Skeletron Arena

[Infirain]

Hey, I've been in the pre-Skel progression in my world for a while (~2 months!) and I'm going to fight him for the wires and mechanic (I progress slowly so that's why I didn't kill him for so long). So, this is not as help but more of suggestion based topic, but can I improve/twist my arena? This includes something like adding rails at the top for slow falling or just adding more layers. Have fun with suggesting to vary my build too, so idk, I can fight him with no armor but cool arena.
Here's the current one:

2 medium-sized layers with long distances made out of hammered slabs so I can fall through instantly. I'll use this arena for other bosses too.

 

[Stellar Mastodon 267]

Be sure to put campfires, heart lanterns, possibly Stars in a Bottle, and the banners of any mobs that may creep in from other biomes. Maximum coverage from all saucers is ideal. If you go to the dessert and get Bast statues, use those as well.

 

[Infirain]

Yeah, I haven't done that, but I like fighting bosses buffless, it makes the fight much harder
And you know
I literally have the bundle of balloons

 

[Stellar Mastodon 267]

Yeah, I haven't done that, but I like fighting bosses buffless, it makes the fight much harder
And you know
I literally have the bundle of balloons

Ok well, I’d then recommend background walls everywhere to stop extra mobs from spawning.

 

[Infirain]

Ok well, I’d then recommend background walls everywhere to stop extra mobs from spawning.

might do that, though I use it for blood moons and that wouldn't fit the style

 

[Stellar Mastodon 267]

Well, other ways to reduce mob spawning include mowed grass, sunflowers, invisibility potions, and calming potions, but only the first of those isn’t a buff. To get the mowed grass, you would need to do major terraforming. If you did go with that route you could then cancel it later by setting up water candles and drinking a battle potion to increase spawn rates.

Overall, I think that as an arena you seem to be completely ready.

 

[Infirain]

Well, yes I am ready, but this is for
- Skeletron
- Blood Moons
- Goblin Armies
- Solar Eclipses
- Mechs
- Martian Madness
- Empress
- Might have an extension for Duke
- Lunatic Cultist
- Possibly a pillar

It will also possibly have a small area underneath which I can go in to get some stuff in case of an emergency (e.g pirate invasion really early in hardmode, I swear there's 100% that will happen again in this playthrough), so it's a small second base with some supplies and buffs, so basically a bunker.

 

[CannedPotato]

Well, yes I am ready, but this is for
- Skeletron
- Blood Moons
- Goblin Armies
- Solar Eclipses
- Mechs
- Martian Madness
- Empress
- Might have an extension for Duke
- Lunatic Cultist
- Possibly a pillar

If this is your full use for the arena, do not wall the area off. Making an area spawnproof is valuable beyond belief for jungle arenas and instances where you want to fight alone but it would make fighting blood moons, goblins, other events and even the lunatic cultist really annoying due to the limited area for movement and spawning.
Also this area is too far away from the ocean and would cause the duke to enrage, dealing double damage and having double defence, the boss will also only dash really fast at you which can prove difficult due to quirks with his dashing AI. Give it a try but the fight is way easier if you stay in the ocean biome.

Besides all that technical nonsense, the arena looks really good! I like the use of stone walls along the platforms to create a rocky, work out look to it. Looks almost like an extension of the dungeon.

 

[Stellar Mastodon 267]

- Empress

I think you can only fight empress in the hallow. From your pictures, this is in one of your evil biomes. While you could do terraforming, I don’t think it would be practical for fighting the EoL.

 

[CannedPotato]

I think you can only fight empress in the hallow

That is partially true, empress has two AIs the regular and the enraged one.
She will not despawn unless it becomes nighttime after a day passes (allegedly, I have never seen it happen)
But her AI changes to the enraged variant if you are outside the hallow. Additionally, if you are playing expert mode or harder, she will always use her enraged ai meaning there is no difference in those modes, if you mostly play expert or harder chances are you know it better than the regular version.

Unlike other cases the enraged ai for empress only changes around a few attacks to be a bit harder to dodge, so it is a viable option to fight her in this arena but be warned prismatic lacewings despawn after half a second of releasing them outside the hallow, so kill them quick and turn off your critter companionship book.

