Guide:Lunatic Cultist strategies

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 "Fanatical leader of the dungeon coven." 

The Lunatic Cultist is a post-Golem boss. Defeating him will summon the Celestial Towers. While his small health bar means he'll be taken out quite quickly, his attacks can be damaging and hard to dodge.

Lunatic CultistHardmode exclusive

Map Icon

 Classic

 Expert

 Master

Statistics

Type	Boss
Environment	Dungeon entrance
AI Type	Lunatic Cultist AI
Damage	50/75/112 (contact) 3672108 (Shadow Fireball) 70100150 (Ice Mist) 6080120 (Fireball) 90120180 (Lightning Orb) 120180270 (Ancient Light) 45 (Ancient Doom) 67 (Ancient Doom) 180 (Prophecy's End)402 (Prophecy's End)
Max Life	320004800061000
Defense	42 / 27 (≤50% health)
KB Resist	100%
Immune to	All debuffs except Whip debuffs

Inflicts

Inflicts

Inflicts

Debuff	On Fire!
Debuff tooltip	Slowly losing life
Chance	100% (Fireball)
Duration	0.5–2.5 1–5 1.25–6.25

Drops

Coins	10 GC25 GC

• Item (Quantity)Rate
• Ancient Manipulator(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
  100%
• Greater Healing Potion (5–15)
  100%
• Lunatic Cultist Mask(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
  14.29%
• Lunatic Cultist Trophy(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
  10%
• Tablet Fragment(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
  25%
• Lunatic Cultist Relic(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
  100%

created

created

created

• Shadow Fireball
  
• Ice Mist
  
• Fireball
  
• Lightning Orb
  
• Lightning Orb Arc
  
• Lightning Ritual
  

Sounds

Hurt
Killed
Summoned
Laugh
Fireball
Ice Mist
Lightning Orb
Lightning Ritual
Summon Phantasm Dragon

• Internal NPC ID: 439
• Internal Buff ID: 24
• Internal Projectile ID: 468, 464, 467, 465, 466, 490

Lunatic CultistAncient CultistHardmode exclusive

Map Icon

 Classic

 Expert

 Master

Statistics

Type	Enemy
Environment	Dungeon entrance
AI Type	Lunatic Cultist AI
Damage	0 (contact) 3672108 (Shadow Fireball)
Max Life	10000 (Invulnerable)
Defense	35 / 22 (≤50% health)
KB Resist	100%
Immune to	All debuffs

created

created

created

• Shadow Fireball
  

Sounds

Hurt
Killed
Shadow Fireball

• Internal NPC ID: 440
• Internal Projectile ID: 468

Summoning

He spawns after the 4 other Cultists are slain. The Lunatic Cultist will be invincible when he first spawns. After he moves away from his spawn point, you can begin to deal damage to him.

Attack Pattern

After moving away from his spawn point, the Lunatic Cultist will begin to cycle through three attacks:

• A rotating ball of ice that fires six shards at equal intervals before disappearing
• Three homing fireballs that explode on impact
• A stationary orb similar to the Magnet Sphere that summons streaks of lightning in a straight line.

Once the Lunatic Cultist is damaged enough, he adds a fourth attack, which summons in two spreads of five destroyable Ancient Light projectiles. In Expert Mode, the Cultist may also spawn Ancient Dooms that fire purple projectiles in a cross shape.

After performing 4 to 5 of his attacks, the Cultist will spawn in duplicates of himself that remain stationary. If one of these duplicates is damaged (or after a certain amount of time without damaging any one of them), a Phantasm Dragon will spawn, or an Ancient Vision if a Phantasm Dragon is already present. Two duplicates will also start attacking besides him, occasionally shooting a projectile. If the real Lunatic Cultist is damaged, neither of these two powerful minions will spawn in. The amount of duplicates the Lunatic Cultist spawns in increases, the more clones you hit. It is recommended to fight the Cultist at night, as the fake cultists will glow.

General Strategies

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.

Terrain Preparation

A basic arena with some rows of platforms will suffice. If the player made an arena for Skeletron, they can reuse it here.

Gearing up

While the Cultist himself doesn't require as much preparation as Plantera or Duke Fishron, killing him will start the Celestial Event, so it is better to fight with the best gear available.

Armor

• For Melee characters, the Beetle armor is the best available. The Beetle Scale Mail is better for offensive bonuses, while the Beetle Shell is better for those that can't avoid taking hits frequently. The best mixed set consists of Hallowed Mask, Valhalla Knight's Breastplate(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) for valuable life regeneration / Shinobi Infiltrator's Torso(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) for a significant melee speed boost / Monk's Shirt(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) for the highest raw damage, and Valhalla Knight's Greaves(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
• For Ranged characters, the Shroomite armor is the strongest available. Due to shroomite armor's set bonus being hard to utilize in singleplayer, you can use Adamantite Mask or Hallowed Helmet which boost all weapon types and provide the highest damage for rocket type weapons; Red Riding Dress(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is optimal when using minions; and Red Riding Leggings(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) provide higher stats than shroomite leggings, especially when using minions.
• The Spectre armor is the strongest for a Mage. The Spectre Hood should be used only when at low health to maximize damage output. The mixed set consisting of Spectre Mask(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions), Dark Artist's Robes(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) and Dark Artist's Leggings(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) provides higher damage than the full spectre set (especially when using minions), at the cost of not being able to easily switch to the Spectre Hood to quickly heal up.
• The Spooky armor provides the highest damage for summoners, Tiki armor provides a bit more defense and a significant whip range bonus, which is especially important when using low range whips like Firecracker(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions). Valhalla Knight armor(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is a sentry focused set which grants excellent survivability.

