7 Tips for Getting Started in Terraria Master Mode

Terraria Master mode is a huge jump in difficulty that leaves many players wanting to quit. It’s definitely a challenge even for experienced players, but I’m gonna give you 7 tips on ways to make it a bit easier 

1. Avoid confrontation when possible

Probably the best tip on this list is to avoid fighting enemies whenever you can. The enemies in Master Mode are so incredibly tanky and damaging that sometimes it’s best to just leave them alone. 

This can involve things like blocking off caves underground to stop enemies from getting to you, or choosing to dig around enemies instead of going through a cave filled with monsters.

Going out at night is one of the worst things you can do at the beginning of Master Mode, so it’s best if you stay inside your base or go mining. Until you get to the end of the game, it almost always is best to avoid fighting enemies, especially ones in large groups. 

2. Create a hellevator early on

Once you get a decent pickaxe, digging a hellevator will make exploring underground a whole lot easier. Without a hellevator, you need to maneuver through tons of caves to find new ones, but a hellevator lets you drop down immediately and find new caves while you dig it.

There’s really not any downside to making one, so you might as well make one sooner than later. Digging one also let’s you get to the Underworld quickly, which gives you access to tons of potions in the hell houses. 

3. Get grav potions and loot the floating islands

As soon as you get a grav potion, immediately search for floating islands. One of the best items you can possibly get is a Lucky Horseshoe, but Star Furies and Balloons are also insanely helpful. 

Searching for grav potions is another reason you should make a hellevator early on. The sooner you loot the floating islands, the easier time you’ll have 

4. Get a ranged weapon quickly

In Master Mode, the best weapon type to have is ranged. There are a ton of great melee and magic weapons later on, but in Pre-hardmode it’s best to stay as far away from enemies as possible. 

You can even use melee weapons that have ranged attacks, such as a Starfury or Ice Blade. Basically any weapon with ranged attacks will be better than just straight up melee weapons.

I’ve found that early on, it’s sometimes better to make melee armor instead of ranged armor because of it’s better defense. Even if you’re using a ranged weapon, I highly recommend using the melee helmet instead. 

5. Create a large potion farm

Potions have always been useful, but Master Mode makes them essential. Every boss is made infinitely easier with the right potions, so I recommend making one big enough so that you’ll never run out of herbs. You need to beat a few bosses to unlock all of the planter boxes, so just plant what you can and slowly make a farm. 

6. Create large boss arenas

Besides potions, the next best thing to do would be to make a large boss arena. I personally don’t like making arenas, but I found that it was almost always necessary if I wanted to defeat certain bosses.

In every arena, you should have regeneration accessories such as campfires and Heart Lanterns. It might get boring sometimes, but you can often reuse arenas to farm bosses for materials.   

7. Make an invasion base

One thing you need to do before getting into hardmode is to create a well defended base for invasions. The first Master Mode pirate invasion I had was a disaster, but a closed of base surrounded by lava made it almost too easy.

I can sit in my base and let the lava do most of the work for me, and there’s barely any threat of dying. The sooner you make one of these the easier time you’ll have defending in invasions.