Terraria Walkthrough: Part 1, Pre-Hardmode Bosses from Eye of Cthulhu to Skeletron

This is part 1 of our Terraria walkthrough by boss progression. It picks up after your first day and night and takes you through every main pre-Hardmode boss, from the Eye of Cthulhu to Skeletron and the Dungeon. It was written for version 1.4.4, and the boss order is the same in the 1.4.5 update.

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The whole walkthrough

How Terraria progression works

Terraria has no quest log. Your "story" is the list of bosses. Each boss drops gear or opens new areas, and that gear lets you beat the next one. You can do some bosses in a different order, but the order below is the one most players and guides recommend for a first world.

1. King Slime (optional, easy)
2. Eye of Cthulhu
3. Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu (depends on your world's evil)
4. Queen Bee (optional, but great loot)
5. Skeletron
6. Deerclops (optional, any time)
7. Wall of Flesh (part 2)

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Don't have it yet? Terraria is cheap and often on sale on every platform.

Before your first boss: the checklist

• Health: break Life Crystals (red hearts underground) and use them. Aim for 200 health or more.
• Mobility: a grappling hook, Hermes Boots and a Cloud in a Bottle help a lot. They come from underground chests.
• Armor: Gold or Platinum armor is a good target. Smelt the ore at your Furnace.
• Arena: build a few long rows of wooden platforms in the sky near your base. Put a Campfire and a Heart Lantern nearby for extra life regen.
• Potions: Lesser Healing Potions are fine now. Ironskin and Regeneration help if you have them.

King Slime (optional)

A giant blue slime with a crown. It sometimes appears on its own during a Slime Rain, or you can craft a Slime Crown from Gel and a Gold or Platinum Crown and use it on the surface.

• It jumps around and teleports to you, and splits into small slimes as it loses health.
• Fight it on flat ground, keep moving, and kill the small slimes if they pile up.
• Worth keeping: the Slime Mount, and in Expert mode the Royal Gel accessory, which makes most slimes friendly.

Eye of Cthulhu

This is the first real boss. Craft a Suspicious Looking Eye from 6 Lenses (dropped by Demon Eyes at night) at a Demon Altar or Crimson Altar, then use it at night. It can also show up on its own once you have more health and defense.

1. Phase 1: the Eye floats and summons small eyes, then charges at you. Shoot it from your platforms and dodge sideways.
2. Phase 2: at half health it opens its mouth and charges much faster. Keep running in one direction and jump over it.

Good weapons: a bow with Flaming or Jester's Arrows, the Enchanted Boomerang, or a gun like the Musket or The Undertaker, found by breaking a Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart. Drops worth using: Demonite Ore or Crimtane Ore (depends on your world), which you need for the next tier of tools and armor.

Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu

Your world has either the Corruption (purple) or the Crimson (red). Each has its own boss.

• Eater of Worlds (Corruption): break three Shadow Orbs deep in the chasms, or craft Worm Food (Vile Powder plus Rotten Chunks) at a Demon Altar and use it in the Corruption.
• Brain of Cthulhu (Crimson): break three Crimson Hearts, or craft a Bloody Spine (Vicious Powder plus Vertebrae) and use it in the Crimson.

You need a hammer to break orbs and hearts, so bring one. The Eater of Worlds is a long worm that splits into smaller worms when you hit the middle. Weapons that pierce or hit many segments, like the Vilethorn or arrows that go through enemies, work best. Grenades and the Ball O' Hurt also do well.

The Brain hides behind floating Creepers. Kill the Creepers first. In phase 2 the Brain makes fake copies of itself and teleports; the real one is the one that is not see-through.

Drops worth using: Shadow Scales or Tissue Samples. Combine them with Demonite or Crimtane bars for Shadow or Crimson armor and the pickaxe that can mine Hellstone later. Breaking orbs or hearts can also start a Goblin Army invasion and make Meteorites fall.

