Guide:Eater of Worlds strategies

Type	BossBurrowing Enemy
Environment	The Corruption Underground Corruption
AI Type	Worm AI
Max Life	10050 ; 1512019224
KB Resist	100%
Immune to
Debuff	Weak
Debuff tooltip	Physical abilities are decreased
Chance	0%1/20 (5%)1/20 (5%)
Duration	n/a10 minutes12 minutes 30 seconds
Coins	8 SC20 SC
Hurt	https://terraria.wiki.gg/wiki/File:NPC_Hit_1.wav
Killed	https://terraria.wiki.gg/wiki/File:NPC_Killed_1.wav
Digging	https://terraria.wiki.gg/wiki/File:Roar_1.wav

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

Status: Revised (This Guide got revised and is up to date!)

This guide is about Eater of Worlds, which is exclusive to Corruption worlds. Players playing in Crimson worlds should check Guide:Brain of Cthulhu strategies instead.

“A massive worm who dwells in the corruption.”

The Eater of Worlds (or EoW) is one of the bosses in Terraria. It is found in The Corruption. Preparation for this boss is both extremely helpful in the fight, and is relatively simple to complete. The following are some hints, tips, and strategies to help you defeat it when first encountered.

Spawn Conditions

Eater of Worlds is spawned by fulfilling one of these conditions:

Breaking three Shadow Orbs;
Using Worm Food.

You must then defeat Eater of Worlds within the Corruption: getting out of the corruption will make it retreat and despawn.

The Fight

Eater of Worlds is a huge multi-segmented worm, and thus, its parts tend to linger for a while. You can damage those parts with penetrating weapons and ammos to deal a lot of damage. It is also very mobile if you decide to fight in Corruption chasm. Thus, it's important to reach the surface (and its arena if you made it, check below for more info).

Beware that, when a segment dies, the segments in front and behind will detach and separately attack the player.

Managing the Worms

These two worms form a new head and tail, and they will make the fight more difficult. To prevent that, you can try to prioritize the Head segment, which has the lowest defense of the segments, but it is also the most damaging one. Alternatively, you can prioritize the Tail segment, which however is the opposite (more Defense, less damaging).

Careful management of segments can reduce the number of smaller, harder to hit worms. In this case, prioritize the use of non-penetrating weapons, and hit its head and tail. If you destroy a middle segment, concentrate on the smaller worm, since the larger one can be easy to predict and dodge.

Expert Mode

In Expert Mode, the Eater of Worlds gains a variety of upgrades:

The ability to shoot Vile Spit, a projectile that deals very high damage and has a 5% chance to cause the Weak debuff.
Increased defense against explosives, making them considerably less viable in the fight.
When above the surface, has increased movement speed and fire rate for Vile Spit.

Vile Spit is the Eater of Worlds' most dangerous attack, so it is important to bring sufficient mobility accessories and make an arena that enables you to dodge. Due to the nature of the attack, the player will likely have the Weak debuff for most of the fight. This makes melee a less viable option, due to the decrease in movement speed, melee damage and melee attack speed.

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(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.

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(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.

Terrain preparation

Multiple platforms made for the Eater of Worlds fight.

The player must be in The Corruption to summon the Eater of Worlds; moving too far away from the biome during the battle will cause it to flee.

The Eater of Worlds is a very large Worm enemy, so dodging it may prove to be difficult. You may want to try fighting it on the surface instead of underground. If summoning this boss via breaking shadow orbs, be sure to provide yourself a quick and safe escape back to the surface where your arena will be. A room with a Bed next to your arena can let you teleport there easily, but be careful that the path from orb to arena does not go through any non-Corrupted areas (lest the boss despawn). When making your arena on the surface, you have some options:

In Normal mode, make it fairly tall, thin, and easily climbable with many Platforms. That way, not only you can see it coming, but this will force it to climb in a relatively straight line, leaving large portions of its body exposed, and vulnerable to piercing attacks.
In Expert mode, due to the frequency of the Vile Spit attack, the Eater of Worlds will become much harder to dodge. Arenas built on the surface make dodging the attacks easier, but they come at the cost of increased movement and attack speed from the boss. Multiple wide platforms are normally sufficient for the fight, but you can enhance the arena by adding walls to prevent normal enemies from spawning.
Whichever option you choose, make sure the arena doesn't go too high. If it goes too high and the Corruption background disappears, the Eater of Worlds will start despawning.
It's also not recommended to build your surface arena above a valley. While it's still above the ground, the hills on either side will provide higher ground for the Eater of Worlds to get to you and make your arena less effective.
To not get interrupted by Eater of Souls, it's recommended to place an Eater of Soul Banner to minimize their damage. You can obtain one by killing 50 Eater of Souls.

