Guide:Deerclops strategies

Type	Boss
Environment	Snow biome + Blizzard
AI Type	Deerclops AI
Damage	204060 (contact); 265278 (Ice Spike); 3672108 (Debris); 204060 (Shadow Hand)
Max Life	7000/11900/15172
Defense	10
KB Resist	100%
Immune to
Debuff	Slow
Debuff tooltip	Movement speed is reduced
Chance	100% (Roar)
Duration	12 seconds24 seconds30 seconds
Debuff	Frozen
Debuff tooltip	You can't move!
Chance	100% (Ice Spike)
Duration	0.33 seconds0.67 seconds0.83 seconds
Coins	5 GC12 GC50 SC
Hurt
Killed
Walk
Roar
Ice Spike
Debris

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

Status: Under revision (This Guide is currently being revised or has been revised partially. It hasn't met all quality standards yet.)

Desktop/Console/Mobile-Only Content: This information applies only to the Desktop, Console, and Mobile versions of Terraria.

“The chilly one-eyed monstrosity from a foreign land.”

Deerclops is a pre-Hardmode boss. It does not need to be killed to progress the game, but it drops several Don't Starve-themed items, including the useful pet item Eye Bone. It also drops significant amounts of money.

Spawning

Deerclops can be spawned using the Deer Thing in the Snow biome, crafted from 3 Flinx Fur, 5 Demonite Ore or Crimtane Ore, and a Lens. It also naturally spawns at exactly midnight during a Blizzard in the Snow biome if one player has either 9 defense or 200 health. Despite being summoned or being naturally spawned in the Snow Biome, it can be fought at any biome after being summoned. While the boss can spawn at any point, it is not recommended to fight it until the Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthulhu has been defeated.

The fight

Deerclops has four / five attacks:
- If it is close to the player, Deerclops will smash the ground, summoning a wave of Ice Spikes that quickly travels towards the player. Every third consecutive wave does not go as far, instead spreading in both directions. Ice Spikes freeze the player briefly.
- If it is not close enough to its target to use the Ice Spikes attack, Deerclops will "scoop" and then throw numerous chunks of Debris into the air that fall back down. These chunks can pass through blocks.
- Deerclops will occasionally stand in place and roar, inflicting the Slow debuff on all players within 50 tiles^[1] for 12 / 24 / 30 seconds, unless they are already affected by the debuff.
- If the player is above Deerclops for enough time, five Shadow Hands will be summoned around the player.
- In Expert Mode, Shadow Hands will be periodically summoned that either move forwards slowly, move forwards quickly and curve, or spin in place. Shadow Hands are summoned more frequently as Deerclops's life gets lower. Shadow Hands predict the player's movements.
Deerclops cannot pass through solid blocks, but if the player is above it, far enough away, and Deerclops cannot reach them, it will quickly rise through the blocks to reach the player.
If the player is more than 30 tiles away, Deerclops will turn a dark shade of purple, two reddish, semi-transparent images of Deerclops will begin spinning around it, and it becomes immune to all damage.
If all players are dead or there are none nearby, Deerclops will wander around instead of immediately despawning. This will happen until a player gets close to the boss, at which point the fight will resume as normal. Once one in-game day (24 real-world minutes) has passed since Deerclops's spawn, it will despawn as soon as no players are near. Leaving and re-entering the world will also cause it to despawn.
- Like all other bosses, Pylons cannot be used while Deerclops is alive in a world.

General strategies

General tips

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

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 will provide a significant defensive boost. Garden Gnomes 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! 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 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 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.
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 take up a big chunk of the spawnable healing Hearts, which will cause Heart Statues to not spawn as many/any Hearts.
Remember to use the Sharpening Station, Ammo Box, Crystal Ball, Bewitching Table, War Table, and Slice of Cake 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, Ammo Box, Clairvoyance, Bewitched, Strategist, and Sugar Rush, respectively.

Terrain preparation

It is recommended to clear a large flat area in the Snow biome.

One or two layers of platforms is enough since Deerclops follows the player if they are 30 blocks away, passing through blocks and being immune to attacks.

