How I beat Terraria’s Calamity Mod Hardcore – Full Movie

How I beat Terraria’s Calamity Mod Hardcore – Full Movie

Terraria is a game that’s been around since  2011. Throughout the years, and all of the uhh,   ‘final updates’ many players from across the world  have attempted to carve their names into the games   long history. As time has gone on, people have  pushed the game further and further. Today,  

I’ll be showing you how I managed to push  through one of the hardest, most unfair,   most punishing challenges. Welcome to  Death Mode, Master Mode, Hardcore.   For those unfamiliar, Calamity is the 4th most  downloaded mod, and easily the biggest content  

Mod. Calamity adds two new difficulties,  Revengeance and Death that add way too much   for me to cover everything, but to keep it  simple, they make everything way harder.   Nobody on YouTube was crazy enough to try this  before me, and I’ve only seen one person claim  

Online to do this. So if you’d like to help  mend the damage these runs did to my brain,   you could subscri- BRO. THIS VIDEO IS LONG. GET  TO THE IMPORTANT STUFF. YOU KNOW I BET THIS ISN’T  

EVEN THAT HARD ANYW- IT IS HARD. I PROMISE.  LET THE FIRST GUY TALK AGAIN, OK. FINE.   My assistant who definitely isn’t just me with a  weird filter has given me a video presentation on   why Death Master Hardcore is so difficult. Yeah, it’s a lot, but it gets worse. The first  

118 of these runs were done in Malice Mode, a  difficulty so terrible and poorly balanced it   ended up getting removed from the mod.  As for the runs after the first 118,   I added something else to make it harder,  but I’ll explain it when we get there.  

For now, let me show you the first attempt. I’m sure that this doesn’t have any implications   for future runs! uhh okay fine  there’s a death montage.   Oh, well I’m sure this doesn’t tell  us how the rest of this is gonna   go…cue the montage already. Ugh, clearly that’s not working,  

Let me just, uhh. There we go!   It took 87 attempts, but a boss was finally  down! Even if it was only King Slime and I   immediately got folded by Desert Scourge, it was  nice to have some serious progress on the board.  

Things slowed down until attempt 114, where I made  a massive leap in progress. I’d love to show you,   but I ended up deleting it to make space to record  more runs. I do have the last two bosses recorded,  

Though. To fill in the gap between King Slime  and this run, I employed the most talented artist   to ever walk the earth to craft a perfect video  explaining what happened to the other bosses.   Here’s the two bosses, the only  remaining footage of Attempt 114.  

If you’re wondering what killed Attempt 114,  it was The Destroyer. Not really sure how the   fight went, but it was Malice Mode Destroyer, so I  probably got ruined. This massive leap in progress   was nice, but I was hit with news only a few  runs later that would change the run forever.  

Malice Mode was removed from the game. In its place, Attempt 119 would be the first where   I used Nightmare Fuel, an item designed to make  boss fights more difficult, and to make a strategy   I call heal stall completely impossible. Allow me to explain.  

Nightmare Fuel is the name of the mod that I’ve  created to assist me with this playthrough. It   adds a few quality of life features to streamline  the most tedious parts of Hardcore runs,   which I’ll explain as they come up. But the  main thing is that it adds a new item called  

The “Nightmare Fuel” Creative, right? The effects of the Nightmare Fuel item are   activated just by holding it in your inventory. Upon summoning a boss,   a ‘Max Hit’ counter activates. Each hit you take increases the   counter until it hits 10, which instantly kills  you with a nice, encouraging chat message.  

The only way to avoid the counter increasing  is through the use of a dodge accessory or   a set bonus like the Hallowed Armor. This Eye of Cthulhu fight demonstrates how   the hitcap works, and as you can see each time I  take damage, the number appears right above me.  

This is the very encouraging  death message, by the way.   You’d think having no Malice Mode would make my  life easier, so what attempt am I on now? 130,   150 even, maybe 170? No, I was at 252. That is  138 deaths. I over doubled my death count without  

Even making a sliver of progress. But it wasn’t  all bad news, I had discovered something in the   Calamity discord, and I wanted to test it. I had  spent month after month throwing myself against a   brick wall over and over, but now I actually  had a glimmer of hope, so what was it?  

