As I stated yesterday, I had reached the precipice of Terraria's content where my fore-knowledge ended and the newness of the game's offerings began. Specifically with the boss named The Wall of Flesh which is then immediately followed by what is rather appropriately called "Hard Mode". It's not difficult to imagine that I have indeed surpassed the challenge of the Wall of Flesh and entered Hard Mode, and it is so, but it's not exactly...what I was expecting. Or hoping for. Which is where I begin to get a little grumbly about it, because of just how the game deigns to earn that 'Hard Mode' descriptor.
Hard Mode is hard because the entire caste of enemies has been upgraded and expanded on to a ridiculous amount - no longer are Zombies your only concern at night, but Werewolves, Armored Skeletons, Skeleton Archers and Phantasms roam the ground, where Demon Eyes have been joined by Wraiths which go straight through walls and ignores all barriers, meaning you cannot simply box yourself in and remain safe. Below ground is the same deal, with Illuminant Slimes and Bats joining Creepers and Giant Bats and Spectral Swords and Shadow Hammers (both of which similarly ignore barriers like Wraiths) and Mimics. All of these have inflated health values and defenses that necessitate weapons better than you'll likely have because Hard Mode begins with absolutely no aplomb or changeover, and you're stuck getting right into it. The Wall of Flesh might leave you a weapon - it left me a Buster Sword, yes like Cloud's - but I don't know that it's guaranteed, and thus you might stand a chance of being thrust into this changed version of your world without the proper tools to protect yourself.
Something that the Wall of Flesh is guaranteed to drop is the Pwnhammer, a hammer that has the ability to destroy Demon Altars, which are scattered through the caverns and corruption of your world. Goal Number One of Hard Mode is, without a doubt, to find three Demon Altars and destroy them. Doing so will release new ores into your world and these new ores are powerful as tools and as armor both. Of course, by 'release new ores into your world', I mean certain blocks in your world will be changed -into- ore blocks which means you get to search your entire world all over again. While everything wants to, and is more than capable of killing you. Now, I'm not sure exactly how much of 1.2 is in the Console version of Terraria, so let's make it simple - the first Demon Altar will spawn Cobalt, the second will spawn Mythril and the third and final one will spawn Adamantite. (If 1.2 was present, there could be a chance of them being Palladium, Orichalcum and Titanium respectively)
You want Cobalt Ore right away. Cobalt is used to make a Cobalt Drill or Cobalt Pickaxe which is the entry-tier pick/drill that can mine Mythril. You then need to make a Mythril Pickaxe or Drill to finally mine Adamantite. It's very padded and drawn-out, and while you make other, important things with these ores as well, it's a little frustrating on its head. Especially at the start when you're vulnerable, desperately seeking out Cobalt with every monster and its brother bearing down your neck. Perhaps there are some that find a thrill in that. Were I not sick, maybe I would too. I doubt it, but it's possible. No, all I feel is a slight miff and annoyance, especially when Cobalt is, for some reason, exceedingly difficult to spot while playing the game. If you'll note the screenshot I used for this post - the sizable blue mass in the bottom right corner is all cobalt. It was only after taking that shot, uploading it to Flickr and linking it here that I actually saw it which was, of course, a while after I had died and began on my next task of making a proper storage room because my damn backpack fills up far too fast now.
I haven't actually delved too far into it. I don't even have enough Cobalt for the purposes of making a pick or a drill because of the reasons stated, and the only reason I know what I know is because I did cheat a bit and look up a wiki for it. Since I found some of all three ores, but couldn't mine a single one of them. This is because Cobalt requires a Molten Pickaxe which is actually a downgrade from the Nightmare pickaxe despite being of higher 'quality' and that downgrade has expedited my search for Cobalt which has, in turn, made my search more difficult. It's a vicious cycle, I'm sure you can tell as much. It also does not do too much to breed 'fun' in a game that I was otherwise enjoying prior to the Wall of Flesh which was, by the by, a pain in the ass as a boss fight because Ranged-Only Boss Fights are almost always terrible as an idea.
Not to say that I'm bitter! It all just relies on me actually getting the ball rolling so I can get the tools and get the gear and then be at the place where I was at the end of Normal Mode again, where I'm just comfortable building and exploring and enjoying. It's just that I -was- there and now I'm not, so it's a bit jarring. The padding of the ores is honestly the only thing that really bothers me as it just seems blatant - you have three new ores, so it's a little...silly to require each one for the next, since that leaves the best as little else than a prize in terms of mining equipment, even when its true desire is thus in armor and weapons. There should be -something- that only Adamantite can mine, is my point, if just to make it worth it. Oh well. I guess the first step is just finding the area from that screenshot again and getting all of that Cobalt!
it's such a nice blue color, how the hell do I miss it so easily?
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