Terraria Bosses List

Strategy Guides for Boss Fights

The Moon Lord - final boss of Terraria 1.3 - is summoned after the Lunar Event has been completed

Beating Bosses in Terraria is a key measure of success and unlocks more aspects of the game within a specific world. In many cases, you require defeating a boss in order to advance in the game, as with the Wall of Flesh and mechanical bosses of Hard Mode. Thankfully, bosses can be summoned at will if you have the materials necessary to craft the summoning item. The goal of this guide is to link you to helpful information so that you can slay each boss and unlock more content in your world. Bosses are listed in the order most players will encounter them, though your experience may vary slightly.

See Also: Summoning Items Guide & Boss Arenas
If you want only boss summoning items, I have a list for that, which includes where to get each of the required crafting items. I've also got a guide to making a Boss Fight Arena fit for the Moon Lord, which allows for many of the buffs you can provide to your character in order to get an advantage during battle.

Debuffs
I've made a list of debuffs that will or won't work on Bosses in Terraria. If you plan to use On Fire!, Poison, Ichor, Venom, Cursed Flames, or Frostburn in boss fights, this may be helpful to you.

Summoning Bosses

The first bosses you can summon are the Eye of Cthulhu and either Eater of Worlds or the Brain of Cthulhu. These require crafting at a demon or crimson altar, found in Corruption/Crimson worlds, respectively. Bosses can spawn at random as night falls so long as your character/world meets certain requirements, but most players will want to craft a summoning item and battle them at a time they control - either within a specially made arena or at least with potions available to buff their character. Whether you defeat the boss as it spawns randomly or summon it, some of them are worth slaying multiple times in order to secure their rare drops and gather the materials they provide.

Later, you can craft boss-summoning items without the altars. That's because one goal of Hard Mode is to destroy as many of them as possible with the Pwnhammer dropped by the Wall of Flesh.

To summon a boss, wait until night falls (soon after it begins to get dark) and use the summoning item from your hotbar just like using any other item. The item will be consumed and the boss will arrive at your current location. Using it outside this time will do nothing, except in rare circumstances like with the Clothier and Guide Voodoo Dolls.

That the boss will be summoned at your current location gives you a distinct advantage. You can have potions on you, and have setup the area with platforms and campfires/heart lanterns in order to increase life regeneration. Overall, clearing out an area whether above or underground and giving yourself some mobility options is the best way to fight bosses if your gear is barely strong enough. Room to maneuver is good in general as is preparation. If you're completely ignoring growing plants and brewing potions as I initially did, I suggest you start utilizing this powerful gameplay feature. It's an important aspect of survival in Hard Worlds and Expert Mode fights.

That said, let's look at all the key Bosses of Terraria. Click the name of the Boss to be linked to in-depth strategy guides to defeating them - I am still working to fill out the list of boss guides.

Boss List - Normal World

The following bosses will spawn before Hard Mode is unlocked in your world. A few are hardly 'bosses' unless you're woefully unprepared, but they are listed regardless. In Terraria Expert Mode worlds (1.3 for PC), expect bosses to have up to 50% more life than listed, while also doing more damage!

King Slime

Summoning Item: Slime Crown

Life (HP): 2,000

Boss Info: The King Slime can be summoned using a Slime Crown, crafted from gel and a gold or platinum crown, but also appears should you slaughter 150 or more slimes during the slime rain event. He's barely a boss, but does give his own achievement and can be challenging for newcomers who do not yet have strong gear. If it is early in the game and you're very weak, simply hide underground during slime rain or else hole up in a house and avoid killing many slimes.

Eye of Cthulhu

Summoning Item: Suspicious Looking Eye

Life (HP): 2,800

Boss Info: The first 'true' boss many players will face. Its coming is heralded by the message, "You feel an evil presence watching you". While the Eye of Cthulhu itself is not necessary to progress in the game, beating it will give you Demonite or Crimtane ore depending if your world has Corruption or Crimson and these materials can be helpful to make a better Pickaxe and even armor set, in combination with defeating the Brain of Cthulhu (Crimson) or Eater of Worlds (Corruption). Craft your own Suspicious Looking Eye by going to a Demon/Crimson Altar with 6 Lenses found from killing demon eyes that fly about outdoors at night.

