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How to find Shimmer in Terraria (Easy Guide)

How to find Shimmer in Terraria (Easy Guide)

Terraria has been receiving major updates since its inception and the game has grown into this amazingly massive experience with each addition. With its new 1.4.4 update, a new and possibly one of the most game-changing things has been added called Shimmer.

It is a unique liquid with magical transmuting properties that will impact your game in more ways than one. How to find Shimmer in Terraria is the subject for today so read along.

Shimmer is found in a special newly added Aether Biome in Terraria. This biome spawns once in a world and is found underground in the cavern layer underneath the side of the world that has a Jungle on top.

It is a small biome with just a pond of Shimmer in the middle with a distinct space-like background once you enter it. Shimmer can be collected with only the Bottomless Shimmer Bucket.

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What is Shimmer in Terraria?

Shimmer

Shimmer is a purplish pearlescent liquid found exclusively in the Aether Biome. This liquid has tons of different effects on all types of items and even NPCs in the game when they come in contact with it.

The most important feature of this liquid is its ability to transmute objects in Terraria. Simply placing/throwing an item in the liquid will transform it into other items which may or may not be even better than before.

Some of the effects of Shimmer are:

  • Items thrown in the Shimmer will float out of the liquid with their respective change/transformation.
  • Some crafted items will be broken down into their components when placed in the liquid.
  • NPC sprites will be transformed into a shimmered variant.
  • Some enemies will transform into other enemies.
  • Items can be upgraded or even downgraded, depending on the item,
  • Critters will transform in Faelings.
  • If Shimmer comes in contact with other liquids then it will transform into Aetherium Block.

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Shimmer cannot be picked up or collected using regular/bottomless buckets and thus require a special Bottomless Shimmer Bucket to store and move. However, It can also be pumped. The Bottomless Shimmer Bucket can be crafted using 2 ways:

  • Throwing the Bottomless Bucket into Shimmer and transforming it
  • By combining a Bottomless Bucket with 10 Luminite Bars at an Ancient Manipulator.

There are loads of different permanent and temporary buffs/debuffs that you can acquire by interacting with Shimmer using various items etc. For a more detailed list of this please check this Terraria Wiki.

How to find Shimmer in Terraria?

Naturally occurring Shimmer can only be found in the Aether Biome. Aether is a new biome added in the 1.4.4 update. This biome is located in only one place in each world. Specifically, in any location in the Cavern Layer in the same half of the world as the Jungle biome.

Aether Biome

To find the Aether biome, you need to head to the outer third of the world. The Aether always generates on the same side of the world as the Jungle so if you see the Snow biome or the Dungeon you need to turn around and go to the other side.

It’s pretty deep underground and you can identify it when you see it due to its aesthetics. It is entirely made out of stone and it has an interesting visual effect when you enter it.

As a suggestion, go to your Jungle side’s Ocean then leave the ocean biome by about a hundred blocks or so and dig down. In many cases, you will either end up in the Aether itself or end up in a cave that eventually leads to the biome.

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Aether Aesthetics

Aether

Aether itself is a very small biome where there is a small Shimmer pond surrounded by several Gem Trees. While in the Aether, a unique background effect will be applied. The effect is of a star-filled space sky that will cover the tiles as well.

Do be aware of entering the Shimmer pool as it will pull you down, phasing through tiles below until you reach another opening. You can negate this effect by equipping the Chromatic Cloak. You can create the Chromatic Cloak by throwing the Star Cloak into the Shimmer.


The Shimmer has a lot of different uses and can be taken advantage of by using the Bottomless Shimmer Bucket. Once you have collected it in the bucket, you can essentially take it with you and use it where ever you want. Although your first task is to find the Aether and with a bit of luck, some exploration along with our guidance, you will be swimming in Shimmer in no time.