The Twins are a mechanical boss players can face in Hardmode of Terraria. In essence, they are a much harder version of the fight against the Eye of Cthulhu. Killing them is entirely optional as the main rewards are trophies, achievements, and Gold Coins.

For players looking to tackle these challenging foes it’s important to know what makes them tick. Each Twin has different attack patterns and weaknesses the player can exploit. Having the right strategy can make all the difference when it comes to defeating The Twins.

How To Summon

There are two ways to initiate a fight with The Twins:

  • Summoned with a Mechanical Eye at night. 10% chance to spawn naturally at dusk after destroying a Demon or Crimson Alter.

Mechanical Eyes are obtained by crafting on a Mythril or Orichalcum Anvil using the following items:

  • Lens Any Iron Bar Soul of Light

It is possible to delay the spawning of this creature forever by simply never destroying a Demon/Crimson Altar or using a Mechanical Eye. This gives the player plenty of time to prepare for this fight.

Phase 1 Of Fight

In the first phase, the red eye Retinazer will shoot several purple lasers at the player. It maneuvers itself in an attempt to stay at a diagonal angle above the player.

The green eye Spazmatism will shoot several Cursed Flame balls. It will attempt to stay on the player’s left or right at all times.

Both eyes will alternate using the above attacks while also charging the player for melee damage. It should be noted that Retinazer will charge less often and its charge attack does less damage.

Phase 2 Of Fight

Because each eye has their own health bar each will transform independently of the other. This transformation occurs when the player reduces their health to at least 39%.

Renatizer will no longer use its charge attacks. The laser will start firing faster as it takes damage. There is also a rapid burst fire between the charging laser attacks.

Spazmatism alters its Cursed Flame attack to be a steady stream instead of a fireball. Its charging attack is now much faster and deals more damage.

General Strategies

It is vitally important to be moving at all times. Both Twins will attack independently making it hard to track both at all times as they zip around the battlefield. Players could chip away at their health equally, though this isn’t recommended. It’s better to focus attention and damage on one until it’s dead then move on to the other. Which one the player prioritizes is based on personal preference and fighting strategy

Retinazer is arguably harder to kill as its lasers have great tracking and do a lot of damage. Taking this Twin out of play first makes it easier for players who struggle with dodging or don’t have speed boosts.

Spazmatism is more dangerous the longer the fight goes on due to its Cursed Flame attack. Getting this Twin out of the way first makes sense if the player is unable to regenerate health faster than the damage. Melee fighters should consider leaving this one until last as it’s the most problematic and harder to deal with if Retinazer is alive.

Another thing to consider is that the Twins are vulnerable to a variety of debuffs and status effects. Inflicting these throughout the fight will be immensely helpful for dealing damage passively or increasing damage output.

Preparing The Battlefield

There are two philosophies for preparing a battlefield to fight in:

  • Fight in the sky using high mobility. Fight in a bunker in the ground for tanking.

Fighting in the sky involves building a long bridge just below the Space layer. The strategy is to run back and forth dodging both the laser and charging attacks of The Twins. It’s important if using this strategy to not outrun the Retinazer as it doesn’t move as fast and can despawn if too far away. This method works best if players have speed boosts or can use something like Asphalt to construct the bridge.

The bunker method is to simply hunker down and tank the charging attack damage. The lasers from Retinazer won’t penetrate the walls and the Cursed Flame from Spazmatism will just spill on the edges if they enter at all. This method is only recommended if the player has lots of health, armor, regeneration, and a weapon that tracks really well.

With either choice it’s helpful to place a few items around the arena to provide light and helpful boosts:

  • Torches and Campfires Heart Lanterns (Health Regeneration) Stars In Bottles (Mana Regeneration) Bast Statues (Defense Boost) Garden Gnomes (Damage Reduction & Luck-Based Damage Boost) Honey Pools (Health Regeneration) Sunflowers (Movement Speed Boost)

Helpful Boosts

As should be common practice with bosses players should utilize certain buffs before starting the fight:

  • Sharpening Station (Sharpened Buff) Ammo Box (Ammo Box Buff) Crystal Ball (Clairvoyance Buff) Bewitching Table (Bewitched Buff) Slice of Cake (Sugar Rush Buff)

Potions

There are a number of potions that can provide an advantage against The Twins. Anything that increases damage is helpful and anything that boosts health or health regeneration is required to survive. Here are some ideal choices:

  • Regeneration Potion Lifeforce Potion Endurance Potion (Especially with bunker method) Ironskin (Especially with bunker method) Gravitation/Featherfall Potion (If using sky bridge method)

Armor

The best armor choice will largely depend on the player’s fighting strategy and chosen method for dealing with the Twins. Ranged fighters will want DPS buffs, Melee or anyone using the bunker method will want strong defense and health regeneration. Fortunately some armor types work for just about any tactic and playstyle while others are ideal for the bunker method. Here are some players should consider:

  • Adamantite (Arguably the best choice all around) Titanium (Good alternative to Adamantite) Crystal Assassin Armor Orichalcum (High Critical strike chance) Palladium (Rapid Healing helps with bunker method) Hallowed Armor (Avoid some attacks) Spider Armor (Best for Summoners)

Weapons

The weapon players should choose should be based on the attack style of the player and consider their build. Some playstyles will be easier than others in this fight and there are some weapons to assist those that will struggle.

