BEN10 MOD

Player guide

On this page

Learn how to obtain an Omnitrix, unlock aliens, and use their abilities in combat.

Quick Start#

You start with Heatblast unlocked and assigned to roster slot one.

Your first goals are:

  1. Follow the strange signal east or west of spawn and interact with the crash site.
  2. Show the recovered Codon Sample to the Guide.
  3. Mine Congealed Codon Ore and smelt at least 12 Congealed Codon Bars.
  4. Repair the Prototype Omnitrix at an Anvil.
  5. Craft a Plumber's Cadet Badge from Iron or Lead Bars and Glass.
  6. Equip the Omnitrix in the custom Omnitrix slot and press P to transform.

The Omnitrix and Badge are the two halves of normal alien combat:

  • the Omnitrix selects the form, powers its abilities, and manages energy
  • a held Plumber's Badge becomes that form's weapon and fires its attacks

Transforming without a Badge still gives you the form, passives, movement, and immediate abilities, but Badge attacks cannot fire until you select and hold one.

You can get the Prototype Omnitrix in two normal ways:

  • repair the damaged core recovered from the guaranteed surface crash site
  • or open a Plumber Capsule Pod while holding a Plumber's Badge

If Ben10Mod is added to an older world, craft a reusable Plumber Signal Beacon from 5 Iron or Lead Bars, 2 Lenses, and 3 Fallen Stars. It locates an existing site or places one on an unobstructed natural surface near spawn.

The beacon restores access to the damaged core and Codon Sample, but it does not create codon ore. Worlds generated without Ben10Mod still need codon ore brought from a Ben10Mod world.

The crash site is a scorched surface crater with the capsule embedded at its centre. After your character recovers the components, the capsule and its green signal disappear for that character. The impact scar remains, and characters who have not claimed it can still see and open their own capsule.

Core Resources#

Congealed Codon Ore#

Congealed Codon Ore generates naturally in stone during world generation.

  • requires at least 55% pickaxe power
  • smelts into Congealed Codon Bars
  • is used to craft the Prototype Omnitrix

The surface crash site supplies the damaged core and one Codon Sample. The repair recipe requires:

  • Damaged Omnitrix Core
  • Codon Sample
  • 12 Congealed Codon Bars
  • 3 Lenses
  • 5 Fallen Stars
  • 1 Emerald

Capsule Meteors#

The world also generates buried codon meteors in the Cavern layer. These are rich in codon ore and have a Plumber Capsule Pod on top.

To open a capsule:

  • hold any Plumber's Badge
  • right click the pod

Buried capsule meteors are optional exploration rewards and remain separate from the guaranteed surface crash site.

Omnitrix Progression#

Prototype Omnitrix#

  • 300 max Omnitrix energy
  • classic timeout-style transformations
  • evolves into the Recalibrated Omnitrix

Recalibrated Omnitrix#

  • 500 max Omnitrix energy
  • 3 energy regen
  • 4 energy drain while transformed
  • uses sustained energy management instead of the Prototype timeout model

You can get it by:

  • defeating Wall of Flesh while using the Prototype Omnitrix
  • or crafting it at a Mythril Anvil from:
    • Prototype Omnitrix
    • 12 Congealed Codon Bars
    • 8 Soul of Night
    • 8 Soul of Light

Ultimatrix#

  • 750 max Omnitrix energy
  • 4 energy regen
  • 6 energy drain while transformed
  • 75 transformation swap cost
  • supports child and ultimate-form gameplay

You must be transformed as Gray Matter while crafting it. At a Mythril Anvil, use:

  • Recalibrated Omnitrix
  • Ultimatrix Core
  • 16 Congealed Codon Bars
  • 8 Soul of Fright
  • 8 Soul of Might
  • 8 Soul of Sight

Completed Omnitrix#

  • 900 max Omnitrix energy
  • 6 energy regen
  • 4 energy drain while transformed
  • 35 transformation swap cost
  • lethal damage can trigger an emergency transformation, restore health, and restore 10 Omnitrix energy
  • emergency transformation has a 60-second cooldown
  • swapping to a different alien grants Omni Sync for 5 seconds and restores Omnitrix energy

Craft it at a Mythril Anvil from:

  • Recalibrated Omnitrix
  • 18 Congealed Codon Bars
  • 8 Beetle Husks
  • 10 Chlorophyte Bars
  • 1 Lihzahrd Power Cell

The Completed Omnitrix is the safer, more energy-efficient late-game option. Its tradeoff is that it does not enable the Ultimatrix's child and ultimate-form evolution; use the Ultimatrix when access to those forms matters more than the Completed Omnitrix's energy efficiency and failsafe.

