If you’ve just stepped into Terraria’s hardmode for the first time, you’ve probably already realized that your old gear won’t cut it against the new, far more dangerous enemies roaming your world. You might have seen other players rocking endgame armor, powerful weapons, and handy accessories that make hardmode a breeze, and wondered where to start with upgrading your loadout. One of the most critical early hardmode resources you’ll need is hallowed bars, and if you’re asking how do you get hallowed bars in Terraria, you’re in the right place. This guide breaks down every step you need to follow, from pre-requisites to farming strategies, so you can get your hands on these valuable bars fast without wasting hours on dead ends.
How Do You Get Hallowed Bars in Terraria: Step-by-Step Acquisition Process
Before you start hunting for hallowed bars, there’s one non-negotiable rule you need to remember. You will not find Hallowed Bars or Hallowed Ore anywhere in your world before you unlock hardmode by defeating the Wall of Flesh. If you’re still in pre-hardmode, focus on beating the Wall of Flesh first, and come back to this guide once you’ve done that. Once hardmode is unlocked, you have two separate ways to get hallowed bars, depending on how far you’ve progressed in hardmode.
The first and most common method is defeating mechanical bosses. There are three mechanical bosses in total: The Destroyer, The Twins, and Skeletron Prime. Each of these bosses will drop 15 to 35 hallowed bars per kill in Normal mode, 25 to 40 in Expert mode, and 30 to 44 in Master mode. You don’t need to beat all three to start getting bars, either—you can farm the same mechanical boss over and over again to get as many bars as you need, which is great if you find one boss far easier to beat than the others.
The second method becomes available only after you’ve defeated all three mechanical bosses. Once you’ve cleared all three, Hallowed Ore will start generating in the Underground Hallow biome. You can mine this ore with a pickaxe that has at least 180% pickaxe power, which means you’ll need an Adamantite or Titanium pickaxe to harvest it. You’ll need 3 Hallowed Ore to craft one Hallowed Bar, and you can smelt the ore at either an Adamantite or Titanium Forge. This method is ideal if you don’t enjoy farming bosses repeatedly, or if you’re already exploring the Underground Hallow for other resources like crystal shards.
Key Tips for Farming Hallowed Bars Efficiently
Whether you choose to farm mechanical bosses or mine for ore, there are a few tricks you can use to cut down on the time you spend getting hallowed bars. These tips work for all difficulty levels, and they’ll help you avoid wasting hours on slow, unproductive runs:
- Pick the mechanical boss you find easiest to defeat repeatedly: The Destroyer is the most popular choice for new hardmode players, as it has a predictable movement pattern and is vulnerable to piercing weapons like the Daedalus Stormbow.
- Build a dedicated arena with campfires, heart lanterns, and honey pools to boost your health regen and reduce the risk of dying mid-fight, which wastes summoning materials.
- If you’re playing in a multiplayer world, team up with other players to take down mechanical bosses faster, and split the hallowed bars evenly so everyone can upgrade their gear at the same time.
If you’re going the summoning route for bosses, make sure you stock up on the materials you need to make multiple summoning items first. You can craft mechanical boss summoning items at a Mythril or Orichalcum Anvil using souls of night, souls of light, and either iron/lead bars, lens, or bones depending on the boss you want to summon. It’s way more efficient to make 5 or 6 summoning items at once instead of running back to your base after every kill to craft another one.
If you’re mining for Hallowed Ore, bring along a few spelunker potions to highlight ore veins through walls, and a shine potion to light up the dark tunnels of the Underground Hallow. The Underground Hallow is full of dangerous enemies like enchanted swords, gastropods, and hallowed mimics, so don’t go in without decent combat gear. Hallowed mimics drop some of the best early hardmode accessories, so don’t run away if you run into one while mining for ore. The loot you get from a hallowed mimic will often make the detour worth it.
Top Uses for Hallowed Bars in Your Hardmode Progression
Hallowed bars are one of the most versatile hardmode crafting materials, and they’re used to make dozens of useful items for every class. You don’t want to waste your first batch of bars on low-priority items, so it’s good to know what’s worth crafting first.
The most important use for most players is crafting class-specific Hallowed Armor. Each set takes 54 hallowed bars to make, and each set comes with powerful stat boosts and a unique set bonus that gives you a 20% chance to dodge incoming damage. That dodge chance is a game-changer for harder boss fights against Plantera, Golem, and even the Lunatic Cultist later in the game. If you’re playing a melee build, the Hallowed Armor also boosts your melee damage and speed significantly, while the ranged set boosts arrow damage and crit chance, the magic set boosts mana regen and magic damage, and the summoner set gives you an extra minion slot.
Aside from armor, hallowed bars are used to craft a wide range of powerful weapons and tools. The Excalibur, a fast, high-damage melee sword, is one of the most popular choices for melee players. Excalibur, crafted from 12 hallowed bars, is a core component of the Terra Blade, one of the most powerful melee weapons in the entire game. Ranged players can craft the Hallowed Repeater, a fast bow that fires arrows at an extremely high rate, while summoners can make the Hallowed Staff, which summons a flying holy sentry that deals consistent damage to groups of enemies. You can also use hallowed bars to make the Hallowed Fishing Rod, one of the best fishing rods in the game, and the Void Vault, a portable storage chest that lets you access items from anywhere in your world.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming Hallowed Bars
Even if you follow all the steps we’ve outlined, it’s easy to make small mistakes that slow down your progress or waste your hard-earned bars. These are the most common mistakes we see new hardmode players make, and how to avoid them.
First, don’t try to fight mechanical bosses before you’re properly geared. A lot of players rush to summon a mechanical boss as soon as hardmode starts, with nothing more than molten armor and a pre-hardmode weapon. You’ll almost always die repeatedly, and you’ll waste valuable summoning materials that take time to farm. Take an hour or two to mine Cobalt or Palladium first, make a set of armor, and pick up a hardmode weapon like the Daedalus Stormbow before you attempt any mechanical boss fights.
Second, don’t waste your first few hallowed bars on low-priority items. It’s tempting to make a fancy new pickaxe or a cosmetic item first, but your first priority should always be your class’s Hallowed Armor set. The stat boosts and dodge chance will make every future fight far easier, and you’ll get far more value out of the armor than you will out of a tool you can replace later.
Third, don’t waste time mining for Hallowed Ore before you’ve defeated all three mechanical bosses. A lot of new players hear that hallowed ore spawns in the Underground Hallow, and they spend hours digging around looking for it before they’ve beaten all three mech bosses. The ore won’t spawn until all three are dead, so that time is completely wasted. Always clear a 100-block radius around your boss arena of any corruption, crimson, or hallow enemies before you summon a mechanical boss. Nothing ruins a boss run faster than getting swarmed by a group of corrupted slimes or gastropods mid-fight, and taking 10 minutes to clear the area first will save you a lot of frustration later.
At the end of the day, getting hallowed bars is one of the most important milestones in your Terraria hardmode playthrough, and it opens up dozens of new crafting options that make the rest of the game far more manageable. Whether you prefer farming mechanical bosses repeatedly or mining ore in the underground hallow once you’ve cleared all three mech bosses, there’s a method that fits every playstyle. Now that you know how do you get hallowed bars in Terraria, you can jump back into your world and start working your way towards that endgame gear you’ve been eyeing. Don’t be discouraged if you die a few times to the mechanical bosses at first—even veteran players mess up their first few runs, and the loot you get is more than worth the effort.