Water Bolt

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Water Bolt
  • Water Bolt item sprite
  • Water Bolt placed
Autofire
Stack digit 1.png
Statistics
Type
Damage19 (Magic)
Knockback5 (Average)
Mana10
Critical chance4%
Use time17 (Very fast)
Velocity4.5
TooltipCasts a slow moving bolt of water
RarityRarity level: 2
Sell1 GC50 SC
Research1 required
Projectile created
  • Water Bolt
    Water Bolt
Not to be confused with Water Sphere.
The Water Bolt highlighted on a Dungeon shelf.
The Water Bolt in action.

The Water Bolt is a pre-Hardmode spell book that can only be found hidden within the shelves of the Dungeon. When used, it fires a slow-moving water ball projectile. The water ball dissipates after bouncing off blocks up to five times, after piercing nine enemies, or after 30 seconds have passed.

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.
  • Desktop version Right-click on all Books that are encountered. Only the Water Bolt will drop from a right-click.
  • Desktop version 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-clicking 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 Water Bolt's projectile does not dissipate in lava.
  • Despite the Water Bolt's projectiles being water-based, they are still slowed when submerged in water and other liquids.
  • While the Water Bolt can be found placed naturally, it cannot be placed on platforms with the Rubblemaker(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).
  • A Dungeon may contain more than one Water Bolt or none at all. During world generation, there is a 1/2 (50%) chance for each platform in the Dungeon to have a Book placed upon it, with a 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

  • The glowing particles the projectiles release upon dissipation can be helpful for exploration.
  • It is 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, enclosed 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 a very effective way to fight many pre-Hardmode bosses, especially those with many parts or segments, 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 depict the Water Bolt.
  • During a Blood Moon, the blue water projectile will be pink in the middle and upper portions of the world, similar to how water changes color during said event. When cast within or when traveling upwards from a point between the Underground and Cavern levels, the water projectile can be observed changing color progressively from blue to pink. In lower portions of the world and in The Underworld, the original color is unchanged.
  • The Water Bolt is one of the very few weapons that can be acquired as physical objects in the game's world, the others being the Enchanted Sword, the Terragrim(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions), and Abigail's Flower(Desktop, Console and Mobile versions).

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. 1.0 1.1 Information taken from the Desktop version Desktop 1.4.2.3 source code, method MakeDungeon() in Terraria.WorldGen.cs. There may be inaccuracies, as the current Desktop version Desktop version is 1.4.4.9.