If you don't want to fight it on the surface, it's alright to fight it underground instead. If you are breaking Shadow Orbs, hollowing out an entire arena every third orb or escaping to a surface arena may not be practical; you should modify the terrain around you to have a quick path of escape to a space with good horizontal clearance and any hazardous terrain smoothed out or boarded over. Consider placing platforms periodically to provide extra maneuverability.

Gearing up

Armor

It is recommended to have at least 200 Life.

Platinum Armor is the best available ore armor. It is possible to use weaker armor - Tungsten Armor performs decently as well.
Pumpkin Armor is a viable option for all classes, having slightly less defense than iron, but increasing your damage output, which can ensure the fight is completed quickly.
You can get Shadow Armor by killing enough segments of the boss without necessarily defeating it, or Ancient Shadow Armor by farming the Eaters of Souls.
Fossil Armor(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is a great choice for rangers, although not having as much defense as other available sets.
- On the Nintendo 3DS version, Bones drop from Skeletons, so Necro Armor can be used here.
The Jungle Armor is the best magic armor available. The Wizard set is a good alternative.
- Jungle Armor is also effective on any class due to its high defense.
The Flinx Fur Coat(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is an easily-available armor for summoners. Pair it with any high defense head and leg armor pieces, such as those from the Jungle armor.

Weapons

Melee

Broadswords do very well against this boss. The strongest ones available include the Blade of Grass and Light's Bane. Very fast swords like the Exotic Scimitar(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), Katana(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions) or Mandible Blade(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) are also excellent weapons, especially when paired with the Shark Tooth Necklace(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
The Volcano is exceptionally strong against this boss, but can only be obtained by gathering the Shadow Scales dropped by defeated segments.
If you are lucky enough to find an Enchanted Sword Shrine and obtain a Terragrim(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) or Enchanted Sword, you may find it to be very effective against the worm.
Thrown-type Flails such as the Ball O' Hurt or Flaming Mace(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) can block almost all Vile Spit when spun around, which can effectively make the fight trivial in most cases, yet highly drawn-out. In addition, they can be swung into the Eater of Worlds and inflict massive damage to many of its segments.
Spears such as the Swordfish can damage multiple segments at once, as well.

Ranged

Bows are very effective here. The Demon Bow is easily available and powerful. If you can't gather enough Demonite, the Gold Bow or the Platinum Bow should also work. The Molten Fury is even stronger but requires you getting shadow scales from defeated segments and you need to visit The Underworld which might be a bit difficult with the gear you have.
- Jester's Arrows can pierce through infinitely many segments, although the damage drops each segment. They do best when the boss is lined up straight.
- Unholy Arrows, which drop from the Eye of Cthulhu and can be crafted, do more damage and have a similar, piercing effect, though it goes through less segments at once.
Bone Throwing Knives(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) can pierce quite a bit, are autofire, and do excellent damage in this fight. They are heavily affected by gravity, so do best when thrown straight down or at an arc.
The Flare Gun is a very effective weapon, as it pierces indefinitely and inflicts the On Fire! debuff.
The Sandgun is incredibly effective when used with Ebonsand Blocks, sporting high stats and infinite piercing. Cover your arena with torches or a minecart track in order to prevent making a mess.

Magic

The Vilethorn will have a balanced damage distribution throughout the entire body. It's obtained from Shadow Orbs in the Corruption. Furthermore, this is a relatively safe weapon to use against the worm as it can be deployed in the worms path and will remain for a short time doing damage while giving you time to dodge. It is heavily affected by defense, so benefits from the Shark Tooth Necklace(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) more than most weapons.
The Emerald Staff, Ruby Staff, or Diamond Staff can also pierce multiple parts and deal great damage, while using little mana.
The Wand of Sparking(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) can apply the On Fire! debuff to multiple segments at once, making it fairly effective.
(Old-gen console and 3DS versions) The Water Bolt can sometimes be obtained early by looking in the books in the upper part of dungeons. It is very strong here.
The Demon Scythe is difficult to obtain this early, but is the strongest weapon available for this boss. It does best when the boss is in a straight line.
If the player has obtained it, the Gray Zapinator(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is ideal as it can pierce and its erratic nature may cause extreme damage.