Brain of Cthulhu (Crimson World Only)

Summoning Item: Bloody Spine within Crimson, and automatically after every third broken Crimson Heart

Life (HP): 2,000 plus 100 per Creeper (20+)

Boss Info: The Brain of Cthulhu attacks with masses of Creepers, its little minions that must be destroyed in entirety before you can begin to damage the brain itself. Depending on the terrain, this can be a tough fight. I'd much prefer it in an open area to give myself room to maneuver, so consider that when you break the third Crimson heart or summon it with a Bloody Spine. Bloody Spines can be crafted using a workbench with a bottle placed on it (made from Sand blocks turned to glass). Turn Vicious Mushrooms to 30 Vicious Powder and gather 15 Vertebrae from Crimson creatures to make the spine, then use it while you're inside the Crimson. The Brain of Cthulhu drops Crimtane and Tissue Samples that are necessary to make the best Crimson gear, weapons, and tools.

Eater of Worlds (Corruption World Only)

Summoning Item: Worm Food, and automatically every third broken Shadow Orb

Life (HP): 7,500

Boss Info: The Eater of World is debateably easier than the Crimson's Brain of Cthulhu because this boss will stick on you as it tunnels around. All that is required to defeat it is a decent weapon and sufficient armor/health potions to endure its attacks. The main reason I consider this easier is because multiple segments of the boss can be hit at once with each swing of a sword. So long as what you're using isn't purely single target ,you can deal massive damage to it. It drops the Shadow Scales necessary to use with Demonite Ore in order to craft the best Demonite gear. You can also summon this by using Worm Food while in Corruption - an item crafted at a Demon/Crimson Altar with 30 Vile Powder (5 each are made from Vile Mushrooms at an alchemy table or table with a bottle placed on it). You'll also need Rotten Chunks, 15 to be exact. So 15 Chunks and 6 Vile Mushrooms per summon.

Queen Bee

Summoning Item: Break Bee Larva inside Underground Jungle Bee Hives

Life (HP): 3400

Boss Info: The Queen Bee has a few unique weapon drops, but the primary reason to defeat her is to explore the Underground Jungle for later in the game and, upon death, the kill will let the Witch Doctor move into your town. There is an achievement for beating her, and Honey has a few uses in the game. To an early adventurer, bottling honey is helpful as a free healing potion. Just make bottles by turning sand to glass, then stand near the honey to make bottles of this healing substance. Standing in Honey also has a regeneration effect, so buckets may be used to gather it for relocation. The queen will drop some bottles when defeated, and one of three weapons.

Skeletron

Summoning Item: Clothier Voodoo Doll

Life (HP): 4400 + 600 per Hand (2)

Boss Info: Summoning Skeletron is simple - head to the eastern or western edge of your map and speak to the old man at the dungeon entrance, then ask him about his curse at night time. He'll transform into Skeletron, which attacks with both hands and rams you with a spinning head attack occasionally. He is the guardian of the Dungeon, and defeating him allows you access to explore the Dungeon, where many great items are found (now and later in the game). Attempting to enter the dungeon before doing this fight results in the death of many players, as a super-powerful guardian is there who can kill you in one shot. Some players like a challenge and try to take out the guardian by saving Skeletron until the end-game when they can damage it. The Clothier NPC will join you after this fight, provided you have a home available for him. You can summon Skeletron again via equipping the Clothier Voodoo Doll and using your weapon to kill the Clothier . These dolls sometimes drop from monsters in the Dungeon. You may want to do this, as the Clothier drops red hats for vanity items and Skeletron can sometimes drop a useful spellbook.

