How do I find more orichalcum ore in Terraria?

Question

I just recently reached Hardmode on my first-ever Terraria world, smashing Demon Altars to unlock the three Hardmode ores. Finding cobalt ore has been a breeze; however, I have experienced great difficulty in finding orichalcum ore. I have mined deep down into the world, practically down to the Underworld, but I could find almost no orichalcum down there. I have tried using Spelunker Potions, but even with those, I barely found any orichalcum. I smashed twelve Demon Altars to generate more ore, but that still did not help. I have literally found more adamantite ore (which I cannot mine so far) than orichalcum ore.

What am I doing wrong? Is there anything I can do to find more orichalcum? Thank you in advance for your help.

Answer 1

There isn't a definite answer to your question besides to keep looking. The game makes use of a lot of random generation, so it's possible you just have a bad generation of the ore.

However, there is a certain point it spawns at on the map. According to the Wiki, depending on the map size, it will spawn accordingly:

• On a small map Orichalcum spawns below a depth of 1,000 feet (500 tiles).
• On a medium map Orichalcum spawns below a depth of 1,400 feet (700 tiles).
• On a large map Orichalcum spawns below a depth of 2,000 feet (1,000 tiles).

I know you said you went down pretty far, but you at least have some sort of reference to look for it now.

Also, smashing additional altars does help create more ore, but be aware that the amount of ore that spawns decreases with how many altars that get smashed. The Wiki has a formula and example to determine the decrease percentage which they call the multiplier:

This "multiplier" can be calculated with the formula 1/(ceiling(n/3) + 1 - sgn(n)) where n is the number of Altars destroyed. So, destroying the 19th Altar would yield one-seventh of Cobalt/Palladium Ore compared to the first Altar.

Answer 2

If you've found some Orichalcum, then it's a matter of getting unlucky with the RNG, or not having found the spots where the ore is hiding.

If you haven't found any, then the world you have might have Mythril, as it is equivalent and won't exist in the same world with Orichalcum.

One thing you can do, if your gear is sufficient, is to create a new world just for material farming. Try creating a tiny map, activate hard mode and break a pile of altars. While a single world should be sufficient as far as crafted items go, some materials might be easier farmed on temporary, throw-away worlds where the aesthetic isn't a concern and you can just mine through everything and to everything.

Farming techniques won't affect your luck, but might help you find the ore faster. At that point in your game, it's probably faster to use natural caverns for movement, as opposed to just running in straight lines through the ground. As Timmy Jim pointed out, Orichalcum spawns quite deep in the earth. One method of keeping yourself deep enough is to have the underworld background visible on the bottom your screen as you mine. In this depth if you've destroyed all or close to all altars, all the hardmode ores should be plentiful enough that you can see the next deposit while standing on the previous one.

Answer 3

Another way to farm (more than just orichalcum) is by fishing. If you get crates you can sometimes get bars and ore. I've spent about a real hour or two fishing and I have the titanium pick and the orichalcum armor set. Once you've spent a lot of time mining, I suggest fishing. The best way is with sonar potions, (to see if you get a crate, or if not keep waiting until you do) crate potions, (for more crates) fishing potions, (to increase your fishing skill) and mechanic's rod and/or the sitting duck's fishing pole. (mechanic's rod obtained from mechanic in hardmode and sitting ducks fishing pole obtained from traveling merchant sometimes) Hope this helps and sorry for the bad organizing.