What is the most effective method of containing the hallow/corruption?

Stonetribe

Terrarian
Hello all. I'm just now excitingly getting back into terraria after learning of the 1.3 update. I very much enjoy the game, but there's just one thing that bothers me. The constant spreading of the hallow and corruption has always intimidated me. So I was wondering if some of the more experienced players could tell me the best way to stop the spreading (both above and below ground) and contain them into their own sperate biomes.

Would anyone be able to help me by chance?
 
There will undoubtedly be many different viewpoints on this one. Go with whatever matches how you like to play the game. :)

Here's what I do. I admit that I am part of the over-prepared|take-my-time|go-slow playthrough group.
  • Before hardmode (not right before, this happens early in the playthrough like after I get a decent pickaxe) I dig tunnels around the existing corruption. A six block wide gap down, across, up encasing the corruption.
  • When hardmode starts I smash all the altars I want*, then protect my base. From spawn, I go west until I hit corruption or hallow. Dig down. When I hit corruption or hallow again, start digging right until I hit my hellevator. Then from spawn, go east until I hit corruption or hallow. Dig down until I hit corruption/hallow, then start digging left until hellevator. I do six block wide tunnels since it's easy that way. Digging down you'll do three pass throughs (since digging down you do two block wide) and digging left/right you'll do two pass throughs (since you dig three blocks tall).
  • I'll also go and prevent the new corruption/hallow from spreading on the surface, digging hellevators on either side of it. It can spread all it wants inside the tunnel, but I don't want it going more than that.
*One of my newest favorites is fishing and getting crates full of ore/bars so that I don't have to smash any altars at all. That is what I'm doing on this playthrough. Fishing like crazy and saving all my crates to be opened in hardmode to get hardmode ores means I won't be adding any new corruption/hallow to my world other than the initial 'V' that happens when you kill the Wall of a Flesh.

But again, there will be many differing views. Some say let it go until you can clentaminate. Some say make your spawn into hallow. I like my corruption and hallow contained. Go with whatever suits your style.
 
Usually I resort to natural things (living trees, pyramids) and making 3-wide gaps on the edge of corruption. Hallow rarely spreads to places I don't want it to.
 
I normally using hay to block it from surface.
And using lots of bomb to dig tunnels for the underground.
 
I'm with Unit One on this, including both early containment and fishing for Crates to avoid random Crimson/Corruption spawning.

In my only hardmode world so far, Thisbe, I waited until I had a Light Reaver Shark, about the best pre-hardmode digging tool you can get, before mining around the Crimson. I also walled off the Crimson side of each containment trench with wood* so thorn plants couldn't bridge the gap and spread Crimson across it. Thorns won't grow below a certain level (the Underground/Cavern boundary, I think) so the casing doesn't have to reach all the way to Hell.

After defeating WoF you'll need to tunnel around the new Crimson/Corruption and Hallow biomes, but you'll have hardmode ores and bars from all the Crates you fished up, so you can make gear to defend yourself while doing that.

Turns out I missed a few places while containing the "V", which meant going back to clean up after beating Plantera (when the spreading slows down to one third its early hardmode rate). No trouble; by then I had a Clentaminator and plenty of Green Solution. Now I've got Shroomite Digging Claws and can tunnel at warp speed.

There is one small drawback. You won't get random Pirate Invasion events if you never smash any altars, which you won't need to do if you play this way. Grind a little while in an Ocean biome to earn Pirate Maps to invoke them.

Yes, Bob is my uncle. :dryadhappy:

[edit] * You can use clay instead of wood, or any of a number of blocks that can't be corrupted.
 
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Well, it varies from person to person how may you do that.

Add a size of world to that, as large one would require lots of time, even with Reaver Shark pre-HM. Digging hellevator and other tunnels might not fit for someone and it can destroy the world a bit.

Getting crates is pretty standard and having lots of them, especially the golden ones, can make you swim in HM ore bars, that's no doubt. Breaking altars may lead Mechanical Bosses to appear as well as the Pirate Invasion and random block of Hallow/Corruption/Crimson.

So for someone who doesn't want to destroy their worlds with tunnels, it's possible to use Clentaminator. It was very good reach and its ammo goes off somewhat slowly, if you just hold the button. Main drawback is that you can do that only after killing one one of the Mechs and you have to put some money into it. It pays off with the fact you can quickly destroy biomes, while trying to retain them, by grabbing some of the blocks. If you banish all or at least most of these, you can make artificial biomes just to keep drops and cover them with blocks that can't spread these. Most preferably 3-4 of them around to each side. You won't bump into them never again and you can farm in these you've made yourself. And since you'll be doing this in HM, it should go faster.

Of course this is my way and I prefer it over making holes everywhere. I combine it with RoD as well.
 
Thank you all for replying and offering your feedback. I'm thinking I might try to predict where the hallow/corruption V strips will form pre-hard mode and dig 2 separate vertical tunnels to "catch" the majority of each and let them spread in that walled of area, and dig a third little box around the lower middle part of the world near hell where the V strips collide to be dealt with later. Then I would try to use purification powder to clean up anything that spawned outside of the contained areas. Would that by chance be feasible? Or make any sense for that matter?
 
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