Terraria – In Terraria, is there an order in NPC appearance in addition to the minimum requirements for each one

terraria

I noticed a strange thing about Demolitionist that I do not see mentioned on wiki.

Practically on my world I created immediately a good number of houses with all requirements needed to accommodate an NPC.

The first NPC that arrived was the Nurse. Then I found many bombs but Demolitionist never came. He arrived just immediately Merchant came, when I finally got the 50 silver coin needed for him.

Is this behavior correct? Is there and order in NPC appearance in addition to the minimum requirements for each one?

Best Answer

During the daytime of 15 minutes, only 1 NPC can spawn every 2 minutes, the NPC must not exist yet and the necessary conditions (separate houses, …) must be met. If multiple NPCs are eligible, then only the first eligible will spawn. It is checked in the following order:

  • Guide: No conditions.
  • Merchant: House, players have more than 50 silver together (in their inventory).
  • Nurse: House, used a crystal heart.
  • Arms Dealer: House, carry a gun in your inventory.
  • Dryad: House, must have killed a boss.
  • Demolitionist: House, Merchant, explosive material in inventory.
  • Clothier: House, Skeletron killed.

Exceptions to the single NPC rule, which spawn before the order given above:

  • Second Merchant: House, at least 3 players having more than 10 gold together.
  • Second Nurse: House, at least 3 players having 20 hearts (i.e., 400 combined health or more).
  • Third Merchant: House, at least 5 players having more than 5 platinum together.

There is no order in which they spawn over time. But they can't spawn together, thus first in order…