How to find the Aether and must-know transmutations

Finding the Aether biome allows players to transmute items (turn one item into another) via shimmer. This guide shows you where to find the biome and some useful transmutations.

Location of the Aether

The biome is underground, on the outer 5th of the world, on the same side as The Jungle. The Jungle is always on the opposite side of the snow biome / dungeon. You will know you have found the biome when your surroundings turn dark and starry. Make sure to not fall in the water if you don't have some sort of water-walking effect, or you'll phase right through the stone below until you land in an open space.

Must-know transmutations.

Transmutation happens when an item is thrown into Shimmer, causing them to change. Some are interchangeable, others are not.
Some items may be difficult to obtain without use of Shimmer, and use of the aforementioned liquid aids the player. Here are some transmutations that are worth knowing:


The following 4 items can only be used once per-player.

Life Crystal transmutes to Vital Crystal, an item which permanently increases the health regeneration by 20% for whoever used it.

Mana Crystal transmutes to Arcane Crystal, which functions very similar to the aforementioned Vital Crystal. It reduces the startup time for Mana regeneration by 5%.

Life Fruit transmutes to Aegis Fruit. It permanently boosts the character's defense by 4.
Gold Worm transmutes to Gummy Worm. It permanently increases the player's fishing power by 3.

Pink Pearl transmutes to Galaxy Pearl, which permanently boosts the player's luck by 0.03%.

End of one-use items

The Spider, Sandstone, Hardened Sand, Lihzard Brick, and all Dungeon Brick walls transmute to their naturally-placed counterparts, which allows for enemy spawning.

Honey, Water and Lava buckets all transmute into each other in a loop (Honey > Water > Lava > Honey and so on).

Mining Pants and Mining Shirt transmute into each other.

Alchemy Table and Bewitching Table transmute into each other.

Any Hardmode fishing crate can be transmuted to their Pre-Hardmode counterparts.

Any Music Box that has been used can be transmuted to an unused one.

Herb Bag and Can Of Worms transmute into each other.

Pharaoh's Mask transmutes to Sandstorm in a Bottle.

Sextant, Weather Radio and Fisherman's Pocket Guide transmute in a loop.

Adhesive Bandage and Bezoar transmute into each other.

Armor Polish and Vitamins transmute into each other.

Blindfold and Pocket Mirror transmute into each other.

Fast Clock and Trifold Map transmute into each other.

Megaphone and Nazar transmute into each other.

The Summoner, Warrior, Ranger and Sorcerer Emblems transmute into each other in a loop.

Lucky Coin, Gold Ring and Discount Card transmute into each other in a loop.

That's all the MAJOR transmutations. A full list can be found on the Terraria Wiki[terraria.wiki.gg]

Notes

The Shimmer cannot be collected with a bucket.
There are some post-Moon Lord transmutations not listed.