Greetings, Terrakin!
I've had this idea in passing since 1.2.4, and I thought that I would post it here. (I did do the standard search for duplicates, and found nothing. Please inform me if anyone else had this idea first.)
The concept of this idea is to make a tiered progression of bug nets that can capture various critters and fauna, including some unlikely catchables.
The Golden Bug Net will have a Net Power of 70%, so as not to ruin its usefulness in relation to its rarity. The Truffle Worm will be able to be caught by any net, so as to avoid having to make a specific net to catch it. The golden critters will be catchable by any net, so as to avoid utter frustration.
CREDIT TO StargazerSammie for the net sprites!
Please excuse the white background on the sprites. The sprites were sent to me as one image, and I couldn't figure out how to remove the background once I had separated the nets.
All bug nets will be enclosed in spoilers for the reader's benefit.
Improv Bug Net
Crafted: By Hand; 10 Any Wood, 6 Rope/Vine Rope/Web Rope
0 Damage
28 Use Time(Average)
15% Net Power
Does not destroy grass/vines.
Can be made before obtaining the merchant, in exchange for not being able to catch the most important early-game bait- worms.
15% net power means that the Improv Bug Net can catch any critter with a bait power of 15% or less, as well as all birds and both ducks.
Bug Net
0 Damage
24 Use Time(Fast)
30% Net Power
Does not destroy grass/vines
This is the net that the Merchant sells. It can catch any critter with 30% bait power or less(including worms), as well as all squirrels, the frog, the mouse, and the penguin.
Shadowsnare/Carnal Bug Net
Crafted: Demon/Crimson Altar; 8 Demonite/Crimtane Bars, 18 Web Rope
0 Damage
22 Use Time(Fast)
35% Net Power
Does not destroy grass/vines
This is where things get interesting.
This is the evil biomes' bug net, and can catch any critter with a bait power of 35% or less, as well as the goldfish, all jellyfish, and Eaters of Souls/Crimeras.
The Apiary
Crafted: Honey Dispenser; 6 Bottled Honey, 2 Vines, 12 Rich Mahogany, 10 Stingers
0 Damage
24 Use Time(Fast)
40% Net Power
Does not destroy grass/vines
You probably know that this is the jungle tier net, and you probably understand the idea behind the Net Power and bait power, so here's the non-bait that it can catch:
Hornets (NOT Moss Hornets), Bees(From both the hive blocks and Queen Bee), and Piranhas.
Fry Basket
Crafted: Iron/Lead Anvil; 14 Hellstone Bars, 15 Wire
5 Damage
32 Use Time(Slow)
50% Net Power
Does destroy grass/vines
This is the Underworld-tier bug net. It can catch 50% bait power or lower critters, the BoC's Creepers, Meteor Heads, The Hungry, and all PreHardmode bats. Does not damage anything that it can catch. Sets enemies On Fire.
The Dreamcatcher
Crafted: Mythril/Orichalcum Anvil; 50 Crystal Shards,80 Pixie Dust, 16 Adamant/Titanium Bars, 30 Wire
0 Damage
20 Use Time(Very Fast)
60% Net Power
Does not destroy grass/vines
I made this quite expensive in an attempt to balance the darn thing. Apart from critters, The Dreamcatcher can catch Pixies and Frost Elementals.
Steampunk Net
Crafted: Heavy Workbench; 20 Cogs, 20 Hallowed Bars, 15 Chlorophyte Bars, 30 Wire
0 Damage
18 Use Time(Very Fast)
70% Net Power
Does Not destroy grass/vines
Chlorophyte-tier bug net. Hopefully more useful than the Chlorophyte Pickaxe. This net, apart from the normal things, can catch the Destroyer's Probes(NOT the Martian Probes).
Spectral Embrace
Crafted: Crystal Ball; 20 Ectoplasm, 35 Bones
0 Damage
10 Use Time(Very Fast)
85% Net Power
Does destroy grass/vines
The idea behind the crafting recipe is that the bones are the frame, and the ectoplasm is the net. Apart from the normal critters, it can catch Dungeon Spirits, (Giant) Cursed Skulls, and Plantera's Thorn Balls.
