Terraria Dark Mage Guide: How To Summon, Loot, & Fight Tips

Players can test their equipment, skills, and wits when fighting Terraria's many dangerous bosses. But this doesn’t mean you should disregard the mini-bosses of Terraria as well, and that includes the devious Dark Mage.

How to Summon the Dark Mage in Terraria

The Dark Mage is a mini-boss in Terraria that is part of the Old One’s Army event. This is a crossover event with Dungeon Defenders 2, and players can trigger the invasion by placing an Eternia Crystal on an Eternia Crystal Stand. Similar to summoning Betsy, players must fulfill specific requirements before using the Eternia Crystal on the Eternia Crystal Stand. These conditions are:

• The arena for the Old One’s Army invasion should be clear of obstructions for 61 tiles horizontally and 10 tiles vertically
• Another Eternia Crystal Stand isn’t next to the pedestal to use for the event
• The clearing for the arena shouldn’t have holes wider than one block

Players will know if they’re successful if the words “The old one’s army is approaching!” appear on the screen’s lower left side. Otherwise, using the Eternia Crystal will fail, but the item will remain unused. After this, players must fight through waves of enemies for the Dark Mage to appear. Note that the Dark Mage’s first appearance depends on whether the current world seed has defeated the Golem boss or not. In particular, the Dark Mage will appear on the 5th wave if the Hardmode world’s mechanical bosses are unbeaten. Otherwise, this mini-boss will appear on the 4th wave.

Dark Mage Fight Tips

Preparing to fight the Dark Mage also means getting ready to go through the Old One’s Army invasion. Although this particular event isn’t as challenging as other events like Frost Moon, it may still catch unprepared players off-guard. Thankfully, you have multiple options to deal with this event and its mini-boss. One way is to summon minions and sentries to help you focus fire on various enemies. Alternatively, you can use weapons with piercing attacks so your attacks won’t concentrate on one enemy at a time. It can also be good to equip wings in this fight. That way, you can evade the Dark Mage’s projectiles when they come flying your way. Also, prepare to focus your attacks on the Dark Mage when this enemy starts chanting. Fail to stop the incantation, and the mini-boss will summon a horde of fast-moving skeletons that might increase your problems during the event. Note: The Dark Mage increases its attack damage, maximum health, and overall defense if a player activates the Old One’s Army event after defeating the Golem.

Attacks

The Dark Mage has three primary attacks, which are the following:

• Summons dark energy projectiles, then hurls them at a player’s position
• Calls upon a large rune, healing nearby enemies that aren’t Dark Mages
• Generates a dark sigil, which will summon Old One’s Skeletons to attack

Loot Table

• War Table
• War Table Banner
• Dragon Egg
• Gato Egg
• Dark Mage Mask
• Dark Mage Trophy
• Squire's Shield
• Apprentice's Scarf