Controls#

Default keybinds:

  • P: transform, and by default handles form switching, detransforming, and Ultimate evolution when available
  • Unbound by default: dedicated detransform
  • Unbound by default: dedicated Go Ultimate
  • Q: hold to open the transform wheel
  • L: open or close the alien roster
  • O: open or close the transformation codex
  • I: show or hide the Form Actions guide
  • F: primary action slot
  • G: secondary action slot
  • H: tertiary action slot
  • U: ultimate action slot
  • Y: cycle the transformation speed boost setting
  • K: absorb material
  • NumPad 1-5: select a specific roster slot
  • Left / Right Arrow: cycle roster slots
  • Right click with a Plumber's Badge: swap base fire modes and back out of loaded special attacks

All mod keybinds can be rebound in Terraria's controls menu.

The combat HUD and transformation codex show your current form-action bindings, not just the F, G, H, and U defaults. An unbound action is shown as Unbound. Badge firing and swapping use Terraria's semantic Use / Attack and Interact / Alt Use controls. The Form Actions guide starts visible, can be moved by dragging its header, and remembers its visibility and screen-relative position locally.

How Combat Works#

Combat is built from five layers:

  • your Plumber's Badge
  • your current transformation's passive bonuses
  • your current transformation's immediate and hold-to-channel actions
  • your current transformation's loaded badge attacks
  • your Omnitrix energy and cooldown management

Badge Combat#

The badge is the weapon shell for the class. Its base tier matters, but the current transformation changes what the badge actually does.

Every transformation can define:

  • a normal Primary badge attack
  • a normal Secondary badge attack
  • up to four action-key slots on F, G, H, and U

Action Slots#

Each action key can be one of three things:

  • an immediate ability
  • an ability that channels while you hold its key
  • a badge attack that gets loaded into the badge

That means:

  • some forms use F to turn on a buff or state
  • some forms use F to load a new attack
  • some forms mix ability slots and attack slots across the same transformation

The Form Actions panel in the bottom-left shows each move's keyboard or gamepad control, name, and current state:

  • Press: press the key to activate an immediate ability
  • Hold or Holding: keep the shown control held to channel that move
  • Press to Load: press the key to load that move into the Badge
  • Loaded • Fire: use the held Badge to fire the loaded move
  • Active, CD, and Need OE: the move's current resource state
  • Hold Badge: the move is already loaded and now needs the weapon half of the system
  • specific requirements such as Need 90% Rage, Roll first, or Need solved target
  • Unbound: assign that action in Terraria's controls menu

Drag the panel by its Form Actions header to place it elsewhere. The toggle binding shown in that same header hides or restores it; it is visible by default. Both choices are client-local, persist between sessions, and do not affect other multiplayer players.

Loaded Attacks#

If an action slot loads a badge attack:

  • you can load it without holding a Plumber's Badge, but you need the Badge to fire it
  • the loaded attack temporarily replaces your normal badge attack
  • some loaded attacks are single-use
  • some can be fired repeatedly until replaced
  • some attacks spend energy up front
  • some attacks also spend energy continuously while they channel or grow

The compact move HUD under the Omnitrix energy bar shows:

  • the missing-Badge warning when the weapon link is missing or carried but not selected
  • otherwise, the current attack slot, attack name, and energy cost

The Badge instruction appears until you hold a Badge, then the selected attack is shown. The separate Form Actions guide shows every available action key, move name, and readiness state.

Roster Menu#

Press L while an Omnitrix is equipped to open the roster screen.

  • the top row is your active five-alien roster
  • the lower grid shows every alien you have unlocked
  • the search bar filters the unlocked alien grid by name
  • left click an unlocked alien, then click a roster slot to assign it
  • right click a roster slot to clear it
  • hovering an alien shows its description and ability list

Alien Customization#

Alien Customization lets you tune how each transformation looks without changing its gameplay.

Buy the reusable DNA Palette Kit from the Dye Trader and use it to open the menu. You can also open it locally with the /palette chat command.

