Terraria is a large base-building game with a lot of unique things to discover. There are tons of items to collect and dozens of enemies to fight, including bosses. Each boss has a different moveset and drops unique items that you often can't acquire anywhere else. There are even some bosses that you can only fight while playing on Hardmode.

RELATED: Terraria: The Twins Boss Guide

The Lunatic Cultist is a Hardmode exclusive boss, and he has quite an interesting theme compared to other bosses in Terraria. Before you can fight the Lunatic Cultist, you'll need to prepare for the challenging battle and summon him into your world. Here's a full guide for how to defeat this boss.

How To Summon The Lunatic Cultist

As previously mentioned, the Lunatic Cultist is a Hardmode exclusive boss, so you need to be on Hardmode before summoning it. There are a few steps you need to follow to actually summon him.

First, you need to defeat the Golem, which you can find out how to do that in this guide. Next, travel to the Dungeon's entrance and kill the Cultists nearby. Defeating the Cultists will spawn the Lunatic Cultist, and you can then engage in the fight.

RELATED: Terraria: Eater Of Worlds Boss Guide

If you wish to fight the Lunatic Cultist after defeating him for the first time, then defeat all of the Celestial Pillars and travel back to the Dungeon's entrance. The Cultists will respawn, and you can also find the Lunatic Cultist after killing them again. Here's a guide detailing how to defeat the Celestial Pillars in Terraria.

The Lunatic Cultist Stats

There are multiple things you need to know before you fight the Lunatic Cultist. Below you'll find a chart with the Lunatic Cultist's stats and a full guide for how to defeat him.

What Equipment Should You Use To Fight The Lunatic Cultist?

The primary piece of equipment you should bring to a fight with the Lunatic Cultist are wings because he can float. He's also very quick compared to other bosses in Terraria. Ranged weapons are easier to use against the Lunatic Cultist since he moves so fast, but a strong melee weapon is useful for some sections of the battle.

How To Defeat The Lunatic Cultist

First, build a few lines of Wood Platforms above the Dungeon prior to summoning the Lunatic Cultist. These platforms will secure your ability to move around the boss as he flies in the air, even if you don't have a pair of wings.

The enemy will teleport above you after you kill the Cultists at the Dungeon, but there will be a few moments where he'll be invulnerable to damage upon first appearing.

Once the fight begins, the Lunatic Cultist will spawn fireballs, ice shards, and lightning bolts to attack you. The fireballs can chase you, while the other two attacks won't follow you around the battlefield directly. You can dodge all of these attacks, but you should memorize the order that he cycles through them. First, the Lunatic Cultist will spawn fireballs, then the ice shards, and finally the lightning bolts.

The Lunatic Cultist starts attacking you with five blue projectiles called Ancient Lights once he reaches below 50 percent HP. You need to dodge these attacks while simultaneously dealing damage to the boss with a ranged weapon.

There are two other things you need to watch out for in Expert Mode once the Lunatic Cultist's HP is below 50 percent. The projectiles are called Prophecy's End and are shot by Ancient Dooms in the air.

The Prophecy's End attack is harder to dodge since the projectiles spawn in a cross shape, but you can still fly around it with wings or use the platform you built earlier to dodge them by jumping. Pay close attention to when the Ancient Dooms spawn these projectiles.

The final threat you need to counter while fighting the Lunatic Cultist is the Ancient Cultists, which are the boss' minions. Ancient Cultists will follow you around and attack with dark fireballs.

You can prevent the Ancient Cultists from spawning by attacking the real Lunatic Cultist when he starts performing his ritual.

If you don't manage to interrupt the Lunatic Cultist during his ritual or accidentally attack one of the Ancient Cultists, then a dragon-like enemy will spawn. The Phantasm Dragon acts similar to a Wyvern, so defeat it as quickly as possible since its attacks deal a lot of damage.

Avoid hitting the Ancient Cultists to prevent the Phantasm Dragon from spawning. Hitting an Ancient Cultist once a Phantasm Dragon already exists will spawn an Ancient Vision, which will charge at you. If there are many Ancient Cultists in your world, then keep hitting the real Lunatic Cultist to make them disappear.

Both melee and ranged attacks work well for this section of the battle, but fast-firing ranged weapons may be problematic since you can accidentally hit an Ancient Cultist.

Continue hitting the Lunatic Cultist until he dies while avoiding every Ancient Cultist in your way. Once you defeat the Lunatic Cultist, you can then claim your rewards.

Everything You Earn For Defeating The Lunatic Cultist

Many special items drop upon the death of the Lunatic Cultist, so it's important to know everything you can expect to earn. However, not every item has a definitive chance of dropping.

Here's every item you can earn for defeating the Lunatic Cultist on the Classic, Expert, and Master Modes.

​NEXT: Terraria: Brain Of Cthulhu Boss Guide