A Smurf In Terraria: Part Three

Once more I return to Terraria, as it seems I will do until I die, or something better comes along. You can read part one here, and part two here, and then part three below. This entry actually spans a few weeks, the first half soon after the last entry, the second half after significant progress was made. But more progress is required! My time in Terraria is not yet done. But if you could lend a hand in the comments, that would be much appreciated. Oh, and don't forget to check out the RPS Terraria server.

My quest to make a pickaxe that can smash through the tougher blocks continues. I’m aiming for a Nightmare Pickaxe, since the Hellstone-based one requires, um, itself to mine the parts.

But I defeated the Eye Of Cthulhu. Finally I’m getting somewhere. I have Demonite bars. But I still need Shadow Scales – I’m going to need to kill another boss, the Destroyer of Worlds.

But he needs to be summoned, and to do that I need to do one of two things. Either plant some Worm Food in the area known as The Corruption, or smash three Shadow Orbs.

Right, first method. Worm Food. That’s made from Rotten Chunks, dropped by Eater of Souls and Devourers - I have some of that already – combined with Vile Powder, when stood in front of a Demon Altar. As it happens there’s a Demon Altar pretty near to my house, so it’s just the powder I’m after. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? So once again to the wiki, and I’m informed:

“It is sold by the Dryad NPC during a Blood Moon.”

Oh good grief. I don’t have a Dryad living in my village yet, and Blood Moons only come around every so often, potentially hours of play away. Oh, but I killed a boss! It seems that means a Dryad will soon move in! Some good news at last.

The other method – smashing three Shadow Orbs – means exploring the Corruption some more to get at these floating grey balls, which requires, guess what, a Nightmare Pickaxe to reach.

In fairness, an alternative is dynamite, but I’m already sick and tired of blowing myself up with that, and it’s not proving a productive direction. The other method is to convert the blocks using Purification Powder, which is, of course, only sold by Dryads.

Which all means it’s a good job I chose to start with the Eye, even though it only drops the Demonite I need, or all of this near-impenetrable loop would be impossible.

But! Never mind the convoluted nonsense in the way of my progression, because I have killed a boss, so I should soon have a Dryad! Perhaps progress is at hand?

…And she’s not selling Vile Powder. Because it’s not a Blood Moon. And so back I go to digging.

---TIME PASSES---

I have a nightmare pickaxe, a Light’s Bane sword, Minishark gun, Vilethorn staff, Molten Fury bow, and a War Axe of the Night. I’m wearing a Molten Breastplate and Molten Greaves. I’ve changed.

I’m also wearing a goldfish bowl on my head.

It all came together. I’ve killed things. I’ve been places. I’ve chipped away at rocks you’d never dare to lean on. I’ve seen things that would send your mind over the edge. I’ve got more powerful weapons, armour, tools, a goldfish bowl on my head.

I’ve got Hermes’ boots, that let me run faster. I’ve got flippers that let me swim upward. (I appear to be somehow wearing both at once.) I hold an Obsidian Skull that lets me walk on hot, hot bricks. I carry a Cloud in a Bottle, that lets me double jump. There’s a goldfish bowl on my head. In my inventory us a harpoon and a Ball O’ Hurt that lets me attack multiple enemies at once. Nothing’s the same.

Well, except for everything, because all I want to do now is find out what I don’t have and how I can get at it. The overall loop continues. And still the game has no intention of giving me any clues.

Although admittedly I’ve yet to kill the Destroyer Of Worlds. I’ve come close, and I’ve collected enough Scales to get what I needed, but each time it’s certainly won the fight, or chickened out at dawn and slithered away.

I should also mention that I’ve found my first dungeon, and even defeated the crazy boss that blocks the entrance, thanks to prolific application of health potions. And so it is to exploring.

Which is something that Terraria offers so well. The dungeon is essentially like the rest of the game, except you don’t have to dig. Pre-created chambers and corridors, packed with enemies, and more importantly, with lots and lots of treasure chests to discover, containing excellent treats.

Remember the Ball O’ Hurt from three paragraphs ago? Forgotten. Because I just found the Blue Moon. Same zoomy-out weapon on a retracting chain, but offering 23 damage instead of 15. Suddenly those gangs of floating skulls, the ones who go through walls, are no longer such a threat, and my explorations of the extraordinarily deep dungeon stretch farther. Generally these expeditions last until the point where so many things are attacking me at once that I have to panic use my Magic Mirror to teleport back to my home.

Of course, every single time I make the long, long walk back to the dungeon entrance I only realise halfway there that I’ve yet again not brought the equipment to set up a temporary home just outside, somewhere with a bed I can teleport back to nearer by. I will likely never remember. Not even if I finish this sentence and go straight back into the game. Which I’m going to. Because this game possesses every rare spare evening or weekend gap, even now. A week or two may pass between plays, but back I go, again and again. And I have a goldfish bowl on my head.

So what I want to know from those who know is what should I be doing next? What’s my next big goal?