1.3 Expert Mode Discussion

[Rantanrave]

Hmm, I already had 613 hours on Terraria when the patch came out, so I was no slouch before the patch. After 1.3's release, I started 2 seperate expert mode worlds, with 2 different characters (1 for playing with a friend, and the other for playing solo, however another friend joined that one as well ).

2 Days ago I beat the moon lord with my first friend, and it took about 80 hours on an expert world with new chars. On my other world, me and my other friend have just defeated the Destroyer, and are prepping for the other 2 mecha bosses.

So, what is my impression of expert mode so far?

What bosses have you beat? Every single one of them.

How'd you beat em? Patience, and knowing the new AI.

Found any cool loot or things? All new loot is cool.

What do you like/dislike about expert mode? Hmmm. I dont really like the new respawn timers. It is one thing to have an increased timer, but this one is really random when it comes to how long you are actually dead. Sometimes during a boss fight with my friend, I find myself dead for 20 seconds, and other times it is close to 2 minutes.

And most importantly, are you having fun? Hell yeah!

All in all, i really like this patch.

The increase (or perhaps removal, I dont know) of the world/character limit is awesome! I wanted that for over 3 years. I also love the new progress bars during events (although they can be slightly bugged sometimes when loading a world which has an invasion going). The new expert mode exclusive drops is amazing, as it rewards players for facing a much harder and much more time consuming challenge. I enjoyed fighting all the old bosses again. The thrill of actually feeling scared to summon Skeletron again, is something I really relish. It feels like a completely new game, all while being the same game I always loved.

Can't recommend expert mode enough!

 

[Rio]

I'd have to argue though that Eater's expert item is far better than Brain's though.
Being able to inflict Confusion is nice, but it certainly won't help out in boss fights.
Taking reduced damage from everything, however, is the kind of thing I'd be taking with me for the long run.

This is undeniable. Have to agree about the usefulness of the worm scarf.
Simply put, I did indeed use the worm scarf until about post-Golem. The world I completed Expert on was indeed corruption, but I have since started another character with a crimson world on expert (hence my opinion on the Brain). Can always create a new world with corruption and fight the eater with late pre-HM gear, especially water bolt and night's edge, and jester arrows with molten fury (or the awesome Hellwing bow).

17% damage reduction is absolutely nothing to scoff at when most enemies in HM deal 80+ damage with moderate DEF. In later boss fights, you're saving tons of HP that could mean the difference in regenerating health to take 1 more hit, and dying.

Speaking of regen, Well Fed is perhaps your strongest buff for expert. The all-stat boost is obviously really useful to all classes, but the ability to restore your life regen to non-expert levels is really where it shines. You will notice a big difference in regeneration while having the buff and not having it if you stand still after taking damage in a safe area.

Don't forget: the Royal Gel prevents damage from all slimes (this includes LAVA SLIMES! Don't bother targeting them with it on! It will save you some pain in the lava!)

Ankh shield is worth it if you're able to farm all of the materials. Not being cursed for 8 seconds in the HM dungeon could save your life.
Just a few more tidbits to add

 

[Aurora3500]

I see why everyone seems to be having trouble with Expert Skeletron now. Have to defeat the hands 1st as they "protect" the head with crazy high defense. And the Book of Skulls spell from the head in the 2nd phase is difficult to dodge.

I recently got Molten Armor a few Molten Weapons and the Demon Scythe in order to handle this. I also have an arena that is in this screen shot. It was too big to upload as a whole image so I had to upload it as 2 parts.

Left Side:

Right Side:

Are there any ways this could be improved? I plan on adding Stars in Bottles in a few areas to help magic weapons, as I want to see how effective the demon scythe is against Skeletron.

 

[Voyager]

Yes, heart lanterns.
You could also put a place to dip into honey if you wanted.

 

[Juno Brier]

Are there any ways this could be improved? I plan on adding Stars in Bottles in a few areas to help magic weapons, as I want to see how effective the demon scythe is against Skeletron.

I could recommend specifically using an Archery Potion if you're planning on using Molten Fury (since Demon Scythe does have the mana limitation).

 

[Primordial02]

Well I have beaten all the bosses except the Lunatic Cultist and up because I just used my npcs for the most part and then when I fought the WoF I just bought cannons from my pirate and used that. I then farmed for Duke Fisron and when I fought him a bunch of stars fell on him and killed him( Yes I fought him at night.) and the just used the Razorblade Typhoon up to Plantera when I started using Martian Madness drops(All 'cause I'm lucky)
But I can't beat Cultist

All in all I am really enjoying this patch and have gotten three pairs of dev armor in multiples!!!!!!!

 

[Nimbus_Bolt]

For any of you guys who were having trouble with skeletron, take a second to look at this.

This Arena is BEASTLY. It is pretty much impossible to die with this arena, because you can just run to the nurse if your health is low. The dryad gives you the awesome defense buff which helps out too. I used Molten armor, Bee gun, Minishark, and the three basic buffs, which are ironskin, regen, and speed. the arena is pretty easy to build too. I killed skeletron easy this way. Worm scarf helps too. Also use cthulu shield for escaping his head when he spins at you.

