Lightning Aura sentry summons
| Type | |
|---|---|
| Damage | (Varies each tier) (Summon) |
| Knockback | 0.25 (Extremely weak) |
| Use time | 30 (Average) |
| Velocity | 1 |
| Tooltip | Summons a sentry An aura that repeatedly zaps enemies that go inside Aura damage penetrates enemy defense Hits quickly at the expense of 50% tag damage Costs 10 Etherian Mana per use while defending an Eternia Crystal |
| Research | 1 required |
The Lightning Aura Rod, Cane, and Staff are special sentry summon weapons that summon their respective sentries. Each Lightning Aura sentry consists of an aura with a radius of 9 tiles, which damages enemies repeatedly while within. For enemies with defense below 999, Lightning Aura sentries have armor penetration equal to their defense, completely bypassing it.[1] Lightning Aura sentries only receive 50% of tag damage bonuses from whips. The higher the tier, the more damage the Lightning Auras deal.
The Rod is sold by the Tavernkeep for 50000*5
. The Cane is sold for 150000*15
after defeating one mechanical boss. The Staff is sold for 600000*60
after defeating Golem.
During the Old One's Army event, Etherian Mana can be collected, which allows the placement of multiple Lightning Auras that remain permanently until the event is over. Etherian Mana cannot be used outside the event. These weapons cannot be used outside of the Old One's Army event until the event has been successfully completed.
Lightning Aura sentries are boosted by the Monk armor and Shinobi Infiltrator armor set bonuses, which increase their attack rate and allow them to deal critical hits. These weapons will have a fixed 1/6 (16.67%) (Monk armor) or 1/4 (25%) (Shinobi Infiltrator armor) chance to deal critical strike. This critical strike is determined separately from the summon tag critical chance (from Morning Star or Kaleidoscope), meaning that these two critical strike chances are two independent events instead of additive values.[2] The Shinobi Infiltrator armor also increases the size of the Lightning Aura's circle.
For the Rod and Cane, their best modifiers are Mythical, Furious, or Godly. For the Staff, its best modifier is Ruthless. The Mythical modifier provides the widest array of stat bonuses, but these primarily affect the initial summon rather than the resulting minion. Additionally, minions cannot deal critical hits. The only lasting advantage a Mythical Lightning Aura sentry summons has over a Ruthless one is knockback.
Tiers
| Type | |
|---|---|
| Damage | 4 (Summon) |
| Knockback | 0.25 (Extremely weak) |
| Mana | 5 |
| Use time | 30 (Average) |
| Velocity | 1 |
| Tooltip | Summons a sentry An aura that repeatedly zaps enemies that go inside Aura damage penetrates enemy defense Hits quickly at the expense of 50% tag damage Costs 10 Etherian Mana per use while defending an Eternia Crystal |
| Rarity | |
| Buy | |
| Sell | 1 GC |
| Research | 1 required |
- Lightning Aura (tier 1)

| Use | |
|---|---|
| Aura zap |
- Internal Item ID: 3829 (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Internal Projectile ID: 688
| Type | |
|---|---|
| Damage | 11 (Summon) |
| Knockback | 0.25 (Extremely weak) |
| Mana | 10 |
| Use time | 30 (Average) |
| Velocity | 1 |
| Tooltip | Summons a sentry An aura that repeatedly zaps enemies that go inside Aura damage penetrates enemy defense Hits quickly at the expense of 50% tag damage Costs 10 Etherian Mana per use while defending an Eternia Crystal |
| Rarity | |
| Buy | |
| Sell | 5 GC |
| Research | 1 required |
- Lightning Aura (tier 2)

| Use | |
|---|---|
| Aura zap |
- Internal Item ID: 3830 (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Internal Projectile ID: 689
| Type | |
|---|---|
| Damage | 34 (Summon) |
| Knockback | 0.25 (Extremely weak) |
| Mana | 15 |
| Use time | 30 (Average) |
| Velocity | 1 |
| Tooltip | Summons a sentry An aura that repeatedly zaps enemies that go inside Aura damage penetrates enemy defense Hits quickly at the expense of 50% tag damage Costs 10 Etherian Mana per use while defending an Eternia Crystal |
| Rarity | |
| Buy | |
| Sell | 15 GC |
| Research | 1 required |
- Lightning Aura (tier 3)

