Skulgan
Official Terrarian
Making the World Ill...
If you have a knack for modding, you may fondly remember one of tModding's classics: Exxo Avalon. Heck, even if you haven't a knack for modding, it is almost certain that you've heard of Exxo Avalon and the third world evil that it adds to the mix: The Contagion! The Contagion was a leap ahead in terms of custom biomes in its time, adding everything a new world evil would need to stand on its own.
However, if one were to look at it with today's retrospective, they may find that it's... hard to keep the rose tinted glasses on.
Yes, sadly, the Contagion is dated. It takes a lot from the Crimson and Corruption without a whole lot to call its own. One of the biggest crying shames is how Bacterium Prime is essentially just the Brain of Cthulhu, but I digress!
I'm here to breathe some life into this incredible concept and add something in design that it could really call its own. I will be going through this Contagion reboot bit-by-bit and this thread will constantly be updated as I add new parts to it. But for now! Let's take a step into this supposed re-invigorated Contagion and talk about some of the first things you'll take notice of when travelling through this infectious biome.
First Step into the Contagion
You begin to pass through a new, sickening evil. The grass is a sickly green and the trees have vile red bark and vomitous green leaves. You inspect your surroundings. It looks like you're walking in a giant petri dish...
Haplessly swinging your axe around and felling your first tree here will grant you your first two materials to work with. One is a plasmic-looking mushroom and the other is some disgusting timber.
These little mushrooms are the idle fungi dotting the Contagion. They serve no other use than to make Vomitous Powder, a pre-hardmode utility for spreading the Contagion, or for crafting the summoning item for the Contagion's new boss (or poisoned knives, apparently)...
Your bog-standard building wood. Vilewood is used for an assortment of building purposes. Vilewood walls, beds, tables, bathtubs, and armor and tools that look exactly the same as all the other wood weapons. The only difference being in the appearance of the helmets....
So, if you want to style with a Vilewood Helm, that is an option.
"This nasty little bug is what you get when you don't separate your drinking water from your bathroom water. Namesake from the bacterial disease named Cholera, a disease that causes very unpleasant bathroom experiences, dehydration, and eventually death, the bacteria, Vibrio Cholerae, appears to be no different than the most common depiction of a bacteria cell. In a sense, Cholerit is not much different-- it is pretty standard in appearance, but plenty lethal."
Cholerit will probably be your first key-in on how Contagion enemies move: They're slow, but walls cannot stop them, phasing through them as though it were a weak cell barrier.
Sure, it's got the consistency of snot and feels like a textural nightmare to hold, but cytoplasm has a whole range of uses. Namely, Coffin Minecarts, Battle Potions, some mech boss summoning item, and the summoning item for the aforementioned Contagion boss.
"This sneaky little bacterium is named after the bacterial disease called Botulism, which can be rarely found in foods like your fruits, fish, and veggies. If you let the Clostridium Botulinum sneak into your system, the toxins it produces can cause difficulty swallowing or speaking, facial weakness, and even full-blown paralysis. Yes, it's lethal. Unlike a lot of evil enemies, the Botulistic Ballistic passively floats about without a care in the world until you get too close to it, where this short, flying worm enemy will then attack with an intent to kill."
Baby's Steps into the Infection's Heart
I honestly believe that the "ring" that the original Contagion uses is still an excellent structure that's plenty original in generation. Sure, it could be a bit rougher in appearance to look more organic (as well as having an actual opening), but overall, the layout of the Contagion's generated cave would stay the same:
"It always seems like the first thing that all bacteria worth their lethality will target is the lungs. The Vile Cough, while particularly modeled after the Streptococcus Pneumoniae bacteria, is one of many bacterial baddies that target the lungs, forcing your immune system to try and drown it out with mucus or pus, causing pneumonia and death in most cases."
AI wise, the Vile Cough is not far too different from a Cholerit. However, it is a smaller enemy, thus making it harder to hit and easier to die to.
