Getting Started

Terraria: Getting Started Guide for New Players

Overview

This guide is written specifically for brand-new players who have never played Terraria. It covers everything you need to survive your first hour, avoid frustrating mistakes, and build a strong foundation for the rest of the game. Terraria is a 2D sandbox action-adventure game—expect to mine, build, fight monsters, explore caves, and craft gear. The world is randomly generated, so no two playthroughs are identical.

---

Character Creation

Terraria does not have deep character creation; instead, you choose from preset appearances (hair, eyes, skin, clothes). This is purely cosmetic and has no effect on gameplay. To create a character:
1. From the main menu, select Single Player (or Multiplayer if joining a friend).
2. Click New Character.
3. Choose a name (can be changed later via a character rename item).
4. Randomize or manually pick your character's look. Confirm and save.

Pro tip: You can create multiple characters and worlds. Characters keep their inventory when switching worlds, but each world is saved separately.

---

World Selection

When starting a world, choose:

• World Size: Small (recommended for beginners), Medium, or Large. Small worlds have fewer biomes but are easier to navigate.


• World Evil: Randomly generates either Crimson (red/pink) or Corruption (purple). Both have similar challenges; don't worry which you get.


• Difficulty Mode: Softcore (recommended for beginners) – you drop coins on death but keep items. Mediumcore drops items on death. Hardcore deletes character on death.

---

Controls Overview (All Platforms)

Mobile Note: Controls are fully customizable. Use the "tap to move" setting for easier precision.

---

UI Overview

Your screen shows:

• Hotbar (bottom center): 10 slots for items you can quickly select (1-9 keys on PC, D-pad on console, swipe on mobile).


• Health (hearts) and Mana (stars) above hotbar. You start with 100 health (5 hearts).


• Inventory (Press E on PC): Opens backpack with slots for armor, accessories, coins, and items. Use this to craft, equip, and manage items.


• Crafting window: Appears when you open inventory. Shows what you can craft with materials in your inventory. Click an item to craft it.


• Equipment slots (left side of inventory): Head, chest, legs, 5 accessory slots, 2 social slots (cosmetic only).


• Coin slots (bottom-left): Hold copper, silver, gold, platinum coins. Coins drop on death in softcore, but you can recover them.


• Compass and Depth Meter (top-right): Shows your coordinates (depth and horizontal position). Useful for navigation.


• Buff icons (top-left): Show active buffs from potions, armor, or accessories.


---



First Hour Walkthrough



#### 1. Spawn and Immediate Actions
You start in the middle of a Forest biome. A Guide NPC will spawn nearby if you have a house (we'll build one soon). First, move around and look at your surroundings:

• Chop down some trees (left-click on tree trunks). Wood is your most important early resource.


• Mine some stone just below the surface (left-click). You'll get Stone Blocks and some ores (Copper/Tin, Iron/Lead).


• Collect fallen items: Daybloom flowers, mushrooms, and any chests you see on the surface. Break pots underground with a pickaxe.


• Kill a few slimes for gel (you can craft torches with gel + wood).


#### 2. Build a Shelter
Before nightfall (day lasts ~15 real minutes), build a small house to protect from zombies and other enemies. At minimum:

• Walls: Use wood or dirt to create an enclosed space (at least 6 blocks tall, 8 blocks wide).


• Background walls: Craft Wood Wall (at a workbench) and place them behind your structure to prevent enemy spawns inside.


• Light: Place torches on walls or floors.


• Door or entrance: Craft a Wooden Door and place it in the wall opening.


• Workbench: Craft from 10 wood at your inventory crafting menu. Place it inside.


#### 3. Craft Essential Tools
With wood gathered, craft these from the inventory menu (you don't need a workbench for basic items, but some require one):

• Wooden Sword (7 wood) – basic weapon.


• Wooden Pickaxe (12 wood) – for mining stronger blocks.


• Wooden Axe (12 wood) – better at chopping trees.


• Torches (gel + wood) at a workbench.


• Furnace (20 stone + 4 wood at workbench) – smelts ores into bars.


• Anvil (5 iron bars at workbench) – for creating weapons and tools from bars.


#### 4. Prepare for Night

• Gather more wood and stone. Craft a bed if you can (wood + silk from cobwebs, which you find underground). Beds let you set a spawn point.


