Terraria: Mostly surviving the lunar pillars... mostly

Ok the hardest thing of the lunar events (Besides killing the cultist and moon lord) are the pillars.
Solar (Melee), Vortex (Ranged), Stardust (Summoner), and Nebula (Mage).

The strategy for each depends.

Solar: The bane of any ranger. The Selenians (The duel sword welding guys) when spinning reflect ANY bullet or arrow you shoot... if you are using chlorophyte bullets... you will die by your own bullets/arrows. You get the idea at this point. Some sword projectiles are even deflect-able!
Good weapons are: Yoyos/flails of choice, any returning projectile (Possessed hatchet which does melee damage, boomerangs, etc), magic (untested).

Vortex: The real danger is the gravity altering effect the alien queens cause. Basically you can't move up or down and only left/right... leaving you open to getting shot at by the other enemies. At most it lasts a few seconds thankfully. Ranged is the best bet to taking them out. Summoners would do well too being able to keep a good distance while dodging.

Good weapons: Any good machine gun (Megashark/uzi at this point or gatligator), pulse bow/any good bow with good ammo of choice (Tsunami, etc), any good summon of choice.

Stardust: This one has the BIG problem of stardust cells. If said cells are not killed fast enough (the little ones) they turn to big ones... no wonder they are the infection of the galaxy. Kill the cells with enough dps of choice (Megashark + crystal bullets fare really well here or good damaging magic).

Good weapons: Any high dps magic weapon of choice, Machine guns + crystal ammo (the shards do even more damage!), any high dps weapon really.

Nebula: The problem is the really high damage output of the enemies. Again, more dps is the best option.

Good weapons: Any high damage autofiring/autoswing weapon of choice that can be sustained for a LONG time (with sufficient ammo if applicable). The key is really good dps. Anything homing really helps (Chlorophyte bullets, rockets, summons etc). Dodging is really important due to the shear damage they do. The solar pillar is the only one worse than this but when they get close.

Terraria: Making a crystal shard farm that is not overly tedious

Crystal shards grow on pearlstone and pink ice (Hallow biome). These are useful in many ways. Crystal bullets are amazing for how common they are, it sells really well for how common it is, and is a ingredient for some magical weapons and other items (Magical harp, etc). 

Assuming you are able to survive the hallow, the hard part is FINDING the darn things. This is why farming it is such a good idea.

The farm needs to maximize free space for the shards to grow and have enough stone for the chances to be in your favor. The checkerboard pattern is the best but also takes the longest to do with the addition of actuators and wiring. You can make a farm based off actuators and activated by a switch/pressure plate/your choice. But this can take forever as said before. The most practical AND doable pattern is probably rows of pearlstone/pink ice with 2 blocks in between but also not the most efficient. For a good mix of the two, go with rows seperated with 2 blocks in between. Then within the row break every other block. Repeat for the other rows but the blocks are not directly above or below each other. It's easier to explain with pictures. 

https://terraria.gamepedia.com/Crystal_Shard

This link above has a picture of what I'm talking about with the farm design along with the wiring. 

The key is being patient. Again. To pass the time fishing does the trick (and get some sweet stuff along the way while doing so depending on what biome you are fishing in). Or anything that takes a while to do really. 

Terraria: Farming herbs for potions

Sounds easy enough. Get a few pots (or planters), plant seeds, and wait until said plants grow. Rinse and repeat... yea not really. Some are easier to harvest at blooming times than others. Use a staff of regrowth if you have one to get more seeds and plants.

Easiest: Daybloom/moonglow as these bloom during daytime/nighttime respectively.

Sorta hard: Fireblossom (Besides GETTING the seeds that is!) due to the fact that it only blooms at sunset when it is NOT raining. And it has to be in lava (The pot/planter for PC). Also add Shiverthorn since it just takes forever to grow but will always be blooming regardless of time or weather once fully grown. Waterleaf is the same as Fireblossom but in water and blooms when it rains regardless of time.

Really hard: Deathweed. Stupid Deathweed. It only blooms in 2 time frames: Blood moon or a FULL moon night. 

