Water Bolt highlighted on a Dungeon shelf
The Water Bolt in action.
The Water Bolt is a pre-Hardmode magic weapon that auto-fires a slow, blue, ricocheting water-ball projectile that travels in straight lines, emits a dim light, is unaffected by gravity, and pierces multiple enemies. The projectile can last up to 30 seconds, but it will dissipate when it ricochets 5 times or damages 10 enemies. The Water Bolt is uniquely found only in the Dungeon, hidden as one of the many Books on the shelves. It cannot be crafted, purchased, found in Chests, or obtained in other ways.
Its best modifier is Mythical.
Location
The Water Bolt is hidden amongst the Books on shelves in the Dungeon, below the vertical center of the Underground layer.[1] Despite its red appearance in an inventory slot, the Water Bolt is always the blue book with a yellow band on it when on shelves. Since a careful visual inspection is not always practical in the Dungeon due to frequent enemy attacks, any of the following methods can also be used to locate the Water Bolt:
- Mine all Books that are encountered, e.g. using a pickaxe.
Right-click on all Books that are encountered. Only the Water Bolt will drop from a right-click.- Hover the cursor over all Books on the shelves of the Dungeon. When located, the Water Bolt shows as a tooltip beside the cursor. No other Books show a tooltip.
If the player is standing too far away, tooltips will not show, nor will right-clicks cause the Water Bolt to drop. The proximity required is the same as for opening Chests or speaking to NPCs.
Notes
- Once it is taken from a shelf, the Water Bolt cannot be placed again whatsoever.
- The projectile does not disappear in lava.
- Despite the projectile being water based, it is still slowed when it is submerged in water
- A Dungeon may contain more than one Water Bolt or none at all. During world generation, there is a
50*1/2 (50%) chance for each platform in the Dungeon to have a Book placed upon it, with a 2*1/50 (2%) chance of turning it into a Water Bolt.[1] Therefore, larger worlds have higher chances of containing more Water Bolts than smaller worlds, because of their larger Dungeons and thus higher numbers of platforms.
Tips
- When the projectile dissipates, the glowing embers it releases will fall through solid blocks and momentarily illuminate the area below, which can be useful for lighting caverns or rooms directly below the player.
- On the
Old-gen console and 3DS
versions, it is not explicitly required to defeat Skeletron to obtain a Water Bolt, as platforms with Books can spawn above the surface, sometimes even in the room just past the door into the Dungeon. These can be safely retrieved without causing either Dungeon Guardians or unique Dungeon enemies to spawn. As the Water Bolt remains a powerful weapon up until Hardmode, it can be advantageous to check the Dungeon when starting a new world. While doing so, caution should be taken when venturing deeper into the Dungeon, as to not spawn a Dungeon Guardian.
- On the Desktop version,
Console version, and 
Mobile version, it is also possible to obtain a Water Bolt prior to defeating Skeletron, albeit very dangerous. If one is spotted near the perimeter of the Dungeon, a hoik can be used to enter the Dungeon and pick up the Water Bolt. A Recall Potion allows retreating without dying, and autopause is useful for timing.
- The durability of the Water Bolt projectile, combined with its ability to ricochet and hit multiple foes, makes it very suitable for fighting groups of enemies, especially in flat valleys and straight passageways. Having a velocity of 23 mph, it is slow enough to hit the same enemy more than once even without ricocheting.
- The Water Bolt combined with a properly closed arena is very effective way to fight many pre-Hardmode bosses, especially those with many parts, like the Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu.
- The Water Bolt can be used to clear and illuminate areas while exploring, such as the pre-Hardmode Spider Nests, easily and safely.
- Due to the ricocheting behavior of the Water Bolt's projectile, it can be used to locate Floating Islands by firing it into the sky on the surface. However, the projectiles travel rather slowly, and there are more efficient methods to locate Floating Islands – see Floating Island § Tips.
Trivia
- In pre-release footage of Terraria, both the placed and held Water Bolt sprites were blue. The held Water Bolt sprites were later changed to red, without altering the placed Water Bolt's coloration.
- Some Bookcase sprites contain the Water Bolt, but it cannot be looted from them.
- During a Blood Moon, the blue projectile will be pink in the middle and upper portions of the world. When cast within or when traveling upwards from a point between the Underground and Caverns level, the projectile can be observed changing color progressively from blue to pink. In lower portions of the world and the Underworld, the original color is unchanged.
- The Water Bolt is one of the very few weapons that are placed in the world and must be broken to acquire. The only other weapons to share this are the Enchanted Sword and the Terragrim.
History
- Desktop 1.4.0.1: Can now only spawn below the vertical center of the Underground layer.
- Desktop 1.2:
- Projectile sprite changed.
- Base mana cost reduced from 14 to 10.
- Light effect changed.
- Desktop 1.0.6:
- Makes a new sound when used.
- Damage increased from 15 to 17.
- Mana to cast reduced from 20 to 14.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information taken from the Desktop 1.4.2.3 source code, method
MakeDungeon() in Terraria.WorldGen.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.
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