It currently has four tabs:

  • Palette: recolor supported parts of the selected transformation
  • Costumes: swap to alternate looks installed by Ben10Mod or addon mods
  • Visuals: configure supported transformation visual options
  • Custom Names: give unlocked aliens your own display names

Important details:

  • costumes are appearance-only and keep the same moveset
  • palettes save separately for the default look and for each costume
  • if an addon adds a costume for one of your transformations, it shows up in the Costumes tab automatically

Unlock Progression#

You do not unlock every form through crafting. Most bosses and event enemies drop a Soul of Transformation tied to a particular form. Pick up that Soul on the character that should receive the unlock.

Servers can optionally enable direct progression unlocks. With the default setting, defeating or completing the associated encounter alone is not enough; the character must collect its Soul.

Starting unlock:

  • Heatblast

Pre-hardmode boss Souls:

  • Diamondhead: King Slime
  • XLR8: Eye of Cthulhu
  • Four Arms: Brain of Cthulhu or Eater of Worlds
  • Stinkfly: Queen Bee
  • Buzzshock: Skeletron
  • Wildvine: Deerclops
  • Rath: Wall of Flesh

Hardmode boss and special Souls:

  • Chromastone: Queen Slime
  • Humungousaur: The Destroyer
  • Eye Guy: The Twins
  • Echo Echo: Skeletron Prime
  • Swampfire: Plantera
  • Armodrillo: Golem
  • Jetray: Duke Fishron
  • AmpFibian: Empress of Light
  • Terraspin: Lunatic Cultist
  • Way Big: Celestial Pillars Soul of Transformation drop
  • Alien X: Moon Lord Soul of Transformation drop
  • Gray Matter: defeat Albedo and collect its Soul of Transformation
  • Pesky Dust: Dark Mage
  • Cannonbolt: Ogre
  • Clockwork: Betsy
  • Snare-Oh: Mourning Wood
  • Blitzwolfer: Pumpking
  • Arctiguana: Everscream
  • NRG: Santa-NK1
  • Big Chill: Ice Queen

Event-enemy Souls:

  • Ghostfreak: collect its Soul from enemies during a Blood Moon
  • Frankenstrike: collect its Soul from enemies during a Solar Eclipse
  • Goop: collect its Soul from slimes during Slime Rain
  • Whampire: collect its Soul from enemies during Pumpkin Moon
  • Lodestar: collect its Soul from enemies during Frost Moon
  • Ripjaws: collect its Soul from enemies during a Goblin Army
  • Fasttrack: Defeat enemies during the Frost Legion and collect their Soul of Transformation.
  • Water Hazard: collect its Soul from enemies during a Pirate Invasion
  • Astrodactyl: Defeat enemies during Martian Madness and collect their Soul of Transformation.

Special automatic unlock:

  • Upgrade: Unlock Humungousaur, Eye Guy, and Echo Echo on this character.
  • Brainstorm: Unlock Gray Matter and Upgrade on this character.

Event Souls currently have a chance to drop from qualifying event enemies. For direct progression servers, you need to actually fight during the event; merely being present is not enough.

Building A Hero Character#

Badge Tiers#

Your badge sets the baseline damage for the class. If your damage feels low, your badge tier is one of the first things to check.

The main upgrade path is:

  1. Cadet: 15 Iron or Lead Bars + 5 Glass at an Anvil.
  2. Deputy: Cadet Badge + either 15 Demonite Bars and 6 Shadow Scales, or 15 Crimtane Bars and 6 Tissue Samples, at an Anvil.
  3. Senior Deputy: Deputy Badge + 15 Meteorite Bars + 5 matching Shadow Scales or Tissue Samples at an Anvil.
  4. Agent: Senior Deputy Badge + 25 Hellstone Bars at an Anvil.
  5. Senior Agent: Agent Badge + 25 Hallowed Bars at a Mythril or Orichalcum Anvil.
  6. Proctor: Senior Agent Badge + 25 Chlorophyte Bars at a Mythril or Orichalcum Anvil.
  7. Field Proctor: Proctor Badge + 25 Shroomite Bars at an Autohammer.
  8. Magister: Field Proctor Badge + 25 Hero Fragments at an Ancient Manipulator.
  9. Magistrata: Magister Badge + 12 Luminite Bars + 15 Hero Fragments at an Ancient Manipulator.

