Lunatic Cultist

  

Desktop/Console/Mobile-Only Content: This information applies only to the Desktop, Console, and Mobile versions of Terraria.

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 debuff

Inflicts debuff

Inflicts debuff

Debuff	On Fire!
Debuff tooltip	Slowly losing life
Chance	100% (Fireball)
Duration	0.5–2.5 seconds1–5 seconds1.25–6.25 seconds

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%

Projectiles created

Projectiles created

Projectiles created

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

Sounds

Hurt
Killed
Spawn
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

Projectile created

Projectile created

Projectile created

• Shadow Fireball
  

Sounds

Hurt
Killed
Shadow Fireball

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

 “Fanatical leader of the dungeon coven.” 

Not to be confused with Cultists.

The Lunatic Cultist is a Hardmode, post-Golem boss summoned by killing the Cultists that spawn at the Dungeon's entrance after Golem is defeated. Defeating the Lunatic Cultist initiates the Lunar Events, and also causes the Clothier to begin selling the Solar and Lunar Cultist sets depending on the time of day.

After all four Celestial Pillars have been destroyed, the Moon Lord will spawn and the Cultists will respawn at the Dungeon entrance, allowing the player to refight the Lunatic Cultist and initiate the Lunar Events again. Unlike most bosses, the Lunatic Cultist does not drop any weapons, accessories, or materials. However, it does drop the Ancient Manipulator, a placeable crafting station used to craft many endgame items.

While the Lunatic Cultist is alive, the music Golem will play. When Otherworldly music (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions) is enabled, the track Boss 2 (Otherworldly) will play instead.

Behavior

The Lunatic Cultist makes its first brief appearance at the Mysterious Tablet after all four Cultists are killed. The Lunatic Cultist is immune to damage during its summoning animation, in which it begins to draw energy from the Mysterious Tablet as glowing particles start flowing from the tablet towards it. After this, the Mysterious Tablet breaks into pieces while the Lunatic Cultist rises into the air while its mask tilts up and shakes, appearing to laugh at the player. The Lunatic Cultist then warps to a position above where the player was after it was summoned and cycles between the following projectile attacks. Between each projectile attack, the Lunatic Cultist teleports to a position above the player's current location.

• A burst of three / four homing, high-velocity fireballs that explode upon contact with the player or solid blocks, inflicting the On Fire! debuff for 0.5–2.5 / 1–5 / 1.25–6.25 seconds.
• A crystallized ball of ice mist aimed towards the player, which passes through blocks while spinning forward and firing six ice shards in a hexagonal formation over four half-second intervals before dissipating.
• A lightning orb that appears above it and fires five bolts of lightning at the player's current location.

When the Lunatic Cultist is below 50% of its maximum health (16,000 / 24,000 / 30,600), its defense drops to 27 and it occasionally replaces an attack with two volleys of five destructible Ancient Lights that travel through blocks. Ancient Lights are spawned with 400 / 800 / 1,200 health and linger in midair before exploding upon contact with the player or after an extended period of time, making them susceptible to being targeted by homing projectiles and minions.

In Expert Mode, when the Lunatic Cultist is below 50% of its maximum health, it may also replace an attack by summoning one to three sets of three destructible Ancient Dooms that, if not destroyed directly by the player, disperse into four purple Prophecy's End projectiles in the cardinal directions after 7 seconds, dealing massive amounts of damage (especially in Master Mode). The Lunatic Cultist visibly laughs at the player while executing the attack, and may also teleport once in between summoning sets of Ancient Dooms.

The Lunatic Cultist cycles through five attacks (or six when below 50% of its maximum health) before proceeding to start a ritual. During this ritual, homing projectiles and minions are rendered incapable of targeting the Lunatic Cultist. At the start of ritual, the Lunatic Cultist will spawn two semi-transparent / almost opaque decoys of itself, called Ancient Cultists, while surrounding a large, glowing circular rune called the Lightning Ritual. The positions of the Lunatic Cultist and its decoys randomize each time the ritual is performed, and hitting a decoy will immediately kill it. If a decoy is killed, or the Lunatic Cultist and its decoys are unharmed for a total of 5 seconds, the ritual is considered as complete, and a Phantasm Dragon will be summoned at the center of the rune. If a Phantasm Dragon is already present, an Ancient Vision is summoned instead. Decoys that were not killed during the ritual become invincible and fly in formation alongside the Lunatic Cultist and cast one homing Shadow Fireball each while it performs its usual projectile attack patterns. Up to a maximum of six decoys can be summoned by the Lunatic Cultist at one time, and hitting the real Lunatic Cultist during the ritual causes all / three of its summoned decoys to immediately disappear. If the ritual is completed by leaving the Lunatic Cultist unharmed, hitting the real Lunatic Cultist before it teleports to perform projectile attacks will still cause decoys to disappear; the Phantasm Dragon or Ancient Vision will still be summoned in this case, however.