Using a bomb you picked up along the way, you tempt fate, break through the Vilestone, and destroy your first Pandemite Ball. What's the first item that you get from this ball of phlegm?
"Somewhat slimy, yet oddly endearing, this ball of snot will emit a faint yellow-green glow as it slowly rolls by your side, helplessly sticking to the ground and terrain around it."
The Pandemite Ball is grounded like the Crimson Heart but slow like the Shadow Ball. Putting the fact that it is probably the worst light pet of the three aside, it is a big ball of boogers that sticks to the ground and rolls at a sluggish pace, emitting light as it does.
"An earring named after the scientific term for an ear infection! How fun. The Otitis Earrings, instead of being a nuisance for your ears, is a nuisance to others, dulling nearby baddies' hearing and causing reduced enemy aggression while standing still and not making noise."
The Otitis Earrings are useful equips for whenever you need to go idle and leave the game running. Perhaps you have a mob grinder going, perhaps you're just passing the time for that perfect hour. Whatever the reason, the Otitis Earrings will make enemies far less likely to detect you while you stand still.
"A sawed off shotgun with a muzzle that oozes a viscous, green substance. Unlike its more healthy cousin, the Boomstick, The Sneeze provides tighter shots for a shotgun that's excellent for taking things one at a time."
The Sneeze is an alternative to the Boomstick that emphasizes single targets rather than crowd control. Each shot takes only one bullet and fires a far tighter spread of three bullets that make it excellent for getting your eye in on an annoying eyeball. Because of this tighter spread, it is also more effective at longer distances than other shotguns.
"The Syphilis Staff has its namesake from the slow-going bacterial infection Syphilis. This magic weapon shares the approach that its inspiration takes: the true damage doesn't come until a little while after you use it."
The Syphilis Staff is an interesting magic weapon. On use, it fires a projectile that seemingly does nothing when it hits an enemy. However, hitting the enemy with more projectiles from the Syphilis Staff will cause the damage to scale up exponentially (up to a certain cap) before it all hits the target at once shortly after you finish firing. Its incredibly slow approach is balanced by having a high amount of damage payoff.
"A rusty nail with snotty, stretchy cytoplasm connecting it to a handle. This weapon is quick, snappy, and stabby."
The Tarnished Nail is a launched flail that is meant to be another entry in relation to the unconventional melee alternatives to it like the Ball O' Hurt and the Rotted Fork. When used, it launches a rusty nail that is unaffected by gravity, shooting forward until it hits an enemy or stretches as far as it can go, where it will then swiftly return to its owner. Its fast speed and range makes it the best melee weapon out of the three.
Once you've given yourself a head start thanks to one or two of these items, you will have probably left the Contagion to move on to other things. Namely, killing King Slime and, eventually, the Eye of Cthulhu.
Once you've slain the Eye of Cthulhu, you may have gotten this Evil's ore: Pandemite.
"A hard-packed mineral made up of condensed waste from cells and animals alike, turned into a steely metal perfect for smithing."
With these materials, you are able to create the weapons (and fishing rod) for the Contagion! All of which are put in this nice little spoiler.
"A classy rapier made of repulsive metal. It's well cast and incredibly precise. Though... it doesn't seem like you know how to use it properly."
The Ma'Lady is a counterpart to the Blood Butcherer and the Light's Bane. Despite being swung overhead, it's slightly faster and has slightly less damage than the Night's Edge.
"A stylish yoyo that feels disgusting to hold. The snotty substance it's attached to allows for incredible range."
Noxious is a yoyo with an extended reach and lower damage output in comparison to Malaise and even more so to the Artery.
"A dangerous bow that's just a little inconvenient to grasp. Once you get a handle for it, it's incredibly quick to use."
The Flu Shot is a bow that, unlike the Demon Bow, has a damage that's equal to the Platinum and Gold Bow, but it has one of the fastest use times of any pre-hardmode bow, equal to the Molten Fury.