Wall of Flesh

Summoning Item: Guide Voodoo Doll dropped in Lava

Life (HP): 8,000

Boss Info: The pictured enemy here is only one part of a massive wall that is as tall as your screen. Defeating the Wall of Flesh will change your world to Hard Mode, where Terraria's greatest gameplay challenges await. Initiating this fight requires you to head all the way down to the Underworld and find the Voodoo Demon, then kill it. If it's over lava, it will drop the Voodoo Doll and instantly spawn the Wall of Flesh either to the right or left, depending which side of the map you're on. It will chase you the opposite direction and has powerful contact damage and some ranged attacks. If you find yourself with the Guide Voodoo Doll because it did not fall into lava but instead a platform, you can throw it into lava yourself to initiate the fight. This is actually how you can farm the Wall of Flesh for useful items like the Warrior Emblem.

Important: Once you've defeated the Wall of Flesh, the world is instantly turned to Hardmode. You can brave the Corruption/Crimson and use the Pwnhammer it drops to break Demon/Crimson Altars and each broken will add more of the Hard Mode ores to your world. Breaking many will offer diminishing returns, but at least 9 of them will give you an ample supply of ores to mine and see you through to Hallowed Gear, which can be got from defeating the three Mechanical Bosses of Hard Mode.

Hard Mode Boss List

The first three bosses here, known as the Mechanical Bosses, may all spawn any night after the defeat of the Wall of Flesh which converts the world to Hard Mode. Other bosses of Hard Mode either require the defeat of these or another boss or come with a random event.

The Destroyer

Summoning Item: Mechanical Worm

Life (HP): 80,000

Boss Info: One of three mechanical bosses which must all be defeated in order to unlock Plantera and advance in Terraria's Hard Mode. At present you must defeat only one on Mobile Terraria. They all drop Hallowed Bars and Souls that, when combined with bars and other materials, let you make the tier of equipment above Adamantite/Titanium. The Destroyer drops Souls of Might, one of three types used to make a Pickaxe Axe/Drax and mine/farm Chlorophyte. Read the boss guide for more information on the battle with it. It can attack at any night after Hard Mode is initiated. Summoning it manually requires you to farm Souls of Night (6) from creatures in Underground Crimson/Corruption, 5 Iron or Lead Bars, and 6 Rotten Chunks or Vertebrae from Corruption/Crimson monsters as well. Combine them at a Mythril/Orichalcum Anvil then use the Mechanical Worm you made at nightfall to summon the boss.

The Twins (one of two pictured)

Summoning Item: Mechanical Eye

Life (HP): 43,000 (combined)

Boss Info: One of three mechanical bosses which must all be defeated in order to unlock Plantera and advance in Terraria's Hard Mode. At present you must defeat only one on Mobile Terraria. They all drop Hallowed Bars and Souls that, when combined with bars and other materials, let you make the tier of equipment above Adamantite/Titanium. The Twins drop Souls of Sight, one of three types used to make a Pickaxe Axe/Drax and mine/farm Chlorophyte. Read the Boss guide for more information on the battle with them. They can attack at any night after Hard Mode is initiated. Summoning them manually requires you to farm Souls of Light (6) from Underground Hallow creatures, combined with Iron or Lead Bars (5) and Lenses (3) and made the Mechanical Eye at a Mythril or Orichalcum Anvil.

Skeletron Prime

Summoning Item: Mechanical Skull

Life (HP): 28,000 plus 31,000 in life with all four arms combined.

Boss Info: One of three mechanical bosses which must all be defeated in order to unlock Plantera and advance in Terraria's Hard Mode. At present you must defeat only one on Mobile Terraria. They all drop Hallowed Bars and Souls that, when combined with bars and other materials, let you make the tier of equipment above Adamantite/Titanium. Skeletron Prime drops Souls of Fright, one of three types used to make a Pickaxe Axe/Drax and mine/farm Chlorophyte. Read the boss guide for more information on the battle with him. It can attack at any night after Hard Mode is initiated. Summoning him manually requires you to farm 30 bones from the Dungeon, which means normal Skeletron must be defeated first. You'll also need Iron or Lead Bars (x5), 3 Souls of Light (Underground Hallow creatures) and 3 Souls of Night (Underground Crimson/Corruption Creatures). Combine these with a Mythril or Orichalcum Anvil and use the Mechanical Skull at night to fight Skeletron Prime.

