Cryogen

Cryogen

Statistics

Type	Boss
Environment	Snow biome – Ice biome
AI Type	Cryogen AI
Damage	50 / 115 / 138 / 161 (Contact) 46 / 80 / 96 / 108 (Ice Blast) 52 / 92 / 112 / 124 (Ice Shard) 100 / 120 / 132 (Ice Bomb)
Max Life	17,900 / 28,640 / 42,080
Defense	12
DR	10%
KB Resist	100%
Immune to	All debuffs except:

Drops

Coins	10

• Item (Quantity)Rate
• Frigid Bar (15-24)
  100%
• Essence of Eleum (4-8 / 5-9)
  100%
• Frost Core
  100%
• At least one of the following 6 weapons will always drop:
• Bittercold Staff
  25% / 33.33%
• Effluvium Bow
  25% / 33.33%
• Glacial Crusher
  25% / 33.33%
• Icebreaker
  25% / 33.33%
• Avalanche
  25% / 33.33%
• Snowstorm Staff
  25% / 33.33%
• Regenator
  2.5%
• Cryo Stone
  10%
• Frozen Key
  20%
• Greater Healing Potion (1-15)
  100%
• Cryogen Mask
  14.29%
• Cryogen Trophy
  10%
• Cryogen (Lore)(Always on first kill)
  100%
• Treasure Bag(Cryogen)

  • Soul of Cryogen

  • Frost Flare(In Revengeance Mode only)

  100%
• Cold Divinity(In Revengeance Mode only)
  1%

Map Icon

"The ancient ice spirits have been unbound!"

Cryogen is a Hardmode boss that can be fought in the Snow or Ice biomes which possesses many phases and features a multitude of projectiles and enemies.

Defeating Cryogen will free the Archmage, as well as generate Cryonic Ore in the Ice biome.

Spawn

Cryogen does not spawn on its own and requires the player to summon it with a Cryo Key while in the Snow biome at any time of day.

Behavior

Cryogen has six phases, each of which has its own attack pattern and AI. It will progress through these phases as it loses health.

Cryogen also spawns with an ice shield which protects it and inflicts contact damage; this shield must be destroyed to directly attack Cryogen and will regenerate 16 / 12 seconds after being destroyed. When destroyed, the shield will explode into a cross-shaped burst of 4 Ice Blasts.

Throughout the fight, it will also summon 2 Small Cryocores every 7.5% of its health taken. Aurora Spirits may have a chance to replace small Cryocores from its third phase onwards, and Large Cryocores are able to replace either servants on its fifth phase onwards.

• Aurora Spirits fly towards the player similarly to Ancient Vision, while Cryocores accelerate towards the player.

Leaving the Snow biome will cause Cryogen to enrage, almost doubling its speed and acceleration.

Attacks

Phase 1

• Slowly chases and levels with the player.
• Fires an evenly-spaced burst of 16 Ice Blasts every 2 seconds.

Phase 2

• Transitions at 80% health.
• Attempts to fly above the player while continuing to fire bursts of Ice Blasts.
  • The amount of Ice Blasts are reduced from 16 to 12 from this phase onwards.

Phase 3

• Transitions at 70% health.
• Slowly chases the player but stays slightly below the player.
• Has a 50% chance to replace the Ice Blast attack with a spread of 6 Ice Shards.
  • Ice Shards arc upwards slightly ahead of the player before raining down.

Phase 4

• Transitions at 55% health.
• Attempts to fly above the player.
• Stops firing Ice Blasts, but continues firing spreads of Ice Shards which fly upwards for less time before raining down.
  • The amount of Ice Shards are increased from 6 to 12 during this phase.

Phase 5

• Transitions at 40% health.
• Slowly chases the player.
• Loses the ability to regenerate its shield.
• Stops firing Ice Shards but resumes firing Ice Blasts at double the frequency.
• Every 5 seconds, Cryogen will teleport somewhere near the player and start attacking again.
  • The location it teleports to is telegraphed by a zone of blue dust 2 seconds before occuring

Phase 6

• Transitions at 15% / 20% / 25% / 30% health.
• Stops firing either projectiles for the remainder of the fight.
• Suddenly picks up speed and begins charging erratically, attempting to ram the player.
  • Its rotation speed will increase when below 5% / 7.5% and even further when below 2.5% / 5% / 30% health.