Herb bags are great for getting the hard to find seeds.

Terraria: How to summon and defeat Plantera

The hardest part is honestly FINDING Plantera's bulb (Pink little bulb... when broken with anything but an explosion summons plantera).

You have to defeat all 3 mechanical bosses and HAVE some sort of intact underground jungle (Natural or artificial both work). Not easy when the corruption/crimson often takes the jungle in it's spread. So a chlorophyte farm which doubles as an arena for dealing with Plantera does wonders. Same farm also allows you to get life fruits which spawn after any 1 mechanical boss have been defeated. The key is jungle grass surfaces and a 2x2 clear area is required. And an overdoes of patience. Given that said bulbs won't spawn next to each other... yea.

AFTER this has been done (and waited!). Once you are ready... destroy that bulb with a pickaxe of choice. Assuming that you are with gear related to progression, the best armor is dependent on what class you are. By this point you will know what class suits you best.

For rangers: Go with chlorophyte armor with the helmet. Frost armor also works. Weapon wise depending on preference, megashark/uzi (rarer than megashark though) or chlorophyte shotbow/hallow repeater with the best modifier you can afford. The Clockwork assault rifle works too (Farm WoF if you want but the megashark is much easier to get).

For Melee: Turtle armor will do (just kill turtles in the jungle to get turtle shells). Frost armor is a good choice too if you can get the RARE drops required to make the set. Good weapons are the shadowflame knife (Farm the goblin invasion in hardmode), Death sickle (if you got lucky and survived a solar eclipse the reapers have a chance of dropping the death sickle) being one of the best choices, Yelets (the yoyo) is good too and is a rare drop from jungle enemies.

For magic users: Yet again, chlorophyte armor with the headgear. Weapon wise go with: magical harp (Crafted), magic dagger (Hallow mimic drop), Nimbus rod (if you can get the rare item!).

For summoners: Spider armor is the best bet. Yea at this point good summoner armor is lacking. Weapon wise: Optic staff, Queen spider staff, or spider staff.

Accessories:

All: Wings + Speed boots (Required), Charm of myths (Reduces potion cooldown and boosts health regen), bezoar (immunity from poison is very handy, this is optional), cross necklace (really nice for reducing damage taken), Star veil (boosts damage when you take damage), Flesh knuckles (For those who will take lots of damage like melee), avenger emblem/respective emblem (Really nice to have!), worm scarf (Damage reduction is always good to have!), etc. Mana flower is good for the magic users.

Potion wise: Best healing potion you can get and a full stack of it, Ironskin, endurance, regen, wrath/rage, respective damage boosting potion (archery/magic), best mana potion (for the magic users in general), any potion that will help you really.

Stay on the move in the arena! Of course the arena should have the standard health regen boosting stuff (heart lantern + campfire does wonders). And lots of space (duh). If your weapon has autofire/autoswing, keep spamming your attack of choice (Gun/magic/melee). For ammo (Rangers only) go with chlorophyte bullets if using a gun (Paired with the megashark you won't use up so much ammo. The ammo reservation potion helps a LOT!).

Terraria: How to survive expert mode... with less death (For the first time).

Expert mode... is REALLY hard. The bosses are harder, enemies have twice the health, you get the idea. Why bother with this? The treasure bags from the bosses have awesome items well worth the trouble. Some of them are (the guaranteed ones): Worm scarf (EoW), this reduces all damage taken by 17% (awesome!), Shield of Cthulhu (Eye of Cthulhu, this lets you charge by double tapping left/right and you are invulnerable for a short time as well as dealing damage to those who get rammed), etc.

Drop rates are also doubled too. Rare drops happen more often so great for farming! And for farming money too. Anyone who has burned though their money trying to reforge ONE expensive accessory  will understand the pain of trying to re-earn said money.

Tips:
Banners help a LOT, the damage reduction and damage output improvements do wonders in not dying as often.

