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The dungeon has giant swinging spike balls that cause no end of frustration to explorers such as myself. They dare to keep bold, intrepid, totally-not-thieving adventurers out of the depths with their inability to be destroyed!...Or do they?

I have tried removing the block that they rest on to no avail, but is there any practical way to remove the giant spike ball that plagues the dungeon? Or, failing that, is there an elegant solution to dealing with these grossly annoying obstacles?

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According to http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Spike_Ball:

They spawn and despawn off-screen like any other enemy — if you leave a room and return later, it will have a different configuration of Spike Balls.

So unfortunately, any steps you take to control an individual spike ball will be rendered moot when you leave and come back because the spike ball will almost certainly have moved.

EDIT: Here's a way to potentially use this for your benefit: If there's a Spike Ball in an especially difficult position (say, so that it makes it impossible to get to a chest), you can leave the area and come back later. Unfortunately, since navigating the dungeon is nasty enough, this will only help with the worst Spike Balls.

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According to here: Spike Ball

"It is possible to hurt and kill the Spike Ball with the Thorns buff using the Thorns Potion."

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    I'm not sure I'd call that practical, though; they respawn just like normal enemies, and you have to take damage in order to "kill" them. At that point, it's still probably easier to just avoid them or eat the damage as you run past. :) – CloudyMusic Oct 23 '13 at 16:49
  • That's also listed as an anomaly, so it may be patched out later. – SevenSidedDie Oct 23 '13 at 16:49
  • Yeah I haven't ever tried to destroy them. I just would rather tank the damage. But as of now it seems Thorns are about the only way to damage them. – Fogolicious Oct 23 '13 at 16:50
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    While it's still in the game, it might be semi-useful for extended dungeon delving, assuming they don't respawn TOO quickly. – Zibbobz Oct 23 '13 at 16:56
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By experience, it seems that spike ball despawn quickly enough when going off screen. Mining the center block might help with that.

But you'd have to evade them once, or maybe go back.

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The spike ball, as of most recent patches, cannot be killed through damage. Since it passes through blocks, it cannot be halted or blocked.

Spike balls only spawn in the presence of a hanging Marching Bones banner. This is a hidden secret of much of the dungeon. Most of the problem enemies only spawn under certain banners.

Have you ever noticed how many banners there are in the dungeon?

Have you ever noticed how (while the spawn rate is high everywhere) certain problem enemies seem to only appear in certain areas?

Banners work similarly to some statues. In that placing them in certain areas/biomes can cause certain enemies spawn rates to skyrocket. This can be manipulated to farm certain enemies.

The dungeon is filled with unique banners only found in the dungeon. Removing these banners will limit or eliminate the spawn potential of certain enemies, such as Spike Balls, Dark Casters, and Cursed Skulls (not sure about the dragon skull variety).

Removing the Water Candles from the dungeon also has an effect on reducing enemy spawn rates nearby. This affects all enemies (except Spike Balls, because their spawn is tied directly to the Marching Bones Banner). However, even with full torchlight, removal of all banners and Water Candles, it is impossible to eliminate the enemies' spawn completely without removing the dungeon biome (less than 40 green brick/wall in a screen area).

Best bet for avoiding Spike Balls is to identify and remove all Marching Bones banners. And all other Banners while you're at it.

Sources: Personal Experience. Official Terraria Wiki.

By the way, most questions you ever have are much more quickly and efficiently answered by visiting the Official Terraria wiki (just google Terraria Wiki). You also usually end up with answers to questions you didn't have. I, nor my controllers would ever have survived the transition from normal to Hardmode without that site. Covers all platforms.

Enjoy!

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    The banners in the dungeon merely indicate which types of enemies will spawn. They have no effect on the actual spawn rates. Water candles, on the other hand, do have an effect, so removing them is a way to reduce the spawn rate. – Jonah Bishop Aug 3 '16 at 0:42
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    Neither banners nor statues affect spawn rates. Spike balls spawn at random like any other enemy. The Marching Bones banner is purely decorative. Some statues can be activated to spawn enemies, but they don't do anything on their own. This entire answer is highly misleading, except for the part about Water Candles. – Michaellogg Aug 3 '16 at 0:43

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