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Easter eggs and references have been common in many video games over the years, as developers often love to insert nods to their favorite games on occasion. Terraria is no different and has plenty of easter eggs and references for players to notice and enjoy.

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One of the most notable is the Companion Cube--an undeniable reference to Portal. The Companion Cube's appearance in Terraria is as a pet summon, however, this cubic ally is not as helpful as one would hope. Furthermore, it's pretty pricey to obtain, so players will need to likely save up a lot of coins to get one.

How To Get The Companion Cube

terraria player and named traveling merchant

Companion Cube Purchase Price

Regardless of one's method, the Companion Cube will always be a bit tricky to obtain unless players are rolling in coins. The reason for this is due to the Companion Cube being a purchase-only item that costs a whopping 5 platinum coins--easily the most expensive item so far added to Terraria.

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Getting The Companion Cube From The Traveling Merchant

Furthermore, players can only buy a Companion Cube from the Traveling Merchant NPC, who doesn't show up very often and has a randomized inventory. The Traveling Merchant cycles through selling different items every time that they show up, however, each item that they can sell has its own probability of appearing in this NPC's inventory.

There are 6 tiers of inventory rarity for the Traveling Merchant: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Very Rare, Extremely Rare, and Extraordinarily Rare. The Companion Cube is one of the Very Rare items sold, which means that players will need a lot of luck to find a purchasable one within the Traveling Merchant's inventory. Thankfully, the Traveling Merchant will come to the player's town of their own volition, alleviating having to track them down, though, these visits won't be very often.

What The Companion Cube Does

terraria player next to a companion cube

Summoning The Companion Cube

As a pet summon, players can use the Companion Cube as an item to summon it forth into the world at one's side. Similar to some other pet summons, the Companion Cube will fly around the player frenetically when called upon, which can be useful in any number of combat situations or even for amusement. This aspect feels a bit like how players experienced their Portal adventures alongside the original version of the Companion Cube, though, this is not where the similarities end.

Beware The Companion Cube

Players can gleam some worrying information in the flavor text of this summonable ally referencing a line of dialogue straight from Portal: "Will never threaten to stab you and, in fact, cannot speak".

When in complete darkness, the Companion Cube will literally stab the player in the back for 3 damage on each attack. This damage will continuously be applied and can even kill the player if left unchecked, however, if the area becomes lightened by some means (torches, sunlight, etc.), the stabbing will cease. It is worth noting that the Companion Cube does not need to move or even be in contact with the player to perform the darkness-veiled stabbing, so be careful when around the Companion Cube whenever it is dark, regardless of the distance and walls between the player and the potentially hostile device.

The Sounds Of The Companion Cube

While the function as an ally in combat is less effective than many other, cheaper pet summons, the Companion Cube holds some unique traits (besides the traitorous one) that can make it potentially worth the steep price for some players. The sound effects that this device makes in certain scenarios can be greatly amusing:

  • When dropped into lava, the Companion Cube makes the same sound as a dying Lunatic Cultist
  • If left submerged in lava for a long period of time, the Companion Cube can emit the same sound as a dying Moon Lord
  • On random occasions, the Companion Cube will make the flatulence sound effect identical to that used by the Whoopie Cushion item

Terraria is available on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, macOS, Linux, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, Nintendo Switch, and Google Stadia.

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