Space-Time Rend
Crafted: Ancient Manipulator; 36 Luminite Bars, 35 of each pillar fragment
20 Damage
12 Use Time(Very Fast)
100% Net Power
Does destroy grass/vines
Post-Game bug net. Meant to make farming certain things easier. Sucks in all critters from 25 blocks away. Can catch True Eyes of Cthulhu, which sell for 1 Platinum Coin each and cannot be released. The Rend can also catch Sharkrons(Duke's minions) and PLantera's Tentacles.
Miscellany(What can I do with all these weird things I can catch?)
Tendril/Carnal Armour
Crafted: Demon/Crimson Altar; 32 Eaters of Souls/Crimeras
10 Defense
Set Bonus: Upon equipping the Tendril Armour, two Baby Corruptors are spawned on the player's position, acting as normal minions. They use Vile Spit to attack, with a delay equivalent to a Use Time of 20.It acts exactly the same as Vile Spit from a Corruptor, does 12 damage, and has 2 Knockback.
Upon equipping the Carnal Armour, two Tamed Crimeras are spawned on the player's position, acting as normal minions. They do 12 damage, act exactly like Spazmini from the Optic Staff, and have a Knockback of 4.
This is my take on filling the early-game summoner armour gap. If these stats look overpowered, keep in mind that the minions are part of a set bonus, which means that they A) Can only be summoned at the player's position B) Cannot receive modifiers or armour bonuses.
Shadowmaw/Mandible Hook
Crafted: Iron/Lead Anvil; 20 Eaters of Souls/Crimeras, 8 Shadow Scales/Tissue Samples
Reach: 21 Tiles
Velocity: 11.0
1 Hook
This hook is just another way of guaranteeing that the player has a hook before they get to the Dungeon, which is the place that a hook is really needed.
Hornet Python
Crafted: Iron/Lead anvil;1 Handgun, 25 Hornets, 6 Jungle Spores
18 Damage
15 Use Time
4% Crit Chance
11 Velocity
2 Knockback
Turns fired bullets into Stingers, which do 11 damage and inherit the velocity and knockback of the fired bullet. On impact with a mob or after 5 seconds, a stinger will split into 3 stingers in a 30 degree angle. Alternate Phoenix Blaster.
Beenades
Crafted: Iron/Lead Anvil; 1 Grenade, 1 Bee, 1 Bee Wax; makes 3
Adding a Bee to the Beenade recipe triples the output, making it easier than ever to create monstrous swarms of bees.
Piranha Teeth
Crafted: By Hand; 1 Piranha; makes 5
Piranha Teeth craft into Unholy Arrows, 5 wooden arrows and 5 piranha teeth make 5 Unholy Arrows. This is a way of getting Unholy Arrows in Crimson Worlds.
Leather
Crafted: Work Table; 1 Creeper; makes 10
Just adding a unique way of making leather obtainable in Crimson worlds.
Ignis Tor
Crafted: Hellforge; 35 Meteor Heads,12 Hellstone Bars
45 Damage
Can be placed
When placed, this item acts like a turret summon(Queen Spider, Frost Hydra), firing a Meteor Head-sized fireball with a fire rate equivalent to a use time of 30(Average), and a velocity equivalent to a Goblin Sorcerer's chaos ball. It detects enemies from 40 blocks away. This item is meant for base defense, and as such can only be placed within 100 blocks in any direction(including diagonally) of 3 or more NPCs.
Hungry Staff
Crafted: Demon/Crimson Altar;5 The Hungry, 10 Demonite/Crimtane Bricks(The box that spawns after the fight.)
18 Damage
Summon Weapon, Use Time irrelevant.
3 Knockback
10 Mana Cost
The Hungry minion acts like a far weaker version of the Stardust Cell Staff. It rushes at an enemy like the Spazmini minion of the Optic Staff. If the rush hits, the Hungry minion latches onto the enemy, inflicting a debuff that inflicts 6 damage per second.
