How to Stop Monsters from Spawning in Terraria?

ByValentina Kraljik Published onSeptember 21, 2022April 25, 2023

How to stop enemies from spawning in Terraria

Even though monsters are a source of valuable resources in Terraria, let’s face it, they are still a nuisance. There are factors that we cannot influence when it comes to monster spawns, but the question relevant to us today is whether we can stop monsters from spawning altogether. Today’s guide is dedicated to various tactics created to decrease or stop altogether the spawning of monsters around you. Let’s see how to stop monsters from spawning in Terraria.

You can stop monsters from spawning in Terraria by placing player-made walls, utilizing areas with lava, and placing multiple NPC houses. All tactics, in theory, prevent monsters from spawning but keep in mind that some of them work only in classic worlds and will not prevent enemies from spawning in Underworld and Graveyards. In Journey mode, it’s possible to disable monster spawns through settings.

Now that you know that there is a way to stop enemies from spawning in Terraria, it’s time to check out the details if you’re interested, keep reading!

How do enemies spawn in Terraria?

Several factors determine the spawn rates of monsters. Generally, monsters and other neutral NPCs will spawn off-screen and will spawn based on the player’s location. Other secondary factors that affect spawns are the time of the day, the biome in which you are currently located, and the type of tiles on the ground. The type of monster that will spawn is decided and influenced by a set of factors as well.

For example, Ice golem only spawns during the blizzard, tiles on the ground determine monster spawns as well, and special events like blood moon, solar eclipse, and invasion have their own type of enemies to spawn. As you see, monster spawns are not a fixed value there are a plethora of factors influencing them, and because of that, those values are very easily influenced by a player. You can easily both decrease and increase the spawn rate of monsters.

Do torches prevent mobs from spawning in Terraria?

No, torches don’t prevent mobs from spawning in Terraria. Even though torches are player-made objects they have no real influence on spawn rates around and will not stop monsters from invading your space. Torches are primarily used as a light source. Player-made objects like walls do affect monster spawns, but we will talk about that later in more detail.

Does lava prevent mobs from spawning Terraria?

Yes, lava does prevent mobs from spawning in Terraria. Mobs are occasionally known to walk into lava, and plenty of mobs spawn exclusively near lava but non of the spawns directly on lava blocks. You can gather lava and artificially manipulate spawning rates near you. In the best-case scenario, you might not be able to completely disable mob spawning, but you might decrease the rates.

How do you stop enemies from spawning in Terraria?

There are two realistic and approachable ways to stop monsters from spawning in Terraria, and those are placing player-made walls and placing NPC housing.

Placing Player-made walls

We’ve already mentioned several factors that affect spawns in Terraria. Monster will usually spawn on a random tile near the player if a free tile is available. Free tile can’t be covered with a solid block otherwise monster will not be able to spawn, and it will look for the nearest available empty tile. Keep in mind that monsters can spawn in a radius of 84 tiles east, 83 west, 46 up, and 45 down. Player-made walls count as solid blocks and can prevent monsters from spawning altogether.

Using town NPCs

Monsters will not spawn in an area where there are 3 or more town NPC’s and/or Skeleton Merchant. Even a single NPC decreases the effective spawn rate by 40 %, and placing three or more NPC houses stops the spawns altogether. Keep in mind, though, that this effect is only valid in classic worlds, and the spawn rate is only adjusted in Underworld and Graveyards. In Expert mode as well, monsters can still spawn when NPCs and Skeleton Merchant are around but in a smaller quantity.

NPC houses — Placing 3 or more NPCs will stop monsters from spawning

Journey Mode

Journey mode has several settings when it comes to monster spawn and disabling them altogether is possible. But keep in mind that those settings do not affect all mobs in the game, as bosses can still be summoned even if your spawn rate is set to 0. Monsters that spawn as a result of you interacting with the environment are not affected as well, for example, ghosts will spawn while you’re mining tombs.

spawn slider — Spawn slider in Journey mode allows you to adjust monster spawns, or turn them off completely

How to decrease monster spawn rates in Terraria?

You can decrease monster spawn rates by using the following items:

Calming potion (reduces effective spawn rate by 23 %)
Sunflower (reduces effective spawn rate by 17 %)
Peace Candle (reduces effective spawn rate by 23 %)
Invisibility Potion (reduces effective spawn rate by 17 %)

Keep in mind that the effects of those items do not stack and that using all items at the same time will not prevent monsters from spawning, nor will using them at the same time decrease the spawn rate by 80 %.