No, no, no. You’re kidding, The “glimmer  of hope” is not a random pre-hardmode   summon weapon. Actually, it is! On the 7th of  October, 2022, The Calamity Mod had an update,   reworking the Dank Staff, and it was busted. The damage of the weapon was buffed from 7 to 16,  

Not only that but the velocity  of the minion was tripled.   Because of the damage and speed  increase, this weapon was overperforming,   even in hardmode! This thing was beating  out all of the best summons pre-hardmode,   and it sounds like a joke, but it could  even compete with Post-Golem summons.  

With this knowledge, my new strategy was  born: Rush the weapon as fast as I could.   The Hive Mind might not be the  easiest boss to kill early,   but getting the Dank Staff allows me to melt  through the rest of Pre-Hardmode easily.  

While I fight Skeletron Prime, let me tell  you something else. There was also another   broken summoner weapon at the time. The early  hardmode Mounted Scanner was also overperforming   in the exact same way the Dank Staff was.  Defeating Prime gave me access to the second  

Tier of hardmode ore, making it obtainable. I barely had to try for the mech bosses, and so   I thought Plantera wouldn’t be too much worse. I  carved out a basic arena, ready to take her on.  

This was the first death that actually stung. Each  death before this one was just a gameplay error,   this one was a planning error too. These  broken weapons lead to overconfidence,   and I didn’t prepare my arena properly. Plantera’s  spore clouds blended into the background walls,  

Making it really hard for me to see where it  was safe and where it wasn’t. I was not just   disappointed in myself, but I was also out of  time, because the Calamity patch came out.   Two certain weapons were changed. The Dank Staff was nerfed back into its  

Rightful place. 16 damage back to 7, and the extra  velocity did stay, but the time between attacks   was changed from 10 frames to 24. These changes  made sense, and the staff was now balanced,   you could even say perfectly. The Mounted Scanner though,  

Was completely butchered. The fire rate was cut  by 73%. This weapon is basically useless now,   as there are plenty of strong summon weapons  at this tier that just outclass it.   It may take a while, but I’ll get back to this  point without these weapons. I have to.  

62 attempts later, I had a more refined  strategy, one that was honest. The Sea’s   Searing and Slithering Eels made for  an excellent early hardmode carry.   It even felt better against Plantera,  especially with an arena painted black,   letting me see projectiles clearly. This made the Plantera fight much more doable,  

And this time it was a successful fight! Then I took on the Calamitas Clone, not sure   what to expect, nor my best options. I reached the end phase,   but died to the bullet hell. This was the third crushing loss,  

And I couldn’t handle it anymore. At this point,  my mental state was not just in decline, but   broken. My real life was doing just as bad as this  run was too. It was finally time to give up. It’s  

Clear this wasn’t sustainable for my wellbeing. A lot changed over these 4 months. Things got a   hell of a lot worse, but then things started  to get better. It was the toughest part of   my life for sure. There was a lot of  confrontation with my darkest thoughts,  

And I had to learn how to move beyond them. But I still had a lingering feeling… one that   dragged me right back here. It felt  like it was finally time to return,   and cut this thread hooking into my flesh. It was now 2023, the year had turned over,  

And it felt good to be back! I quit after attempt  314, and it only took 7 attempts for me to get a   new best run, taking down Calamitas. Not too  long after, on attempt 343, I tied that run,   358 followed, tying it again. Instead of  being disappointed to not make any progress,  

My mindset had shifted, and I was happy since I  knew I was becoming more and more consistent. 375   was a new best, taking down Astrum Aureus before  falling to the Leviathan. Consistency is great,   but I wanted a breakthrough… and 2 attempts  later, 377, I found that breakthrough.  