Homing projectile resistance

The Lunatic Cultist will only take 75% of the damage from homing projectiles. The following are lists of homing projectiles that deal reduced damage to the Lunatic Cultist:

Projectile
ID	Image	Name	Source
16		Magic Missile	Magic Missile
34		Flamelash	Flamelash
79		Rainbow	Rainbow Rod
181		Bee	Bee Gun, Bee Keeper
182		Possessed Hatchet	Possessed Hatchet
189		Wasp	Wasp Gun
190		Mechanical Piranha	Piranha Gun
195		Pygmy Spear	Pygmy Staff
207		Chlorophyte Bullet	Chlorophyte Bullet
221		Flower Petal	Orichalcum armor set bonus
225		Chlorophyte Arrow	Chlorophyte Arrow
227		Crystal Leaf Shot	Chlorophyte armor set bonus
248		Flower Pow Petal	Flower Pow
255		Magnet Sphere Bolt	Magnet Sphere
266		Baby Slime	Slime Staff
285		Nano Bullet	Nano Bullet
297		Lost Soul (friendly)	Spectre Staff
307		Tiny Eater	Scourge of the Corruptor
309		Frost Blast (friendly)	Frost Hydra
316		Bat	Bat Scepter
317		Raven	Raven Staff
321		Flaming Jack	The Horseman's Blade
338		Snowman Rocket I	Snowman Cannon using Rocket Is
339		Snowman Rocket II	Snowman Cannon using Rocket IIs
340		Snowman Rocket III	Snowman Cannon using Rocket IIIs
341		Snowman Rocket IV	Snowman Cannon using Rocket IVs
356		Spectre Wrath	Spectre armor set bonus (with Spectre Mask)
374		Hornet Stinger	Hornet (minion)
376		Imp Fireball	Flying Imp (minion)
378		Spider Egg	Spider Turret
379		Baby Spider	Spider Turret
388		Spazmamini	Optic Staff
389		Mini Retina Laser	Retanimini
390		Venom Spider	Spider Staff
391		Jumper Spider	Spider Staff
392		Dangerous Spider	Spider Staff
393		One Eyed Pirate	Pirate Staff
394		Soulscourge Pirate	Pirate Staff
395		Pirate Captain	Pirate Staff
405		Flairon Bubble	Flairon
407		Tempest	Tempest Staff
408		Mini Sharkron	Tempest
409		Typhoon	Razorblade Typhoon
433		UFO Ray	UFO (minion)
477		Crystal Dart	Crystal Dart
484		Seedler Thorn	Seedler
535		Medusa Ray	Medusa Head
536		Medusa Head Ray	Medusa Head
566		Giant Bee	Hive Pack
567		Spore Trap	Spore Sac
568		Spore Trap 2	Spore Sac
569		Spore Gas	Spore Sac
570		Spore Gas 2	Spore Sac
571		Spore Gas 3	Spore Sac
606		Scutlix Laser	Scutlix Mount
613		Stardust Cell	Stardust Cell Staff
614		Stardust Cell Shot	Stardust Cell
616		Vortex Rocket	Vortex Beater
617		Nebula Arcanum	Nebula Arcanum
618		Nebula Arcanum Subshot	Nebula Arcanum
619		Nebula Arcanum Explosion Shot	Nebula Arcanum
620		Nebula Arcanum Explosion Shot Shard	Nebula Arcanum
625		Stardust Dragon 1	Stardust Dragon Staff
626		Stardust Dragon 2	Stardust Dragon Staff
627		Stardust Dragon 3	Stardust Dragon Staff
628		Stardust Dragon 4	Stardust Dragon Staff
634		Nebula Blaze	Nebula Blaze
635		Nebula Blaze Ex	Nebula Blaze
640		Luminite Arrow Trail	Luminite Arrows
642		Lunar Portal Laser	Lunar Portal
644		Rainbow Explosion	Rainbow Crystal
659		Spirit Flame	Spirit Flame
664		Flameburst Tower Shot (tier 1)	Flameburst Rod
666		Flameburst Tower Shot (tier 2)	Flameburst Cane
668		Flameburst Tower Shot (tier 3)	Flameburst Staff
680		Ballista Shot	Ballista Rod, Ballista Cane, Ballista Staff
700		Ghast	Ghastly Glaive
755		Sanguine Bat	Sanguine Staff
758		Vampire Frog	Vampire Frog Staff
759		Finch	Finch Staff
803		Cluster Rocket I	Snowman Cannon using Cluster Rocket I's
804		Cluster Rocket II	Snowman Cannon using Cluster Rocket II's
805		Wet Rocket	Snowman Cannon using Wet Rockets
806		Lava Rocket	Snowman Cannon using Lava Rockets
807		Honey Rocket	Snowman Cannon using Honey Rockets
808		Mini Nuke Rocket I	Snowman Cannon using Mini Nuke I's
809		Mini Nuke Rocket II	Snowman Cannon using Mini Nuke II's
810		Dry Rocket	Snowman Cannon using Dry Rockets
832		Desert Tiger	Desert Tiger
833		Desert Tiger (tier 1)	Desert Tiger Staff used 1-3 times
834		Desert Tiger (tier 2)	Desert Tiger Staff used 4-6 times
835		Desert Tiger (tier 3)	Desert Tiger Staff used 7+ times
837		Skull	Book of Skulls
856		Stellar Tune	Stellar Tune
864		Enchanted Dagger	Blade Staff
916		Reaping	Dark Harvest
917		Cool Flake	Cool Whip
930		Santank Rocket	Santank Mount
931		Nightglow	Nightglow
937		Volatile Gelatin	Volatile Gelatin
946		Terraprisma	Terraprisma
951		Flinx	Flinx Staff
963		Abigail	Abigail's Flower
967		Houndius Shootius Fireball	Houndius Shootius