And that’s about it, we’ve given you a quick run-down of monster spawn rates and effective ways on how to reduce them or stop them altogether. If you’re interested in more Terrarira-related guides, check out our post analyzing Crimson & Corruption.

Valentina Kraljik

Valentina Kraljik is a writer and editor at Game Horizon with a deep love for everything related to video games. With a degree in Information Sciences, she brings a well-informed and unique perspective to her work. Valentina's writing is known for covering a wide range of video game genres, but she truly shines in her expertise in open-world RPGs. From offbeat euro-jank games like "Gothic" to critically acclaimed titles like "The Witcher," Valentina is well-versed in this exciting genre. Her passion for imaginative storytelling is reflected in the topics she writes about, with favorites like "Disco Elysium," "Elder Scrolls: Morrowind," "World of Warcraft," and "Mass Effect" influencing her tastes in games. Even though nothing beats a good high-fantasy setting, she often wanders into the realm of first-person shooters, occasionally even hitting the target. With a commitment to objectivity and insightful analysis, Valentina strives to bring a fresh perspective to the subjects she covers, even when exploring genres that may be unfamiliar to her. Her blend of academic rigor and creative flair sets her apart in the world of media writing.

Drill vs. Pickaxe in Terraria: Differences & Which Tool To Choose?

ByValentina Kraljik Published onJanuary 10, 2023April 25, 2023

A large part of Terraria’s gameplay revolves around digging and naturally, you have many tools at your disposal to dig as efficiently as you can. All of those tools can be sorted into two categories, pickaxes, and drills. Now, if you asked which group of tools was better pre-patch 1.4 the answer would be obvious. Pickaxes have been better for the most part of Terraria’s history, with patch 1.4 drills having been greatly improved and now, we’re not sure anymore. When it comes to drill and pickaxe, let’s see what are the differences between the two and which one should you choose.

Drills are by default better than pickaxes in Terraria since Laser Drill is the most powerful mining tool in Terraria. However, if you plan on boosting your mining speed you should stick with pickaxes as drills can’t benefit from speed boosts.

I am aware that our answer is not as clear-cut as you were expecting. If you stick with the rest of the article and our analysis of the subject you’ll see why we’re a bit reluctant when it comes to declaring the winner. If you’re interested stay with us and keep reading!

Editor’s Note: This guide has been updated to reflect the current state of the game. Drills are still a better choice when it comes to various tools and their abilities.

Pickaxes in Terraria

Pickaxes are the first mining tool you will have in Terraria. In the early game, they are the only mining tool that you have at your disposal naturally. Currently, there are 31 different pickaxes in the game ranging from extremely inefficient to absolute monsters.
With pickaxes you can remove both blocks and furniture, they deal damage as well so they can be used as weapons too. The most powerful pickaxes currently in the game (based on their base values) are Luminite Pickaxes.

Picaxes terraria — All pickaxes in Terraria

Drills in Terraria

While powerful, drills are not available from the start. Drills are a hardmode tool that was imagined as an alternative to pickaxes. Most higher-end pickaxes have their drill counterparts. Drills also count as a weapon since they deal projectile-based damage to enemies. Currently, there are 13 different drills available in Terraria with the Laser Drill being the most efficient.

Drills vs. pickaxes: original investment

We’re going to compare the highest tier of drills and pickaxes available in the game, those in the Luminite category. As you can see from the images below they require the exact same amount of material to be crafted.

Crafting of Luminite Pickaxes and Drills — Crafting costs of Luminite drills & pickaxes source: Terraria Wiki

Considering that they “cost” the same to make, this one is a draw. Overall Pickaxes are “cheaper” to make since they are available from the start of the game which can’t be said for drills, but to be fair, we won’t be using this as an argument.

Drills 0, Pickaxes 0

Drills vs. pickaxes: mining

This next comparison is probably the most important. While both pickaxes and drills have nearly identical stats there are two major differences. Pickaxes dig slower but have greater range. When it comes to drills, the opposite is true, while they are generally faster they have a shorter range. You can see the efficiency comparison in the image below taking all factors into account.