Events and NPCs on the way

• Goblin Army: beat it, then find the Goblin Tinkerer tied up in the caverns. He lets you combine accessories and reforge gear. Reforging is one of the best upgrades in the game.
• Dryad: moves in after you defeat your first big boss. She sells Purification Powder and tells you how much of the world is corrupted.
• Arms Dealer: moves in when you hold a gun or bullets. He sells the Minishark, a strong early gun.
• Tavernkeep: after the Eater of Worlds or Brain, he can show up and unlocks the Old One's Army event.
• Blood Moon: a red moon night with tougher zombies. Stay inside if you're not ready.

Queen Bee

Go to the Underground Jungle and find a Bee Hive (honeycomb walls). Inside is a Larva. Breaking it summons the boss. You can also craft an Abeemination and use it anywhere in the Jungle. Be careful: any attack can break the Larva by accident.

1. She dashes across the screen several times, then hovers and fires stingers or spawns bees.
2. Dig a tunnel or put down a few platforms inside the hive so you can move.
3. Bring piercing or splash damage for the bees. Bezoar or anything that stops Poison helps.

Drops worth using: Bee Wax for Bee armor and the Hornet Staff (great for summoners), one of the Bee Gun, Bee Keeper or The Bee's Knees, and the Hive Wand. The Witch Doctor moves in after you beat her.

Skeletron and the Dungeon

Find the Dungeon on one side of the world. An Old Man stands at the entrance. Talk to him at night and choose "Curse him" to summon Skeletron. Do not go deep into the Dungeon before this: the Dungeon Guardian will kill you instantly.

1. Start the fight right after nightfall. If the sun comes up while he is alive, he becomes far deadlier.
2. His two hands swing at you. Many players kill the hands first, which makes the head easier.
3. The head spins and chases you. Run in a straight line along a long platform and shoot back.

Recommended gear: Shadow, Crimson, Jungle or Meteor armor, plus a weapon like the Minishark, Bee Gun or Space Gun. Life regen and a Campfire matter a lot here.

After Skeletron, the Dungeon is open. The Old Man becomes the Clothier, and you can find the Mechanic tied up inside the Dungeon. Look for these items in the Dungeon:

• Golden Keys open locked chests. Prizes include the Muramasa, Cobalt Shield, Handgun, Magic Missile and Aqua Scepter.
• Water Bolt is a free spellbook on shelves. Very good for mages.
• Necro armor from bones dropped by Dungeon skeletons is a classic ranged set.

Deerclops (optional)

A guest boss from Don't Starve. Craft a Deer Thing (Flinx Fur, Demonite or Crimtane Ore and a Lens) at an altar and use it in the Snow biome. Stay close to it, because it gets harder to hit if you run too far away. Its waves of ice spikes come from the ground, so jump over them. Drops include Lucy the Axe, the Pew-matic Horn, Weather Pain and Houndius Shootius.

Tips for this part

• Build your arena before you summon anything. Long platforms win more boss fights than better weapons.
• Reforge your accessories at the Goblin Tinkerer. "Warding" and "Menacing" or "Lucky" are good targets.
• Pick a class early (melee, ranged, magic or summoner) and focus your armor on it.
• Keep the Guide alive and his house safe. You will need him for the next boss.
• Collect Hellstone as soon as you have the right pickaxe. Molten armor is the best prep for part 2.

My take

The Eater of Worlds felt like a wall to me the first time, until I swapped to a piercing weapon and it melted. Most "hard" pre-Hardmode bosses are really an arena problem. Which boss gave you the most trouble before Hardmode?

FAQ

What is the boss order in Terraria pre-Hardmode?

A common order is King Slime, Eye of Cthulhu, Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu, Queen Bee, Skeletron, then the Wall of Flesh. King Slime, Queen Bee and Deerclops are optional.

How do I summon the Eye of Cthulhu?

Craft a Suspicious Looking Eye from 6 Lenses at a Demon or Crimson Altar and use it at night.

Why does the Dungeon kill me instantly?

That's the Dungeon Guardian. It guards the Dungeon until you beat Skeletron. Talk to the Old Man at night to start the fight.

Can I fight both the Eater of Worlds and the Brain of Cthulhu?

You only need the one your world has to progress. To fight the other, you need materials from the other evil biome, which usually means bringing your character to a second world.

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