Notes

• Defeating the Lunatic Cultist will also fully unlock the Bestiary entries for the Phantasm Dragon and Ancient Vision, even if they were not encountered during the fight.
• The Lunatic Cultist targets every player, so if one is too far away from it (e.g. by using a Magic Mirror or Recall Potion), it will despawn.
  • If a player teleports away before the Lunatic Cultist's spawning animation finishes, the tablet will finish its animation while the Lunatic Cultist despawns.
• If the player loses against the Lunatic Cultist or it despawns, it cannot be fought again immediately. Instead, the player has to wait for the Lunatic Devotees and Cultist Archers to respawn at the Dungeon, which takes 12 minutes (12 in-game hours) from the destruction of the Mysterious Tablet.
• The Cultists will never spawn if Skeletron has not yet been defeated in the current world, since the Old Man takes spawning priority over the Cultists.
• Most homing projectiles and minions will not target the real Lunatic Cultist during its ritual, although minions that deal contact damage may accidentally damage them. Some exceptions include projectiles produced via on-hit effects such as the Flaming Jack projectiles from The Horseman's Blade and the Spectre Mask's damaging orbs, which will still target the real Lunatic Cultist.
• The Lunatic Cultist will always spawn at the Dungeon entrance's original location, regardless of modifications (similar to the four Cultists), meaning that if the four Cultists are teleported or otherwise moved away, and then killed there, the Lunatic Cultist will still spawn, and instantly despawn if the player is far enough away from the Dungeon entrance.
  • Removing the floor and ceiling at the entrance to the Dungeon (where the Old Man spawns) will prevent the Cultists from spawning.

Achievements

Obsessive Devotion • “Defeat the Ancient Cultist, fanatical leader of the dungeon coven.”

Defeat the Lunatic Cultist for the first time. (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Category: Slayer

Slayer of Worlds • “Defeat every boss in Terraria.”

Defeat every boss in the game. (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Category: Challenger

Tips

 

The real Lunatic Cultist (left) and the decoy (right).

For more elaborate strategies on defeating the Lunatic Cultist, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Lunatic Cultist strategies.

• The player should avoid defeating the Lunatic Cultist if they are not yet ready for the Lunar Events. Beating the Lunatic Cultist causes the Lunar Events to begin immediately, and there is no way to de-summon them thereafter (aside from defeating all of the Celestial Pillars).
• The real Lunatic Cultist can be distinguished from its decoys in a number of ways:
  • The real Cultist has pointed, angry eyes, while the decoys' eyes are round and neutral.
  • The real Cultist has a line on its hood while the decoys do not.
  • The real Cultist does not emit light, while the decoys do; however, this may only be apparent if fought at night.
  • When the ritual starts, the real Cultist is the copy that is furthest away from the player.
• Using Autopause grants as much time as needed for identifying the real Cultist.
• Attacking a decoy Cultist is not a bad idea if the player uses the Vampire Knives. The resulting Phantasm Dragon is very long and may be easily targeted to restore some life.
• Many of the Lunatic Cultist's attacks can be blocked by hiding behind solid blocks, including its lightning bolts and fireballs. A weapon that attacks through blocks or a yoyo can be used to deal damage.
• There is little reason to farm the Lunatic Cultist itself, as its only non-vanity drops are Greater Healing Potions and the Ancient Manipulator, the latter only needing to be obtained once. However, defeating it is the only way to access the Lunar Events and Lunar Fragments.
• If the lock on mechanic selects the Lunatic Cultist as the target, the target is dispelled every time it teleports.
• Depending on the world size and generation, one of the Celestial Pillars will often spawn immediately within the vicinity of the player upon defeating the Lunatic Cultist. If this happens when the player is unprepared, and the background changes to indicate a Celestial Pillar has spawned near the player, it is recommended to immediately pick up the Lunatic Cultist's drops and teleport back to a safe base using a Magic Mirror or Recall Potion to prevent from being unexpectedly ambushed by dangerous enemies spawned from the Lunar Events.

