Biome Keys

Biome Keys

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Statistics

Type	KeyCrafting material
Rarity	08*
Research	1 required

Sounds

Use

• Internal Item ID: 1533–1537, 4714

Biome Keys are Hardmode items used to open the Biome Chests in the Dungeon. Opening a Chest consumes the key. Though unusable until Plantera is defeated, they can be dropped at any time during Hardmode. Each key has a 1/2500 (0.04%) chance of dropping from an enemy in the key's respective biome.

Any enemy in the biome that drops coins when killed has a chance of dropping a key, not just biome-exclusive enemies. Additionally, enemies in hybrid biomes have a chance to drop any key from their composite biomes. The type of key is determined by which biome the player currently is in, not the enemy killed.

Any Biome Key dropped prior to defeating Plantera will display the tooltip "It has been cursed by a powerful Jungle creature" and will be unable to open its respective chest until Plantera is defeated, although they are usable in other worlds that have Plantera defeated already.

Types

Item		Tooltip	Chest type	Chest content
	Jungle KeyInternal Item ID: 1533	Unlocks a Jungle Chest in the dungeon	Jungle Chest	Piranha Gun
	Corruption KeyInternal Item ID: 1534	Unlocks a Corruption Chest in the dungeon	Corruption Chest	Scourge of the Corruptor
	Crimson KeyInternal Item ID: 1535	Unlocks a Crimson Chest in the dungeon	Crimson Chest	Vampire Knives
	Hallowed KeyInternal Item ID: 1536	Unlocks a Hallowed Chest in the dungeon	Hallowed Chest	Rainbow Gun
	Frozen KeyInternal Item ID: 1537	Unlocks an Ice Chest in the dungeon	Ice Chest (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) Frozen Chest (Old-gen console and 3DS versions)	Staff of the Frost Hydra
	Desert Key(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)Internal Item ID: 4714	Unlocks a Desert Chest in the dungeon	Desert Chest(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	Desert Tiger Staff(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Crafting

Used in

Result	Ingredients	Crafting station
Corruption Chest	Corruption Key	Shimmer Transmutation(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
Crimson Chest	Crimson Key
Desert Chest(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)	Desert Key(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
Hallowed Chest	Hallowed Key
Ice Chest	Frozen Key
Jungle Chest	Jungle Key

Notes

• Since they do not drop coins, Biome Keys cannot be dropped by Meteor Heads during Hardmode, enemies spawned by a statue, critters, Old One's Army enemies, most boss minions, or any enemy spawned by a Celestial Pillar(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) in the Lunar Events(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).

Achievements

Big Booty • “Unlock one of the dungeon's large, mysterious chests with a special key.”

Open your first Biome Chest. (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Category: Explorer

Tips

For elaborate tips on obtaining Biome Keys and Key Molds, see Guide:Farming Biome Keys or Key Molds.

• Causing a large number of enemies to spawn in the respective biome is an efficient way to farm for the Keys/Key Molds. Events and certain boss fights are especially suitable for this.
• Placing the player's spawn point/base in one of the biomes can increase their chances of obtaining a key due to the large number of enemy deaths that occur near player bases. This works particularly well for the Snow biome, which is much less dangerous than the others.

Trivia

• Although there is no Crimson Chest in a world with Corruption, it is possible to obtain Crimson Keys from an artificial Crimson biome, and vice versa.
• It is possible to obtain multiple different Biome Keys from the same enemy if it is killed in a hybrid biome, although the chance of this happening is very low.

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.4.4: Biome Keys are now used to craft Biome Chests via shimmer.

• Desktop 1.4.0.3: Corruption, Jungle, and Hallowed Key sprites updated. Old sprites:

• Desktop 1.4.0.1:
  • Added the Desert Key.
  • Changed the Frozen Key's tooltip from "Unlocks a Frozen Chest in the dungeon" to "Unlocks an Ice Chest in the dungeon".

• Desktop 1.3.0.1:
  • No longer craftable.
  • Now drop from enemies again.
  • No longer drops from Meteor Heads.
  • The player can no longer open Biome Chests until Plantera's defeat.

• Desktop 1.2.1: No longer drops from enemies, and are instead crafted from Biome Key Molds.

• Desktop 1.2: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.0.933.1: Made changes from PS4's 1.0.750.0 update. ()

• Console 1.0.750.0: ()
  • No longer craftable.
  • Now drops from enemies again.
  • No longer drops from Meteor Heads.
  • The player can no longer open Biome Chests until Plantera's defeat.

• Console 1.02: Introduced, crafted from Biome Key Molds.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.3.0.7:
  • Ice Chests no longer generate in Heart Shrines, as the structure has been removed.
  • No longer craftable.
  • Now drop from enemies again.
  • No longer drop from Meteor Heads.
  • The player can no longer open Biome Chests until Plantera's defeat.

• Mobile 1.2.11212: Ice Chests now generate in Heart Shrines (containing different loot).

• Mobile 1.2.6508: Introduced, crafted from Biome Key Molds.

Nintendo 3DS version

• 3DS-Release: Introduced.