How to Find Shimmer in Terraria

Terraria is an ever-evolving sandbox. It’s in a continuous cycle of content updates that keeps you coming back. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, you learn of some fresh and interesting feature and get the urge to get your hands on it. One of these features is the wonderfully ethereal Shimmer. If you want to get your hands on this magical stuff, let’s explore how you can find it.

Steps to Finding Shimmer

Shimmer isn’t too hard to find, but you need to know where to look or do a little searching.

• You need to find the Aether Biome. This a mini-biome that appears in the Underground (Cavern) layer in the outer third of the world.
  
• This biome is always in the same direction of the world as the Jungle, so if you aren’t sure where to go to find the Aether, head in this direction.
  
• Once in the biome, Shimmer will be a shallow pool of shining liquid.
  
• Craft Shimmer at an Ancient Manipulator with a Bottomless Water Bucket and 10 Luminite Bars.
  
• You can also acquire Shimmer by submerging the Bottomless Water Bucket into a Shimmer pool.

However, while you can use Shimmer in its natural state, you must defeat the Moon Lord before you can pump it or use it in a Bottomless Water Bucket.

The Aether biome is characterized by its starry rocks, looking more like the sky biomes than underground ones.

The Alchemy of Shimmer

You’ve managed to get your hands on some magical liquid – this isn’t just for show. It can transmute items into something else or “decraft” them. This also affects town NPCs, enemies, and critters – nearly every mundane item can transform. It can also alter your NPC’s look.

Items

When exposed to the Shimmer, it will either upgrade or downgrade certain items, and the sprites of these items will glow brighter. Potions will turn into their original components, except that each ingredient has a 33% chance of not being produced to stop duplicates. This is the game’s way of balancing things out.

Creatures

NPCs will turn into shimmery versions of themselves, and enemies will temporarily become invisible. Most critters will transform into Faelings, with gem critters becoming gems. But do note that it will not affect Gold Worm, Gem Squirrel, Slime Bunny, Party Bunny, Christmas Bunny, or Gem Bunny.

Miscellaneous

When it comes into contact with other liquids, Shimmer will turn into an Aetherium Block. When jumping in the Shimmer, you’ll gain a Shimmering effect, which allows you to pass through blocks until reaching any flat surface that isn’t in the Shimmer.

The Bottomless Shimmer Bucket

After you track down and collect some Shimmer, you can turn a regular Bottomless Water Bucket into a special Bottomless Shimmer Bucket. This will give you an endless supply of Shimmer to transmute and create to your heart’s content.

Pump It Up

You can pump Shimmer around your Terraria world, just like water or any other liquid. It’s pretty standard, and you only need to use a pump or similar device. This makes it easy to move Shimmer from one area of the world to another, so you can create gorgeous new biomes or craft stations.

Ambrosia

Shimmer allows players to create objects they cannot come by any other way, like Ambrosia. Ambrosia is a consumable that permanently boosts your mining, tile, and wall placement speed by 5%. And the only way to acquire it, as of now, is to throw any fruit into Shimmer, which will turn the ordinary produce into the magical Ambrosia. This encourages users to delve deeper into the game and experiment with various objects to see what concoctions they can produce.

The Shimmer Trade and Barter

One less-discussed feature of Shimmer is its use within the game economy. Its transformative powers and blueprint-like quality mean that it has the potential to vastly increase your wealth. Trading with others for rare items or using it as a form of currency is equally viable, especially in multiplayer. Shimmer extends the possibilities of bartering and trading between players.

Aetherium Blocks

Aetherium Blocks form when Shimmer comes into contact with another liquid. Much like Ice Blocks, Aetherium Blocks feel slippery and smooth to walk on, so you will be sliding as you cross them. You can minimize this effect by wearing Ice Skates or similar accessories. These blocks also emit a subtle light in the area where you place them. Standing or moving on them will cause particles of stardust to appear, which look quite mesmerizing.

Shimmering Player

When you enter the Shimmer, a debuff marked as “Shimmering” will impact you. This debuff affects your character in several ways: you won’t be able to move or use items; additionally, you’ll start sinking through any solid blockings until you reach an opening of 2×3 size (or drop to the Underworld), and you’ll become invincible to non-boss enemies. So this isn’t fun if you want to play normally, but it isn’t useless. If you want to get swiftly to the bottom layer, then Shimmering is the way out.

You can also counter the negative impact of this by wearing a Chromatic Cloak. Crafting this cloak is simple: combine your Star Cloak with a Shimmer, and you can pass through a pool of Shimmer like any other liquid, with no odd side effects.

The Ethereal Beauty of Shimmer Biomes

Adding Shimmer to your Terraria biomes can make for quite a breathtaking view. Its glimmering, pearl-like hues add an unearthly aesthetic charm that’s perfect for turning your world into something dreamlike and ethereal. Even if you didn’t care about the extra functionality, adding Shimmer makes your Terraria landscape a visual treat and lets you get creative with world modification.

The Aether – The Home of Shimmer

The Aether is a mysterious location in the underground of most Pre-Hardmode worlds. It appears as a large naturally occurring cave made of Stone Block, with a shimmering pool at its center and lush Gem Trees growing inside. This is where you’ll collect your valuable alchemical reagent, the Shimmer.

The unique thing about it is that all fully dark blocks look like they have stars twinkling in the background, providing an almost magical effect and making it feel like you’ve left the planet and stepped into outer space.

To find this place, you should head to the fifth outermost layer of your world on the Jungle side – usually near beaches at the shoreline of the Ocean – and look for it anywhere between 100 to 2200 blocks down into the Underground (Cavern) layer. It tends to appear right before lava appears.

It’s a good idea to make a Platform bridge over the Shimmer pool to prevent accidentally falling into it or making enemies who sink into it invisible.

Shimmer On

Terraria’s Shimmer is a hidden gem. But it’s not all that hidden once you know where to look. So, armed with the knowledge from this guide, you can tackle the challenge of acquiring and experimenting with this useful resource. You’re guaranteed hours of fun. The possibilities for transmutation are immense, so you will continue to discover new combos and creations that can make your world pretties, your gameplay more fun, and even make you some money on the side because who doesn’t appreciate a few extra coins? What fascinating Shimmer transmutations are you hoping to uncover? Do you have a favorite resource in Terraria or one you had the most fun acquiring? Share your experiences and tips in the comments below and keep the conversation going.