Guide:Blood Moon strategies

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This means the page will walk you through a specific task, strategy, or enemy/boss fight.

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The event

A Blood Moon is a common randomly occurring event that takes place over the course of an entire night; however, a Blood Moon can also be initiated when the player uses a Bloody Tear(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions). Blood Moons are signaled by the message "The Blood Moon is rising..." in the lower left corner of the screen (or the top middle of the screen on  Mobile).

A Blood Moon will only occur if at least one player in the world has more than 120 life, and only on nights when a moon is present (any night except a new moon). Given those criteria, a Blood Moon has a 1/9 (11.11%) chance of occurring. It will also not spawn if another event is currently taking place, such as Lantern Night(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) or Slime Rain(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions). Weather-related occurrences (like Windy Days(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) or Thunderstorms(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)) do not count as events, so there can be crossovers.

Effects

While a Blood Moon is active, multiple effects can happen:

This content is transcluded from Blood Moon § Effects.

The moon's appearance during a Blood Moon.

Red rain during a Blood Moon.

Enemies

• The spawn rate of enemies on the surface increases. Not only do they spawn faster, but more are spawned than can normally exist on-screen at once.
  • This works no matter the environment, so for example Corruption and Crimson enemies can swarm more than they normally would.
  • It only affects spawn rates above the surface. Spawn rates below the surface remain the same.
• Enemies can spawn near towns, even though those normally suppress enemy spawns.
• Zombies and their counterparts become able to open Doors.
• Goldfish, Bunnies, and Penguins turn into Corrupt Goldfish / Vicious Goldfish(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), Corrupt Bunnies / Vicious Bunnies(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), and Corrupt Penguins / Vicious Penguins(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) respectively.
  • Those spawned from Statues will also become Corrupt / (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Vicious, and do not revert to their regular forms after the Blood Moon is over. If it is raining during the event, transformed Goldfish will flop around on the ground, instead of walking.

Other effects

• Deathweed blooms during a Blood Moon.
  • Blood Moons (and Full Moons on  Desktop,  Console, and  Mobile versions) are the only times Deathweed Seeds can be harvested from Deathweed (with the exception of using a Staff of Regrowth).
• Most NPCs have their own unique lines commenting on the event.
• The Zoologist(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) NPC will transform into her werefox form.

Visual effects

• (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) A red filter will be applied to the screen, shifting the colors of all entities and light towards red and purple shades.
• Almost all water will turn red, including rain.
  • The Oceans will not turn red, though it will be affected by the screen filter, turning it a purple-ish color.
• The filter will also alter the projectile colors of many weapons.
• Placed Living Cursed Fire Blocks turn yellow, creating a unique effect.
• The Glowing Mushroom Biome, which is normally blue, will appear pink-purple because of the red shader.

Rewards

While a Blood Moon can be dangerous to new players, it can also wield great rewards.

• The Groom can drop the Top Hat, and when killed for the first time, will give the Till Death achievement.
• In Hardmode, the Clown can drop the KO Cannon and Bananarang
• In Hardmode, more enemies can be fished and can give more Blood Moon exclusive items
  • The Dreadnautilus(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) can drop the Sanguine Staff(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), a summoning weapon.
  • The Hemogoblin Shark(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) can drop the Blood Thorn(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), a magic weapon.
  • Blood Eels(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) can drop the Drippler Crippler(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), a melee weapon.
• Enemies exclusive to the Blood Moon can drop the Bloody Tear(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
• Enemies caught during fishing can drop the Chum Bucket(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) ,an item that increases fishing power. Other fishing drops include the Vampire Frog Staff(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), the Blood Rain Bow(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), and the Advanced Combat Techniques(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), an item that permanently increases NPC's Attack and Defense.
• Dripplers(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) and Blood Zombies(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) can drop the Shark Tooth Necklace(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), a decent early-game accessory and the Money Trough(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), an item that lets you access your Piggy Bank anytime, anywhere.

Preperation

General tips

This content is transcluded from Guide:Practical tips § Combat.

