Shimmer

  

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

The Guide undergoing transformation via Shimmer.

Shimmer transmuting the Life Crystal into Vital Crystal, and decrafting the Terra Blade.

For the debuff inflicted by Shimmer, see Shimmering.

Shimmer is a shiny, lavender-colored, pearlescent liquid. It can be found at any point in the game in the Aether, a mini-biome that generates once per world in the Underground or Cavern layers, and always on the same half of the world as the Jungle. After the Moon Lord has been defeated, it can be obtained limitlessly by using the Bottomless Shimmer Bucket.

Shimmer has the unique function of transforming ("transmuting") certain dropped items and entities submerged in it:

• Most crafted items are transformed back ("decrafted") into their crafting materials.
• Certain items are transformed into other items. A few items can only be obtained via this transformation, such as Ambrosia. Some item transformations only work under certain conditions.
• The sprite of town NPCs is changed.
• Certain enemies are transformed into other enemies.
• Most critters are transformed into Faelings.

Items will float upwards after transformation until they leave the liquid, then linger in midair and produce vibrant lights until a player picks them up, similarly to souls. Items that cannot be transformed will sink to the bottom of the Shimmer.

In addition to its transforming effect, Shimmer also has an effect on other entities that enter it:

• When a player is submerged in the liquid, they will be inflicted with the Shimmering debuff, beginning to fall slowly and phasing through all blocks until they reach an opening.
• Certain projectiles will bounce upwards upon contact with a Shimmer pool, such as a falling Fallen Star.
• When enemies that have no special transmutations and are not immune to the Shimmering debuff (e.g. the Werewolf) enter Shimmer, they will slowly become more transparent, and eventually turn completely invisible. Then they will slowly become more and more opaque. Attacking the enemy will make it turn opaque faster.

Unlike other liquids, the player cannot fish or use items in Shimmer, nor can it be picked up with an Empty Bucket. Shimmer also does not have a liquid bomb variant. It can still be moved by pumps, however.

Upon contact with any other liquid, Shimmer will form Aetherium Blocks.

Item transmutations

Below is a list of special item transmutations. The common decrafting transmutations are not included.

Decrafting exceptions

Apart from normal decrafting, many recipes have special decrafting results and rules, which is refered to as "decrafting exceptions" on this wiki. Decrafting exceptions include:

• Items which have multiple recipes are only decrafted into one specific set of ingredients.
  • For example, the Frost armor can be crafted with Adamantite or Titanium Bars, but it will always decraft into Adamantite Bars, even in worlds that have Titanium.
• Certain items with both evil biome recipes are decrafted based on the current world's evil biome.
  • For example, a Monster Lasagna is always decrafted into 8 Rotten Chunks in a Corruption world, or 8 Vertebrae in a Crimson world. Furthermore, in a drunk world, the decrafting result follows the evil biome of the current day.
• A few items are decrafted into a unique set of items.
  • For example, the Copper Pickaxe is decrafted into Wood and Copper Ore, even though Copper Ore is not part of its crafting recipe.
• Items crafted at a Placed Bottle or Alchemy Table are decrafted into a random subset of their ingredients.
  • The randomness is achieved by making every individual item in the decrafting result have a 1/3 (33.33%) chance to disappear. So, decrafting items crafted at a Placed Bottle or Alchemy Table only yields 2/3 (66.67%) of the ingredients on average.
• Items crafted with Bones cannot be decrafted until Skeletron is defeated.
• Items crafted with Lihzahrd Bricks cannot be decrafted until Golem is defeated.
• Certain items cannot be decrafted at all in order to prevent exploits or certain unfortunate implications.
  • For example, decrafting the Blizzard in a Bottle (which can be found in Chests in the Ice biome) would allow obtaining a Frost Core in pre-Hardmode, and decrafting a Bunny Stew would mean bringing a dead, cooked Bunny back to life.

Below are lists of these decrafting exceptions. Crafted items that already have a special item transmutation are not included.

Critter and enemy transmutations

Below is a list of critter and enemy transmutations. Any critter or enemy not included will not transmute into anything, and will turn temporarily invisible instead.

NPC transmutations

When submerged in Shimmer, any NPCs (except town pets) will transform into their Shimmered form. This has no impact on gameplay or dialogue and is only a visual change. They can be returned to their classic looks by being submerged in Shimmer again.

Notes

• Projectiles that are reflected upon touching the Shimmer will only be reflected when they reach the Shimmer pool's upper surface. Shooting them at the sides or the bottom of the Shimmer pool (by using Bubbles) will instantly destroy the projectile.
• Statue-spawned creatures will not be transformed in shimmer, despawning instead.
• Enemies made invisible by the Shimmer can be seen with a Hunter Potion.
• Despite both being designed for use with water, the Super Absorbant Sponge can also soak up Shimmer, as well the Liquid Sensor (Water) being able to detect Shimmer.
• When decrafting items whose crafting recipe produces a stack (e.g. Crystal Bullets), the same amount of said item need to be thrown into Shimmer for decrafting. Any excess items will remain untransmuted.
• Fallen Stars produced from decrafting will not disappear at daytime. However, if they failed to be picked up by the player (e.g. if they are attracted towards the player, but are not picked up by the player eventually), they will still disappear.
• While the Chromatic Cloak is equipped to prevent Shimmering, being submerged in Shimmer is comparable to being submerged in water: the player's horizontal and vertical movement speed are slowed by the same amount, the Shimmer can be swam in using accessories such as Flippers, and the player will transform into Merfolk if wearing the Neptune's Shell or its upgrades. However, the player cannot drown in the Shimmer; the breath meter does not appear.
• In Expert Mode, touching Shimmer while in the Snow or Ice biome will inflict the player with the Chilled debuff.