Plantera

Summoning Item: Break Plantera's Bulb with Pickaxe (These respawn all over the Underground Jungle)

Life (HP): 30,000

Boss Info: Once the three mechanical bosses are defeated, you can engage Plantera. If you're not very skilled, you'll want to make Pickaxe Axe or Drax with the Hallowed Bars and souls you got from the previous boss fights in order to mine Chlorophyte in the Jungle. This, plus a ranged weapon with decent damage and some arena preparation make the fight trivial. Visit the guide for more information. Defeating Plantera provides you with a Temple Key, which will let you fight Golem in the Temple found deep in the Jungle where you fought Plantera. It also causes the Hard Mode enemies to begin spawning in the Dungeon. Golem is about as easy as Plantera, so I suggest you do that before heading to the Dungeon.

Golem

Summoning Item: Lihzahrd Power Cell used at temple shrine

Life (HP): 80,000 (sum of all body parts)

Boss Info: The Golem fight has two phases, only the second being particularly challenging. The hardest part of this fight is getting to it - you've got to locate then navigate an ancient temple filled with traps and large amounts of monster spawns. Golem himself drops some great items, so it's worth farming here before you progress. Defeating Golem will cause the Cultists to begin spawning in PC version 1.3, which opens up new content for those lucky enough to have this patch. Hopefully it comes to mobile and console one day, as it's a great addition. If you're on Mobile and Console, the last true challenge is the Ocram boss fight.

Flying Dutchman (PC Only)

Summoning Item: Pirate Map or random occurrence in Hard Mode

Life (HP): 2,000 per Cannon (4) but only 50 for the Dutchman

Boss Info: The Flying Dutchman is a boss spawned during the Pirate Invasion event which can happen at any time during Hard Mode. You can trigger this event yourself by farming Ocean Biome creatures for a Treasure Map, which when used will start the event. Completing this event lets the Pirate NPC move in provided there is housing available. The Dutchman can drop the ultra-rare coin gun, which lets you use money as ammunition that deals massive damage (particularly platinum coins). It can take many tries at this event before the coin gun drops.

Duke Fishron (PC Version Only)

Summoning Item: Truffle Worm used with Fishing Rod on Ocean

Life (HP): 50,000

Boss Info: You can acquire a Truffle Worm by taking a bug net to the Underground Mushroom Biome. Using a Water Candle or Battle potion is recommended, as they spawn rarely and other enemies may attack them. Duke Fishron himself does huge damage and is certainly one of the harder bosses in Terraria for an under-geared player, particularly given the time sink involved in getting the Truffle Worm. I'll write a full guide to this battle at a later date, but for now consider waiting until after Golem to do this fight. He drops some great gear, should you choose to farm him - most notably the Tsunami bow and Tempest Staff. You can also get Fishron Wings, one of the best in the game, which give flight and a movement boost when submerged.

Ice Queen (PC/Console Versions Only)

Summoning Item: Naughty Present

Life (HP): 34,000

Boss Info: The Frost Queen is the hardest single monster in the Frost Moon event, which is initiated by using a Naughty Present. Use it at the beginning of nightfall. You can craft one with 20 Silk (made from Cobwebs), 5 Ectoplasm (dropped by monsters in the Dungeon post-Plantera), and 5 Souls of Fright (dropped by Skeletron Prime). It's a tough event, and one that will test console players' end-game gear. PC Players can make this easy with the great gear they have access to via 1.3.