Gearing up

It's recommended to have at least 260-280 health before you attempt to fight Deerclops. If using magic weapons, having the max amount of mana is recommended.

Armor

A full set of at least Gold armor or Platinum armor should be acquired, but better armor is always an option. Other armor sets with set bonuses can be effective as well.
Fossil armor is the best set available for rangers, the Gi(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions) can be used in place of the chestplate if ammo conservation is not a concern.
Crimson armor is good for tanking hits due to the high defense and increased regeneration.
Shadow armor gives a boost to mobility and a increased crit chance for all weapons.
The Wizard set, with magic-boosting or defense-boosting leg armor, provides the most damage for magic users. If defense is preferred, Jungle armor or Meteor armor can be used.
- Meteor armor's set bonus can make Space Gun and Gray Zapinator much more effective against Deerclops since it reduces Space Gun's and Gray Zapinator's mana usage to 0.
Obsidian armor is the best summoner armor set at this point in the game which focuses on whip bonuses.
- Bee armor is an alternative set if Queen Bee has been defeated and focuses on minion bonuses.
Molten armor is the best pre-hardmode armor set for melee classes, although it requires a visit to the Underworld and a pickaxe that can mine Hellstone.

Weapons

For melee users:

For swords, a solid choice would be the Blade of Grass or Bee Keeper.
- The Volcano deals a lot of damage, and inflicts On Fire!, making it the ideal sword for this fight.
- The Terragrim performs excellently if acquired, especially if you stand under Deerclops and swing up towards his torso.
- The Starfury does high damage at a range with its falling stars.
The Flamarang can deal very high damage to Deerclops at a safer distance than most swords.
The Hive-Five' ability to release bees when it hits an enemy makes it the best yoyo for this fight.

For ranged users:

The Molten Fury is the best bow for the fight available at this stage.
The Demon Bow or Tendon Bow can be used for players who find it hard to obtain other weapons.
Blood Rain Bow is an effective choice but requires more precise aiming to be used properly. It works best with Shimmer Arrows as they have high base damage and are easy to obtain.
A Musket or The Undertaker are decent and the Minishark can also be used. The Boomstick is also a very powerful choice.
The Star Cannon is incredible for this fight, but the ammo is extremely tedious to obtain and is better used on later bosses.
Silver Bullets/ Tungsten Bullets are the preferred bullets to use with the guns mentioned above. Meteor Shots can also work with the former two, but the piercing is not helpful for this fight and they do slightly less damage. Musket Balls can also be used.

For magic users:

The Demon Scythe is the best option for this fight, but can be annoying to obtain since farming Demons is required.
The Space Gun is a good weapon, especially when combined with Meteor armor.
The Gray Zapinator is also an excellent weapon, thanks to its high damage output, especially with Meteor Armor.
Crimson worlds will benefit from having the Crimson Rod, as you can fire it once and then switch to another weapon, increasing damage output.
The Thunder Zapper does similar damage at a higher mana cost.
The Vilethorn is a solid choice, especially due to Deerclops's low defense.
The Ruby Staff or Diamond Staff are both acceptable choices thanks to their solid damage output.

For summon users:

If a set of Bee armor has been obtained, than two uses of the Flinx Staff and two uses of the Vampire Frog Staff does the most damage.
- If the Queen Bee hasn't been defeated, than two Flinx and one Vampire Frog does the most damage
The Snapthorn is the best whip against Deerclops and the Leather Whip can be used alongside it for additional tag damage.

