Terraria boss summon table: every boss, every condition, one list
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Twenty-six bosses, and every one of them has a condition attached — a biome, a time of day, a dungeon item, an item in your inventory. Checking each one against a wiki is slow, and getting it wrong means an hour of searching for a fight that cannot spawn. Here is the whole list on one page.
Filter by how you trigger the fight
| Boss | How to trigger it | Biome / place | Time | Key drop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eye of Cthulhu | Use a Suspicious Looking Eye, or let it spawn | Surface, anywhere | Night | Suspicious Looking Eye, lenses |
| King Slime | Use a Solid Surface, or let it spawn | Surface, anywhere | Any | Solid Surface, Slime Crown |
| Eater of Worlds | Break 3 Shadow Orbs, or use a Suspicious Looking Eye | Surface, anywhere | Night | Blade of Darkness |
| Brain of Cthulhu | Break 3 Crimson Orbs, or use a Suspicious Looking Eye | Surface, anywhere | Night | Light's Bane, Confused Brain |
| Deerclops | Natural spawn | Surface, anywhere | Night | Eye Bone (becomes the Chester pet) |
| Queen Bee | Use an Abeemination, or break the Jungle hive | Underground Jungle | Any | Seedler's Brooch, Bee Wax |
| Skeletron | Destroy the Mechanical Eye in the Dungeon | Dungeon, underground | Night | Skeletron Head, armor pieces |
| Wall of Flesh | Talk to the Guide and offer the guide's lamp | Underworld, in the lava | Any | Wall of Flesh drop, Hardmode unlocks |
| Destroyer | Destroy the probe at the bottom of the Dungeon | Anywhere | Night | Mechanical Souls |
| Twins | Destroy both Retinazers in the Dungeon | Anywhere | Night | Mechanical Souls |
| Skeletron Prime | Destroy the Skeletron Head in the Dungeon | Anywhere | Night | Mechanical Souls, The Horseman's Blade |
| Eye of Cthulhu (Servant) | Servants of Cthulhu from Hardmode enemies | Surface | Night | Servant of Cthulhu |
| Eater of Worlds (Servant) | Hardmode Vile Spine in the Corruption | Corruption | Night | Servant of Cthulhu |
| Queen Slime | Use a Gelatin Crystal | Underground Hallow | Any | Solid Surface, Slime Staff |
| Dungeon Guardian | Destroy a Dungeon Guardian and use its Spiked Ball | Dungeon, underground | Any | Shadow Scale, Dungeon armor |
| King Slime (Slime rain) | Natural spawn during a Slime Rain event | Surface, anywhere | Any | Solid Surface |
| Solar Pillar boss | Attack the Solar Pillar | Snow biome | Night | Sunfury, Solar Fragments |
| Voidal Pillar boss | Attack the Voidal Pillar | Desert biome | Night | Voidal Furcer, fragments |
| Stardust Pillar boss | Attack the Stardust Pillar | Underground | Night | Stardust Dragon Staff, new whips |
| Nebula Pillar boss | Attack the Nebula Pillar | Surface, above ground | Night | Nebula Fragment, Nebula Piggy Bank |
| Plantera | Break the three large pink bulbs | Underground Jungle | Any | Plantera Hook, Hardmode ores |
| Golem | Break the two plants at the Temple entrance | Temple, jungle | Any | Golem Fist, Solar Tablet |
| Duke Fishron | Find a Written Water pillar column in the Ocean | Ocean | Night | Fishron Wing, Truffle Worm |
| Empress of Light | Defeat Hallow enemies after Plantera | Underground Hallow | Any | Hallowed gear, Empress Butterfly |
| Fairy Queen | Use a Life Crystal in the jungle | Underground Jungle | Night | Soaring Insignia, Hallowed gear |
| Santa Claus | Stop him during a Christmas event | Surface, Snow biome | Night | Christmas presents |
| Mechdusa | Mechanical bosses fought together | Anywhere | Night | Combined mechanical drops |
| Moon Lord | Use a Celestial Sigil after the four pillars | Anywhere | Night | Celestial Shells, Solar Tablet |
The only four you actually need
| Boss | Why it is required |
|---|---|
| Eye of Cthulhu | Gives the Suspicious Looking Eye, and the Wall of Flesh needs a Guide's Lamp |
| Wall of Flesh | Unlocks Hardmode entirely |
| The three mechanical bosses | Destroyer, Twins, Skeletron Prime — all three, to trigger Plantera |
| Plantera | Unlocks Hardmode ores and the Temple, and triggers the Golem and the Empress of Light |
Everything else on the table is optional. The Golem, the Duke Fishron and the Empress of Light are all optional for the Moon Lord — but you need all three to summon it, which trips up a lot of players who skip the Empress of Light early and then cannot summon the final boss.
<strong>Warning:</strong> The Moon Lord needs all three optional bosses. Many players do Plantera, then Golem and Duke Fishron, then skip the Empress of Light because she is hard — and then find they cannot summon the Moon Lord. She is the fight that gates the ending.
The most common "I cannot find this boss" problems
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| Mechanical bosses never appear | You need to destroy the right Dungeon piece first, and it is night only |
| Plantera will not appear | You are in the wrong jungle — it must be the underground jungle, and you break the three large bulbs, not the small ones |
| The Wall of Flesh will not spawn | You need a Guide's Lamp, and the Guide must be alive and housed |
| Duke Fishron will not appear | You need a Written Water pillar column in the Ocean, and it is night only |
| Pillar bosses will not appear | It is night only, and the pillar must be the right biome |
The Eye of Cthulhu can be fought in daylight if you use a Suspicious Looking Eye, and it is dramatically easier. If you are stuck, wait for morning.
For the recommended sequence rather than just the conditions, see the boss order guide. For the fights themselves, see the Hardmode boss guide.
What is the fastest way to check Terraria boss summon conditions?
This table. Every boss in the game with the exact condition, the biome, the time of day and whether it is required for progression, so you are not re-deriving it from a wiki page each time.
Do I have to fight all Terraria bosses in order?
No. Only three mechanical bosses and the Wall of Flesh are required for Hardmode progression, and the Moon Lord requires three specific bosses. Everything else is optional.
Which Terraria bosses are optional?
The Golem, the Duke Fishron and the Empress of Light are optional for the Moon Lord, even though all three are needed to summon it. The Empress of Light is the only source of Hallowed and Imp gear.
Why can I not find a Terraria boss?
Most bosses have a biome and a time of day attached. The Eater of Worlds and the Brain of Cthulhu come from using a Suspicious Looking Eye at night, and the mechanical bosses only spawn at night after you have destroyed the right dungeon piece.
Can I fight Terraria bosses out of order?
You can fight almost any boss at any point, but the order determines how well-geared you are for each fight. The boss order guide covers the recommended sequence.