Ever since “tModLoader” was made available forTerrariaon Steam,Terraria mods have become more accessiblethan ever before. Backed by a wonderful, talented community, the modding scene has continued to deliver fun, replayable mods,many of which, like Calamityor Spirit Mod, are absolutely worth the hype.
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TheStarlight Rivermod, by authors ScalarVector1 and egshels, is no stranger to fun or replayability. Taking over two years to develop and launch, this mod is stuffed to the brim with high-quality content. Check out these nine changes and additions this mod has to offer, and see what all the hype is about.
9Fresh Biomes, Areas, And Boss Arenas
A major selling point of Terraria is the sheer exploration factor. Starlight River latches onto that enticing aspect, giving you even more to discover. While you’ll notice changes to already existing biomes, like The Corruption or Desert, the new areas and boss arenas you’ll stumble upon are the most impressive.
With hand-crafted, unique backgrounds to accompany them, you’ll quickly notice when you’re in a completely new, non-vanilla area or arena. Whether the area you stumble into is a boss arena or a place that introduces a new NPC to interact with, well, you’ll figure that out soon enough.
8Unique, Challenging Bosses
The new bosses to fight are likely the most alluring aspect of Starlight River. Well-designed, both in appearance and especially mechanics, you’ll get plenty of opportunities to learn a new boss' move set and feel that wonderful sense of accomplishment and satisfaction upon defeating one.
While these fights won’t be as difficult as, say, the later game fights in the Calamity mod, it likely won’t be a walk in the park for you either; be ready for new moves as you whittle away the boss' health bar. Also, if you like playing on harder difficulties, these bosses will reward you with treasure bags.
7Compelling Story Elements
While Terraria does offer some dialogue and passive interactions between its NPCs, there isn’t exactly a linear storyline. The vanilla game isn’t guided by substantial, lore-relevant conversations to help you through each boss fight or explain why you’re fighting these bosses in the first place.
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In Starlight River, you’ll meet a fair amount of new NPCs that have a deeper, more compelling dialogue with their own special text boxes and respective icons to help breathe some immersion into your modded playthrough. Who knows, you might even get hooked on the mod’s story or find a new favorite character.
6Eye-Catching Animations
To accompany the various boss fights, weapons, areas, and other aspects of the mod that you’ll become acquainted with are well-designed, modern-feeling animations. Whether it’s a laser beam, some fiery breath, or a shiny new melee weapon you just made spinning through the air, there’s a lot to appreciate.
With Terraria being just about as old asSkyrim, mods that incorporate a touch of modernity into the game can be the difference between abandoning or jumping on that yearning you might occasionally feel to start a new Terraria playthrough.
5Some Love For Summon Builds
While Terraria has come a long way with summoning builds, especially with whips and other class-defining features, it surely can’t hurt to show just a little more love to summoner players. Besides, even if summoning isn’t your thing, Starlight River adds some really neat and likable little fellas.
If you’re a fan ofHollow Knight, there’s a cute little summon for that. If you fancy a floating crystal that locks on to multiple enemies, dealing damage over time that increases in intensity, you’re able to have that too. Heck, there’s even a swarm of “nanomachines” you can summon.
4A Beautiful Pixel Art Style
If boss fights and combat aren’t exactly your thing, and the storyline isn’t really hooking you in, maybe you’ll get lost in the captivating, beautifully designed pixel art backgrounds of the various areas you’ll be exploring.
From glowing, geometric brickwork and spinning cogs, to massive, monochromatic, semi-transparent crystals, it’s tempting to just take your hands off the keyboard and space out for a second. If anything, the level of detail in Starlight River’s pixel art shows how much time and care were put into the mod.
3An Awesome Array Of Weapons
Similar to bosses, a myriad of brand-new weapons to test out and play around with can be hard to pass up when you’re rifling through lists of Terraria mods. Whether you like ranged, melee, magic, or summoning weapons, Starlight River has every base class covered.
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It’s impossible to list out every new weapon this mod adds, but a few notable ones that might spark your curiosity include a thunder-spewing blunderbuss, a shiny blade that can be charged up to fire a laser, and even nunchucks with guns attached to them.
2A Slew Of New Enemies
Basically, any biome you find yourself in, whether it’s from vanilla or this mod, you’ll be encountering new, novel enemies to fight, regardless of your playthrough’s current world stage. After all, there’s something to be said about that which breaks up the mundane.
Whether it’s a lumbering, automaton-like construct, a pesky swarm of firebugs, a disturbing-looking dweller, or whatever else you might come across, it’s safe to say you’ll be reminded of your first ever Terraria playthrough; you won’t know what to expect in each biome again.
Despite everything that’s been covered, there’s still more content to uncover in Starlight River. Beyond the new items you’ll learn about, the ores you’ll mine, and the enemies you’ll face, there are little secrets and refreshing mechanics to be found as you progress.
One mechanic that stands out is the puzzles. That’s right; this mod will let you scratch that problem-solving itch. While it would ruin the fun if all the details were spilled, there is a pretty good puzzle involving gears and cogs if that catches your interest.