This run went great, and while I was a little  disappointed in how close I was to winning that   fight, This was the largest leap in progress  in a while. Not only that, but I formed some  

New strategies in my head… All I needed now was  a good run to pull it off. Little did I know,   I wouldn’t end up waiting very long. 377 was a great run, a little disappointing   to lose so close to the end of the fight for sure,  

But it was the largest leap in progress in  a while. Strategies for not just that fight,   but bosses after were forming in my  head. I knew I could make a huge leap,   all I needed was a good run. Little did I  know, I wouldn’t have to wait very long.  

While my death to a normal enemy sucked,  it taught me a lesson. I didn’t realise how   much damage pillar enemies could even  do. It was disappointing, but still,   this much progress in just two attempts is  completely unheard of. 8 attempts later,  

I made it to the same point, before dying  to Astrum Deus, the boss on your screen   right now. That death was caused by me being  overzealous and not preparing properly.   Attempt 388, just 10 after my big breakthrough,  I made it back to my best. I survived the lunar  

Events, and now I’m fighting Astrum Deus. This  time, I didn’t use the Terraprisma, since the   Stardust Dragon staff looked like it was in a  perfect place to melt Astrum Deus into pieces…   It was by no means a clean  fight – but the strategy worked  

Excellently… I was up to Moon Lord… After preparing on a practice world,   I decided to take the Moon Lord on… I’m not gonna show the full fight, it was   kind of a disaster all around. The nerves got to  me, and I just crumbled under the pressure.  

Most deaths I immediately quit out the world, but  this time I kind of just sat here for a moment. I   thought I made good preparation, but it was clear  that my build and dodging ability was lacking.  

It took 11 more attempts, but on attempt 399, I  returned with a different, more powerful build.   I consider the game to be split into  three segments, Pre-Hardmode, Hardmode,   and Post-Moon Lord. That makes this moment  the first time I made it to the final split,  

Though knowing what came next definitely  tempered my hopes for what would follow.   The biggest problem with Hardcore, is the further  each run makes it, the more you lose when you   die. Any death from here on out would mean it  would take even longer to reach a new best.  

With this death, my attempt count was now  in the four hundreds. I definitely felt   the momentum from breakthrough after  breakthrough begin to fade away.   Attempt 405. No footage, but I died in the  Post-Moon Lord dungeon while farming for  

A weapon. This run definitely reinvigorated the  spark in me. Attempt 114, the first solid run way   back in August 2022 had 36 hours of playtime.  405 took down Moon Lord in only 6 hours.   Now the question is for my next Post-Moon  Lord attempt… Is the third time the charm?  

Every attempt always starts the  same, by sorting my inventory.   To really get started, I place down  my storage units, a work bench,   and I craft a lot of AutoHouses. I use 6 AutoHouses to make my home base,  

And in other biomes I build sets of 3. These  sets of 3 become the pylon stations.   In the early game I tend to dip into these surface  caves. If I die, I can just do another run,  

And if I get lucky, well it’s a great head start.  This time I found a Dead Man’s Chest. I’ve died   to them enough to know how they spawn. I take  out the 3 explosives, block myself in to dodge  

Boulders and darts, and then I open the chest… The Band of Regeneration is kind of mediocre but   it’s whatever. Recall Potions are vital  though, so I’m very happy to get them.   The rest of the caving wasn’t too interesting, I  managed to get my hands on some important stuff.  

The Cloud in a Bottle is fantastic for early  movement, and I managed to pick up 3 Life Crystals   as well. Anyone who plays Master Mode can tell you  how even basic enemies can one shot you from full  

At 100hp. Having 180hp means I can take one or  two hits at least. I don’t want to get too greedy,   so I return to the surface, since I need to do  some overworld exploring before nightfall.  

Heading east, I find the desert oasis. This  is one of the best places to fish in the   early game. I start fishing for an Oasis Crate,  aiming to obtain the Magic Conch. With a Conch,   I can instantly teleport to either ocean,  meaning I can safely avoid the treacherous  

Jungle and Corruption biomes. Soon  enough though, I found one and…   Welcome to the Sulphurous Sea, a biome added  in the Calamity Mod that replaces one of the   oceans. This is where my early game fishing  really happens. To make my fishing area,  

I use bombs to blow up the sand below. This  makes sure the rising bubbles don’t reach me   from underwater and instantly kill me. It also  destroys steam vents, which can fire out steam   that also can instantly kill me. Building the  houses lets NPCs arrive, reducing enemy spawn  

Rates to near zero. However, I still keep my eyes  out for Sulflounders. If I aggro one, their mist   attack can threaten to… instantly kill me. If so many different things can instantly   kill you, there has to be some  reason to fish here, right?  