Trivia

 

The Lunatic Cultist and Ancient Cultist's laughing animation.

• The Lunatic Cultist is the smallest boss in the game and the only one without an awakening message.
• The Lunatic Cultist's attacks appear to be based on the four Celestial Pillars from the Lunar Events, and/or their class counterparts.
  • The fireball attack mirrors the Solar Pillar's meteor spray and flaming motif.
  • The lightning attack references the Vortex Pillar's thundering background and its Vortexians' lightning strikes.
  • The ice attack, as well as the Ancient Dooms, while not directly visually reminiscent of the Nebula Pillar, parallels the unique projectile mechanics of many magic weapons.
  • The summoning circle corresponds to the summoner class by creating clones and evoking additional enemies, and the Phantasm Dragon bears resemblance to the Stardust Dragon. The Ancient Lights also share a resemblance to the Stardust Pillar's coloration and motifs.
• Crowno's set is visually similar to the appearance of the Lunatic Cultist and was added to the game much earlier, indicating that it possibly served as an inspiration for the Lunatic Cultist. However, the Lunatic Cultist was designed first, according to Crowno.
• The Lunatic Cultist's appearance, especially its mask, resembles a plague doctor costume, which was an outfit worn by plague doctors during European epidemics of the bubonic plague in the 16th and 17th centuries that were intended to protect them from airborne diseases.
• The Lunatic Cultist was once named "Insane Cultist" during development, according to an unimplemented achievement.
• The Lunatic Cultist has an Expert Mode Treasure Bag in Terraria's game files, but it is unobtainable, as it never actually drops it.
  • The reason for this may simply stem from the Lunatic Cultist's overall lack of distinct drops aside from the Ancient Manipulator.
• The decoys share map icons with the real Lunatic Cultist.
• This is the only boss to use music specifically titled after another boss, Golem, and the only boss whose music starts before the boss itself spawns, making it easier to obtain the Music Box.
• The term lunatic is nowadays usually used as an informal synonym for insane, mentally ill, etc. The word itself, however, originated from the fact that diseases were historically thought to have been caused by the moon, tying in with the moon-themed events following this boss.
• The Lunatic Cultist, Brain of Cthulhu, Moon Lord, King Slime, Queen Slime, Empress of Light, and, in Expert Mode, Duke Fishron are the only bosses that can teleport.
• Oddly, when the Lunatic Cultist is killed, the status message "Celestial creatures are invading!" appears before "Lunatic Cultist has been defeated!", probably hinting that the summoning ritual might have finished before the Lunatic Cultist died.
• When the Lunatic Cultist despawns after a player has teleported away from it, it plays its dying animation.
• Wearing the Lunatic Cultist Mask and the Lunar Cultist Robe causes the player to look very similar to the Lunatic Cultist, however, the boss is still taller than the player, and is therefore distinguishable.
• The Lunatic Cultist is one of the few bosses in which all of its attacks' damage, other than contact damage, do not increase linearly in Master Mode.
• It is the only non-event boss not to have an Expert Mode-exclusive drop.
• The Lunatic Cultist has the most types of "servants" out of all the bosses, totaling four.
•  – According to the Terraria lore pages, the Lunatic Cultist and their cult worshipped Cthulhu, and sought to restore/resurrect their master. To this end, they forced the Mechanic to forge the Mechanical Bosses as new mechanical organs for Cthulhu - however, as the mechanical brain was never completed before the events of the game, this plan never came to fruition.

• The Bestiary entry for the Lunatic Cultist: "A fanatical leader hell-bent on bringing about the apocalypse by reviving the great Cthulhu through behind-the-scenes scheming."

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.4.4:
  • Health scaling factor in Expert/Master increased from 1.25 to 1.5.
  • Final Health values have increased from 32000/40000/51000 to 32000/48000/61000.

• Desktop 1.4.0.1:
  • In Master mode, now drops the Lunatic Cultist Relic and also has a 25% chance to drop its exclusive pet, the Tablet Fragment.
  • Most homing bullets and minions will no longer target the real Lunatic Cultist during its ritual.

• Desktop 1.3.0.4:
  • No longer respawns while the Moon Lord is spawning.
  • Can no longer spawn during important events like boss fights, invasions etc.

• Desktop 1.3.0.1: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.0.933.1: Introduced. ()

• Console 1.0.750.0: Introduced. ()

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.0.711.6: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.3.0.7: Introduced.