In Expert Mode

• Transitions into Phase 6 at 20% health.
• Regenerates its shield every 12 seconds instead of 16.
• Every 10 seconds, Cryogen releases a cross-shaped burst of 4 Ice Bombs, with a 50% chance for it to be rotated 45 degrees.
  • This occurs in all of the above phases alongside other attacks.
  • Ice Bombs explode into a hexagonal burst of 6 gravity-affected Ice Shards after 5 seconds.
  • They also inflict Glacial State for 1 second, Chilled for 1.5 seconds, and Frostburn for 2 seconds on contact.

In Revengeance Mode

• Transitions into Phase 6 at 25% health.
• Cryogen and its projectiles are slightly faster.
• Gains a new phase when below 10% / 15% health:
  • Unlike other phases, this does not change its appearance.
  • It launches itself upwards and stays above the player. Ice Bombs are no longer fired out every 10 seconds, but 2 / 4 waves are released during this attack.
  • Then, it rapidly charges the player for a total of 3 times before repeating this pattern.

In Death Mode

• Transitions into Phase 6 and 7 at 30% and 15% health respectively.
• Cryogen and its projectiles are even more aggressive and faster.
• 4 waves of Ice Bombs are released in its final phase.

Summons

Cryogen's Shield

Statistics

Type	Flying Enemy
Environment	Snow biome
AI Type	Cryogen's Shield AI
Damage	50 / 100 / 120 / 134 (Contact) 46 / 80 / 96 / 108 (Ice Blast)
Max Life	1400
Defense	0
DR	40%
KB Resist	10% / 19%
Inflicts debuff	Frostburn 100% chance
Debuff duration	1.5 seconds
Debuff tooltip	It's either really hot or really cold. Either way it REALLY hurts
Inflicts debuff	Chilled 100% chance
Debuff duration	1 second
Debuff tooltip	Your movement speed has been reduced
Inflicts debuff	Frozen 100% chance
Debuff duration	0.5 seconds (Ice Blast)
Debuff tooltip	You can't move!
Immune to

Aurora Spirit

Statistics

Type	Flying Enemy
Environment	Snow biome
AI Type	Ancient Vision AI
Damage	40 / 80 / 96 / 106
Max Life	220 / 440
Defense	8
KB Resist	100%
Inflicts debuff	Frostburn 100% chance
Debuff duration	1.5 seconds
Debuff tooltip	It's either really hot or really cold. Either way it REALLY hurts
Inflicts debuff	Chilled 100% chance
Debuff duration	1 second
Debuff tooltip	Your movement speed has been reduced
Immune to

Cryocore

Statistics

Type	Flying Enemy
Environment	Snow biome
AI Type	Cryocore AI
Damage	35 / 70 / 84 / 92
Max Life	220 / 440
Defense	6
KB Resist	25% / 32.5%
Inflicts debuff	Frostburn 100% chance
Debuff duration	1.5 seconds
Debuff tooltip	It's either really hot or really cold. Either way it REALLY hurts
Inflicts debuff	Chilled 100% chance
Debuff duration	1 second
Debuff tooltip	Your movement speed has been reduced
Immune to

CryocoreBuffed

Statistics

Type	Flying Enemy
Environment	Snow biome
AI Type	Cryocore AI
Damage	40 / 80 / 96 / 106
Max Life	300 / 600
Defense	10
KB Resist	50% / 55%
Inflicts debuff	Frostburn 100% chance
Debuff duration	1.5 seconds
Debuff tooltip	It's either really hot or really cold. Either way it REALLY hurts
Inflicts debuff	Chilled 100% chance
Debuff duration	1 second
Debuff tooltip	Your movement speed has been reduced
Immune to

Aftermath

• Once Cryogen is defeated for the first time, Cryonic Ore spawns in the Ice biome.
• Cryo Slimes will begin to spawn in the Cavern layer.
• The Archmage will begin to arrive if provided suitable housing.
  • If the Archmage isn't in the player's current world, he will drop alongside Cryogen's loot.
• The Angry Dog enemy's stats are increased and will start dropping Essence of Eleum.

