Guide:Farming Biome Keys or Key Molds

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

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Status: Subject to revision (This Guide does not meet certain quality standards and may be heavily outdated.)

Issues:
 • Most likely outdated since 1.4(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions). Remember not to delete pre-1.4 content; use {{eicons}} and {{eversions}}!Things to do:
 • Check comments in source editing.
 • Merge some sections. The specific methods of farming might be better on subsections than having their own sections (bosses, biome-specific farms...)

A dropped Hallowed Key Mold.

Biome Keys are used to open Biome Chests in the Dungeon, which provide access to some powerful post-Plantera weapons, such as the Vampire Knives and Rainbow Gun. But they drop at the very low rate of 1/2500 (0.04%), and are only dropped when the player is in the key's corresponding biome. Thus, it is advisable to set up an efficient farm to obtain them.

In  Old-gen console and 3DS versions, Biome Key Molds drop in place of Biome Keys, which requires additional material from Plantera and mechanical bosses in order to be crafted into a Biome Key.

Events

This is an example of an arena which can be used to fight Events and farm the Hallowed Key or Mold, because of the Pearlstone Blocks below it.

Events are one of the best ways to farm Biome Keys and their Molds. An extremely large amount of Enemies spawn during events, and many of them will have a chance of dropping a Biome Key or Mold, supposing that you are in the appropriate biome in which one can drop.

Important: When you see a Biome Key or Biome Key Mold has dropped, be sure to pick it up right away. Only a certain number of dropped Items can be present at the same time, meaning the Biome Key or Biome Key Mold will despawn if enough Items are dropped after it.

Some events the player may want to consider using to farm:

• Goblin Army: The enemies that spawn shouldn't be an issue for the player to deal with. However, if you are playing on  Desktop,  Console, and  Mobile, you need to take care of the Shadowflame Apparations that the Goblin Warlock may summon.
• Frost Legion: There are few enemies in this event capable of attacking through walls, but be wary that Snow Ballas may nullify an arena if they aren't dealt with.
• Pirate Invasion: it's easy to obtain the Pirate Map, and most pirates are limited to attacks that can't penetrate blocks.
• Solar Eclipse, Blood Moon: Not only do many enemies spawn during these events, but they last for the entire day/night if they either begin naturally or if the player uses a Solar Tablet or Bloody Tear as early in the day/night as possible. These are also more reliable than other events as potential hundreds of enemies can be killed in one event, increasing the chances of dropping a Biome Key.
• Note: The Old One's Army event doesn't yield Biome Keys or Biome Key Molds.

Bosses

Some Bosses can be used for farming:

• King Slime: It can spawn regular Blue Slimes, which can drop any biome-specific drop (minus Biome Souls), which includes Keys.
• Eater of Worlds: Its segments can drop any biome-specific drops, which includes Keys.

AFK Farm

The time it may take for Keys to drop makes AFK farms an option some players may consider. There are a few items that can kill monsters without player interaction: minions, Accessories, Armor sets, Lava, and Traps. Without player supervision, however, the character should be walled up as protection. The "waiting room" should be off-screen above the ground to avoid enemies that can pass through blocks, and protected by traps to prevent flying enemies from piling up, and decreasing the spawn rate. The event should also not feature flying enemies that can pass/attack through walls, such as Elf Copters.

Keep in mind that even while AFK farming, the player is still required to gather loot to prevent items from despawning.

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  A player using Ravens to farm.

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  A character sitting inside a "waiting room" while traps are killing monsters.

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  A character using an ocean Key farm with a lava trap.

Arena tips

A piece of land transformed into the Hallow for mold farming. The surrounding shaft prevents the Hallow from spreading to the adjacent land.

If you want to artificially build a biome to farm Key Molds in, there are two ways to do so:

• Gradually stacking one or more block types of the relevant biome until the amount of blocks calls it forth. The compactness of the stacked blocks allows a relatively small area to create a biome. For further info, see Guide:Artificial biomes.
• In versions (Old-gen console and 3DS versions): By using 200 blocks of Red Ice or Purple Ice and 80 blocks of Lihzahrd Brick it will be possible to have 3 biomes overlap and all 3 of the 4 biome keys to drop. Hallow is unfortunately exclusive with Crimson/Corruption. You can use a Clentaminator to convert ALL the red/purple ice to Pink Ice to get the hallow key/mold.
• In versions 1.4.0.1 and on (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions): The amount of necessary blocks is now much higher. You will need at least 1500 ice blocks, of which 300 blocks are Red Ice or Purple Ice and 140 blocks of Lihzahrd Brick then it will be possible to have 3 biomes overlap and all 3 of the 5 biome keys to drop. Hallow is still mutually exclusive with Crimson/Corruption. You can use a Clentaminator to convert ALL the red/purple ice to Pink Ice to get the hallow key/mold.
• The Clentaminator and Terraformer are excellent tools for changing biomes. It's also possible to use Grass Seeds if the player doesn't mind waiting.
• Unless you don't mind the Corruption, Crimson, or Hallow spreading, you may want to "quarantine" the area by digging six-block wide shafts and tunnels to separate the Key farms from the adjacent land.
• A Water Candle will increase the number of enemies. This can also be combined with the Battle Potion.
  • If you're on a Journey Mode world, you can also manually increase the enemy spawn rate up to ten times using the Personal Power Menu.
• Additional info on creating biomes/arenas can be found on:
  • Guide:Base defense and precautions
  • Guide:Maintaining world purity
• The dungeon has a high spawn rate, so setting up a farm there can help speed up the farming process.
• Actuators can help with getting in and out of your waiting room while blocking enemies from attacking you.

Key-specific farms

Corruption Key / Mold

• The Eater of Worlds's body segments all count towards the drop rate of 1/2500. Since the Eater of Worlds consists of 50 segments there is a higher drop rate for a key mold from the Eater of Worlds. With Hardmode equipment, spam summoning the Eater of Worlds is quick and reliable.
• While farming, remember to return to the Dryad if a Blood Moon occurs, as she will sell Vile Powder, which is one of two ingredients in making Worm Food. The other being Rotten Chunks. This prevents the player from having to farm Vile Mushrooms, but they function as an alternative if waiting isn't an option.
• Another lesser method is to kill worm-type creatures like the World Feeder with explosives. This will kill multiple segments at once, each dropping their own loot.

Crimson Key / Mold

• First defeat Plantera to have the Witch Doctor sell Tiki armor. Purchase it and wait with a couple summons in the Crimson. Make sure to have either a Battle Potion or a Water Candle to increase the spawn rate. This may take an hour or so.

Hallowed Key / Mold

• It might not be the fastest strategy, but standing on a hill in The Hallow and using the Spectre Staff to kill any enemies that come into your field of view is somewhat effective.
• A more AFK equivalent is to stand on the hill and use a Pygmy Staff along with some sentries to automatically kill the enemies. Turtle Armor can help do damage even if they get to the player, and Campfires and Heart Lanterns help boost regeneration.