 

[Infirain]

That is partially true, empress has two AIs the regular and the enraged one.
She will not despawn unless it becomes nighttime after a day passes (allegedly, I have never seen it happen)
But her AI changes to the enraged variant if you are outside the hallow. Additionally, if you are playing expert mode or harder, she will always use her enraged ai meaning there is no difference in those modes, if you mostly play expert or harder chances are you know it better than the regular version.

Unlike other cases the enraged ai for empress only changes around a few attacks to be a bit harder to dodge, so it is a viable option to fight her in this arena but be warned prismatic lacewings despawn after half a second of releasing them outside the hallow, so kill them quick and turn off your critter companionship book.

Yeah, that's true. I'm not looking for easy ways anyway, a few extra attacks won't hurt. From my experience fighting in her in the forest biome, she doesn't have a big difference.
And yes, I am indeed playing in expert, so it doesn't matter.

 

[Infirain]

If this is your full use for the arena, do not wall the area off. Making an area spawnproof is valuable beyond belief for jungle arenas and instances where you want to fight alone but it would make fighting blood moons, goblins, other events and even the lunatic cultist really annoying due to the limited area for movement and spawning.
Also this area is too far away from the ocean and would cause the duke to enrage, dealing double damage and having double defence, the boss will also only dash really fast at you which can prove difficult due to quirks with his dashing AI. Give it a try but the fight is way easier if you stay in the ocean biome.

Besides all that technical nonsense, the arena looks really good! I like the use of stone walls along the platforms to create a rocky, work out look to it. Looks almost like an extension of the dungeon.

About the ocean, it is actually quite close. It will take some terraforming and I will still need 2x the arena, but one big arena with a toggleable bone wall to cause Duke to never enrafe is better than 2 separate. And yes, I decided not to wall it because:
- It's used for events
- It's used for enemy farming
- With the amount of time to prepare in my Builder (Sky's Blessing) World, I'm definitely not going to cheese bosses or disallow enemies to spawn, meanwhile ruining the whole style, fun and difficulty

 

[Infirain]

Here's an update. I've added a railway for horizontal movement, I'm planning to make it toggleable in the future so it doesn't mess with the mount (Pic 2). Then, I made a rail launcher for..
ok idek why, but cannon funni (Pic 1)
And I placed some campfires and star lanterns

 

[Infirain]

second update, i made that bunker and even though it looks cute and open,it actually has a lock which can only be opened with a grapple hook. I'm planning to make a pyramid trap there too, but I'm fighting skeleton soon
Still open to suggestions though

 

[Kubiquity^3 🌳]

View attachment 433654
second update, i made that bunker and even though it looks cute and open,it actually has a lock which can only be opened with a grapple hook. I'm planning to make a pyramid trap there too, but I'm fighting skeleton soon
Still open to suggestions though

Could you explain the grapple hook lock to me? I can’t tell by looking at the pic. I’m always open to learning new tricks or techniques. Also what do you mean by “pyramid trap”?

 

[Infirain]

Could you explain the grapple hook lock to me? I can’t tell by looking at the pic. I’m always open to learning new tricks or techniques. Also what do you mean by “pyramid trap”?

You see, grapple hooks are weird. They can allow you to pass through 2 block gaps, propel you forward, etc. By walking straight you can't pass 2 blocks that are placed on the sides and the only solution is using your grappling hook to hook to the floor and pass the narrow gap, might add a .gif later to show what I mean.

By the pyramid trap, I meant this (not my image):

 

[Kubiquity^3 🌳]

You see, grapple hooks are weird. They can allow you to pass through 2 block gaps, propel you forward, etc. By walking straight you can't pass 2 blocks that are placed on the sides and the only solution is using your grappling hook to hook to the floor and pass the narrow gap, might add a .gif later to show what I mean.

By the pyramid trap, I meant this (not my image):
View attachment 434316

Thanks for the input. I use lava traps quite often I just never shaped them into a pyramid. And the grapple hook thing I use to know but just forgot about it. I’m going to add that to my map somewhere soon. I’m guessing the 2 block gap is in front of you while you aim angled through it at the floor above? …it’s been a while since I messed with that.