The 10 best Terraria mods that will spice up your gameplay (2024)

Make a timeless classic even better with new gameplay and items.

Steven Covey once said, “There are three constants in life... change, choice, and principles.” We’d like to add the fourth one to this list, something that is maintained in Steam’s rankings of the most played games. Of course, we’re talking about the indestructible and highly addicting Terraria. Despite being a 13-year-old sandbox with a fair share of competitors, it still enjoys unfading popularity, and we doubt it will change any time soon, especially judging by how active the game’s modding community is!

Even the vanilla version is superior to its competitors, such as Minecraft. It has more furniture more boss combats, more gameplay mechanics. On top of constant updates from Re-Logic, Terraria’s creators, you can add even more new biomes and bosses with the help of modifications. Excited to discover the best Terraria mods in 2024? Before proceeding, here’s some important information that new players may find helpful.

Meet tModLoader, every Terraria player's best friend

tModLoader is a crucial tool for more seasoned players that grants the ability to play mods for Terraria, as well as access to its extensive library of modifications. Before you start fiddling with it, we strongly recommend getting familiar with the vanilla version for several hours, as it already has an extensive range of content.

Once you get a taste of the game, you’ll truly understand the impact of quality of life mods, like the recipe browser and boss checklist. These may seem small and insignificant, but hardcore fans know how important it is to systemize those lists and make each item category easy to browse.

Apart from enabling minor changes, tModLoader can help you transform the experience by enriching the game with new content. And it’s all for free! This is such a refreshing contrast to EA and Paradox Interactive titles. To get started, you need to own the base version of the game. The mod manager will not work without it. Luckily, the RRP is already low enough, with several digital stores selling it at a steep discount.

Then, you can download and launch tModLoader via Steam. After starting the game, you'll see new menu options: Mods (here, you can view, enable, and disable your installed mods) and Mod Browser (use it to find and install mods of your choice).

What are the best Terraria mods?

Now that you’re well-informed about the importance of tModLoader let’s get straight to business. Picking just the 10 best mods for Terraria is a tough task, especially considering the sheer amount of them. Nonetheless, we tried to include a bunch of very different ones. You'll find something whether you’re looking for slight improvements or a game-changing experience.

Noitaria

(Source: Steam)

What can be better than one fantastic pixel art indie title? Combining it with another one, of course! This mod does more than just enrich the Terraria experience by introducing objects from Noita. Similarly to that title, it allows crafting custom wands by putting various spells in them, resulting in truly devastating effects. Despite being a relatively new mod with lots of updates ahead, it shows some serious potential.

PalMod

(Source: Verveine on YouTube)

Feeling too lonely and overwhelmed with exploring caves and fighting bosses on your own? Then, put other NPCs to your tasks! There’s a content mod that can help you speed up the process and feel like a real monster catcher. PalMod comes with a capture system that you might remember from Palworld and other Pokemon-like games.

The playthrough kicks off pretty standard, with building the house and earning 50 silver coins that you need to use to purchase the capture spheres. Once you obtain it, you can embark on an adventure and catch ‘em all. Not all NPCs can be caught (e.g., you can’t capture bosses), but those with the special symbol above their heads can work for you like little minions. Attack them until the health bar is reduced to 15%, and they’re good to grab. Unleash them when you need some assistance handling enemies.

New Beginnings

(Source:Steam)

If you’re familiar with Origins mod for Minecraft, then you’ll instantly grasp the purpose behind New Beginnings. If that doesn’t ring any bells, it's one of the best Terraria mods that can simplify your new save by giving you a “profession”. Having an allocated class comes with a lovely bonus of gear, mechanics, and more advanced character stats.

It adds a bit of a backstory for characters and some advantages from the get-go, which makes enemies and bosses less challenging in the beginning. In CAS mode, you can choose from a plethora of origins, ranging from knight, farmer, or mage to some funky ones like Zoomer and Australian.