| Use | |
|---|---|
| Aura zap |
- Internal Item ID: 3831 (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)
- Internal Projectile ID: 690
Crafting
Recipes
| Result | Ingredients | Crafting station |
|---|---|---|
| ||
| ||
|
Used in
| Result | Ingredients | Crafting station |
|---|---|---|
| ||
| ||
|
Notes
- Completing the Old One's Army event on any difficulty sets a hidden attribute for both the world it was completed on and the character who completed it. Any characters, including newly made ones, who visit that world may then use Rods, Canes, and Staves on that world. The character who completed the event may also use Rods, Canes, and Staves on any world.
- While Lightning Auras can be placed next to other Tavernkeep's sentries, it is not possible to place another Tavernkeep's sentry inside the radius of an existing Lightning Aura. Therefore, Lightning Auras should be placed last when clustering various sentries together.
- The Lightning Aura's maximum radius is 9 tiles, with the top "orb" being in the 10th tile up from the base. If summoned in a space shorter than 10 tiles (blocked by either blocks or platforms), the Lightning Aura shrinks, down to a minimum radius of three tiles, with the orb inhabiting the fourth tile above.[3]
- If the player is wearing the Shinobi Infiltrator armor, the radii are increased by 4 tiles, to a maximum of 13 and a minimum of 7.[3]
- The Lightning Aura requires a line of sight from the orb to any enemy inside its radius in order to damage them. Summoning a Lightning Aura in a space shorter than 10 tiles places the orb inside a block, rendering most of its attack range moot; though it will still damage enemies directly beneath it. While platforms will decrease the range of a Lightning Aura, they will not block line of sight, allowing the aura to function normally.
- The Lightning Aura has a cooldown of 0.5 seconds after attacking. If the player is wearing the Monk armor or Shinobi Infiltrator armor, this cooldown is reduced to 0.42 seconds.[3]
- Since some hostile projectiles are technically enemies with 1 health (e.g. the Chaos Ball), the Lightning Aura can destroy them if they happens to fly into its radius.
Tips
- The Lightning Aura's area of effect and frequent attacks are effective against segmented enemies like worm enemies.
- A Lightning Aura sentry placed close to one of the Mysterious Portals in the Old One's Army event will kill or severely weaken most of the tier 1 enemies.
Trivia
- The Lightning Aura Rod has the lowest base damage of all summon weapons. Prior to its introduction, the Slime Staff had the lowest base damage.
- Lightning Auras can be displaced. This behavior can lead to some interesting movement of the sentry when placed in narrow sloped tunnels, like those of the Underground Desert, and it can end up some distance away from its intended placement, inside walls, or even completely off-screen.
Gallery
See also
- Lightning Aura at the Dungeon Defenders 2 Wiki
- Flameburst sentry summons
- Explosive Trap sentry summons
- Ballista sentry summons
History
- Desktop 1.4.4:
- Reduced Cane and Staff costs from 25 to 15 and 100 to 60 Defender Medals, respectively.
- Only gains 50% of the damage from whip tags, due to its high hit rate and armor piercing capabilities.
- Now has a token knockback value, allowing access to better modifiers.
- Staves now have a more informative tooltip explaining how their damage works (it basically ignores defense).
- Lightning Aura sentry summons are now used to craft Flameburst sentry summons of their respective tier via shimmer.
- Desktop 1.3.4.4:
- Fixed emitting sounds for enemies it cannot reach underneath it.
- Fixed turrets falling through platforms after spawning on them.
- Desktop 1.3.4: Introduced.
- Console 1.17: Introduced.
- Switch 1.0.1096.2: Introduced.
- Mobile 1.4.0.5.0: Introduced.
References
- ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, method Damage()inTerraria.Projectile.cs. - ↑ Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.4.9 source code, method Damage()inTerraria.Projectile.cs. - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Information taken from the
Desktop 1.4.3.6 source code, method AI_137_LightningAura()inTerraria.Projectile.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current
Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.




