Jungle lake for Jungle fishing (only place you can catch Variegated Lardfish)
  • Make/Secure a Lava lake for Lava fishing (Bottomless Lava Bucket recommended for this one)
  • Make/Secure a Sky lake for Sky-layer fishing (finding an existing Floating Island with a lake is preferable, but not required) (only place you can catch Damselfish
  • Make/Secure a Surface Snow lake for Snow fishing (only place you can catch the Pengfish and Tundra Trout quest fish)
  • Make/Secure an Underground Snow lake for quest fishing (only place you can catch the Mutant Flinxfin and Fishron quest fish)
  • Make/Secure a tiny lake for junk fishing (you can turn junk into low-level bait using an Extractinator in a pinch)
  • Prep a Surface lake inside your pre-built Hallow quarantine zone (only place you can catch the Pixiefish quest fish)
  • Prep an Underground Ice lake inside your pre-built Hallow quarantine zone (underground Hallow is the only place to catch Chaos Fish) (underground evil Ice is the only place to fish up a Scaly Truffle)
2 Comments
■ WillFrost 2 hours ago 
I have my goals set, great list :rbiggrin:
Should give me plenty to do on my return to the game!
iaregamertom 1 Jul @ 8:23am 
Yep this really is a great guide, I love doing all this stuff too on a large world but you are right unless you are on mastermode or expert, most of this isnt needed