Crimson Vs. Corruption

This guide is meant to show all of the differences between the Crimson and the Corruption. I will do all of the comparisons on Expert Mode because it is considered a middle ground between Normal Mode and Master Mode.

SPOILER WARNING

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This guide contains spoilers for Terraria. Play the game or read at your own risk.
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Biome Layout

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Biome layout only matters in the early game for the most part. This is when you would normally have the most trouble traversing the world.

Crimson:

The Crimson has a shielded opening on the surface that can be accessed from one direction. There is a tunnel spiraling left and right down toward a large main chamber with smaller tunnels leading to each Crimson Heart.

























The Crimson is built for arenas because of the large open space it has in it's main chamber.

Corruption:

The Corruption's opening on the surface is a pit that goes straight down. In the early game you will have to bridge over them to get past them. It's main chamber is a lot smaller than the Crimson's. To get to it, you will need to rope down or use a double jump/horseshoe to avoid fall damage. The Shadow Orbs are in gaps under the main chamber.
























The Corruption is hard to make an arena in without going to the surface.

Crimson Heart & Shadow Orb Drops

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These are very minor differences, but I want to show everything.

Crimson:

1. The Undertaker is the first drop you get when breaking a Crimson Heart. It is does 15 ranged damage and has a fast fire rate.
   
2. The Crimson Heart is a light pet that bounces around when following the player.
   
3. The Panic Necklace is an accessory that speeds up the player when they get damaged. You can get it from breaking Crimson Hearts, or it can be crafted from a Band of Starpower and a Life Crystal using the Tinkerer's Workshop in a graveyard.
   
4. The Crimson Rod is a magic weapon that forms a rain cloud that rains on enemies. It does 12 damage.
   
5. The Rotted Fork is a spear weapon that does 14 melee damage.

Corruption:

1. The Musket is the first drop you get when breaking a Shadow Orb. It is does 31 ranged damage and has a very slow fire rate.
   
2. The Shadow Orb is a light pet that floats behind the player.
   
3. The Vilethorn is a magic weapon that shoots a straight thorn forward. It does 10 damage and can go through walls.
   
4. The Ball o' Hurt is a flail that does 30 melee damage.
   
5. The Band of Starpower increases the players mana by 20. You can get it from breaking Shadow Orbs, or it can be crafted from the Panic Necklace and a Mana Crystal using the Tinkerer's Workshop in a graveyard.

Bosses & Boss Drops

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The bosses and boss drops are really important when deciding which evil biome to play.

Crimson:

The Brain of Cthulhu is a big brain with 20 or so creepers that it flings at you. To defeat it, you need to get rid of all the creepers and then kill the brain.

Once it's defeated you can craft Crimson Armor which mainly focuses on damage and life regen.

In Expert Mode, it drops the Brain of Confusion. It is a decent accessory, but I find its main use to be giving you an extra dodge chance in the Empress of Light Daytime fight if you have trouble with it.

Corruption:

The Eater of Worlds is a large worm boss that splits into segments when it's damaged. To defeat it, you need to get rid of of every segment in the worm.

Once it's defeated you can craft Shadow Armor which mainly focuses on melee speed and movement speed.

In Expert Mode, it drops the Worm Scarf which is objectively better than the Brain of Confusion. It is one of the best Expert-Only accessories in the game. The ability to ignore 17% of the damage you take is insanely good.

Enemies

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The different enemies will matter all throughout the game when farming for resources in the respective biomes.

Crimson:

Crimson mainly focuses on melee enemies throughout the game. They're tanky, but they can't do much from far away. The only exception to this rule is the ichor sticker. It shoots a stream of ichor at you if you are close enough. This can be really bad in a situation with lots of enemies.

Corruption:

The corruption focuses more on ranged enemies and worms. The enemies aren't as tanky, but some are able to snipe you from far away and some are able to burrow into walls making them almost impossible to hit.

Mimics:


















The only items that really matter* from the Evil Biome Mimics are the 3rd, 4th, and 5th items. Both the Fetid Baghnakhs and the Chain Guillotines are great weapons. They wouldn't normally decide if you would pick Crimson or Corruption though. The Life Drain and the Clinger Staff are great weapons as well, but the Life Drain is slightly better. The Clinger Staff is good for Old One's Army if you struggle with that though. The 5th item is the most important in my opinion. The Flesh Knuckles are WAY better than the Putrid Scent because of the item craft they go into. I will bring this back up later.

*The Dart Pistol and Dart Rifle are almost exactly the same. The Dart Pistol has lower damage and a higher fire rate while the Dart Rifle has higher damage and a lower fire rate. The hooks are exactly the same.

Flesh Knuckles Vs. Putrid Scent

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Okay, back to the Flesh Knuckles and the Putrid Scent after some notes about how aggro works.

