The Terraria 1.3 Update.

[Xaser]

Been playing this a bunch. Dunno how I feel about Expert mode just yet -- the 2x health / 2x damage bit is really slowing the game to a crawl, though I really like the idea of the upgraded bosses/melee enemies/etc, even if the reality is that it's frustrating to play in solo thus far. I might have a better time doing Expert in a group (despite the improved boss health), though my current co-op fellows are understandably not interested in it just yet.

TBH I'm more looking forward to the final boss / new endgame tier stuff, so that'll come soon in co-op land.

[Ethril]

Yeah I think I would like it best if there were some sort of "Semi-Expert" mode, where the enemies have their new tactics and whatnot but without the raw stat buffs.

[ShadowTiger]

I would agree, but I kind of feel like at some point the boosted stats shouldn't even matter. It's like we should be expected to have already mastered that particular boss or event to the point where we'd know how to avoid taking damage, and to maximize our damage output.

The added attack patterns are just something to master, like anything else. Eye of Cthulhu, for example, ramps up its speed near the end of its second phase significantly, and just all-around likes to ram into you almost in a random way. If you've prepared your arena well, you won't be limited to a linear battleground. Being able to grapple around quickly is a huge plus for such a thing.

[Blox]

Expert mode makes the earlygame even worse than it already was in the first place, but I don't really notice it outside of taking a lot of damage after the initial hardmode gear crunch.
Also known as the part between killing the wall of flesh and scrapping together enough adamantite/titanium bars to make a full set of frost armor.

[Ethril]

So I just discovered that the Slime Mount can goomba-stomp enemies. This is fun.
I also discovered that if you repeatedly bounce on flying enemies (especially ones with a lot of health, such as bosses), you can reach some pretty impressive heights. This is very fun.
I also discovered that the Slime Mount does not protect you from fall damage. This is... not so much fun.

[Gez]

If you don't have a horseshoe accessory or a slowfall potion, and you don't want to recall via magic mirror, then you can keep an umbrella in the hotkey bar. Equip it from time to time to slow down your fall.

[YukiHerz]

Now i just need to kill Plantera in order to use all these keys that dropped like crazy, and also, if you see a hallowed/crimson/corruption mimic, kill it immediately, hope for a Daedalus Stormbow on the hallowed one, combine that with hellfire arrows.

[IMX]

I'm going to have lots of fun trying to craft this phone

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You don't even need the mimics for the compass

[ShadowTiger]

I got lucky with all of those except for the Angler's stuff. That angler is the jerkiest kid I've ever seen. I just need the weather tracking thing, and I have everything else. Hell, I just spent two hours looking for the Vitamins and Blindfold for the Ankh Shield.

I never really did anything with fishing up until now, but I can see that they've really balanced it out what with letting you fish up crates relating to the biome you're in, which contains the chest loot table of the biome it's for. So if your sky islands never had a horseshoe, you can try fishing for a sky crate and hopefully it'll be in there. Very nice idea.

[Laggy]

Crap, aliens invaded my world minutes after defeating the Wall of Flesh in a pre-1.3 world. :T
The martian saucer is a funny boss to fight in an open area if there is a way to fly/jump high. I still had to fight it with cover because it was kicking my butt way too much.

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I don't think there's a lot of chance to fight it properly wthout cover once its turrets and cannons are destroyed, that death ray spam is way too quick after that.

[Ethril]

So, like, I made a few more Expert worlds until I got one with Corruption instead of Crimson, so I could see what was different there.
Turns out that not only is the Eater of Worlds still easy (it has a projectile and it inflicts Weakness lasting *10 minutes*, and I think it might be faster, but that's nothing compared to the Brain of Cthulhu's tactic of inflicting a million crippling ailments at once... To be fair, I'm using Molten armor now, but the Brain is still relatively threatening whereas I marathon'd 3 worms in a row without any buffs) but it drops something way better than its Crimson counterpart. I might actually be able to beat Skeletron with this thing...
(Also the Slime mount is hilariously effective on the EoW)

Also I found one of those "narrow tunnels straight down" but it just netted me another Enchanted Sword instead of anything new. More loot for the loot pile is always nice, but I need upgrades, damn it!
edit: apparently that's just what enchanted sword shrines look like in general and my first one was just generated strangely

edit again: Spook THAT, ya brainless bonehead!
Yeah that extra damage resistance from the scarf came in handy at the start when it's stupid-hard to dodge his spinning face while he's slapping you around... Didn't actually really need it by the end though 'cause I was just dodging in circles with my blizzard in a balloon (you get some crazy horizontal speed with that double jump; supposedly the sandstorm is even better but i've never found one) although it DID save my ass once when a surprise demon eye blocked my jump. Frostburn arrows are also surprisingly effective; I never really bothered with them before since by the time you have access to a decent bow (corrupt/crimson), you also have access to jester/unholy arrows (and hellfire soon after), not to mention guns.

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He dropped a Bone Glove. Not the Book of Skulls I was hoping for, but it's actually pretty good (and my diamond staff is fine for now anyway). Too bad throwing weapons are a separate type now and aren't affected by ranger armor...

[YukiHerz]

I hope they add more throwing weapon-based armors, these usually have a little more exposure to monsters than rangers when in a group, right behind the melee users.

But i don't really mind since i use several weapon types at the same time :V.

Martian invasion left me with very good loot, a sword that is better than my Godly Terra Blade by one damage point and having almost the same stats, without even having a prefix.

[Carbine Dioxide]

I can't beat Skeletron on expert mode. I just can't.

Hel Fire is mah new favorite yoyo.

[Gez]

I was just dodging in circles with my blizzard in a balloon (you get some crazy horizontal speed with that double jump; supposedly the sandstorm is even better but i've never found one)

The Sandstorm in a Bottle is a really rare item which is pretty easy to find. What you gotta do is generate a ton of new worlds. Look if they have a pyramid, and if they do go to their treasure room. In the gold chest, you'll find either:

• Pharaoh vanity costume (mask and dress)
• Flying Carpet
• Sandstorm in a Bottle

So this means that you'll get at most one SIAB per world, if it's a world containing a pyramid and it has it as loot. Compared to that, the Blizzard in a Bottle is quite frequent (randomly found in chest in the underground tundra), the Tsunami in a Bottle is very frequent as well (found in water chests and in fished crates, so there's a potentially infinite amount of them per world), and the good old Cloud in a Bottle is also quite common.

Personally I had to generate nine worlds before finding one. Now I have a Balloon Bundle and a Pink Horseshoe Balloon. Along with Frog Legs and Spectre Boots that's a nice level of vertical mobility, but still too short to reach sky islands naturally (without building or using a gravity potion). But it doesn't leave a lot of room for other accessories.

[Ethril]

Yeah I know how and where to get pretty much every single pre-1.3 item, but I've generated well over a dozen worlds specifically looking for that stupid Sandstorm, and I've never found even one. It's always the stupid, useless, worthless Pharaoh set (although I did find a flying carpet, like, twice).