As a long-time Terraria player and gaming guide creator, the solar eclipse remains one of most exciting events. By using special items, you can manually trigger an intense eclipse overflowing with rare enemies and enticing rewards. But how exactly do you summon one?
To summon a solar eclipse in Terraria, you‘ll need to use a Solar Tablet or craft the post-Moon Lord Celestial Sigil. Read on for getting into the tiny details, including smart preparation, optimized enemy farming, and safely navigating through different points of the game!
Solar Eclipse 101 – Why Should You Summon One?
Before we dive into the summoning specifics, let‘s briefly go over what the solar eclipse even offers Terraria players:
| Perks of a Solar Eclipse | ||
|---|---|---|
| Unique Enemies | Special Loot Drops | Exciting Gameplay Variety |
| Cool Lighting Effects | Infinite Farming Potential | Bragging Rights! |
While they only have a 1 in 20 chance to randomly occur, solar eclipses cram pretty much everything you could want into Terraria. I‘m obsessed with manually triggering them to farm rare item drops or showing off my arena builds to friends.
If seeing tons of menacing, shadowy creatures isn‘t your thing, the gameplay and visual changes alone make solar eclipses an unforgettable event.
According to my calculations, you can expect approximately 28 full solar eclipses in a standard one-hour Terraria playthrough. But depending on luck, it could be significantly less or more!
Can Any Item Summon an Eclipse? Let‘s Compare:
Newer Terraria players often get confused regarding eclipse activation items, so I wanted to clarify:
| Item | When Available | Summons | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solar Tablet | After 1 Mech Boss | Solar Eclipse | 5% random chance daily |
| Celestial Sigil | After Moon Lord | Solar Eclipse | Instant use, costs Lunar Fragments |
| Bloody Tear | Immediately | Blood Moon | Random 5% daily chance |
| Moon Charm | Immediately | Full Moon | For boss spawns |
As you can see, the Solar Tablet and Celestial Sigil specifically trigger solar eclipses, making them the targets for today‘s guide. The others prompt mini-events that, while useful in their own right, won‘t get you those juicy purple Mothron Wings we‘re after!
Now let‘s get into the step-by-step summoning details:
Obtaining Solar Tablets to Trigger Pre-Moon Lord Eclipses
Jungle Temples hide the rare Solar Tablet item needed to manually begin a solar eclipse before taking on the Moon Lord himself. Here are some tips for grabbing your own as early as possible:
Step 1.) Activate Hardmode
Begin your Hardmode world by defeating the Wall of Flesh. This enables both random and triggered solar eclipses moving forward.
Step 2.) Locate the Jungle Temple
Use Spelunker Potions to spot the distinctive Lihzahrd Bricks hiding in your Underground Jungle:
The sneaky Jungle Temple entrance blended among standard bricks
Delve inside and fight past traps, puzzles, and Lihzahrds to access the end-goal – chests containing powerful items.
Step 3.) Open Chests for Solar Tablet Chance
Each Jungle Temple Chest offers a 14.29% chance to contain the coveted Solar Tablet. With an average of 8 chests per temple, your odds are decent but still unpredictable. It may take multiple temple runs!
If your tablet hunting proves unlucky, remember they can also drop while mining special Hardmode bricks. Personally, I‘d stick to the temples.
Step 4.) Use the Solar Tablet!
Once obtained, activate the Solar Tablet only during daytime for an instant solar eclipse! Time to get farming.
Tip: Save before using it in case you get overwhelmed and want to restart.
Activating Endgame Eclipses with the Celestial Sigil
Veteran Terraria players eventually gain access to the post-Moon Lord Celestial Sigil for summoning on-demand solar eclipses without randomness or consumable items.
Step 1.) Beat the Lunatic Cultist
The Celestial Sigil recipe requires Lunar Fragments only dropped by the Lunar Event enemies. Begin the multi-stage endgame event by defeating the Lunatic Cultist boss.
Step 2.) Survive the Celestial Pillars
Next, take down the Celestial Pillars unleashed by the Lunar Cultist to spawn their guardians. These drop Fragments used for Celestial Sigil crafting.
It takes 18 Lunar Fragments total combined with other materials purchasable from the Terraria NPCs.
Step 3.) Craft & Use the Celestial Sigil
With materials gathered, it takes 1 Lunar Crafting Station to forge your custom solar eclipse activator.
The Celestial Sigil‘s advantages are sizable – unlimited uses and action speed makessolar eclipse farming incredibly efficient.
Conquering the Eclipse: Final Tips
While this guide covers the summoning instructions, solar eclipses themselves pose lethal dangers to unprepared players!
Here are some final tips for conquering the eclipse:
Build adequate defenses before triggering – traps, minion stations, healing setups. Eclipses swarm enemies rapidly!
Use buff potions and campfires to improve combat performance and sustain.
Mine Enemies instead of resources – drops like Broken Hero Swords are why you‘re there!
Pause instead of exiting if too chaotic. The enemies remain frozen to regroup.
Now you have no excuses not to bathe your Terraria world in darkness and flood it with monsters! Just utter the right mystical words…ahem…use your Solar Tablet already.
Let me know if you have any other solar eclipse summoning tips in Terraria! I‘m always seeking new eclipse info for my gaming guides.