"A vile rod with a snotty chunk attached to the end. To catch a fish with this is to also degrade that fish."
The Transmission is a fishing rod with a fishing power equal to the Fleshcatcher and a velocity equal to the Fisher of Souls. I don't know what else to say. It's a middle-of-the-road fishing rod.
With these weapons in tow, you are ready to take on the Contagion's boss. Smashing two more snot balls without a care for the loot will call upon it to defend its home...
Mursa has Awoken!
"Mursa is a nightmarish colony of hardy bacteria cells. Named after the MRSA Superbug, a Gram-positive strain of bacteria distinct from Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to some of the strongest forms of penicillin available, including methicillin. Starting as a skin infection, it will work its way deeper into the body, infecting blood and organs and causing, as you would expect, complete organ failure and death."
"Mursa is a nightmarish colony of hardy bacteria cells. Named after the MRSA Superbug, a Gram-positive strain of bacteria distinct from Staphylococcus aureus that is resistant to some of the strongest forms of penicillin available, including methicillin. Starting as a skin infection, it will work its way deeper into the body, infecting blood and organs and causing, as you would expect, complete organ failure and death."
Foreword: Numeric values are not my strong suit. As such, I will avoid providing such when describing damage, defense, etc.
Mursa is made up of two different body parts: Eyes and Bodies.
Mursa will swap between two different phases constantly throughout the battle. In its first phase, it will float towards the player together as one unit. Each eye shoots Toxin (a projectile similar in property to vile spit) and Mursa in this phase will float around the player. This phase has low health, and when its health in this phase drops to 0, it breaks apart and will activate its second phase.
In its second phase, each body part will act as a separate entity and will all individually charge for the player. Eyes have lower defense than Bodies, and Bodies move slower than Eyes. Eyes can still shoot at the player in this second phase. In this phase, each body part is capable of being killed, making this phase your opportunity to deal actual damage to the boss as a whole. Once all the body parts pass the player, they will regroup and the boss will return to its first phase.
The goal is to kill all of the bosses body parts in its second phase.
Expert Mode Changes
In Expert Mode, on top of having higher numbers, Eyes will shoot faster and faster depending on how little body parts are left. In its second phase, the eyes will move slower and shoot faster while the body parts will move faster and deal higher contact damage than eyes. Furthermore, Toxin will inflict poison for a very short time.
We don't need to go over Master Mode changes because refer to the foreword.
Mursa is made up of two different body parts: Eyes and Bodies.
Mursa will swap between two different phases constantly throughout the battle. In its first phase, it will float towards the player together as one unit. Each eye shoots Toxin (a projectile similar in property to vile spit) and Mursa in this phase will float around the player. This phase has low health, and when its health in this phase drops to 0, it breaks apart and will activate its second phase.
In its second phase, each body part will act as a separate entity and will all individually charge for the player. Eyes have lower defense than Bodies, and Bodies move slower than Eyes. Eyes can still shoot at the player in this second phase. In this phase, each body part is capable of being killed, making this phase your opportunity to deal actual damage to the boss as a whole. Once all the body parts pass the player, they will regroup and the boss will return to its first phase.
The goal is to kill all of the bosses body parts in its second phase.
Expert Mode Changes
In Expert Mode, on top of having higher numbers, Eyes will shoot faster and faster depending on how little body parts are left. In its second phase, the eyes will move slower and shoot faster while the body parts will move faster and deal higher contact damage than eyes. Furthermore, Toxin will inflict poison for a very short time.
We don't need to go over Master Mode changes because refer to the foreword.
Once Mursa is defeated, meteors are allowed to spawn and the boss itself will drop a plethora of sweet loot. So lets get into that!
