Mining and Crafting
Your gear in Terraria comes straight out of the ground, so follow natural cave systems instead of carving one straight tunnel down. Iron and lead matter most early because they make the anvil, the chain for grappling hooks, and Ironskin Potions, while gold and platinum give the best armor before the first major bosses. Group a furnace and an anvil together in one room so you can smelt ore and craft gear without running back and forth.
Your progression in Terraria depends entirely on what you pull out of the ground. The deeper you go, the better materials you find. This guide explains how to harvest ores efficiently and use them to craft better equipment.
Exploring the Underground
Surface chests provide basic potions and accessories, but the real loot lies underground. Grab plenty of torches, some wooden platforms, and start digging down. You want to look for natural cave systems instead of carving a straight tunnel the whole way. Natural caves expose more ore veins and contain underground cabins holding valuable chests.
Keep an eye out for pots. Break every pot you see. They drop bombs, ropes, and potions that make early exploration much easier. Use rope coils to descend steep drops safely. Throw glowsticks into water pools to light up submerged caves before jumping in. Since 1.4.5.7 you can right-click a glowstick, flare, or bomb lying in the world to pick it back up, so scouting a flooded cave no longer costs you the stack.
Watch the floor as much as the walls. Boulder traps are a boulder sitting in the cave ceiling wired to a pressure plate, and a boulder deals 140 damage on Classic, 280 on Expert, and 420 on Master. Since 1.4.5 new traps use actuators instead of active stone blocks, so you cannot spot them by looking for an out-of-place block any more. Find the pressure plate instead, and mine it out before you walk the corridor.
Essential Early Game Ores
The world generates with either copper or tin, iron or lead, silver or tungsten, and gold or platinum. The second metal in each pair gives slightly better armor and a slightly stronger pickaxe, with two exceptions worth knowing. Copper and tin pickaxes are tied at 35 percent power, and the Tungsten Pickaxe swings noticeably slower than the Silver despite mining more.
Iron and lead are the most important early game ores. You need them for an anvil, for chain, for buckets, and for Ironskin Potions. Mine every iron or lead vein you spot. One bar makes 15 chain at an anvil, which is most of a grappling hook.
Gold and platinum give you the best armor you can craft before the first major bosses, at 20 defense for platinum and 16 for gold. Their weapons are a different story. The Platinum Broadsword only does 16 damage, while a Starfury from a floating island chest does 25 and an Enchanted Sword from a shrine does 23, and neither needs a boss kill.
Prioritize a gold or platinum pickaxe anyway. A better pickaxe mines faster, and meteorite needs 50 pickaxe power. That threshold is why the pair you rolled matters. A Tungsten Pickaxe hits exactly 50 and can mine meteorite, but a Silver Pickaxe stops at 45 and cannot, so in a silver world gold is your first meteorite pick.
Setting Up Crafting Stations
A workbench only gets you so far. To process ores, you need to set up a proper crafting area.
First, craft a furnace. Stand by a workbench with 20 stone blocks, 4 of any wood, and 3 torches. Since 1.4.5 the stone can also be Ebonstone, Crimstone, or Pearlstone, and you can mix them. Nothing else counts, so granite, marble, and sandstone will not work. Place the furnace down and stand next to it to smelt your raw ore into metal bars.
Next, craft an iron or lead anvil. Take iron or lead bars to a workbench. Place the anvil near your furnace. The anvil is where you craft weapons, armor, and tools using metal bars.
Keep all your crafting stations grouped together in one room. This allows you to stand in the center and access all crafting recipes at once without running back and forth.
Using Gems and Grappling Hooks
While digging, you occasionally find gems embedded in stone blocks. Amethyst, topaz, sapphire, emerald, ruby, and diamond spawn randomly. Collect them to craft magic staves or gem hooks.
Gem staves were reworked in 1.4.5.7 and are worth more of your gems than they used to be. Each gem enchants its staff's shots with an effect unique to that gem, wearing a gem robe applies that robe's gem effect to your shots as well, and matching the staff to the robe raises the staff's shot damage. Metal cost for gem staves fell roughly 30 percent across the board.
A grappling hook fundamentally changes how you move through caves. The basic Grappling Hook takes 3 chain and 1 hook at an iron or lead anvil, and skeletons, undead miners, and piranhas all drop the hook. Gem hooks take 15 gems of one type at the same anvil, but check the gem before you commit. The Amethyst Hook has the same 18.75 tile reach as the basic hook and fires slower, so it is a straight downgrade, and amethyst is the gem you will find most of. Topaz reaches 20.6 tiles, ruby 26.25, and diamond 28.125. This tool lets you latch onto ceilings, catch yourself mid-fall, and easily cross wide gaps. It is a mandatory mobility upgrade for the early game.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do you need to craft a furnace in Terraria?
Stand next to a workbench with 20 stone blocks, 4 of any wood, and 3 torches. Since 1.4.5, Ebonstone, Crimstone, and Pearlstone also count as stone for this one recipe. Granite, marble, and sandstone do not.
Which early ore should you prioritize in Terraria?
Iron and lead are the most important. You need them for an anvil, for chain, for buckets, and for Ironskin Potions, so mine every vein you spot. One bar makes 15 chain at an anvil.
How do you get a grappling hook early in Terraria?
Craft the basic Grappling Hook from 3 chain and 1 hook at an iron or lead anvil, since skeletons and piranhas drop the hook. Gem hooks take 15 gems of one type at the same anvil, but only topaz and above out-reach the basic hook. The Amethyst Hook is a downgrade.
Should you dig straight down in Terraria?
Follow natural cave systems instead. Caves expose more ore veins and contain underground cabins holding valuable chests.
Why should you break pots in Terraria?
Pots drop bombs, ropes, and potions that make early exploration much easier. Break every pot you see while you are underground.
What to Read Next
- NPCs and Housing. Housing the Merchant and Nurse near your crafting hub.
- Boss Progression. The gear thresholds each Pre-Hardmode boss expects.
- Combat Classes. Choosing which ore armor set to commit your bars to.
- Getting Started. The shelter and starter gear that come before deep mining.