Accessories

Anything that increases your vertical mobility is a godsend. The Cloud in a Bottle is good, but better choices would be the Blizzard in a Bottle, the Fart in a Jar, or the Sandstorm in a Bottle and its upgrades, especially Bundle of Balloons. You can also use the Rocket Boots and its upgrades or Fledgling Wings for flight, and if Rocket Boots are upgraded, speed.
- Combining both Rocket Boots and its upgrades and Fledgling Wings is viable, as it increases flight time, and if Rocket Boots have been upgraded, speed.
Since Deerclops' ice spike attacks are clearly telegraphed, you can use the Slimy Saddle mount to jump above the ice spikes while remaining in close quarters, if you only had time to make a flat area to fight Deerclops in with no platforms.
The Shark Tooth Necklace is a very good increase to DPS.
- If Queen Bee has been defeated, the Stinger Necklace is an upgrade to the Shark Tooth Necklace, increasing both on survivability and damage.
If going melee, the Magma Stone and Feral Claws are useful, increasing DPS and enabling autoswing respectively.
- The Feral Claws works for whips too, enabling autoswing for whips.
If Queen Bee has been defeated, the Pygmy Necklace is an exceptionally good accessory for summoners.
The Squire's Shield/Apprentice's Scarf are great choices for summoners, although they don't stack.
Anything that reduces damage is very helpful, including the Expert Mode-exclusive Worm Scarf and defensive reforges on accessories.
The Expert Mode-exclusive Brain of Confusion increases critical strike chance for 3 seconds and chance to dodge on being attacked makes it a useful accessory against Deerclops.
If the Hand Warmer has been obtained, use it, since Deerclops inflicts the Chilled and Frozen Debuff. Being immune to these effects makes manuevering around considerably easier.
In Expert Mode, Shield of Cthulhu's dash is essential and makes the fight considerably easier.

Potions

Ironskin Potions, Endurance Potions, Warmth Potions, and Regeneration Potions will help tremendously with survivability.
- Warmth Potions will reduce Deerclop's damage by 30%, using one will greatly increase survivability.
A food item that provides Well Fed, Plenty Satisfied, or Exquisitely Stuffed is very useful.
Swiftness Potions will aid in dodging.
Ammo Reservation Potions and Archery Potions are good for rangers, and Archery Potions specifically for bow users.
Magic Power Potions and Mana Regeneration Potions are a must have for mages.
If you already have a minion, a Summoning Potion lets you bring an extra to the fight.
Rage Potions or Wrath Potions are useful for almost all classes.
Honeyfins heal more than the average Healing Potion and can prove valuable.

Specific Strategies

Legs Strategy

Once Deerclops is spawned, stand on his legs, underneath his torso. In this area, most of Deerclop's attacks cannot hit you, like the Ice Spike attack. The only attacks that are especially worrying are the Shadow Hands and third Ice Spike combo hit, but those should be easy to avoid with basic movement accessories. One way to enhance this method is to build a row of platforms 2-3 blocks off the ground in a flat area, and the player may move on 2 layers instead of one an avoid attacks easier.

Short Skybridge

Build a skybridge 20-30 blocks off the ground and spanning 100 or so blocks long, with a flat area underneath. Deerclops will stand beneath the platforms and follow the player's motion, but will not use his Ice Spikes attack. Instead, he will only summon Shadow Hands (if the player is above him) or throw debris if the player is off to one side. He can be easily handled by slowly walking just ahead of him until he begins to throw debris, then jumping in the opposite direction to avoid the ice chunks. Keep walking the other way until he throws debris again.

The main risk is the Expert Mode shadow hand that can knock the player the wrong direction, knocking them into debris or causing Deerclops to summon many shadow hands. This can be avoided by jumping over the hand or using the Cobalt Shield or Gladiator Armor to avoid knockback.

Respawn Strategy

Set up a spawn point with a Bed in the arena where you will fight Deerclops. Because Deerclops won't despawn as long as a player was near within a certain period of time, the player will be able to die an infinite amount of times during the fight. This method may take a long time with lower-tier gear, but eventually defeating Deerclops is nearly guaranteed, as long as the player can deal some damage each time they respawn.

References

↑ Information taken from the Desktop 1.4.3.6 source code, method AI_123_Deerclops() in Terraria.NPC.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.

[sourcecode_1-1] Information taken from the Desktop 1.4.3.6 source code, method AI_123_Deerclops() in Terraria.NPC.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.

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Guide:Deerclops strategies

Contents

Spawning

The fight