Notes

• While Cryogen is alive, the sky above the player is filled with a waving rainbow aurora effect. Unlike most screen effects from other bosses, it can not be toggled off by lighting options in the Settings Menu.

Tips

For more elaborate strategies on defeating Cryogen, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Cryogen strategies.

General

• It is easier to see Cryogen's projectiles during the night.
• A wide arena with several levels of platforms can help in dodging Cryogen's attacks.
  • Putting a roof of solid blocks above the platforms can help protect you during Cryogen's second phase.
  • Be careful: Building platforms too far above the ground could cause the player to exit the Snow biome and enrage Cryogen, doubling its speed.
• Moving at a constant speed will cause Cryogen to hover in the same place relative to the player, making it an easy target for ranged weapons.
  • Moving slowly enough will cause Cryogen to hover directly above the player, this makes it very easy to hit, but be wary of its ice bombs and it potentially getting up close.
• Avoid getting hit by Cryogen's Ice Blasts at all costs as they will freeze the player, possibly leading to a swift death.
• Cryogen's final phase is its most deadly. If on Revengeance or Death Mode, saving Rage and/or Adrenaline to quickly finish it off during this phase could be a life-saving decision.
• In multiplayer, Cryogen does not despawn when off-screen and moves slowly across the map, allowing players to slowly kill the boss.

Weapons & Equipment

• The Clam Crusher and Axe of Purity can deal high damage at a decent range.
  • Roxcalibur is another option with heavy damage, although it has a slow swing speed and aiming its projectiles can be hard.
• Both the Flarewing Bow and Onyx Blaster are extremely good ranged weapons for this fight, especially when paired with Ichor Arrows and Bullets.
• The Relic of Ruin and Death Valley Duster can deal great damage to Cryogen and have no issues destroying his servants.
• The Ancient Ice Chunk and Black Hawk Remote are great summons against Cryogen.
  • Keep in mind that summons won’t always attack Cryogen, opting to attack its servants instead.
• Prismalline and Blazing Stars can deal good damage to Cryogen.
• The Titanium armor's set bonus can be a great asset to the player, giving them the ability to dodge some of Cryogen's many potentially deadly attacks.
• Warmth Potions grant immunity to the Chilled and Frozen debuffs as well as reducing damage from Cryogen's attacks, making them very valuable for the entire battle.
  • The Ankh Shield also grants immunity to the Chilled debuff.
• Being able to jump up and over Cryogen during his last phase is extremely useful, Wings paired with a jump boosting accessory like the Grand Gelatin can help with this.
  • The Shield of Cthulhu and Evasion Scarf's dashes are also useful as they can be used to escape many sticky situations during the fight.

Trivia

• Cryogen's theme is Antarctic Reinforcement, which was composed by the artist DM DOKURO.
  • While in production the theme was originally intended to be called "Frostbite."
  • If the Calamity Music add-on mod is disabled, the Frost Moon's theme will play instead.
• Cryogen was previously an alternative for The Destroyer because of its previous ability to drop Souls of Might.
• Originally, every time upon entering phase 6, a status message would say "Cryogen is derping out!".
  • There is now a 1% (5% if the day is April Fools' Day) chance that this message is displayed when entering phase 6.

Lore

Yharim's prison for the archmage of the ice castle, Cryogen. It is a representation of Yharim's bitter hatred for the master of ice. When Yharim was young he ventured from the jungle temple to the ancient tundra where Permafrost resided. Yharim asked to learn from him in order to "peacefully" calm the denizens of the underworld. But the archmage saw through his ruse and viewed only bitter contempt within Yharim's heart and the fiery urge to annihilate the underworld obsidian towers and their inhabitants. When the archmage refused, Yharim prepared to take his leave. However, the archmage had not realized that Yharim had a contingency plan in place; around his dwelling a massive trap had been set. A magic circle of runes set to trap the power of whatever was caught inside. Permafrost suspected nothing, until the moment the runes activated, causing his castle to collapse inwards, trapping his body in a radial structure between dimensions. Cryogen is what remains, a mindless frozen structure contained by Yharim due to its uncontrollable nature and powerful magic.