Terraria: Goblin Tinkerer

Requirements, Goblin Army, and Finding the NPC

The Goblin Tinkerer is an important NPC, as he allows players to Reforge their gear to randomly get better stats. This costs gold, and is one of the main money-sinks in Terraria.

Terraria allows you to use the Goblin Tinkerer's service to reforge gear in order to get the best bonus modifiers for any weapon, magic item, accessory, or tool. The tinkerer also sells some useful items, one of which allows your character to fly short distances - rocket boots. Finding the Tinkerer requires two things - that you've defeated the Goblin Army invasion, have a free house for him, and find and rescue the Tinkerer in the Cavern layer, deeper underground. This guide will discuss the requirements and provide some tips on finding the Tinkerer.

Requirements

First: Defeating Goblin Army
To get the Goblin Tinkerer to move in, you must have defeated the Goblin Army at least once in the world you're playing. There are some requirements for that:

Have 200 Health (used 5 Heart Crystals)
Smashed at least one Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart (depending if you have Corruption/Crimson in your world)

So explore the Corruption/Crimson in your world once you've got some decent early-game gear (full iron/lead at least and a decent weapon) and use a hammer to smash one orb/heart. Breaking three would summon a boss you may not be prepared for. Every three, you summon that boss again. But, for these purposes, one is enough.

The Goblin Army attack has you defeating dozens of goblins. The event will trigger even if you're underground, and should you be in the middle of something, know that they will be waiting for you as soon as you recall to town!

Goblin Army Attack
Once this is done, you must either wait until the Goblin Army event occurs or else gather materials to summon them manually. It can take some time, given its random nature. Due to the time investment needed to trigger the event yourself, I recommend you continue seeking hearts and better gear. You'll also need money for when the Tinkerer finally arrives in order to reforge, so look for it from monsters an selling loot, stash it in a chest and build some money up so you have some to spend when this finally happens.

You can trigger the Goblin Invasion Event yourself by exploring the edges of your world - at least halfway from the center and not in Corruption/Crimson - and fighting Goblin Scouts as they spawn. Sadly, they're quite rare so you will not quickly gather this cloth. Your time is better spent mining and adventuring, while waiting for the attack to happen naturally. Get 10 tattered cloth from the scouts by killing 5-10 of them and chop wood, then craft a Goblin Battle Standard at a loom - for which you need wood and a sawmill, which comes from your existing workbench. Make chains out of iron/lead bars and you can make this less-used crafting station. See? It's a lot of work! Anyway, once crafted, use the battle standard and the goblins will attack from either east or west of your town.

When you do actually fight the Goblins, you should earn some decent money and not find it too hard so long as you do not let too many of them build up. Stay active, and use the Nurse NPC to heal yourself should it be necessary. Potions help, too. Overall I've never lost to them unless in Hard Mode when they surprised me with their jetpacks and powerful charge attacks.

Locating and Rescuing the Tinkerer in the Cavern

I actually found my Tinkerer inside the Dungeon. Go deep enough, and you're technically in the 'Cavern' layer. However, this was a late find and I learned from the experience. Most players will find him in a less hostile area.

Finding the Goblin Tinkerer NPC
Once you have defeated the Goblin Army, you will finally be able to find the Goblin Tinkerer. However, it's a bit random and there's not much to be done about this part. NPCs, just like monsters, spawn based on your character's location so lighting is key in order to see should he spawn, as is depth.

Once you're this deep, you're surely in the Caverns. Light up areas and fight monsters to get cash and loot, and while you do so the Tinkerer will eventually spawn nearby. Make sure there's a spare house back in town so that he can move in!

The Goblin Tinkerer NPC will only spawn in the Cavern layer, which is below the 'Underground'. You can tell you're getting to the Caverns by the change in blocks from mostly dirt to mostly stone and stronger ores. The music will also change, as will the background. You'll find spiders, depth worms, and black slimes. You essentially cannot go too deep, although certain stronger enemies spawn at lower levels. Just don't go all the way to the Underworld. Stay at least a few screens above lava if it starts to spawn.

Work on lighting up an area with Torches, so that you can see well. He could spawn in a corner that is dark, and you'll miss him entirely. He will be bound, and you can untie him to free him. You can hang around the same area and farm, and keep roaming that area killing monsters. The Tinkerer will eventually spawn nearby offscreen, so your moving while seeking enemies to kill will eventually lead you to him with a little luck. Once he's found, you'll be able to free him, and with a house available he'll move into your village and begin providing his super-important Reforge service, which lets you reroll the bonus stats on weapons and accessories.

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Joseph says...

This was very helpful