Brain of Cthulhu

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Brain of CthulhuFirst Form
Brain of Cthulhu (First Phase).gif
Map Icon Brain of Cthulhu.png
Map Icon
Classic mode icon.png Classic
Expert mode icon.png Expert
Master mode icon.png Master
Statistics
Type
Environment
AI TypeBrain of Cthulhu AI
Damage30/54/81
Max Life1250/2125/2709
325055257029 (with creepers) [1]
Defense14
KB Resist55%/60%/64%
Immune toConfused
Drops
Coins5 GC12 GC50 SC
Brain of CthulhuSecond Form
Brain of Cthulhu (Second Phase).gif
Map Icon Brain of Cthulhu.png
Map Icon
Classic mode icon.png Classic
Expert mode icon.png Expert
Master mode icon.png Master
Statistics
Type
Environment
AI TypeBrain of Cthulhu AI
Damage30/54/81
Max Life1250/2125/2709
Defense14
KB Resist55%/60%/64%
Immune toConfused
Drops
Coins5 GC12 GC50 SC
Brain of Cthulhu Trophy.png"An enormous demon brain which haunts the creeping crimson."Brain of Cthulhu Trophy.png
For the Old-gen console version Old-gen console and 3DSNintendo 3DS version pet summon, see Brain.

The Brain of Cthulhu is a pre-Hardmode, Crimson-themed boss resembling a large, flying brain. It can be summoned when 3 Crimson Hearts are destroyed in a Crimson world, or when a player uses a Bloody Spine anywhere in the Crimson or Underground Crimson biome.

The Brain of Cthulhu has two stages. In the first, the Brain is invulnerable and teleports randomly around the player. 20 Creepers spawn along with the Brain and orbit the boss at high speed. Creepers do not respawn once they are killed. All Creepers must be destroyed first before the Brain of Cthulhu enters its second phase, where it becomes vulnerable to attack and can be killed.

Defeating the Brain of Cthulhu and its attendant Creepers is the only way to obtain Tissue Samples, and is one of the ways to obtain usable quantities of Crimtane Ore. Defeating the Brain of Cthulhu for the first time allows the Tavernkeep NPC to spawn.

The Brain of Cthulhu is the Crimson counterpart to the Eater of Worlds. Unlike its Corruption counterpart, it does not have a mechanical equivalent in Hardmode.

While the Brain of Cthulhu is alive, the music Boss 3 will play. When Otherworldly music (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is enabled, the track Boss 1 (Otherworldly) will play instead.

Attacks

First phase

The Brain itself is initially invincible. It teleports around the player, drawing nearer before teleporting away again in a random direction while its CreeperCreeper minions attack the player. The Creepers do not teleport along with the Brain but are instead pulled between the player and the Brain in large, sweeping orbits, forming groups and allowing the player to deal damage to all the Creepers at the same time. Once all Creepers are defeated, the Brain enters its second phase.

Second phase

In the second phase, the Brain becomes vulnerable to attacks and knockback and it aggressively attempts to ram the player while rapidly teleporting around.