Achievements

A Shimmer In The Dark • “Shimmer an item into another item. What other transmutations can you find?”

Transmute an item. (Desktop, Console and Mobile versions)

Category: Explorer

Tips

• The decrafting properties of Shimmer can be utilized in several ways:
  • It is possible to farm good modifiers on crafted gear by repeatedly crafting and decrafting the gear.
  • Extra or outclassed gear can be decrafted to get the materials back.
  • Items found throughout the world can be looted, then decrafted. Some examples include Underground Cabin furniture and Magic Mirrors.
  • In multiplayer, excess Recall Potions can be decrafted to potentially get Specular Fish. The Specular Fish can then be crafted into Wormhole Potions.
    • Similarly, in singleplayer, any Wormhole Potions that may be obtained can be decrafted to potentially get Specular Fish.
  • Items can be bought from NPCs, then decrafted to get resources.
    • An Iron Anvil can be bought from the Merchant for 50 SC and then decrafted into five Iron Bars.
    • A Furnace can be bought from the Merchant when spoken to in a Jungle for 3 SC and then decrafted into 20 Stone, four Wood, and three Torches.
    • Ale can be bought from the Tavernkeep for 1 SC each, which can then be repeatedly decrafted into a Mug, then one Glass, and ultimately into two Sand Blocks.
• Since pumps can move Shimmer, it is possible to move Shimmer from the Aether biome as soon as Skeletron is defeated.
  • However, since Teleporters are sold by the Mechanic, it may be more convenient to set up Teleporters at the Aether biome instead of relocating Shimmer.
• If a lot of certain ore is needed, a kind of higher tier ore can be transmuted down into what is needed. This can be helpful for getting Iron/Lead Ore which is used in a lot of recipes, or obtaining the materials for the Drill Containment Unit.
• Shimmer makes it far easier to obtain some items with the most complex crafting recipes by swapping their components, which means that one only needs to obtain a sufficient number of any of them instead of one of each.
  • Fish Finder
  • Angler Tackle Bag
  • Ankh Shield components:
    • Reflective Shades
    • Armor Bracing
    • Medicated Bandage
    • Countercurse Mantra
    • The Plan
  • Greedy Ring
• Similarly, Shimmer makes it easier to complete a set of Mining armor, or to get a certain emblem dropped by the Wall of Flesh.

Trivia

• Shimmer may be a reference to several substances or locations in media that have similar properties:
  • In the 2018 science fiction horror film Annihilation, an amorphous phenomenon called "the Shimmer" has the power to transform and mutate living things.
  • In the 1991 action-adventure game The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, areas called Mysterious Ponds allow the player to throw in items and recieve a stronger item in return.
  • In the science fiction television series Doctor Who, a cloaking device called a "shimmer" allows its owner to change their appearance as well as that of others.

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.4.4.9: Recorded Music Boxes can be transmuted into blank Music Boxes.

• Desktop 1.4.4.8:
  • Gold Worms, when thrown into Shimmer in critter form, also turn into Gummy Worms instead of Faelings.
  • Dropping a Sparkle Slime Balloon into Shimmer in item form will now also spawn Diva Slime.
  • Hallowed and Ancient Hallowed armor no longer transmute into each other in Shimmer. Instead, they decraft into Hallowed Bars.

• Desktop 1.4.4.6:
  • Sandstorm in a Bottle and Flying Carpet can now be transmuted into Pharaoh's set.
  • Lava Charm can now be transmuted into Magma Stone.
  • Silver and Tungsten Bullets will now give 1 ore when decrafted in Shimmer, instead of 1 bar.
  • Copper Shortsword, Axe, and Pickaxe will now give 1 Copper Ore and 1 Wood when decrafted in Shimmer (instead of not being decraftable at all).

• Desktop 1.4.4.5:
  • All Torches are now transmuted in Shimmer to Aether Torches.
  • Bones can no longer be obtained via Shimmer decrafting before Skeletron.
  • Lihzahrd Bricks can no longer be obtained via Shimmer decrafting before Golem.
  • Fixed a potential softlock caused by Shimmer and bouncy blocks.
  • Fixed Shellphones being unable to be decrafted in Shimmer.
  • Fixed another exploitable item with Shimmer decrafting.

• Desktop 1.4.4.3:
  • Fallen Stars produced via decrafting no longer instantly disappear during daytime.
  • Some items are set to be non-decraftable to fix an exploit which granted infinite coins.

• Desktop 1.4.4: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.4.4: Introduced.

 Nintendo Switch version

• Switch 1.4.4: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.4.4: Introduced.