Eficiency comparsion drills and — Source: Terraria Wiki

Taking everything into account the most efficient pickaxes in the game, the ones from the Luminite category are still only the second best mining tool in the game, Laser Drills are slightly better and thus this point goes to drills.

Laser drill — Laser Drill is currently the best mining tool in Terraria

Drills 1, Pickaxes 0

Drills vs. pickaxes: modifications

It is a known fact that drills cannot benefit from melee speed enhancements which makes pickaxes a better option if you want to maximize your mining speed. Only universal modifications can be applied to drills, and Godly, Demonic, and Superior modifications are considered the best. Thus when it comes to modifications, pickaxes take this point since a modified pickaxe can be much faster than the base-speed drill.

Drills 1, Pickaxes 1

Drills vs. pickaxes: combat

Both drills and pickaxes can be used in combat but there are differences. Pickaxes are considered melee weapons while drills have projectile-based damage. Projectile damage of drills is based on NPC immune timer and not with a weapon collision using the item’s usetime. This makes drills a superior weapon.

Drills 2, Pickaxes 1

Conclusion

Version 1.4 was supposed to equalize the major differences between pickaxes and drills. And it managed to do just that.
As you can see from our analysis drills are only slightly better than pickaxes, and that goes only for base values.

If you want to prioritize mining speed pickaxes are still your best choice, to be more precise Shroomite Digging Claws are your best choice. Pickaxes benefit from a larger range as well which is good for strip-mining. Your best bet, in this case, are Luminite Pickaxes.
Even though Laser Drills are currently the best mining tool in the game you can clearly see that it doesn’t hold true for every situation. Besides, pickaxes have one more added plus as they can break furniture as well.

Valentina Kraljik

Best Armor in Terraria Mobile in 2023, Ranked

ByValentina Kraljik Published onJanuary 10, 2023April 25, 2023

We’ve already analyzed several types of gears and tools in Terraria, and most of those guides were oriented toward utility. In today’s guide, we’re going to focus on something more useful when you find yourself in sticky situations. We’re going to rank the best armors in Terraria mobile, both pre-hardmode armors, and hardmode armors. Let’s see what are the best armors in Terraria on mobile platforms.

Editor’s Note: this list has been updated to include the best armor that the game has to offer. The list remains largely unchanged when compared to the last year’s due to the lack of item-related updates.

Best Armors in Terraria Mobile on pre-hardmode

5. Shadow Armor

Shadow armor is the second-best armor on Terraria mobile for melee-oriented players. The whole set consists of a Shadow helmet, Shadow Scalemail, and Shadow greaves. The armor is powerful enough to provide you with 19 points of defense and an extra effect that gives you a 15 % boost to movement speed.

To craft a full set of Shadow armor you’re going to need a minimum of 60x Demonite bars and 45x Shadow scale pieces. If you’re stunned by the amount of material needed to craft it, it really means that you need to defeat Eater of Worlds at least twice to acquire enough Demonite bars and Shadow scale pieces needed.

If you decide to replace some pieces of Shadow armor with Ancient Shadow armor, you’re going to be able to keep the movement speed bonus but the special afterimage animation will be gone.

4. Fossil Armor

Next up, we have Fossil armor. Fossil armor is the best pre-hardmode armor for ranged-oriented players since it provides you with a 20 % chance that your next ranged hit will not consume any ammo and a 50 % chances that your next thrown hit will not consume the thrown item. It’s a pretty powerful armor set before you unlock Hardmode’s endless quiver.

Fossil armor consists of a Fossil helmet, a Fossil plate, and Fossil greaves.

To create Fossil armor you’re going to need 60x sturdy fossils

3. Ancient Cobalt Armor

The best armor on Terraria mobile for magic-oriented players on mobile is Ancient Cobalt armor. This armor set provides you with 17 points of defense and a powerful bonus that involves 16 % reduced mana usage. Ancient Cobalt armor cannot be crafted like our previous armor, instead, it needs to be acquired through looting Hornets and Man-Eaters in the jungle biome.

The good news though is that Ancient Cobalt armor can be mixed with pieces of Jungle armor and it will still provide the same powerful bonus.

2. Obsidian Armor

While it doesn’t provide the most defense points, Obsidian armor provides you with powerful summoning bonuses and hence can be considered the best armor for summoners in Terraria mobile.