Reforge often for the best prefixes (Warding, lucky, menacing, unreal, godly, whatever is needed). The increase of money dropped really helps to offset the cost of all the reforging.

A 2x2 hole by the door will stop mobs from opening the door. Yes zombies can open the doors! Or actuator walls for doors.

Ranged weapons are your best friend (yoyos, guns/bows, whatever). Even ranged melee weapons REALLY help. Think yoyos, flails, and boomerangs. The water bolt is a solid choice for magic users as well as the vilethorn (corruption worlds). Summoners... tough luck unless you can get the slime staff. For rangers go for the minishark (Which later is needed for the megashark anyway), for bows go for the best bow you can get at that time (hellwing, gold whatever depending on where you are).

Go fishing and get lots of crates... and open them once hardmode starts for a early headstart with hardmode ores/items/potions.

Terraria guide: How to survive the solar eclipse (for the first time)

At this point the Wall of Flesh is killed and your world is in hardmode after preparing for the spread of the corruption/crimson.

And then... the solar eclipse. How bad could it be? ... Just hide in your house (and avoid the reapers!) and NOT the first floor. The reapers won't be able to reach you if you are not on the first floor. Same goes for the NPCs unless you want them to die. They are just upgraded wraiths. Not fun. Hopefully by the time this has happened you are better equipped (or you summoned the solar eclipse with the solar tablet after killing Golem). If it randomly happened and you are unprepared, that is a problem. The campfire + heart lantern combo will help with your life regen a lot. Any warding accessories will greatly help too. 

How to prevent monsters from entering your shelter (except those stupid reapers)? A 2x2 hole directly next to the door will stop them from opening it. (they will jump but can't open the door). Or use an actuator wall for a door with a switch. Either one will do. 

For resources, go after creatures of the deep and vampires. Those have a rare drop which are great accessories. Creatures of the deep drop Neptune's shell which turns you into a merfolk underwater. Vampires drop the night stone. Combine the Neptune's shell with the celestial stone (rare drop from werewolves which spawn on a night with the full moon) to get the moon shell. Do the same but with the night stone and the day stone (A drop from Golem). Take the celestial stone and combine it with the moon shell to get a celestial shell (which combines all 4). All of this is done at the Tinkerer's workshop. Do note that the celestial stone is useful for summoners. Though the celestial shell is useful across the board. 

This is the main reason to bother with the solar eclipse honestly. The celestial shell is well worth the effort to get. 

The other item worth getting is the broken hero sword. This is a drop from Mothron (PC). It spawns after all the mechanical bosses have been killed (Twins, prime, destroyer). If left alive long enough, it will lay eggs that if not killed spawn baby Mothrons (not fun). Mothron is rather easy to destroy with good ranged weapons (magic, bullets, arrows, whatever). Though it does go through walls... yea your house is not saving you from this one. Thankfully Mothron does not constantly spawn (it spawns infrequently and you can't miss it unless you afk or something). 

The broken hero sword is used to craft True Night's Edge and True Excalibur. Combine Night's Edge/Excalibur with a broken hero sword to get the True variant. Two are needed (PC) to make the Terra blade. Then take those and combined them to make the Terra blade. Craft these at the mythirl/orichalcum anvil (Depending on what your world has). 

Any weapon that attacks though walls (solar eruption for example) will help a lot. The only flying monsters are vampires and Mothron. Note that the possessed can climb walls.

Terarria guide: Defeating Duke Fisheron for the first time

Gee, how hard could it possibly be to defeat some flying freak of a fish (Duke fisheron)?

Insert deaths and overdosing on potions when trying to defeat Duke Fisheron. Of course this is with acquired gear at the time at this point (post-Plantera or even post-golem but Pre-lunar events ideally). With post-Moonlord gear, DF is a joke with good dodging, duh.

Dodging is the key to beating DF. Ideal mounts which can be gained at the time include the UFO mount (by defeating the martian madness which is doable with the right equipment and strategy) and any flying mount in general. The best bet is the UFO. Wings are a must if you don't have the flight mount. Any wing that you can get will do but try to get a better wing if possible.