• Eat any food you find (mushrooms, apples from trees) for a minor health boost.


• Stay near your house or build a campfire (3 torches + 10 wood at workbench) outside for passive health regen.


#### 5. Survive the First Night

• Stay inside your shelter. Enemies cannot break through walls. If you have a door, they may open it unless you put a block behind it.


• Fight zombies and demon eyes through a small hole in the wall, or through the door (stand to the side).


• Collect dropped money and items (zombie arms, demon eyes, etc.). Keep an eye out for a Musket Ball or Gun drop – you might get lucky.


• Craft better gear if you have ores. Smelt Copper/Tin into bars, make a Copper Pickaxe or Sword at the Anvil.


---



Essential Early Game Objectives


1. Build a proper house (at least 6x6 interior) with background walls, a door, and a torch. The Guide NPC will move in, providing crafting help).
2. Explore the surface to find chests, ore, and life crystals (orange floating hearts that increase max health by 20). Use underground caves.
3. Reach 200 max health (use life crystals). Once you have 200, you can summon the first boss: Eye of Cthulhu (by using a Suspicious Looking Eye at night, or it may spawn randomly).
4. Gather iron/lead to craft a Furnace and Anvil, then make better tools and armor.
5. Find a grappling hook – either craft from 15 gems + 3 iron bars at an anvil (if you find gems), or buy from merchant, or get from skeleton drops.
6. Explore the underground (caverns) for ores, life crystals, and accessories like Cloud in a Bottle or Hermes Boots.
7. Prepare for the Eye of Cthulhu: Build an arena with platforms, heart lanterns, campfires. Use ranged weapons (bow with flaming arrows) and potions (ironskin, regeneration).

---



What to Do First and What to Avoid



#### ✅ Do First:

• Chop trees and mine stone immediately.


• Build a shelter before dusk (day 1).


• Craft a workbench, door, and torches.


• Explore surface caves for chests and ores.


• Gather enough wood and stone for a furnace.


#### ❌ Avoid:

• Don't wander far from spawn at night without a light source or shelter.


• Don't use all your iron/lead on tools – save at least 5 bars for an anvil.


• Don't break Shadow Orbs or Crimson Hearts (found in corruption/crimson chasms) early – they can cause a meteor to land, or trigger a boss.


• Don't ignore health – if you get low on health, retreat and eat or use a campfire.


• Don't die in lava – avoid lava pools until you have an Obsidian Potion or high defense.


• Don't waste time on fishing early – it's complex; do it later.

---

Early Resource Priorities

---

Common Beginner Mistakes

1. Not building a house with background walls – enemies can spawn inside. Use crafted walls via workbench.
2. Opening skyware chests before reaching sky islands – they float high; use platforms or gravitation potion.
3. Misunderstanding the Guide – talk to him and click "Crafting" to see what you can make with an item in your inventory.
4. Dying to fall damage – place ropes or platforms when exploring deep caves.
5. Hoarding too many items – early inventory is tight; drop common items (like many dirt blocks).
6. Exploring the corruption/crimson without purification powder – you need to remove the spreading block to stop damage. For now, avoid chasms.
7. Not using potions – potions heal, buff, and help. Craft a bottle at workbench, fill with water at a lake, then craft potions at a placed bottle.

---

Day-One Checklist

• [ ] Chop at least 20 trees.


• [ ] Mine 50 stone blocks.


• [ ] Craft a workbench and place it.


• [ ] Craft a wooden sword, pickaxe, and axe.


• [ ] Build a basic house (walls, background walls, door, torches).


• [ ] Collect some torches (craft from wood+gel).


• [ ] Explore surface a little, find a chest if possible.


• [ ] Survive the first night inside your house.


• [ ] During night, craft a furnace (if you have stone) and possibly an anvil (if you have iron bars).


• [ ] Pick up any daybloom or mushroom you see (for potions later).


• [ ] Set spawn point with a bed (if you have silk).


---



Additional Tips



• Talk to the Guide NPC (once he moves in) to learn recipes. Give him an item you want to know how to craft.


• Use the Terraria Wiki for precise information on bosses, biomes, and craftable items.


• Play on Softcore until you understand the game.


• Keep chests organized: Label them with signs or use different chests for different material types.

---

Now you are ready to begin your adventure in Terraria. Remember: explore, craft, build, and don't dig straight down. Good luck!