Pumpking

Summoning Item: Pumpkin Moon Medallion

Life (HP): 22,000

Boss Info: The Pumpking is one of the harder bosses in Terraria, given multiple can spawn at once and there are other enemies to contend with. These 'bosses' appear during the Pumpkin Moon event, which you can summon on demand with the Pumpkin Moon Medallion. These can be crafted with 30 Pumpkins (buy seeds from the Dryad), 5 Ectoplasm (dropped by monsters in the Dungeon post-Plantera), and 10 Hallowed Bars, which you acquire from the three Mechanical Bosses. The Pumpkin Moon event's drops are interesting and useful, so it's worth doing multiple times in order to try to secure the rarest items for your collection.

Martian Saucer (PC Version Only)

Summoning Item: Allow Martian Probe to Escape

Life (HP): 27,000

Boss Info: If you want to experience this event and take on the Martian Saucer and all other unique enemies that spawn during the Martian Madness event, simply allow a Martian Probe to escape after it's detected you. Probes will only spawn after Golem has been defeated. Given this is 1.3 content, there are incredible drops to be had should you partake in the event. It will test the limits of your gear and your skill as a player. The saucer itself is hard, but there are many other tough creatures to battle at your spawn point once the Martian Madness event begins.

Lunatic Cultist (PC Version Only)

Summoning Item: Outside Dungeon, Respawns one game day after defeat

Life (HP): 32,000

Boss Info: The Lunatic Cultist is only available to fight after defeating Golem. Once this requirement is fulfilled you will find cultists outside the Dungeon entrance, which are non-aggressive. Initiating combat will cause a boss battle to ensue, immediately after which the Lunar Events begin - so read below to see if you're ready to begin that process. He drops the Ancient Manipulator, which is the end-game item crafting station for items made with fragments from the pillars below and Luminite bars. The Lunatic Cultist boss fight is the beginning of the end-game of PC's Terraria 1.3.

Pillar (Celestial Tower) (PC-only, one of four variants pictured)

Summoning Item: Defeat Lunatic Cultist, repeat it by doing this again after he respawns (reload world may be necessary)

Life (HP): 20,000

Boss Info: While not bosses per se, four Pillars (Nebula Pillar, Solar Pillar, Stardust Pillar, and Vortex Pillar) must be destroyed in order to complete the Lunar Events and face the ultimate boss of Terraria 1.3, the Moon Lord. It can be worth doing this event even if you don't think yourself capable of defeating the Moon Lord, because the Pillars drop end-game crafting materials that can let you grow in power by crafting powerful weapons to raise your DPS. These help until you can actually 'beat the game' by taking down the Moon Lord. These four pillars will appear across your map in surface biomes, two east and two west. You're likely to be standing near one after beating the Cultist. Pillars themselves are not the challenge, but rather the monsters that guard them and must be defeated (100+) in order to remove the force shield protecting them and take down the Pillar.

Moon Lord (PC Version Only)

Summoning Item: Destroy all Four Celestial Pillars (repeatable by defeating Cultist again) OR craft Celestial Sigil

Life (HP): 145,000 (sum of all parts)

Boss Info: Moon Lord guide forthcoming, it's worth noting that he drops Luminite, which is required to make end-game armor sets. Other items, which do not require Luminite are dropped by the four pillars and are much easier to defeat than the Moon Lord. He is certainly worth repeating by starting at the Lunatic Cultist again in order to get his drops, and you'll need more Luminite to complete all the armor sets. If you have plenty of the fragments dropped by the Celestial Towers, you can take 20 of all four of them to the Ancient Manipulator to make a Celestial Sigil and summon him without repeating the Lunar Event.

Console/Mobile-only Special Bosses
Console and Mobile have a few bosses that I did not list, because I cannot provide firsthand information on them. Ocram is on both platforms, and is considered the hardest boss given there is no Moon Lord to be fought. Ocram's summoned using 2 Mechanical Eyes, 1 Mechanical Skull, 10 Adamantite Bars (specifically), 5 Souls of Night and 5 Souls of Light. These, when used at a Mythril/Orichalcum Anvil will let you make the Suspicious Looking Skull and do battle with Ocram.

Mobile-only has Lepus, an Easter boss, and Turkor the Ungrateful, a Thanksgiving boss.