How to Defeat the Eye of Cthulhu (2024)

Eye of Cthulhu (First Form)

Type: Boss

Health: 2800 (3640 on Expert Mode)

Damage: 15

Defense: 12

Knockback Resistance: 100%

Eye of Cthulhu (Second Form)

Type: Boss

Health: 1400/2800 (1820/3640 on Expert Mode)

Damage: 23

Defense: 0

Knockback Resistance: 100%

There are two ways that the Eye of Cthulhu can spawn.
The first is by spawning him naturally by crafting a Suspicious Looking Eye

with 6 Lenses

at a Demon Altar

or a Crimson Altar

and using it to spawn the Eye.
This can prove tough to new players as the Altars are mostly found in the Corruption/Crimson, which is a dangerous place for new players. You're lucky if you find an Altar near your base, like I did. The Suspicious Looking Eyes can also be found in Underground Chests.
The Eye can also spawn naturally, and has a 1 in 3 chance to spawn each night as long as these conditions are met:

• At least one player in the world has at least 200 max health (10

  

  ) and more than 10 defense.
• At least 3 Town NPCs have settled down in the world.
• The Eye of Cthulhu has not yet been defeated in the world.

If it spawns naturally, you will see the message "You feel an evil presence watching you..." After 20-40 seconds of this message, the Eye of Cthulhu will spawn.

If the Eye is not dead by dawn, or all the players die or run away, the Eye of Cthulhu will fly into the air and despawn.

If you plan on taking down the Eye of Cthulhu successfully, you're going to need the right equipment.

• A ranged weapon is highly recommended. A recommended bow is the Golden or Tungsten Bow, those are powerful. You should also use Flaming Arrows, crafted from a normal arrow and a torch, to deal extra damage and have a chance of setting the Eye on fire.
• The best armor to have is Gold or Platinum armor, but it's not required. Silver or Tungsten armor is good and pretty easy to get at this point, and will do for this fight. Iron or lead armor can be used, but take caution, especially in the second phase, and should only be used if you are a good dodger. Copper, tin, and wood armor doesn't have enough defense to withstand the hits of its second phase, and should not be used unless you have build a good arena and are a skillful dodger.
• Most movement-enhancing accessories will help in dodging its attacks, especially in its second form. Hermes Boots are a good choice. Any jumping-aid accessories will also help greatly, like the Cloud in a Bottle, Blizzard in a Bottle, or Sandstorm in a Bottle (if your world contains a Pyramid). If you find one, a Band of Regeneration can help speed up life regen, and a Panic Necklace is a good accessory for people who aren't good dodgers. You can also use a Shackle with a defense-increasing modifier to boost your defense.
  

• 

  Mobile-Only: The Boots of Ostara can also be a good choice. It is dropped by Lepus.
• A Thorn Chakram is a good weapon, if you can obtain it before the fight that is. Also, it has a chance to inflict the Poisoned debuff, making the fight slightly easier. Shurikens can be bought from the Merchant. 500 Shurikens are more than enough to kill the Eye with ease.
  
• The Vilethorn can be fired through blocks, being helpful when the boss is inside walls. Another great magic weapon is a Staff, preferably an Emerald, Ruby, or Diamond one, can do more damage while using less mana.
• Meelee weapons are of limited use, since the boss flies out of reach.
  
• Bring a bunch of Lesser Healing Potions at the least, just in case you start taking too much damage. If you have access to a Glowing Mushroom farm, you can use normal Healing Potions instead. Some other helpful potions are Ironskin Potions, Regeneration Potions, and the Thorns Potion. Swiftness Potions, Hunter Potions, Archery Potions, and any food that gives Well Fed can be good too. (Hint: You can press B on PC or Square on Console to drink all the potions in your inventory automatically.
• Meteor Armor goes great with the Space Gun, and can kill the Eye in a minute or less.
• Throwing Knives work great, or Poisoned Knives if you have the materials.
• If you have a Crimson world, The Undertaker could be good if you are obsessed with guns. And even if you aren't, it still works a treat.
• The Minishark can completely obliterate it! Well, as long as you have enough bullets (preferably Meteor Shots) to last the fight.

• In the first phase, the Eye will hover above you, shooting Servants of Cthulhu towards you, which fly towards you to attack, much like Demon Eyes. If you start to get swarmed by too many Servants, switch to a fast swinging weapon such as a broadsword, and take them out before focusing on the Eye again.
• A good strategy in this phase is to shoot up at it's pupil, which is where the Servants come out of. This way you can damage the Eye and kill the Servants as well.
• If you are directly below it, and fire up at it with a piercing weapon, it will fall back down and damage the Eye a second time, as well as killing some of the Servants.
• After shooting 3-4 Servants, it will charge, attempting to ram you 3 times before hovering again. It is good to start dodging as soon as it spawns the third Servant, so you can easily dodge the first ram.
• In its first form it has 12 defense, which negates 6 damage from your attacks.
  
• Once the Eye starts spinning and reveals a gaping mouth in place of its pupil, it has transformed into its second stage. While it is spinning you can fire at it as much as you can, as it will stay still.
• In its second stage it will move slightly faster and deal more damage, but has no defense.
  
• For the second phase, Hermes Boots are almost essential. The Eye will charge at you, roaring,

As you will most likely fight this early game, you are limited to what you can put in the arena.
The best choice is rows of platforms. Here's an arena I built for you as an example:

Demonite Ore (30-87) (100%) (Corrupt Worlds Only)

• The Treasure Bag it drops in Expert Mode contains the Shield of Cthulhu.

  

  This allows you to dash by double-tapping the right or left key, doing damage to any enemies you hit. This can be very helpful early-game.