Transformations#

Forms are not just active abilities anymore. They also carry strong passive identity:

  • mobility changes
  • defense and endurance changes
  • attack speed and crit bonuses
  • movement options like flight, phasing, dashes, or ground slams

Omnitrix Choice#

Your Omnitrix changes the resource model:

  • Prototype is about timeout management
  • Recalibrated is about active energy drain
  • Ultimatrix is the high-end energy form with branch and ultimate support

Armor#

Custom Plumber sets currently include:

  • early sets like Vanguard, Recon, Assault, and Overclock
  • hardmode sets like Bulwark, Relay, Siege, and Magistrata

There are also Hero helmets for several vanilla hardmode armor families, so you can run Hero builds inside vanilla armor progressions instead of only using the custom sets.

Good Early Picks#

If you are not sure what to build your roster around, these are strong early choices:

  • Heatblast for safe ranged pressure, lava immunity, and sentry support
  • Diamondhead for durability and straightforward ranged crystal attacks
  • XLR8 for movement, speed pressure, and time-warp utility
  • Four Arms for direct close-range damage and fast-fall ground slams
  • Buzzshock for teleport mobility and electric control

Alien Playstyles#

These are a few highlights, not a full encyclopedia.

Heatblast#

  • rapid fire primary
  • explosive fire-bomb secondary with a quicker throw cadence
  • primary ability attack loads an aura rod sentry
  • loaded secondary ability attack channels a vertical solar halo behind Heatblast that cycles imp fireballs at the cursor
  • tertiary ability ignites a superheated flame aura around Heatblast
  • channeled growing fireball ultimate

Eye Guy#

  • Ocular Burst rotates through fire, frost, and shock marks in sequence
  • landing all 3 marks triggers a Compound Vision pop and opens Exposed
  • Chest Eye Beam drains light OE and cashes out Exposed targets into Spectrum Breaks
  • Omni-Gaze is the radial panic button and tries to fill missing marks first
  • Watcher Array opens 4 hovering eyes that repeat lighter bursts and beams
  • All Eyes Open overloads the whole loop, auto-enables Watcher Array, and ends with one final Omni-Gaze pulse

XLR8#

  • fast movement and acceleration
  • rapid light-strike primary
  • ram-style dash secondary
  • vector dash for targeted repositioning
  • ultimate ability that creates a moving time-warp field around XLR8; hostile threats inside slow or freeze, then resume their original motion after leaving
  • passing through enemies or hostile projectiles during the field builds Timebreak Flow and extends the field, up to three extra seconds total

Fasttrack#

  • running establishes a useful Momentum baseline, but movement alone cannot fill the meter
  • landed punches, claw waves, and Pursuit Rushes build the high Momentum tiers
  • extra high-Momentum punches and waves divide a fixed attack budget instead of multiplying full damage
  • Pursuit Rush spends Momentum for a targeted tackle; Velocity Barrage converts it into a sequence of strikes

Astrodactyl#

  • airborne movement establishes a lower Air Supremacy baseline; Hyperflight raises that passive ceiling
  • aerial Plasma Bolt, Starburst, Jet Dive, and comet hits build the upper meter
  • Jet Dive and Cosmic Barrage spend Air Supremacy for their payoff
  • added bolts, comet bodies, and impact shards share fixed budgets, so a larger volley improves coverage rather than multiplying full damage

NRG#

  • Containment Beam and Radiant Seeker prime burning targets for reactor follow-ups
  • Containment Burst is the close-range OE detonation
  • Unbound Core is a short alternate combat window: Radiant Beam emits plasma flares and Reactor Seeker gains stronger tracking plus one expanding impact burst

Upgrade#

  • Corruption Probe provides single-target ranged damage; Glitch Pulse pierces up to three enemies and briefly weakens ordinary enemies.
  • Press H to Analyse an enemy, then keep attacking and dodging while observation progresses.
  • A solved target exposes Movement, Weapons, Armour, and Systems sabotage. Preview each option before selecting it.
  • Adaptive Firewall intercepts nearby shots, Viral Relay transfers corruption to a nearby ordinary enemy, and Root Access allows two different sabotage selections from one solve.
  • Eligible ordinary machines can be hijacked; bosses and attached boss systems receive sabotage instead.

See Upgrade combat for sabotage effects and attack details.