Bats
All bats can be made into Cooked Bat at a Cooking Pot. Cooked Bat grants the Well Fed buff for 10 minutes. In Expert Mode, Cooked Bat has a 10% chance to inflict the Feral Bite debuff for 30 seconds.
Pixies
The recipes for the Fairy Bell, the Rainbow Rod, and the Meteor Staff have had all the pixie dust in their recipes replaced with an equivalent number of pixies. Pixie Dust retains its usefulness by still being used in the production of Holy Arrows.
Frost Staff
Crafted:Hardmore Anvil; 20 Ice Elementals, 1 Frost Core, 18 Adamant/Titanium Bars
Somewhat nerfing the RNG for the Frost Staff. It is a very good weapon, and does not see nearly the use that it should because it is gated behind quite a rare drop.
Fimbulwinter Tor
Crafted:Hardmode Anvil; 50 Ice Elementals, 1 Frost Core, 10 Chlorophyte
65 Damage
Can Be Placed
Fires at the same rate as the Staff of the Frost Hydra, inflicts Frostburn for 20 seconds.
Fires a silvery-white(think of a tree after an ice storm) version of the Lunar Portal Staff's beam, which does not pierce.
Ruinous Armour
Crafted:36 Probes,45 Hallowed Bars
25 Defense
Each piece of the set give +1 Minion Cap and +11% Minion damage and Knockback.
Set Bonus: +1 Minion Cap if all minions are from the Optic Staff.
Another gap in the summoner progression that I'm trying to fill. The set bonus has been done before, with the Spider set. It can be done.
Martian Ransom
Crafted: Lihzarhd Altar; 10 Probes,1 Teleporter,1 Heat Ray.
Tooltip: 'Mars called, it wants its Heat Ray back'
Summons the Martian Invasion. 'Nuff said.
Lost Soul Necklace
Crafted: Tinker's Workshop; 15 Dungeon Spirits, 1 Sweetheart Necklace
Accessory
When hit, the player will release Spectre Wisps, the same as Spectre Armour. These Wisps will home in on enemies, dealing 45 damage. The number of Wisps released is about as many Wisps as there are Bees in a Beenade. Additionally, movement speed will be increased by 50% for 20 seconds after being hit.
Thistle Caltrops
Crafted: Living Loom; 2 Thorn Balls, makes 111
45 Damage(Throwing)
4% crit
1 Knockback
14 Use Time(Very Fast)
A Hardmode upgrade to the Spiky Balls. They last for 5 minutes on the ground, so as to facilitate tactical use. They are somewhere between 1.5x and 2x the size of the Spiky Balls.
Skull
Crafted: 1 Cursed Skull, 10 Purification Powder
Made these craftable, because they're quite fun as a vanity hat, but are way too rare.
Gaia Nucleus
Crafted: Living Loom; 1 Cursed Skull, 12 Jungle Spores, 3 Tentacles(Plantera's), 5 Dungeon Spirits
Summons Plantera, same as the other boss-summoning items.
Shark Tooth Trident
Crafted: Orichalcum/Mythril Anvil; 10 Sharkrons, 12 Hallowed Bars, 1 Cursed Skull, 5 Dungeon Spirits
Throw the Trident into the ocean's waters. Once the Trident leaves the screen, Duke Fishron will spawn at the point where the Trident left the screen.
U.B.O.S. (Ultimate Biome-maker Of Skulls)
+10 points to anyone who gets the reference.
Crafted: Ancient Manipulator; 1 Giant Cursed Skull, 1 Luminite Bar
Can be placed. After placing it, the player can right-click the block to open a GUi with 1 inventory slot. This inventory slot holds 1 coloured Solution(the ones for the Clentaminator). When a Solution has been placed inside the block, send a wire signal to the block. It will explode, but instead of breaking blocks, it will change the biome within its Area Of Effect. This AOE is horizontally the same radius as an Explosive, but goes from the top of the world to the bottom vertically.
The Clentaminator just does not cut it for purifying a world. Why not use a giant skull bomb instead?
Please let me know if I have screwed up with balancing or progression in any way.
Thank you all for taking time out of your day to listen to this longtime lurker's ramblings.