Expert Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

  • In Expert mode, the Brain of Cthulhu gains a 70% health increase. This brings its original Classic Mode health of 1250 health up to 2125 health.
    • The Creepers gain a health increase of the same percentage, going from 100 health up to 170 health. This brings the boss's overall health up from 3250 health to 5525 health.
  • In Expert mode, the second phase now has three mirror images of the Brain appear around the player, mirroring the Brain's movements and becoming more opaque as the boss loses health.
  • Furthermore, both the Creepers (in the first phase) and the Brain (in the second phase) inflict a random debuff upon contact. The probabilities of applying each debuff are listed in the following table; note that the Creepers always inflict a debuff while the Brain only has a 1/3 (33.33%) chance to do so.[2]
Debuff Duration [2] Chance (Brain) Chance (Creepers)
Expert Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Master Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
PoisonedPoisoned 5.25 - 10.5 seconds 6.56 - 13.13 seconds 11/243 (4.53%) 11/81 (13.58%)
DarknessDarkness 3 - 6 seconds 3.75 - 7.5 seconds 11/243 (4.53%) 11/81 (13.58%)
CursedCursed 0.75 - 1.5 seconds 0.94 - 1.88 seconds 2/243 (0.82%) 2/81 (2.47%)
BleedingBleeding 7.5 - 15 seconds 9.38 - 18.75 seconds 11/243 (4.53%) 11/81 (13.58%)
ConfusedConfused 1.5 - 3 seconds 1.88 - 3.75 seconds 2/243 (0.82%) 2/81 (2.47%)
SlowSlow 5.25 - 10.5 seconds 6.56 - 13.13 seconds 11/243 (4.53%) 11/81 (13.58%)
WeakWeak 11.25 - 22.5 seconds 14.06 - 28.13 seconds 11/243 (4.53%) 11/81 (13.58%)
SilencedSilenced 1.5 - 3 seconds 1.88 - 3.75 seconds 11/243 (4.53%) 11/81 (13.58%)
Broken ArmorBroken Armor 9.75 - 19.5 seconds 12.19 - 24.38 seconds 11/243 (4.53%) 11/81 (13.58%)

Master Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

  • All Expert mode changes apply.
  • In Master Mode, the Brain of Cthulhu gains a 27.48% health increase. This brings its original Expert Mode health of 2125 health up to 2709 health.
    • The Creepers gain a health increase of the same percentage, going from 170 health up to 216 health. This brings the boss's overall health up from 5525 health to 7029 health.
  • The debuffs inflicted by the Brain and the Creepers are extended in duration, as detailed in the table above.

Notes

  • Creepers drop Hearts at a higher rate than most enemies.
  • Creepers are more aggressive in Expert Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) and Master Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
  • If the player leaves the Crimson, the Brain of Cthulhu will move downwards and despawn.
    • However, if the player returns to the Crimson before the Brain of Cthulhu despawns, the battle will continue as normal.
  • Two Brains can be summoned at once by smashing Crimson Hearts. They seem to share their Creepers and go into their second phases simultaneously.
  • Note that actually defeating the Brain of Cthulhu is not completely necessary to progress, as the Creepers may drop the needed amount of materials.
    • However, defeating the Brain of Cthulhu is the only way to gain access to the Tavernkeep(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) and, as of 1.4.0.2 (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), Meteorites.
  • (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Crafting the Deathbringer Pickaxe (from Tissue Samples and Crimtane Ore) will not be necessary if the player obtains the Reaver Shark (through fishing).
  • Since Hellstone can be destroyed with explosives in Hardmode, and Hardmode ores can be obtained from fishing, defeating the Brain of Cthulhu is not necessary to obtaining those items.

Achievement

Achievement Mastermind.png
Mastermind • Defeat the Brain of Cthulhu, an enormous demon brain which haunts the creeping crimson.
Defeat the Brain of Cthulhu for the first time. (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
Category: Slayer Slayer

Tips

For more elaborate strategies on defeating Brain of Cthulhu, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Brain of Cthulhu strategies.
  • Creepers have low individual health and are especially susceptible to the On Fire! and Frostburn debuffs. Weapons that inflict these debuffs can make quick work of them.
  • Grenades and other splash damage weapons can kill the Creepers very quickly, as they will bunch up often.
  • Since the Brain of Cthulhu is susceptible to knockback, weapons with high knockback such as the The Rotted Fork can keep both Creepers and the Brain from closing distance between teleports. It is also possible to use early-game melee weapons such as the Katana or the Zombie Arm as long as they do not have disadvantageous modifiers. It is preferable to use spears for this fight since they deal more knockback, however, so the Trident or The Rotted Fork is recommended.
    • Note that this may not work in Expert Mode(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), since it might be hard to tell which Brain to attack among the illusions.
  • Jester's Arrows or other enemy-piercing weapons can be immensely helpful while fighting the first stage, since Creepers often group up in a clustered formation, effectively allowing the player to hit most if not all of the Creepers in one well-aimed shot.
  • The Minishark is extremely effective in keeping the Brain of Cthulhu away from the player during the second stage.
  • (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) There are several methods to reveal the real Brain of Cthulhu in the second stage:
    • A Hunter Potion will only highlight the real Brain.
    • The real Brain is the only one with a health bar.
    • Bone Javelins only stick out of the real Brain.
    • The On Fire! and Poisoned debuffs damage only the real Brain.
    • The Slime Gun and Water Gun cause visual effects only to the real Brain. Note that these do not deal damage.
    • The Slime Mount only bounces off the real Brain.
    • The illusions position themselves in relation to the player. The illusions will quickly spread away from the real Brain if the player is walking away from it, but the real Brain will continue to move at a steady pace.
    • The minimap displays only the real Brain.
    • When using a controller, the lock on feature will only target the real Brain.
  • Selling all the Crimtane Ore that can be obtained from the fight is a very effective way to make money in pre-Hardmode.