Obsidian armor gives you two whips-related bonuses; it gives you a 30 % increased whip range and a 15 % increased whip speed. It also gives you one bonus summoning slot and increased minion damage.

Obsidian Armor can be crafted with 60x Obsidian, 30x Silk, and 20x Shadow scales. Shadow scales can be replaced with tissue samples dropped from Creepers.

1. Molten Armor

When it comes to pure numbers and defense points Molten armor is the best armor on Terraria mobile. This powerful armor provides you with whooping 25 defense points, increases the overall melee damage, and provides you with a powerful effect that practically gives you immunity to fire.

The set consists of a Molten helmet, breastplate, and greaves.

The highest defense comes at a cost of this armor being also the most difficult to obtain. You will need a total of 45x Hellstone bars.

Best Armors in Terraria mobile in Hardmode

5. Valhalla Knight Armor

Different pieces of this Hardmode armor can be used to further complement other, more powerful sets of armor. Valhalla Knight armor is purchased from Tavernkeep. It’s going to cost you 225 Defender points. One prerequisite for acquiring this armor is defeating the Golem.

Vallhalla Knight armor — Valhalla Knight armor

The armor itsef gives 68 defense points and enhances the number of Sentries and ballista effectiveness. While this armor is not as powerful as a whole set, different pieces from this set can be used as placeholder best-in-slot items for other classes in Terraria

4. Solar Flare armor

Up next we have the best melee armor set in Terraria, Solar Flare armor. You can acquire this amazing set after you’ve defeated the Moon Lord. To craft Solar Flare armor be prepared to spend 36x Luminite bares and 45x solar flare fragments.

Solar Flare armor provides you with 78 defense points and gives other powerful buffs for melee-oriented characters. It gives you the dash ability, and the ability to damage your enemies through the dash.

Increased regeneration, attack speed, and movement speed are part of the bonuses that the whole set provides. If you’re looking for a perfect armor set for your endgame warrior, look no further than the Solar Flare armor.

3. Vortex Armor

After the most powerful armor for the melee class, we move on to the ranged class and Vortex armor. This exquisite set of armor will provide you with 62 defense points. Where it lacks the defense points it compensates you with the powerful ability to increase your overall range and decrease the chance of enemies targeting you.

Vortex armor is available to you after Moon Lord has been defeated and you will need to acquire 36x Luminite bars and 45 Vortex fragments to craft it.

2. Stardust armor

If you’re a summoner, the best Terraria armor on mobile for you is Stardust armor. Stardust armor provides you with meager 38 defense points, but where it truly shines is the fact that it gives you the ability to summon a powerful Stardust Guardian.

To craft Stardust armor you’re going to have to defeat Moon Lord first, and spare 36x Luminite bars and 45x Stardust fragments.

1. Nebula armor

If you’re a magic-oriented character playing Terraria, you know this armor all too well. I’ve decided to put Nebula armor in the number 1 spot due to the highest amount of buffs that it provides for its specific class.

Nebula armor will not protect through defense points as it grants you only 46 of those. The biggest advantage of Nebula armor is its many buffs that it provides you with like:

+60 maximum mana
+26% magic damage
+16% magic critical strike chance
−15% mana usage
+10% movement speed

To acquire Nebula armor you’re going to have to defeat the Moon Lord and collect 36x Luminite bars and 45x Nebula fragments.

And that’s about it, the best armors on Terraria mobile ranked. This list is probably not as clear cut as you’ve expected, that’s because “the best armors” depend on the classes themselves.

But with everything sad, If you decide to follow our advice I’m sure there’s nothing that Terraria can throw your way that you won’t be able to handle.

Valentina Kraljik

Terraria Review: Is It Worth Revisiting in 2023?

ByValentina Kraljik Published onJanuary 10, 2023April 25, 2023

Back in 2011 when Terraria first came out it was dubbed “2D Minecraft”. Now, 11 years later it somewhat managed to separate itself from that label and has managed to gather quite the faithful following of players that still play and enrich its world with mods. Although nowhere near as popular as it was during the peak of its popularity, it’s time to revisit this timeless classic and see what it has to offer in 2023.

Editor’s Note: This review has been updated to reflect the current state of the game. Terraria managed to keep the quality of the content at more-or-less the same level since its original release. It’s still a game worthy of your attention.

