New Terraria players usually don’t know how to summon Terraria Skeletron Prime. This is one of the most common bosses on Hardmode, and there’s a good chance you’ll fight him a few times during a long playthrough.
Unlike his pre-Hardmode counterpart, Skeletron, Skeletron Prime is hard to beat. To make things easier, make sure to create a proper strategy before summoning the enemy. Ideally, you should fight him on a wooden sky bridge, thus eliminating one of his deadly attacks.
How to summon Terraria Skeletron Prime?
To summon the boss, you’ll need a Mechanical Skull. This item is a pretty common drop in Hardmode, and you’ll probably get it early on during the playthrough. However, that doesn’t mean you should immediately start the fight. Instead, wait to get the best gear possible.
There’s also a 10% chance that the boss spawns randomly during the night. This can only happen if you have not previously defeated Skeletron Prime. Furthermore, you need to destroy at least one Crimson or Demon altar.
How to Get a Mechanical Skull
The Mechanical Skull can drop from any enemy, as long as Skeletron Prime is not yet defeated. The item drops at a rate of 1 to 2,500. In short, there’s a 0.04% chance that a random opponent will drop it upon death. The only Hardmode enemies that don’t have Mechanical Skull are Old One’s Army enemies, Meteor Heads, and enemies made by monster-summoning statues.
You can also make it yourself with the following recipe (assembled at Orichalcum Anvil or Mythril Anvil):
- Bone (30 pieces required)
- Any Iron Bar (5 pieces required)
- Soul of Night (3 pieces required)
- Soul of Light (3 pieces required)
You can only use the item during the night, like most other boss-summoning objects. If you don’t manage to kill the opponent before dawn, his head will charge at you at high speed, instantly killing you.
Skeletron Prime basic attacks
Now that we’ve talked about the summoning process, let’s talk about the boss’ features.
Skeletron Prime is an upgraded version of Skeletron. It has four arms instead of two and uses a plethora of weapons (unlike the original, which attacks barehanded). The boss carries melee weapons in two of his arms. He also has a hand that shoots lasers and one that shoots bombs.
Like pre-Hardmode Skeletron, the enemy has a phase where his head starts spinning quickly. Unlike his pre-Hardmode opponent, Skeletron Prime can continue attacking with his hand during this phase. Furthermore, all of his attacks become much stronger during this time.
Upon defeating the enemy, he drops Hallowed Bars, Souls of Fright, Greater Healing Potions, and a few cosmetics. So, there’s no point in redoing the fight once you kill him (unless you need Hallowed Bars or Soul of Fright for certain recipes).
9 Tips for defeating Skeletron Prime
Skeletron Prime is a hard boss, and you might die several times before defeating him. This is especially true if the monster randomly appears during the night and you have just started Hardmode. Here are some tips that should help you against the enemy:
- When attacking the enemy, make sure to focus on Prime Laser (arm shooting laser) and Prime Cannon (arm shooting bombs). Once these two are eliminated, the fight becomes much easier.
- You can defeat the enemy by focusing on his head, but this is something I wouldn’t suggest. Instead, make sure to take out the arms beforehand.
- To make the fight much easier, create a bridge from wooden platforms. Prime Cannon bombs fall through platforms, so this is a good way to nullify one of the attacks.
- Prime Laser is the most troublesome of all hands. You should destroy it first.
- Stay away from the boss when its head starts spinning. Not only does he deal extra damage during this phase, but he also has more defense neutering your attacks.
- Upgrade your equipment before the fight. This is an important tip for Skeletron Prime and all other bosses. You can lay down numerous bonfires along the wooden platform to boost regeneration. You can also add statues for extra stats, eat food prior to the fight, change your weapon and armor modifiers via crafting, etc.
- Ichor is probably the best debuff against this enemy, as it significantly reduces his defense. You can also place bleeding debuff on the arms (but not the head).
- Your fight strategy will vary based on the class and current weapon. Ideally, you should have a ranged weapon to avoid melee attacks, but also the head.
- Wings are important during this fight as they allow you to reach the head (if you have a short-range weapon) or avoid incoming attacks.
