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The Empress of Light is a Hardmode, post-Plantera boss that can only be summoned in the Hallow by defeating the Prismatic Lacewing and summoning it when it’s nighttime on the game.

The Empress of Light is optional and is not required to beat the game, just like the Queen Slime. If defeated by doing 100% of the damage after 4:30 AM, the empress of light will drop the Terraprisma, a summoning weapon.

A very difficult boss, she has a repertoire of attacks and is unique among other bosses because of the "bullet-hell" style battle. During most of her attacks, she can fill the screen with piercing projectiles that pass through terrain, leaving small gaps for the player to dodge through. Quick reflexes are a key factor to defeat the Empress.

Battle Info[]

When fought during the Nighttime, she will behave normally, with the usual rainbow-colored projectiles and will cycle through several attacks seen below:

Prismatic Bolts[]

Summons a cluster of prismatic bolts that will seek after the player shortly after being cast, gaining momentum as they accelerate towards their targets. Shall they miss the player, the bolts can sharply turn and re-align a different trajectory to catch up the player.

Dash Attack[]

Creates some mirror afterimages, that concentrates back at one spot, she then align herself horizontally with the player and perform a dash attack similar to the Queen Bee. Typically, she will align herself at the right side of the screen.

Sun Dance[]

Hovers above the player and goes a little bit to the left side, then, creates 6 rays of rainbow light that slowly rotates clockwise while slowly creating three extra beams that generates a little more offsided with the rest, reducing the amount of space within the area of effect of this spell.

Everlasting Rainbow[]

Summons 13 rainbow stars in a ring pattern, that will quickly spiral outwards then back inwards after a small delay, in the same direction they were thrown out. Those stars leaves a lingering rainbow trail that damages the player, shall they touch it.

Ethereal Lance[]

Creates a swarm of swords that advances towards where the players was going into (i.e: They will predict the player's movement). Their movements are telegraphed by colored beams, and the swords will be summoned behind where the player was moving, or all-around the player shall they be stationary. During the launching animations those swords will deal no damage.

Enraged[]

If fought during the daytime, all of her attacks gains a massive bump in damage, inflicting up to 10,000 per hit. When enraged, the color of her projectiles will turn into a yellow hue and her Sun Dance attack pattern gains two additional rays and additional swords will be cast during the Ethereal Lance, the swords will also move faster. One can intentionally summon the Empress at day for the chance of attaining a Terraprisma, or she can naturally enrage, shall the players tarry her presence for too long. When enraged she will persist for another full day, before vanishing at the Dusk (7:30PM), disappearing and dropping nothing.

Phase Patterns[]

During the first phase, she will use the following move set, in order:

- Prismatic Bolt > Dash Attack > Sun Dance > Dash Attack > Everlasting Rainbow > Prismatic Bolt > Dash Attack > Ethereal Lance > Dash Attack >Everlasting Rainbow.

She will follow this move set infinitely, until starting her second phase.

Once falling below 50% of her health, she will begin the second phase, with a little upgrade to two of her attacks:

  • Ethereal Lance: The Ethereal Lance will summon 4 spaced waves of swords that will travel across the screen, starting from left to right, then right to left, top-left to bottom-right and top-right to bottom-left.
    • When enraged there will be 6 spaced waves instead, and they will follow a different direction, while being summoned to the player's last position.
  • Dash Attack: Will cast Ethereal Lance upon dashing, before resuming her default battle stance, except if the player remains stationary.
  • Prismatic Bolt: The projectiles will be cast in a circle around the Empress instead of being summoned in a cluster directly above her.

During the second phase, her attack patterns change as follows:

- Ethereal Lance > Prismatic Bolts > Dash Attack > Everlasting Rainbow > Prismatic Bolts > Sun Dance > Ethereal Lance > Dash Attack > Prismatic Bolts.

She will then proceed to use her second phase attacks until defeat.

Strategies:[]

Before fighting the Empress of Light, having at least Post-Golem gear and armor is highly recommended, buffs such as Regeneration, Well Fed (Exquisitely Satisfied is preferred due to the higher buffs. Note that both well-fed and their upgrades are mandatory in Expert and Master Modes respectively), Swiftness, Ironskin, Endurance, Wrath, and Rage can all greatly aid in the combat. Late-Game ranged and magic weapons are very effective. If the Moon-Lord has been defeated before, the Last Prism, Star Wrath, Celebration MKII, Rainbow Crystal Staff can all help in the fight. Other weapons options available earlier are the Blizzard Staff, Vampire Knives, Scourge of the Corruptor, Betsy's Wrath, Megashark (with Ichor/cursed bullets), Flatiron, Tsunami, Heat Ray, Razorblade Typhoon, Razorpine, and many Post-Plantera weapons are all a good pick against her. Some summons are also effective, such as the Stardust Dragon and the Xeno Staff.

The Sun Dance can be easily avoided by moving away from her, while returning fire with your ranged/magic weapons. Pay attention to the lingering lines on screen, as they will inform the player where the projectiles are going to. When she is preparing to dash, immediately move upward, either with wings or other mobility accessories, the Fishron Wings are very good for this purpose, and will provide you a good mobility, specially when using honey pits for quick healing. Having some cover around the area is a good alternative during the Prismatic Bolts attack, as you can dodge them and dispose off the projectiles by forcing them to hit the blocks beneath, just make sure to not make an obstructive arena.