For armor this depends on the class. For melee, beetle armor. For the ranger use the shroomite armor with the helmet related to the main projectile of choice. For the magic user, go for spectre armor with helmet of choice (Hood if dodging abilities are in doubt). I don't know what the summoner would use.

As for weapons... I don't have enough experience with melee or the other classes save for ranger. Good weapons are: Megashark/uzi paired with chlorophyte bullets (Homing attacks do great for DF who is REALLY fast and on the move!).
For bows: MAYBE daedric stormbow... maybe, repeaters (with good aim). For arrows go with holy arrows, hellfire arrows (solid damage output for both though holy arrows are harder to get and do greater damage).

To summon DF the truffle worm is needed (use as bait in the ocean). And it's a rare spawn that will flee when you get too close. So a surface mushroom biome + water candle will help a lot along with swinging the bug net like crazy when you see the truffle worm while charging at it. Rinse and repeat this until there's enough truffle worms.

For potions: Lifeforce potion (Fish in the hallow), Rage/wrath potion (Depending on what your world has, you can get both with many worlds. Rage is for crimson and wrath for corruption), ironskin, swiftness, endurance, food of any kind (For well fed buff), heartreach (nice to have but not needed), inferno (if you can get it!) and other potions depending on your class (Mana regen for the magic user and so on).

Gravitational potion is nice IF you can manage it without becoming confused (I found out that I did horribly with it!). This can be an alternative for the flight mount/wings.

Accessories (for all classes): Charm of myths (reduce potion cooldown and boost heath regen), speed boots (Frostspark, lighting etc), correlating damage boosting item (correlating emblem, magic quiver for bows, and so on), Worm scarf (EoW expert mode drop that you will ALWAYS get), Wings of choice, whatever else that will help.

Rangers: Magic quiver if using a bow, etc.

Magic users (including summoners): Mana flower, celestial cuffs, mana regeneration band, etc.

Melee: fire gauntlet, Flesh knuckles, mechanical glove, etc.

Try to get the warding prefix if you are bad at dodging. If you are good at dodging go for menacing or even lucky.

Once DF is summoned, dodge like a madman (I suggest moving in a circle-ish and avoiding the tornado things he summons.) and shoot like mad with the weapon of choice/autoswing weapon/whatever.

Hopefully you can outlast DF and kill him... hopefully. This will probably take several attempts, so stock up on the truffle worms.

Terraria guide: How the heck do mechanisms work?!

I've seen many amazing mechanisms. Afk farms, traps, and so on. But how EASY is it to make these?

Not so easy apparently after trying to make some VERY simple actuator doors. I did get it after a while but I doubt I will try to make anything beyond this since I don't really need to. In short, something simple like what I did is rather doable, but the fancy ones (Whoever can do it, good job) on YouTube? Yea no, that will take a LOT more practice.

What you need: The grand design (easy to get if you have the mechanic and the goblin tinkerer NPCs), 15 gold total (to buy stuff), Post-skeletron (The mechanic is found in the dungeon) AND after defeating the goblin army (Goblin tinkerer will be found in the underground/cavern level after doing this).

How to make it? Get the following from the goblin tinkerer: ruler (1 gold)

From the mechanic: 60 wire (3 gold/find naturally), Mechanical lens (1 gold), all colored wrenches (8 gold, 2 gold per wrench so 4 wrenches being red, green, blue, and yellow), wire cutter (2 gold).

Combine all the wrenches and the wire cutter at the tinkerer's workshop to get the multicolor wrench (Get this from the goblin tinkerer). 

Take the multicolor wrench and combine it with the mechanical lens, ruler, and the wires at the workshop to get The Grand Design.

You can save 3 gold by finding the wires naturally (The cost is 12 gold if done). This excludes the Tinkerer's workshop. 

The rest will depend on what you want to build. Actuators, active blocks, whatever. The actuation rod can be optional depending on what you are building. 

After this, get building! Whatever it is. From simple actuator doors to complex traps, do as you want. Enough practice will let you get the basics of how wiring works.