Arctiguana#

  • freeze ray for steady ranged control
  • freezing breath for close-range pressure
  • recoil-powered propulsion for sharp repositioning
  • ice constructs and a sustained Absolute Zero beam for lockdown

Blitzwolfer#

  • sonic bark and howl attacks that build resonance
  • channeled Omega Howl for sustained pressure
  • pounce attacks that hit harder against resonating prey
  • lunar howl payoff for crowd bursts

Water Hazard#

  • pressure jets that soak enemies
  • burst and snare tools that reward setting targets up
  • reservoir management changes how hard the kit hits
  • monsoon-style ultimate that spends stored pressure

Gray Matter#

  • Tiny Target reduces your hitbox and enemy aggro, speeds up mining and block placement, and increases knockback taken.
  • Breakpoint Burst and Control Snare place gadgets immediately. With a solved target, the next placement becomes a predictive rig linked to that enemy.
  • Place rigs above ground for flying enemies or on terrain for ground targets. Ambush Rig preserves your solve.
  • Hyperfocus improves movement, evasion, wall grip, tool speed, and Omnitrix recovery for ten seconds.
  • Master Plan remotely starts up to three armed traps in placement order.

See Gray Matter combat for analysis and trap placement.

Brainstorm#

  • Brainstorm unlocks when both Gray Matter and Upgrade are unlocked.
  • Arc Bolt provides normal primary fire and preserves your analysis plan.
  • After solving a target, Vector Discharge or Perfect Circuit can strike it directly. Select up to three conductors with H to add terrain effects, enemy chaining, or projectile interception.
  • Without a solve, Vector Discharge fires a piercing bolt.
  • Electrostatic Guard reduces incoming damage for eight seconds; Recalculate clears selected conductors and refreshes opportunities.

See Brainstorm combat for conductor selection and discharges.

Ripjaws#

  • Hydration starts at 40 and ranges from 0 to 100; reaching 0 never disables either attack or subtracts Ripjaws' baseline combat bonuses
  • normal water refills Hydration to 100, rain refills it to 80, and successful dry-land attacks can recover it to 70; lava, honey, and shimmer do not count as hydrating water
  • dry land drains 6 Hydration per second, or 9.6 per second in the Underworld
  • Razor Bite is a close, single-target snap that causes Bleeding and restores 7 Hydration, or 10 against bosses; later Razor Bites deal 8% more damage to Bleeding targets
  • Predator Lunge is always usable as a single-target finisher; it becomes empowered when it can spend 25 Hydration on dry land, 18 in rain, 10 in water, or 12 during Hydro Rush, and a landed lunge restores 8 Hydration or 12 against a boss and deals 15% more damage to Bleeding targets
  • Hydro Rush costs 18 OE, restores 35 Hydration, holds it at a minimum of 50, and grants aquatic movement on land for 8 seconds; it has a 24-second cooldown

Alien X#

  • force waves for fast knockback and control
  • singularity placement for space control
  • repulsion burst for clearing groups
  • player-centered supernova for huge area denial

Albedo#

After defeating the mechanical bosses, craft an Albedo Signal from one of each mechanical-boss Soul and 8 Congealed Codon Bars at a Mythril Anvil.

Albedo progresses through three combat stages:

  • Ultimate Humungousaur: bunker rockets, meteor stomps, air barrages, and a telegraphed Titan Rush
  • Ultimate Echo Echo: speaker lanes, harmonic rings, rotating arrays, and sonic crossfire
  • Ultimatrix Overdrive: rapidly alternates both evolved forms

Transformation sequences briefly protect Albedo and clear the previous form's projectiles. Attack names appear above him during their opening frames. Defeating him awards the Ultimatrix Core, several Greater Energy Cells, and the Gray Matter Soul unlock.

Extra Systems#

Ben10Mod also includes an Osmosian material absorption system.

That system is optional for normal Ben 10 progression, so most players can ignore it until later.

Troubleshooting#

If you cannot transform:

  • make sure an Omnitrix is equipped
  • make sure the alien is assigned to one of your five roster slots
  • make sure you are not on cooldown

If a keyed attack does nothing:

  • check whether that slot loads a badge attack instead of activating immediately
  • make sure you are holding a Plumber's Badge
  • look at the current-attack HUD under the energy bar
  • make sure you have enough Omnitrix energy for the attack and any channel cost

If you are missing event unlocks:

  • with the default Soul-drop progression, defeat qualifying event enemies until the relevant Soul of Transformation drops, then pick it up on the character that should unlock the form
  • the event does not need to finish successfully for a dropped Soul to work
  • if the server has direct progression unlocks enabled, deal damage during the event and finish it successfully

Final Tip#

If you ever forget what a transformation does, hover it in the roster UI. The description, ability list, and attack HUD together are the fastest in-game way to understand how a form is currently meant to play.