Trivia

(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) The Brain of Cthulhu-shaped cloud.
  • The Brain of Cthulhu, among several other bosses, is based on Cthulhu, a creature first imagined by H. P. Lovecraft in his short story The Call of Cthulhu.
  • Unlike the correlation between the Eater of Worlds and The Destroyer, the Brain of Cthulhu does not have a Hardmode counterpart, although The Destroyer's Probes are similar in function to its Creepers.
    • Terraria lore pages – According to the Terraria lore pages, the Mechanic never finished Cthulhu's mechanical brain, thus explaining its lack of a mechanical counterpart.
    • On a technical level, the reason the BoC has no mechanical version is because the mechanical bosses were introduced in desktop 1.1, whereas the BoC was introduced in desktop 1.2
  • The Brain of Cthulhu has the least health out of all the bosses, with even less than the Eye of Cthulhu in its second form. However, when adding in the health of the Creepers, it has more health than King Slime.
  • The Brain of Cthulhu is the only boss that is affected by knockback.
  • Contrary to popular belief, Creepers do not drop Souls of Night, (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Biome Keys, or (Old-gen console and 3DS versions) Biome Key Molds.
  • It is one of the only three bosses whose map icon does not change after entering its second phase, the others being Santa-NK1, and Queen Slime.
  • The Brain of Cthulhu is sometimes abbreviated as "BoC."
  • The list of debuffs inflicted by the Brain and Creepers in Expert Mode just so happens to be exactly the same as the list of debuff immunities granted by the Ankh Charm. The Ankh Shield also gives these immunities, with the addition of Burning and Chilled. Of course, it is fairly trivial to defeat the Brain of Cthulhu at the point in the game that the Ankh Charm can be obtained.
  • On the Desktop version Desktop version, Console version Console version, and Mobile version Mobile version, a cloud in the shape of the Brain of Cthulhu can occasionally be seen in the background.
  • The BestiaryBestiary entry for the Brain of Cthulhu: "A piece of Cthulhu torn asunder, this vile mastermind pulses with agony and aids the Crimson in an attempt to avenge its master."

History

  • Desktop 1.4.1.2: Fixed a grammatical error in the Bestiary description: "... aids the Crimson to an attempt to avenge ..." to "... aids the Crimson in an attempt to avenge ...".
  • Desktop 1.4.0.2: Defeating the Brain of Cthulhu now allows Meteorites to fall rather than breaking a Crimson Heart, and defeating more Brains of Cthulhu will increase the chance of a Meteorite falling the following night.
  • Desktop 1.2.3:
    • Killing the Brain of Cthulhu will now allow the Dryad to move into your town.
    • Now has a chance to drop the Brain Mask.
    • Fixed bug where beating Brain of Cthulhu wouldn't make dryad stop talking about the chasms.

References

  1. Information taken from the Desktop version Desktop 1.4.0.5 source code, method AI() in Terraria.NPC.cs (under aiStyle == 54); also method GetBrainOfCthuluCreepersCount() in Terraria.NPC.cs There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Information taken from the Desktop version Desktop 1.4.0.5 source code, methods StatusFromNPC() and AddBuff_DetermineBuffTimeToAdd() in Terraria.Player.cs There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.