During the Expert and Master Mode, the Empress of Light will use her enraged pattern. Don't panic! So long you fight her during the usual nighttime, she will not instantly kill you shall one of her attacks connect with your character, but bear in mind the hefty increase in attack damage for all of her attacks. During both of those modes, it is mandatory for you to get the Well Fed (or any of its upgrades) and get an easy retreating route to the Nurse in the case of an emergency. Heart Statues will greatly help you out, but attaining enough of them is very time-consuming. Laying down some Sunflowers and Peace Candles around your arena can reduce the hassle of having multiple enemies on your screen, and the Happy! buff given by the sunflower will aid the player with a little extra mobility to dodge around.

If you are trying to fight her during day time, consider equipping accessories and items which boost damage/critical strike/mobility as she will most likely one shot the player even with endgame armor.

Trivia[]

  • She is one of the few entities in the game capable of instantly killing the player in one attack, the others being the Dungeon Guardian, Skeletron and Skeletron Prime, though the latter two ones, like the Empress herself, will only inflict insta-kill attacks during the daytime.
  • The Empress of light is one of the 5 bosses with exclusive music themes, the others being the Queen Slime, Plantera, Duke Fishron and Moon Lord.
  • The Empress of Light bears some resemblance to The Radiance, from Hollow Knight, in both appearance and attack patterns.

Update Info[]

v1.4.0.1

  • Added to the game.
Monsters (Hardmode Monsters are in italic)
Slime Monsters Baby Slime · Black Slime · Blue Slime · Corrupt Slime · Crimslime · Dungeon Slime · Green Slime · Hoppin' Jack · Ice Slime · Illuminant Slime · Jungle Slime · Lava Slime · Mother Slime · Pinky · Purple Slime · Red Slime · Sand Slime · Shadow Slime3DS · Slimeling · Slimer · Spiked Ice Slime · Spiked Jungle Slime · Toxic Sludge · Umbrella Slime · Yellow Slime
Goblins Goblin Archer · Goblin Peon · Goblin Scout · Goblin Sorcerer · Goblin Thief · Goblin Warrior · Goblin Summoner
Undead Monsters Angry Bones · Armored Skeleton · Big Boned · Blue Armored Bones · Bone Lee · Dark Caster · Doctor Bones · Heavy Skeleton · Hell Armored Bones · Rusty Armored Bones · Short Bones · Skeleton · Skeleton Archer · Skeleton Commando · Skeleton Sniper · Tactical Skeleton · The Groom · Tim · Undead Miner · Undead Viking · Vampire Miner3DS · Zombie
Humanoids Chaos Elemental · Clown · Dark Mummy · Light Mummy · Mummy · Nymph · Possessed Armor · Shadow Mummy3DS Spectral Elemental3DS · Spectral Mummy3DS · Werewolf
Mages Dark Caster · Fire Imp · Goblin Sorcerer · Tim · Rune Wizard · Desert Spirit
Plant Monsters Angry Trapper · Dragon Snatcher3DS · Clinger · Man Eater · Snatcher
Burrowing Monsters Bone Serpent · Devourer · Digger · Giant Worm · World Feeder · Tomb Crawler · Dune Splicer
Flying Monsters Angry Nimbus · Antlion Swarmer · Arch Demon3DS · Big Eater · Big Stinger · Bird · Cave Bat · Corruptor · Crimera · Crimson Axe · Cursed Hammer · Cursed Skull · Demon · Demon Eye · Dragon Hornet3DS · Dragon Skull3DS · Dragon Stinger3DS · Drippler · Eater of Souls · Enchanted Sword · Floaty Gross · Flying Fish · Gastropod · Ghost · Giant Bat · Giant Cursed Skull · Giant Flying Fox · Harpy · Hellbat · Hornet · Ice Bat · Ichor Sticker · Illuminant Bat · Jungle Bat · Lava Bat · Little Eater · Little Stinger · Meteor Head · Moss Hornet · Pixie · Raven · Red Devil · Shadow Hammer3DS · Spectral GastropodConsole · Voodoo Demon · Vulture · Wandering Eye · Wraith
Swimming Monsters Angler Fish · Arapaima · Blue Jellyfish · Corrupt Goldfish · Crimtane Goldfish · Goldfish · Green Jellyfish · Orca3DS · Pink Jellyfish · Piranha · Shark · Squid
Hopping Monsters Bunny · Corrupt Bunny · Crimtane Bunny · Derpling · Giant Shelly · Giant Tortoise · Herpling · Ice Tortoise · Mimic · Slimes
Mini-Boss Monsters Arch Wyvern3DS · Dreadnautilus · Wyvern
Boss Monsters Brain of Cthulhu · Duke Fishron · Eater of Worlds · Eye of Cthulhu · King Slime · Empress of Light · Queen Slime · Golem · Ocram3DS · Plantera · Queen Bee · Skeletron · Skeletron Prime · The Destroyer · The Twins · Wall of Flesh · Mourning Wood · Pumpking · Everscream · Santa-NK1 · Ice Queen · Martian Saucer · Lunatic Cultist · Nebula Pillar · Solar Pillar · Stardust Pillar · Vortex Pillar · Moon LordFinal Boss
Boss-Related Monsters Dungeon Guardian · Leech · Probe · Servant of Cthulhu · Servant of Ocram3DS · The Hungry
Immortal Blazing Wheel · Spike Ball
Projectile Burning Sphere · Chaos Ball
Other Albino Antlion3DS · Angry Tumbler · Antlion · Antlion Charger · Antlion Swarmer · Crab · Crawdad · Jungle Creeper · Mr. Stabby · Salamander · Snow Balla · Snowman Gangsta · Unicorn
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