Terraria’s adventure-oriented gameplay still has much to offer

Terraria can be considered the ultimate sandbox. It offers much in terms of exploration and adventure, but what makes it stand out from the rest of similar games is its lack of explicit instructions. Some people might be bothered by that, but for me personally, it’s a plus.

I like non-linear games that refuse to push you in a certain direction. Yes, Terraria still has goals you have to achieve in order to progress through the game in any meaningful way, but the journey is all that matters, and that’s entirely up to you.

Some details might be difficult to figure out on your own in terms of crafting and general directions, but you can always consult numerous materials on the web to accomplish your goals.

Terraria looked dated on release, and time hasn’t been kind to it as well

One aspect of Terraria that was always lacking was its visuals. They were fairly dated when the game first came out and the passing of time only made it worse. I get that it has a certain charm, that not everything is about graphics, and that some people even consider the game pretty. But my personal preference is that the animations shouldn’t be as limited as they are in Terraria, and it shouldn’t be so hard to take a decent screenshot of your game.

Luckily, where official updates fail, the loyal modding community comes to the save through numerous high-res texture packs that we have at our disposal.

Terraria’s combat is simple but manages to surprise you either way

Terraria’s combat is in its entirety progression-based, which means that without x weapons you cannot deal with y boss. That sounds fairly limiting until you figure out that there are a lot of different play styles to try out and all of them work, at least if you manage to utilize your items intelligently. You will not be able to apply the same principles and strategies to every single boss in the game. You will have to experiment and die a few times until you figure things out. I mean, there’s always an option to check everything out online, but I wouldn’t recommend it. As I’ve mentioned before part of Terraria’s charm is the fact that you get thrown into this vast world with little general idea about what you should be doing.

Like with exploration, some things are intuitive and obvious, and some manage to surprise you with their depth.

Terraria’s combat is far from its greatest selling point, but it still has surprising quality and excitement to it. Especially late-game when you discover more powerful items and upgrades.

The crafting system could use an upgrade

For a game that centers around crafting and exploring, Terraria’s crafting system is clumsy at best and extremely un-intuitive at worst. Things are worsened by its cluttered UI. Terraria’s crafting systems revolves around pure guesswork which is fine, I’ve already added that it only makes the adventuring side of the game better, but some aspects could certainly be improved.

Terraria still has a loyal and active community

People are still playing and enriching Terraria with custom-made content.

When Terraria first got released, there were a couple of hundreds of items included, and over time that number has risen to a staggering over 5000 items added. If you count player-made items, added by mods that number easily goes well past that as well. Terraria is way past its popularity peak but people are still playing it, and it has a massive modding community that keeps it alive.

Multiplayer mode also keeps the game alive, but I feel like it’s harder to set up than it needs to be, and incredibly un-intuitive compared to most other modern games.

Terraria is still being updated

Terraria’s last big update was in May 2020. The update was titled “Journey’s end” the significance of this update cannot be stressed enough, as it marked the end of an era – the development and improvement of the game were officially over at least when it comes to big additions to the game and major quality updates. Just a few days ago, on September 28 to be exact, another big update was released called “Labor of Love”, while this last update brought nothing new to the table it did introduce some quality-of-life and balance changes in significant numbers so it can be considered a large update. It’s proof that Terraria is still being improved after all these years.

With everything said, it’s obvious that a game as big and complex as Terraria is still worth playing even after 11 years. The complexity of Terraria’s world can easily rival any of the modern games of a similar genre. Terraria certainly has its flaws, visuals and outdated crafting system being among the most obvious ones, but it still doesn’t take away from the original charm that the game had at the beginning. The active modding community keeps it alive, fixing stuff that got overlooked or deemed too unimportant to fix.

If you’ve never played Terraria I strongly advise you to give it a try, and if you haven’t revisited it in some time, I recommend you give it a try as well. Even if you’ve played this game for hundreds of hours I guarantee you will find something to do or something that you missed the first few times around.

You can only be pleasantly surprised by what it has to offer after all these years.

SCORE 7.5/10

Valentina Kraljik

How to Stop Monsters from Spawning in Terraria?

How do enemies spawn in Terraria?

Do torches prevent mobs from spawning in Terraria?

Does lava prevent mobs from spawning Terraria?