There are many eventsinTerrariathat pit a mass of enemies against the player, such as Blood Moons, but none of them are quite as challenging to defend against as a Goblin Army. Learning how to defend against this event is not only important to keep NPCs safe, but it's also essential for progressing the game.
The Goblin Tinkerer, which provides the Reforge function, the Tinkerer's Workshop, and the Rocket Boots, will not spawn until the Goblin Army is defeated at least once.The Tinkerer's Workshop is essentialfor crafting high-tier items that willtip the scales of balance towards the player when they tackle Terraria's bosses and other events.
Related:How to Obtain the Terraspark Boots in Terraria
Once the player has successfully defeated the Goblin Army, the Goblin Tinkerer will spawn randomly underground for the player to find. Once discovered, they will move into an NPC home once the playerhas one readily built.
How to Trigger a Goblin Invasion in Terraria
For starters, a Goblin Army event, also known as a Goblin Invasion, has a lot of requirements to trigger in Terraria. The player must be near the World Spawn, have at least 200 health or more, at least one Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart needs to have been destroyed, and there can't be another Goblin Invasion in progress.
If all requirements are met, the Goblin Army event has a one-in-three chance totrigger at 4:30 am game time until it is defeated. After the first army is defeated, the chance for the event to trigger drops to one in thirty. After Hardmode begins,the chancefurther drops to one in sixty. It can also be manually triggered by using a Goblin Battle Standard item, even if a Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart hasn't been destroyed yet.
Thankfully, these requirements are strict. If the player manages to accidentally trigger the event, they should already be strong enough tofight the Goblin Army. The next step is simply preparing for the event. When the Goblin Invasion begins in Terraria, the player will receive a message that a Goblin Army is approaching from the east or west, indicating which side of the screen they will spawn from.
Before the Goblin Invasion is triggered, the player should keep their Terraria NPCs from being accessed by mobs. The Goblin Thief can open doors, allowing goblins to attack and kill NPCs. Furthermore, Goblin Peons will break doors, which will cause NPCs to despawn until their houses are fixed. Because of this, it's important to keep goblins from being able to access houses entirely.
If players don't want to change much about their town, they can place blocks outside of doors to trap NPCs inside. This will keep goblins from being able to do anything to them, but this can be tedious and inefficient depending on the town size. The best course of action is to elevate NPC housing and form a hotel-like town that goblins can't reach.Players should builda staircase leading up totheirtownwhile keeping the town itself floating six or so blocks above ground. NPCs will be able to come and go freely, and when the Goblin Invasion triggers, they can simply remove a few pieces of the staircase to prevent access to the NPC homes.
Below the player's town, depending on the Terraria seed, the ground should be kept straight and extend a few hundred blocks in either direction. This should giveplayers enough space to run, jump, and maneuver if the goblins begin overwhelming them. Alternatively, the player could also build a sky bridge arena above their home. They simply need to be on the bridge above the world spawn, and the Goblin Invasion will begin.
Recommended Gear For Fighting The Goblin Army in Terraria
Terraria's Goblin Army is versatile, andplayers need the right equipment to successfully defeat the event. For the best possible outcome, players should equip themselves with Ranged Weapons, such as Assault Rifles, Bows, Gem Rods, Spears, or Flails. Gem Rods fire continuously and can help players keep the Goblin Army from getting close to them. Likewise, Spears and Flails can take out several goblins at once. Spikey Balls are also helpful, as goblins follow fighter AI and will just walk into them.
If players are using Gem Rods, the Diamond Robe is a necessity for the Goblin Army. While it only provides three defense, it also increases the player's maximum mana by 80, and reduces mana usage by 15%. It can be paired with Platinum Greaves to provide an extra five defense. A Platinum Crown can provide another five defense, but players can defeat Tim and getTerraria's Wizard Hat, which provides the Wizard set bonus of an additional 10% magic critical strike chance.
Finally, Hermes Boots and some form of Grappling Hook are a must. These will increase the player's speed by 40%, allowing them to outrun the Goblin Army if they need to escape. The Grappling Hook will also allow players to quickly move over large hordes of goblins that may accumulate around them. Hermes Boots and Grappling Hooks can be found in chests in Terraria's Underground Biomes and Cavern layers, and Gem-Hooks can be crafted at a crafting bench.
TheGoblin Army in Teraria is exactly that, an army. Eighty goblins will spawn over the course of the event, with an extra forty goblins who will spawn for each player with 200 health or more. The army is composed of Goblin Peons, Goblin Thieves, Goblin Warriors, Goblin Archers, and Goblin Sorcerers.Goblin Peons are only two blocks tall and run very fast, along with being able to break open doors. Most of the army will be contrived of Goblin Thieves, who run and open doors quickly, and Goblin Warriors, whoare basic fighter mobs that can open doors as well, albeit slowly. Finally, there are the ranged classes: Goblin Archers and Goblin Sorcerers. Goblin Archers shoot arrows whenever the player is standing still, and Goblin Sorcerers shoot Chaos Balls that can travel through walls towards the player. Goblin Sorcerers can also teleport, which can provide a unique challenge to overcome.
When fighting the army, Goblin Archers should be any player's priority. Their arrows cannot be blocked by anything other than solid blocks, and because they normally fire their arrows at the same time, a single barrage from arrows can instantly kill the player. Continually hitting them with a melee weapon or a ranged weapon will prevent them from attacking at all, and they have a relatively weak defense compared to many mobs in Terraria.Players should be wary of any archers preparing for an attack from behind, however.
Terraria's Goblin Sorcererscan be easier or more difficult to fair against than their counterparts. If the player's home is on-screen, the Sorcerers can simply teleport inside their home and attack from above (or below) while being behind cover. This can make the fight a challenge, but this can be solved by running away from any buildings on screen, forcing the Sorcerer to teleport in the open. Their Chaos Balls can also be blocked by projectiles and melee attacks. By focusing ranged fire at their heads, players can prevent Sorcerers from being able to attack entirely.
Thankfully, Goblin Warriors, Thieves, and Peons behave similarly to most other fighter mobs in the game. They can be dispatched easily, so long as players can keep from getting hit or outnumbered. While there is one last enemy, it does not spawn with the horde until Terraria's Hardmode is activated. This enemy is the Goblin Summoner, who summons Shadowflame Apparitions that behave similarly to ghosts. Goblin Summoners are often mentioned as mini-bosses due to their high-tier loot drops.
When the Goblin Army is defeated, players can expect to be able to collect an assortment of spikey balls and, if they're lucky, a harpoon. Killing the Goblin Summoner allows players the chance to collect Shadowflame Hex Dolls, Knives, and Bows. Goblins can also drop the banner of their respective type.
Next:Terraria Sells Over 35 Million Copies Across All Platforms
Terrariais available now on PC, MacOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Android, and iOS.