Weapons

For Melee users:

• Flairon is a very strong choice with its homing, high damaging projectiles.
• The Terra Blade, Flying Dragon(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) and the Influx Waver(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) are the strongest projectile swords available, with the Influx Waver being particularly powerful against single targets.
• The Starlight(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is even higher in DPS, and the nature of his attack patterns means that dodging can be easier if you are closer, making this an excellent option for facetanking.
• The Eye of Cthulhu(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) deals high damage and will help with taking out the Lunatic Cultist and the Phantasm Dragon he summons. In addition, it is incredibly useful for hitting only the real cultist during the ritual, since it follows the cursor very accurately.
• Vampire Knives should be used due to their healing effect. But due to the low damage output, a different weapon should be used when not at low health.
• The Paladin's Hammer has high damage and quick attacks, while the Possessed Hatchet trades some power for a homing effect.

For Ranged users:

• The Xenopopper(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) with Crystal Bullets is the strongest gun available. The Chain Gun is weaker but still a good choice. However, when used with Chlorophyte Bullets, it can prove very useful.
• The Snowman Cannon is very useful with its homing high damaging projectiles. It is also very useful for quickly taking out the Phantasm Dragon, as its explosive projectiles hit many segments at once.
• The Tsunami with Holy Arrows is the strongest bow available.
• Using the Piranha Gun will help as it deals continuous damage to the Cultist and prevents him from summoning minions.
• The Electrosphere Launcher(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is very useful as the Cultist's movement pattern has him stay in one place for an amount of time which allows for many hits from this weapon.

For Magic users:

• The Razorblade Typhoon and Nightglow(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) are very strong weapons with a reliable homing effect.
• The Razorpine, Blizzard Staff and Laser Machinegun(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) have stronger single target damage.
• Magnet Sphere will do a lot of damage, and can be used in combination with other weapons.
• The Nimbus Rod, and the Rainbow Gun should be used with caution, as their stationary attacks could accidentally damage a duplicate of the Cultist, causing the Phantasm Dragon and/or an Ancient Vision to spawn in.

For Summoners:

• The Terraprisma(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is the strongest minion available, though you will have to face the monumental task of beating Empress of Light during the day. The Xeno Staff(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is the strongest minion if you couldn't be bothered to fight enraged Empress of Light. Deadly Sphere Staff(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) and the Tempest Staff are weaker, but still decent.
• The Ballista Staff(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is the strongest sentry available. The Staff of the Frost Hydra is a weaker alternative.

Accessories

• Wings are important for every boss fight. The best ones available are the Fishron Wings. Betsy's Wings(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) provide horizontal speed but less vertical power.
  • The Frog Leg makes all wings significantly faster, making dodging his attacks easier
  • Expert mode players who have obtained the Soaring Insignia(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) may opt for the Empress Wings(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), as it has slightly better vertical mobility, with no loss to maximum height.
• The Cosmic Car Key(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) or other infinite-flight Mounts can be useful, freeing an accessory slot that would otherwise be used for mobility, but are slower and clumsier than wings.
• The Master Ninja Gear greatly helps in dodging the attacks and is recommended for all classes.
• The Yoyo Bag(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is extremely useful for melee characters with Yoyos as it can double their damage output.
• The Destroyer Emblem and/or the Celestial Shell(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) are always good to have.
• Other damage increasing accessories include every other Emblem, the Celestial Stone, the Sniper Scope and the Mechanical Glove.
• For magic users, the Celestial Cuffs(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions) can help regenerate mana.
• The Cross Necklace or Star Veil can help when battling the Phantasm Dragon.
• The Charm of Myths reduces the Potion Sickness cooldown as well as providing some extra health regeneration. For the Philosopher's Stone's effect to apply, it only needs to be equipped the instant a Healing Potion is drank.

At this point in the game, it is almost required to have all accessories on Lucky, Menacing or Warding.

Potions

• Regeneration Potion, Endurance Potion, Lifeforce Potion, and Ironskin Potion will greatly increase survivability.
• Any food item that provides the Well Fed buff, such as coffee or chicken nuggets are good.
• Mana Regeneration Potion is a must for mages.
• Swiftness Potion will increase mobility.
• Hunter Potion will show the real cultist when cloning itself.
• Rage Potion and Wrath Potion will improve DPS.
  • Magic Power Potion, Archery Potion, Ale or Sake(Desktop, Console, Old-gen console and Mobile versions) and Summoning Potion will further improve it for Mages, Rangers, Melee, and Summoner users respectively.