 

[Newblank]

Expert mode is not early game friendly, I'll tell you that... Dying is very common and you always have to store your money in the piggy bank.
It's more challenging than I thought it would be, and I had to use my hardmode characters to help out.
I'm also bummed out by the fact that you can't use the demon heart (extra accessory slot) outside of expert mode. Kinda sucks :/

TLDR I really suck at expert mode

 

[Primordial02]

Anyone got advice for beating cultists and moon lord??

 

[TheGuide]

So, I just beat Plantera and wanted to share some stuff that will make him easy to deal with.

If you haven't fought him yet, he shoots petals so fast you can't dodge them 20% of the time, or more depending on your arena. Although once you get to the 2nd phase, you can make a long minecart track that goes from left to right, and have no chance of dieing because his projectiles are gone. I personally used a minecart track that was already there and very weird, so it works even with a pre-generated track.

 

[Shadow of the Blacksmith]

Moon Lord is extremely difficult even with post-Moon Lord gear (Defeated him on normal and didn't get the achievement because multiplayer bugs )

 

[Soulstealer]

I found expert-mode skeletron rather easy, all you need is a diamond of minecart tracks with bounce pads at the two sides, set up so you move in a circle. You put a campfire in the centre for regen, and circle him taking barely any hits while firing ranged weapons. You miss a whole bunch of shots and it takes a while, but I managed it taking less than half my health fighting him with a phoenix blaster.

 

[Rio]

Anyone got advice for beating cultists and moon lord??

Come equipped with every possible and helpful buff. Wrath/Rage, Endurance, Ironskin, Regen, Swiftness, and Well Fed are priorities. Take a lot of time setting up a long pathway to run if you need to, putting plenty of heart lanterns and campfires, occasionally some honey to dip in for regen. The first time I defeated him on expert with pre-Lord gear solo, I actually used beetle armor (shell) instead of shroomite with defensive accessories, notably Ankh Shield, Worm Scarf, Celestial Shell, Star Veil, Fishron Wings and Master Ninja Gear (the dashes and 10% dodges are super helpful), all with warding. I used the Phantasm and Vortex Beater w/Chlorophyte bullets. Regarding the boss itself, there are 3 things I'd say to keep in mind:

1. Do your best to destroy each part of his body at the same time. Having 2 True EoC's out while you try to disable his last one that's still at nearly full health means serious trouble since the eyes do a lot more when they are out.

2. The top eye laser must be avoided at all costs, even if you are going to take a hit from something else. It deals ludicrously high damage even to someone very well armored. The tell for the attack is simple to see however, and the laser always follows a set pattern. The top eye is only open when it's about to fire the laser, that's your cue to fly up a bit. Then, when the laser is beneath you, fly to the other side of his body, over the top eye.

3. Finally, when the core is exposed, it has no invincibility frames unlike the hands or the head. Take your highest single target DPS weapon and go bananas on it.

This boss is absolutely no joke on either difficulty. Also with the recent changes, he will teleport to where ever you teleport to as well. Keep at it and you will get better at fighting him over time, it takes practice. Good luck!

 

[VaeVictis]

A question for those who are in END-GAME hardmode:

what do you use as accesory? do you stack highest damage possible like in normal mode?
and what's the best prefixes? defense and movement? menacing or lucky?

 

[Antonok]

A question for those who are in END-GAME hardmode:

what do you use as accesory? do you stack highest damage possible like in normal mode?
and what's the best prefixes? defense and movement? menacing or lucky?

My accessory list (all warding):
Fishron Wings
Anhk Shield
Celestial Stone
Charm of Myths
Spectre Boots
Star Veil

The full Warding is because I'm ranger and things hit stupidly hard. Specially if you get swarmed (hello pillars freezing you in place). And since I've been using summons, thats a bit of extra damage to make up for all the defence.

 

[Kazzymodus]

Am I the only one who feels that the monsters in Expert Mode drop WAY too much money? I mean, I'm sitting on top of 7.5 platinum right now and I haven't even attempted the Wall of Flesh. All of that money is simply from Banner Farming.

I understand the increased rewards against the increased risks, but I think the increases drop chance of rare items is a better way to solve that than to shower us in money.

 

[TheGuide]

Am I the only one who feels that the monsters in Expert Mode drop WAY too much money? I mean, I'm sitting on top of 7.5 platinum right now and I haven't even attempted the Wall of Flesh. All of that money is simply from Banner Farming.

I understand the increased rewards against the increased risks, but I think the increases drop chance of rare items is a better way to solve that than to shower us in money.

They did increase the drop chance of rare items in Expert.

I'm not sure how you could run out of things to use money with, tbh. It seems impossible.

 

[Kazzymodus]

They did increase the drop chance of rare items in Expert.

I know, but in my opinion that was sufficient.

I'm not sure how you could run out of things to use money with, tbh. It seems impossible.

Well, technically, no, but practically, once all the items you actually use have the best modifier they can have, you end up with spending your money on luxuries.

 

[troyofathens]

I'm trying to run through this and I can't defeat skeletron at all and I don't want to use my hardmode character to help because it kind of feels like cheating

This is my gear right now please help and thank you.

 

[Trilby Man]

Featherfall potions are SO good - for Skeletron when both his hands are gone, all you need to do is loop around him and you will avoid most of the skulls he sends out.