• For nocturnal bosses, starting the battle just after the sun sets (7:30 PM) will provide the maximum amount of time to defeat the boss. In Hardmode, the Moon Charm and/or Moon Stone and their upgrades are also useful at night.
• Boss battles can be won or lost before the battle ever starts. Choose your equipment and have it ready; find and/or make potions and placed buffs; use the highest-tier food you have available; set up an arena appropriate to the boss; learn the strategies for the boss you're facing.
• Prepare your Boss-fighting arena with adequate lighting, Campfires and Heart Lanterns for health regeneration, and Stars in Bottles for mana regeneration if you use magic. Bast Statues(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) will provide a significant defensive boost. Garden Gnomes(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) and (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) (if underground) proper torch placement will reduce damage taken and increase damage dealt due to the luck. The Torch God's Favor(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) helps with this. Honey pools can also be used for extra health regeneration.
• (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Sunflowers provide the Happy!(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) buff to nearby players, which grants a +10% movement speed bonus and 17% reduction in enemy spawn rate.
• Always carry around a stack of the highest-tier healing potion available, as relying only on natural Health Regeneration is not a good idea. Depending on the game stage, this can include items such as Lesser Healing Potions or Honeyfins. On the  Desktop,  Console, and  Mobile versions, Restoration Potions are healing potions with a shorter cooldown.
  • Likewise carry mana potions, if you use Magic.
  • The Strange Brew(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is also an option, which yields very similar healing abilities to Healing Potion with added chances to trigger periods of invulnerability upon consumption.
  • On the  Old-gen console version and Nintendo 3DS version, Restoration Potions can save a slot, but will likewise trigger both cooldowns.
• It is suggested to build houses for the Dryad and the Nurse NPCs in your arena. The former casts the Dryad's Blessing(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) buff, which increases your defense and provides you with a thorns-like effect, while the latter can heal and remove debuffs instantly, at the cost of some coins.
• Bosses are displayed on the Minimap: Follow the boss's icon to track it when you're struggling to find it. You can identify the boss icons by checking their respective wiki pages.
• Once you have freed the Mechanic in the Dungeon, you can use Wire to enhance your arena with Traps and helpful Heart and Star Statues. The former helps to damage the enemies, though be careful to set them up correctly in order not to hurt yourself during the battle. The latter will spawn heart and star pickups, respectively. Connect these devices to timers to activate them infinitely.
• In Hardmode, the Brand of the Inferno(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) and Sergeant United Shield(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) can be used to parry incoming contact damage.
• It may be useful to summon and kill the Eye of Cthulhu or King Slime before summoning any harder boss in order to spawn an extra one-use pool of Hearts. Note that this will prevent any Heart Statues from spawning new Hearts.
• Remember to use the Sharpening Station(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), Ammo Box(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions), Crystal Ball, Bewitching Table(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), War Table(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), and Slice of Cake(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) before you go to explore or battle bosses/invasions. These will give boosts that are useful to have, with the first five being class-specific. They give Sharpened(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), Ammo Box(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions), Clairvoyance, Bewitched(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), Strategist(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), and Sugar Rush(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), respectively.

Arena

Due to the NPCs being vulnerable to enemies during this event, it is recommended that you make your base in the sky at the beginning. If you have already made a base, a simple barricade of a block behind a door will prevent most enemies from getting in. You will want to move your base above ground level before Hardmode, as the increased enemy spawn rate will result in more Wraiths spawning, which can be a nuisance; however, they can only move upward if they're inside a block. A simple ditch can take care of most ground level mobs, even Clowns in hardmode. Even better, line the bottom of the ditch with lava and it will kill them for you. You will want to place a thin layer of lava in the ditch, enough to burn Copper Coins, but not silver ones. To make sure that the amount of lava is correct, throw a copper coin in. If it burns, you have met the minimum requirement. If not, add more until it does, but slowly until the coin disappears. Next, throw a silver coin in. It shouldn't burn. If it does, remove some and try again. Repeat until the copper coin burns, but not the silver. As said above, traps can make the arena even deadlier when used correctly. Keep in mind that Drippers can hover and fly above your defenses.

Also, if you do not want to build an arena, you can use weapons that attack through blocks (for example, the Vilethorn pre-Hardmode, or a Crystal Vile Shard or Life Drain in hardmode) to attack mobs while being safe in your house. If you have defeated Plantera, you can use the Nettle Burst. You can do this by blocking your doors with blocks or having a base that is high off the ground, while using a weapon (like the ones suggested above) to attack the enemies that come. If you have a floating base, you can put a lava pit underneath your base as well.