Thorium

(Source: Steam)

Despite the sheer amount of content the Vanilla version provided, it’s nice to spice things up with something new. Thanks to Thorium, you’ll get over 2,700 new items, 10 new NPCs, 11 bosses, 3 mini-bosses, Aquatic Depths, and natural Graveyard biomes, as well as new classes: Thrower, Healer, and Bard.

This content pack blends so well with the base game that it feels more like a full-fledged DLC than a mod. The boss fights, new combat elements introduce novelty but it still feels organic. If you’ve never played modded Terraria and feel skeptical about rapid changes, you’ll have a smooth experience with Thorium.

Retribution Mod

(Source: Steam)

Do you consider yourself more of a brawler who’s in pursuit of sensational battles? Then, Retribution will be right up your alley. Despite being a beta build, it provided a wide variety of melee and ranged weapons, which liven up fighting significantly with some spectacular attacks. Moreover, you can test them on a bunch of fresh enemies and a big icy spider as a boss.

That’s just the beginning, as the mod creator has more new bosses, biomes, and items in plans, meaning the 1.0 version of Retribution Mod will be more expansive.

Fargo's Souls Mod

(Source: terrariamods on Reddit)

“Man, just one tiny boss fight? You gotta pump those numbers up. Those are rookie numbers!” Alright, how about 15 of them? But beware, just like the name suggests, beating them will not be as easy as a pie. If you don’t fret and fume when facing challenge, you’ll find Fargo's Souls Mod particularly amusing.

Warm up your fingers and prepare to dodge, as some foes have powerful attacks. This modification will occupy you for hours, as you’ll have to do some farming to earn enchantments to craft the mega accessory needed to beat the final boss. The fact that Fargo’s Souls works well with the Calamity Mod is another major advantage of this content pack.

The Stars Above

(Source: Paper Luigi on Steam)

The Stars Above is one of those modifications that make you extremely proud of the modding community, as well as the skills and creativity they possess. For starters, the mod has a proper plot with over 1000+ dialogue lines and some cutscenes.

After picking Asphodene or Eridani as your mentor, you’ll be guided through the mod and to Neon Veil, a biome that not only looks spectacular but is also jam-packed with unique loot, weapons, armor, and foes. Fans of fantasy anime will feel at home with The Stars Above. With its top-notch graphics, the aesthetic remains elaborate and consistent throughout the whole journey.

Terraria Overhaul

(Source: Mirsario on Steam)

Let’s step back from massive, expansion-like projects and talk about the basics. Overhaul is one of the must-have quality of life mods that positively impact the gameplay. It adds just a handful of slight changes but the ones that you’ll notice and appreciate during each next playthrough.

For example, it re-imagines originally rigid movements, weapon attacks and camera work by making them smoother and pleasant to the eye. After trying it just once, there’s no going back to the Vanilla version. Another pleasant bonus: it’s compatible with numerous other mods.

Arcania RPG

(Source: nexusmods)

Terraria is cool and dandy, but it might be missing a bit of a kick, a dash of… RPG! That’s right, if you’ve ever dreamed of having more customization options, races, skill trees, levels, and other essential features of the role-playing genre, dream bigger. You can have it all and more with Arcania RPG.

Making it work will require some extra effort, like downloading it separately and enabling Thorium and Terrarchitect mods, which are required. But once you’re done, you’re free to roam the wonderful world of 2D pixels as a mage or pyromancer. Just don’t rush into every single fight from the get-go as you start off with Level 1.

Calamity

(Source: Zenmetsu on Steam)

If we could pick only one content expansion mod to rule them all, it would hands down be Calamity. One playthrough can easily take over 30 hours, and stopping at just one will not do it justice. Due to abundant volumes of items and gameplay features, you’ll keep discovering something new each time, giving it a great replayability value.

It’s one of the best Terraria mods with most downloads. Its creators carry on with regular updates to make sure you have a smooth ride. We wholeheartedly recommend Calamity if you lack novelty and challenging bosses in a beloved game.

Ten is way too small of a number to introduce all of the noteworthy mods for Terraria, so we’ll certainly add more of them in the future. Which one would you recommend to other players? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.