There are 4 different useful items, 3 exclusive  to this biome that are all obtainable here.   First, the Reaver Shark has had its 1.4  nerfs reverted in Calamity. That means,   just like the old days you can mine Hellstone  before defeating a boss. High defense armor  

And powerful weapons in the early game  are especially good in hardcore too.   Secondly, the Abyssal Amulet adds the powerful  Riptide debuff to all of your weapons. I don’t   fish for this, but the high catch rate  basically guarantees it in every single  

Run. More damage is always good anyways. Third, the Alluring Bait is a very good   accessory to have, you get more fishing power,  and you get more potion fish per yield.   Finally, Planty Mush, the junk item in the  Sulphurous Sea is actually really good.  

Each block sells for 6 Silver each, which  really adds up when you have thousands.   I return home to open crates. I picked  up the Enchanted Sundial, Sailfish Boots,   and a Tsunami in a Bottle. The sundial will  be upgraded into a Portable Sundial, and the  

Other two are just awesome movement accessories.  However, I need to return to the Sulphurous Sea,   as there’s one more thing I need to do. On the beach, I set up a platform off the ground.   This biome has an enemy called the Trasher, which  when defeated, spawns the Angler Town NPC. Also,  

If a Trasher gets the last hit on an Angler,  the Angler will drop a Golden Fishing Rod.   To exploit this, we can stack two Trashers on top  of one another, kill one, spawning the Angler,   who takes damage from the other Trasher,  and then you got yourself a Golden Fishing  

Rod! It can take a little bit of time to get  multiple trashers, but it is very consistent.   Just don’t get hit by a Trasher yourself,  because it’s likely gonna insta-kill you.   A couple of anti-grinding items from my  Quality of Life mod come into play here.  

First, The Power Pole and Golden Fishing  Rod combine to make the Power Pole Plus,   which is just the Power Pole but with more  fishing power, and the ability to fish in lava.   Second, I craft the Coin Engine, The Coin  Engine costs a lot of platinum to make,  

And gives you infinite platinum. This one could  be more controversial, but fishing in a place   where it’s 100% safe AFK does the same thing  as this item, the only difference is time.   I use a gravitation potion I got from a crate  to go up to space. Calamity Mod’s Planetoids  

Provide useful stuff such as Draedon Cell  Factories, Herb Bags, Ores and Life Crystals   Luckily, I also found a Sky Island, which  provides Sunplate, Clouds, and Rain Clouds,   which are all used in plenty of early game  recipes. I decide to take what I have and return  

Home before a swarm of Harpies can end my run. Now that I have a real foothold in the early game,   I decide now is the time to  properly explore the underground.   Because grinding Bone Serpents can take  such a long time if you’re unlucky,  

My mod adds a recipe to convert the Bladecrest  Oathsword into the Old Lord Claymore by farming   Demonic Bone Ash. This weapon is going to  carry me until the Wall of Flesh, so getting   it as soon as possible is imperative. With a Claymore, mining Hellstone is super  

Safe. After picking up a bunch, I return home  to put them in storage. With Hellstone Bars,   I craft a full set of Molten Armor, and a Hellfire  Arena. Molten Armor is buffed to provide lava   resistance and fire immunity in Calamity, making  lava much easier to work with. The Hellfire Arena  

Is the first of many arena builders, which are  items that build arenas for you. The Hellfire   Arena is designed for the Wall of Flesh. The Goblin army is still extremely easy,   a simple lava setup with a box is all you  need. The only problem is the sorcerers,  

Who I can block with my sword. I realise that I forgot to find the   Goblin Tinkerer, who I really should have  picked up as soon as I could, ah well.   Eventually I find him and bring him to the Cavern  Pylon. I bought a Tinkerer’s Workshop and 2 pairs  

Of Rocket Boots. One pair is for Terraspark  Boots down the line, but during this time, there   was actually an even better pair of boots. Calamity Fairy Boots are insanely strong compared   to vanilla, so strong in fact that after this run,  they were moved to being a Hardmode accessory.  

