How to get the Chester pet in Terraria
Chester is the deer-like town pet with a story attached: you get it by beating Deerclops until it drops an Eye Bone, then handing that bone to the Guide. It is the best-value pet in Terraria, because the boss you need to kill is one you have to fight anyway.
The route, step by step
- Find the Guide. He is in your world from the start and moves into the first house you build. You need him for the last step.
- Kill Deerclops. It is a surface boss, and it is on your list regardless — it appears before any mechanical boss.
- Keep killing Deerclops until an Eye Bone drops. This is the only grind in the whole process.
- Talk to the Guide with the bone in your inventory. He consumes it and gives you the Chester pet.
- Chester follows you. Done.
Where Deerclops appears
Deerclops is a surface boss that spawns at night, anywhere on the surface, and it also shows up if you use a Suspicious Looking Eye before you have defeated the Eye of Cthulhu.
| Detail | Note |
|---|---|
| Time | Night, above ground |
| Trigger | Natural spawn, or a Suspicious Looking Eye used early |
| Difficulty | Low — it is the first real boss most players meet |
| Why you want it | The Eye Bone, which becomes the Chester pet |
What Chester does
Chester is a town pet, which means:
- It follows you around the world and lives in your town.
- It does not need a house. It will not take a housing slot away from a resident.
- It counts towards crowding in your NPCs' happiness calculations.
That last point is the only thing to watch. If you keep your NPCs in small pods for the solitude bonus, adding Chester inside the 25-tile radius can tip one of them out of it. The exact multipliers are in the NPC housing guide.
Why Chester is the best pet to chase
| Pet | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Chester | Kill a boss you must kill anyway, until a bone drops |
| Spiffo plush | Unlock a crossover and farm the themed loot pool |
| Junimo | Unlock a crossover and find a key item |
| Dirt Block | Grind underground enemies for a drop |
Chester is the only one where the hardest part is something the game was going to make you do anyway. If you are starting a pet collection, start here.