Drops
Assuming you like having a marginal amount of fun, you will have probably beaten Mursa on Expert Mode and collected a Mursa Treasure Bag:
To start, let's get the mask and trophy out of the way:
You got that? You got these two things ingrained in your brain? Cool and good. Let's move on.
Much like the Brain of Cthulhu and the Eater of Worlds, Mursa has a chance of dropping a pet for you to style with!
"Not all bacteria is bad! In fact, some are really useful for developing wonderful edibles for your enjoyment. Like cheese! This fondue stick still has some non-sterilized fondue on it. Maybe it'll summon a friend?"
The Fontina Stick is a pet accessory that summons a pet Lactoba, which shares an appearance to the Cholerit, despite the design being inspired from the Lactobacillus. The pet will hover passively around you and has no special animation for when it increases acceleration to catch up with you. Design below!
We will go over the Shadow Scale/Tissue sample equivalent later. For now, lets go over the Expert and Master Mode items!
Expert Mode Drop
"It still twitches in your hand. While equipped, getting hit will cause it to eject Toxin, creating a thorns effect that inflicts attacking enemies with poison."
The Festering Protozoa is Mursa's expert mode accessory. When equipped, enemies that hit you will take damage and receive a short poison effect, making it a permanent thorns potion in some regard.
Master Mode Drops
First things first, lets go over Mursa's Master Mode Relic!
Pretty, isn't it? I'd put it in my Master Mode trophy room that I totally have because I'm totally not bitter about how awful and un-fun Master Mode is.
"A festering mass of overgrown bacteria that has started to become its own entity. Its overtaking the petri dish it was once planted in. Summons a friend...?"
This Overgrown Petri Dish is what summons the Master Mode pet when put into your pet slot: a small colony of Mursa Microbes. It initially starts as a singular pet, floating around the player without much care in the world. Once it accelerates to catch up with you, it breaks apart and the individual pieces will begin to follow you. It will then reform into one mass once it has slowed back down.
You got that? You got these two things ingrained in your brain? Cool and good. Let's move on.
Much like the Brain of Cthulhu and the Eater of Worlds, Mursa has a chance of dropping a pet for you to style with!
"Not all bacteria is bad! In fact, some are really useful for developing wonderful edibles for your enjoyment. Like cheese! This fondue stick still has some non-sterilized fondue on it. Maybe it'll summon a friend?"
The Fontina Stick is a pet accessory that summons a pet Lactoba, which shares an appearance to the Cholerit, despite the design being inspired from the Lactobacillus. The pet will hover passively around you and has no special animation for when it increases acceleration to catch up with you. Design below!
We will go over the Shadow Scale/Tissue sample equivalent later. For now, lets go over the Expert and Master Mode items!
Expert Mode Drop
"It still twitches in your hand. While equipped, getting hit will cause it to eject Toxin, creating a thorns effect that inflicts attacking enemies with poison."
The Festering Protozoa is Mursa's expert mode accessory. When equipped, enemies that hit you will take damage and receive a short poison effect, making it a permanent thorns potion in some regard.
Master Mode Drops
First things first, lets go over Mursa's Master Mode Relic!
Pretty, isn't it? I'd put it in my Master Mode trophy room that I totally have because I'm totally not bitter about how awful and un-fun Master Mode is.
"A festering mass of overgrown bacteria that has started to become its own entity. Its overtaking the petri dish it was once planted in. Summons a friend...?"
This Overgrown Petri Dish is what summons the Master Mode pet when put into your pet slot: a small colony of Mursa Microbes. It initially starts as a singular pet, floating around the player without much care in the world. Once it accelerates to catch up with you, it breaks apart and the individual pieces will begin to follow you. It will then reform into one mass once it has slowed back down.
Now, if y'all checked the spoilers, I would say that I'm going to go over the armor set and tools for this post, but if you did go over the spoilers (which, goodness, I hope you did), this post is getting pretty big and it's getting pretty late. I will go over the armor set as soon as tomorrow! Thanks for reading.
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