Summoning

The Vampire Frog(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is one of the strongest summons available.
The Finch Staff(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is a great summoning weapon against the Eater of Worlds, due to the fact that the finch summon pierces through its segments.
The Flinx Staff(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is a weaker alternative.
The Snapthorn(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) will destroy the Eater of Worlds quickly. The Leather Whip(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is a noticeably weaker alternative.

Throwing users

For no version

Non-explosive consumables, such as Shurikens and Throwing Knives, can be effective since they penetrate segments, meaning that they hit multiple times while allowing the player to keep a safe distance.
Explosive consumables, like Grenades are very effective, killing all pieces caught in the blast. The player should be careful, however, to not get caught in the blast themselves.
Spiky Balls are especially useful, as they can be thrown down where the Eater of Worlds is likely to surface.
Molotov Cocktails(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions) are extremely effective against the Eater of Worlds, leaving behind multiple flames on the ground that do ~40 damage each and hit every segment that moves through them.

Accessories

Rocket Boots or its upgrades are recommended as they can help with dodging.
Accessories with Warding will be most efficient here, but are not required.
The Feral Claws grant autoswing and significantly increase the damage of Broadswords and Whips, which are already some of the best weapons for this fight.
The Shark Tooth Necklace(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is useful in Expert or Master Mode due to the higher defense.
The Slimy Saddle(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions) mount bounces when hit by the Eater of Worlds and does damage. When used in the open, it can protect you from being trapped. When used against a ceiling, the mount bounces rapidly, dealing large amounts of damage even in higher difficulty modes.

Potions

Ironskin and Regeneration Potions can really help mitigate any hits you take.
Hunter Potions can be very useful in spotting the Eater of Worlds as it burrows, making it easier to fight even without a raised platform.
A Cooked Fish or other food item will also give you a small buff to all stats.
The Thorns Potion will damage the Eater of Worlds every time it hurts you and is easy to craft.
An easy way to get out of the chasm if you wish to fight on the surface is to use a Gravitation Potion and a Lucky Horseshoe.
A Burger(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is a uncommon drop from eater of souls that can provide the exquisitely Stuffed buff which is very useful during the fight.

Specific Strategies

Slime Mount

The Slimy Saddle(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions) can be used to deal a high amount of damage in this fight. If trapped between the Eater of Worlds and the top of a cavern, the mount can bounce very rapidly, killing segments quickly. Alternatively, it can be used in a vertical arena to keep the player bouncing upwards and away from the boss, while firing a weapon downward.

Minecart

One simple way to beat this boss is to set up a very short segment of Minecart Tracks, hammering the ends into bumpers. By riding a minecart back and forth quickly, the player can do rapid, high piercing damage. In Expert or Master mode, drinking Ironskin Potion and Endurance Potion helps reduce the damage taken by the head segments.

Tanking

If the player has a melee weapon with Autoswing (whether through Feral Claws, the autoswing option in the menu, or weapons such as the Falcon Blade or a Katana(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions) with natural autoswing), you can use a Grappling Hook and hook it to the ground to be able to remain stationary. Alternatively, Gladiator armor(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) can be used to become immune to Knockback. Once the Eater of Worlds has been summoned, begin swinging. As the Eater of Worlds tries to inflict damage by passing through you, the Autoswing weapon will destroy its sections fast and effectively, and the fight will be over fairly quickly. This can also be used as an effective farming technique. Thorns Potion can be used to increase damage dealt by this method.

Farming

The EoW can be a good source of money if you sell the Demonite Ore and Shadow Scales that it drops. With even late pre-Hardmode, armor and weapons you can quickly defeat this easy-to-summon boss. Once you have recruited the Tavernkeep, his Lightning Aura sentries are deadly against the EoW, because once the head has passed a given point, all the body segments must follow. Even the Rod can kill the boss "cleanly" (from the head back) in a few passes, while the player simply evades the worm and renews or moves the sentry as needed.

The Medusa Head(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) (easily obtained with a statue farm) offers a fairly quick execution, because it hits every segment in line-of-sight. With an arena high enough for the EoW to emerge completely from the ground, plus a modest damage bonus (+15% or better), it can destroy the entire boss in three strikes. However, this is much less practical in Expert mode, due to the Vile Spit projectiles.

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Guide:Eater of Worlds strategies

Contents

Spawn Conditions