These boots provide more movement speed  than Terraspark, as well as a free 10   defense and 4 extra life regen on top. There’s no  better option until you defeat all 3 mech bosses,   so these stay equipped until then. Using Vile Powder and Crimstone, I craft  

Another arena builder, the Bloodsplatter Bomb.  This bomb creates a local mini Crimson biome,   where I can fight the Brain of Cthulhu. I forgot to fight a certain fan favourite.   You already know who it is.  Just play the music already.  

The death of the Hive Mind caused the  Aerialite Ore in the sky to become   minable, so upwards I go. Even after this many attempts,   mining Aerialite is still such an enjoyable  experience. This.. this sound design got   me questioning myself for real… With Aerialite, I can finally craft  

The Bundle of Balloons which might be just one  of the most goated accessories of all time.   Now that I’ve got my accessories  in order, I realise that Desert   Scourge exists and I need to fight it now. Underneath the Desert is the Sunken Sea biome,  

Which has a lab in it. This lab has a  schematic that I need to progress the game,   as well as unlock a recipe for  a weapon that I want to use.   I entered, took out the turrets  and collected the schematic.  

For the last bosses in Pre-Hardmode, I switch  over to a mage setup for more raw DPS.   For weapons, I craft the Tradewinds and the new  schematic allows me to craft the Pulse Pistol.   I craft the Mana Flower for my last accessory  slot, and I switch my armor set to Aerospec,  

With the magic headpiece. I was ready to take on Skeletron,   but I forgot to get Magic Power and Mana  Regeneration potions. As a result, my DPS   is lower, meaning this fight is more difficult. Because I’m using a real weapon, I’ll explain the  

Basic strategy. During the fight, I use the  Pulse Pistol when multi-targeting the hands,   and then Tradewinds for its superior single  target damage. When the head isn’t spinning,   you want to be close enough to the head to  avoid the homing skulls, but distant enough  

To not get hit when it starts spinning. I enter the dungeon, looking for 3 items.   First, The Muramasa (how ya doin) is  a sword that I’ll need near the end of   the game for a super strong melee weapon. Second, The Cobalt Shield provides knockback  

Immunity, and its upgrades  are used from this point,   all the way until the very end of the game. Finally, the Staff of Necrosteocytes is a   summon weapon dropped by Dark Casters. I need  this weapon for a Post-Moon Lord upgrade,  

So farming it now before the Plantera Dungeon  or Moon Lord Dungeon makes the most sense.   That fight took a lot of time, since I still had  forgotten my Magic Power and Regen potions.   Regardless, the Slime God flees,  and I get my Treasure Bag.

corrupted Polterghast fight: https://youtu.be/xxHrzlq7QqE

This video has been a long time coming. The last 18 months have come to this point.

rainbow serpent link if you wanna support the artist: https://terminalstigma.bandcamp.com/track/rainbow-serpent
nightmare fuel mod link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3150830606

socials:
second channel – https://www.youtube.com/@prismuhh
twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/PrismaAce
twitter – https://www.twitter.com/PrismaAce
discord – https://discord.gg/qg7PtZk5fV

Modlist and Music List: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-ckgs4Pc0Zm4sFu15JWJlUAZNI4mx5AZtm_xCe8w8n0

Description:

I’m back on YouTube for real this time. I know for the last 6 years I’ve been off and on.
In this video, I take on Terraria’s Calamity Mod on Master Mode, Death Mode on HARDCORE.

This movie-length video covers the 9 months of progression from 21st of July, 2022 until the 14th of April, 2023. It features the highlights of all 415 attempts.

I tried to make the video, styling certain sections after other creators. Some are more obvious than others.

#terraria #calamity #calamitymod