Aggro:

Aggro is a mechanic that determines how far away an enemy can be before they attack you. My best advice when something increases or decreases aggro is that you shouldn't take it too seriously. Usually you would think that if you aren't tanky you should try to lose aggro, but enemies and bosses will still target you even if you do lose it. Also in the end it doesn't matter. The melee class will always have the most aggro, and the ranger will almost always have the least. This is because of armor bonuses. Mid-game melee armor increases aggro and mid-game ranger armor decreases aggro. With that knowledge, let's continue.

Crimson:

The Flesh Knuckles give you 8 defense and increase aggro by 400. When you get this item, it is good for all classes, but it gets worse and worse as you progress through the game. Luckily there is a great craft for it to go in.













The Berserker's Glove is an insane accessory. Not only does it give you 8 defense, but it gives you autoswing on swords and whips, and increases the size, speed, and knockback of melee weapons. This accessories main use is for Summoner, but it can be a secondary to the Fire Gauntlet for Melee as well. The Hero Shield is good too, but it's not as good as the Frozen Shield.

Corruption:

The Putrid Scent gives you 5% more damage and crit. chance and decreases aggro by 400. This items effect is actually really bad. You should take your class' emblem over this any day. Every craft this item goes into is either bad or outclassed by something better at the time you get it.

















The Mana Cloak is better than the Arcane Flower, the Molten Quiver is way better than the Stalker's Quiver, and the Recon Scope is pointless because by the time you get it, you will have Shroomite Armor which decreases your aggro anyway.

Potions, Debuffs, and Fishing

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These are a very important distinction between the Crimson and the Corruption.

Crimson:

The Crimson has 2 potions and 1 debuff that are exclusive to it: The Rage Potion, Heartreach Potion, and the Ichor Debuff.

The Rage Potion is a worse version of the Wrath Potion giving 10% increased crit. chance, the Heartreach Potion gives extended magnetism toward life hearts that drop from enemies, and Ichor makes your attacks subtract 15 defense from enemies and bosses alike. It is the best player inflicted debuff in the game.

You can fish up 3 Crimson exclusive fish: The Hemopiranha, the Crimson Tigerfish, and the Bladetongue. The first two are used in the talked about Rage and Heartreach Potions, but the Bladetongue is actually a pretty good Early-Hardmode sword that shoots ichor when it hits an enemy.

Corruption:

The Corruption has 1 potion and 1 debuff that are exclusive to it: The Wrath Potion and the Cursed Inferno Debuff.

The Wrath Potion might be the single best potion in the game. Increasing damage by 10% is really good. The Cursed Inferno Debuff inflicts 24 damage per second for 3-6 seconds every time you attack an enemy or boss. Overall it is good, but not as good as Ichor.

You can catch 2 Corruption exclusive fish: The Ebonkoi and the Toxikarp. The Ebonkoi is used in the Wrath Potion, but the Toxicarp is a ranged weapon that doesn't need ammo and shoots bubbles.

Dungeon Biome Chests

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These really shouldn't be the decisive factor in choosing Crimson or Corruption, but they do still exist.

Crimson:

The Crimson Biome Chest contains the Vampire Knives. This weapon shoots several red knives that heal you when you damage enemies. These used to be one of the best weapons in the game leading up to the celestial pillars, but they got nerfed a few times making them less powerful. They still are an insane weapon though.

Corruption:

The Corruption Biome Chest contains the Scourge of the Corruptor. It shoots a projectile along with a few Tiny Eaters that home onto enemies. This weapon was heavily buffed elevating it to the same tier as the Vampire Knives.

Miscellaneous Crimson Perks

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I don't know why, but the Crimson gets a few extra features that the Corruption doesn't.

Crimson:

For some reason, all of the tools made from Crimtane Bars have a few percent higher tool power than that of the tools made from Demonite Bars.

In Expert Mode, the Brain of Cthulhu drops 40-90 Crimtane Ore which is more than the 30-59 Demonite Ore that the Eater of Worlds drops.

Crimtane Ore sells for 13 silver per piece compared to Demonite Ore which sells for 10 silver per piece. Paired with the great drop rates from the Brain of Cthulhu, you can gain a large amount of money very quickly by farming it.

Which is Better?

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In my opinion, these are the most important things to considered before choosing which evil biome to play.

Crimson:

The Crimson has great quality of life aspects that make it fun to play: a built in arena, more ore drops from the Brain of Cthulhu, and better ore sell prices. It also has Ichor and the Berserker's Glove for the Melee and Summoner classes.

The problem with the Crimson is that it is generally harder because it has tougher enemies and you lose access to the Worm Scarf.

Corruption:

The Corruption has the Worm Scarf which is a legendary item for newer Expert Mode players. It also has access to Wrath Potions and Cursed Inferno which are both great damage options for all classes.

The problem with the Corruption is that it can be more annoying to play. The Corruption has worm enemies, pitfalls, and you lose the damage boost of the Berserker's Glove when playing Summoner and Melee.

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In my opinion, you should start with the Corruption if you're new to Expert Mode, but if you're experienced, I would suggest sticking with the Crimson.