Vilethorn

The Vilethorn is a weapon that fires a magical spear-like projectile in the direction of the cursor. It is one of a few possible drops from a destroyed Shadow Orb.

Projectile
The Vilethorn is a unique weapon. Its projectile extends to cover a distance of 15 tiles, acting as a field that hangs in the air briefly (about 1 second) and passes through all objects, including walls. All enemies in its path take damage, usually with many hits per attack.

The Vilethorn produces miniscule knockback that in fact tends to have the effect of nearly freezing enemies in place for the duration of each strike: it scores a rapid succession of hits (up to 7 per strike), each with a tiny knockback, preventing most enemies from moving or attacking. Note that enemies immune to knockback, like the Man Eater and Bosses, do not have their movement or attack ability affected.

The Vilethorn's Mana cost is also minimal at 5 per strike. With a full count of Mana Crystals, the Vilethorn can usually be used as a primary weapon without worry of running out of Mana. Boss fights are an exception.



These strengths more than offset its low per-hit damage, and make it an effective weapon for mob control and boss encounters.

Strategy
One tactic is to use the Vilethorn with a full set of Jungle Armor and 2-3 Band of Starpowers which ensures that your mana regenerates faster than you can use it up. This is especially useful for the Eater of Worlds boss fight.