Ranged (Bows/Guns) are probably the best choice of weapon for this fight. At this stage of the game, players will have access to many hard-hitting bows/guns. They’re also likely to have some tailor-made for boss fights. Some weapons can deal AOE damage and others severely weaken the Twins to allow for massive follow-up damage.

  • Adamantite/Titanium Repeater (Great damage when combined with Holy Arrows or Ichor Arrows) Daedalus Stormbow (Very effective with bunker method using Holy Arrows) Megashark/Gatligator/Clockwork Assault Rifle Recommende with Ichor, Crystal, or Cursed Bullets.

Magic is another solid choice thanks to incredible DPS and tracking. There are a few homing projectile options as well for those using the bunker method. They’re not as great as bows/guns but are still perfectly viable.

  • Recommende with Ichor, Crystal, or Cursed Bullets.

  • Sky Fracture (Best weapon for the fight if using the sky bridge method) Meteor Staff (Great for bunker method thanks to falling meteorite) Crystal Serpent (Great AOE attack, does not work with bunker method) Spirit Flame (Great for bunker method thanks to homing)

Summoning can work in this fight but lack of consistent DPS is going to be a problem. Players will have to keep the pressure on the Twins to make sure the fight ends before morning. Fortunately just about any Summoning-based weapon will work with either the sky bridge or bunker methods. Spider-based weapons work particularly well as they inflict poison providing passive damage over time. Unfortunately, there aren’t many viable options.

  • Spider Staff (Best choice if the player has background walls for Spiders to climb on) Sanguine Staff (Best choice if the player does not want to build background walls) Queen Spider Staff (Can work in a pinch)

Melee builds are going to have a tough time. Getting close to Spazmatism is dangerous due to its Cursed Flames attack and Retinazer prefers to fight at range. It’s also worth noting the bunker method is very difficult to pull off in melee. The key to fighting melee is to have weapons that also launch projectiles and have lots of defense. There are some weapons that can help the player pull this off.

  • Shadowglame Knife (Best choice thanks to high attack rate, great DPS, and damage over time with Shadowflame) Ice Sickle (Great for sky bridge method thanks to the projectiles) Yo-yos (Good fallback if player doesn’t have the above weapons)

Melee users should also strongly consider implementing flasks with their weapon of choice to nudge DPS a little further. Some highly recommended options include:

  • Flask of Ichor (Decreases Defense) Flask of Cursed Flames (Damage Over Time) Flask of Poison (Damage Over Time) Flask of Fire (Damage Over Time)

Handy Accessories

Accessories are a must-have in this fight as they provide helpful bonuses and boosts. The best accessories are the ones that provide additional mobility and defense. The right accessories are those that fill in the gaps of a player’s strategy or weaknesses. Some players may benefit more from damage avoidance while others may prefer Mana regeneration.

  • Frostspark/Terraspark Boots (Offer great speed boosts and required for the sky bridge method) Ankh Shield (To prevent Knockback and boost defense) Brain Of Confusion (Great on Expert Mode) Charm of Myths (Great for beginners still learning to dodge) Moon Charm (Required for melee as it raises defense and boosts DPS) Magic/Celestial Cuffs (Great Mana regeneration when the player takes damage)

It’s also worth noting that players should be tweaking their accessories for Warding, Lucky, or Menacing modifiers in this fight. It takes quite a bit of money but it is certainly worth it for the added Defense, Critical Hit Chance, and Damage respectively.

Final Thoughts

The difficulty of this fight will largely come down to the player’s gear, preparation, and skills in battle. It’s strongly recommended to practice with the Eye of Cthulhu as it bears many similarities to this fight. Players should also note that farming ingredients to create a Mechanical Eye isn’t too difficult so grinding the Twins for practice will also work.

Once the player becomes accustomed to this fight there’s very little reason to repeat it as there are far better ways to make money. The one exception may be if the player is pursuing trophies, which have a 10% chance of dropping from their respective eyes, or trying to complete the three achievements tied to this boss.

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