Guide:The Destroyer strategies

Note: This page is written off of what worked best for the small group on our server. If someone could reformat later that would be great.

The Destroyer is one of the bosses unlocked when the game enters Hardmode. It is extremely strong, dealing very high damage to the player even when the player has high-tier armor.

Terrain Preparation
The Destroyer is best fought on an arena consisting of tall walls with multiple layers of Wood Platforms. This will allow players to move around the arena freely, and to keep a good watch on where the boss is.

Armor
Mythril Armor or higher is highly recommended for this fight, as The Destroyer hits very hard. The three of us in our group had full Adamantite armor.

Weapons
If a you have enough defense then you can go in swinging with a melee weapon, but be prepared to take some damage from the Probes that spawn from it's body. Melee does, however, have it's benefits. Each swing can hit multiple segments at once, and since it's health is shared through all of it's segments this can lead to massive damage. ''Our group's melee man had a Breaker Blade the first time around, seemed to work well enough. Though he died a lot.''

If you've collected a Clockwork Assault Rifle from the Wall of Flesh then it would be a good idea to use this against The Destroyer. If you can, use Meteor Shot since it pierces through and hits multiple segments on each shot. Crystal Bullets are also a very good choice, since each of the shards that break off also deal damage (Like 10-20 per shard) to the boss, and the shards pierce. If the assault rifle is not available, then an Adamantite Repeater loaded with Unholy Arrows or Hellfire Arrows Should do fine. We had two people with the assault rifles, loaded with crystal shots.

Magic users are going to have extremely low defense, and are going to have the hardest time with this fight. If you have a Demon Scythe then it is highly advised to spam it like crazy, with the help of a Mana Regeneration Potion. A Laser Rifle would also be a good choice because of it's high rate of fire, but wouldn't deal nearly as much damage as the Demon Scythe.

Potions and Buffs
Ironskin is extremely valuable in this fight, as you're going to need all the defense you can get. Regeneration Potions are also a very good idea from this fight, since you're pretty well guaranteed to get hit during the fight. If you're a magic user than the Mana Regeneration potion is a must-have. You should be packing a few Greater Healing Potions in case things go wrong.

The Fight
The Destroyer is almost exactly the same as the fight with the Eater of Worlds, in that it digs around and launches up at you every chance it gets. Just sidestep the body and keep wailing away at it. Occasionally it will launch a few volleys of Death Lasers(as depicted on our many, many tombstones) at everyone fighting him. These hit for about 15-20's on players with 40-50 defense. The Destroyer also spawns Probes throughout the fight. It spawns them very often at first, and then the spawn rate slows down a good bit as you kill them off. Probes drop a 20HP Heart when killed at a 100% drop rate, so for the most part health isn't an issue with this fight, combined with the regeneration potion, and any health potions you have.

After a few minutes of bashing away at it's health, the machine will fall, but be warned that the loot spawns at the head when killed. Since Souls are not affected by gravity, this can make them very difficult to find after the fight has ended.

Survival
The Destroyer is very difficult to fight on your own, but not impossible. Like most other bosses, if everyone is killed The Destroyer leaves. The Destroyer will also leave if you cannot kill it before sunrise.

dart193's guide
Gather adamantite armor, then reforge cobalt, obsidian shields, shackle, obsidian skull and any fifth accessoire to +4 defense - Warding prefix. Three actually will be enough. Then have 2-3 ironskin potions and if you want some healing potions. The area must be medium and enclosed so mobs like werewolfs will not disturb you. When it appears, stand IN IT'S BODY. With so much defence you will receiveonly 1 damage per hit, while lasers will still do more. You then damage it. Swords do the best, but a chainsaw is really good when Destroyer intersects with himself. If you are lucky, you will deal 1500 damage per second with a chainsaw drilling an intersection with 3 parts of the body, while it moves fast. If you have lost more than 100 health points, kill the probes, they always give you a heart.

It is possible to win the battle without using a single potion in less than half of the night.

Soloing
While tough, it is possible to solo The Destroyer.

Equipment
Defense and mobility. The Destroyer can hit frequently with it laswer and Probes. Rocket Boots, Spectre Boots, Angel Wings and/or Demon Wings are recommended for increased mobility. If no Angel/Demon Wings are available, be sure to equip a Lucky Horseshoe or an Obsidian Horseshoe to negate fall damage from the heights you can reach. Use a Featherfall Potion or Gravitation Potion is also viable. You'll be spending quite a bit of time in the air.

For weapons, a Repeater is recommended. Either the Adamantite Repeater or the Hallowed Repeater (if a player can kill The Twins) is advised. Recommended ammo is either Hellfire Arrows or Holy Arrows. The Destroyer is composed of MANY parts capable of taking damage, yet they all share the same health pool. Any area-of-effect damage is recommend, since The Destroyer has 80k health and decent defense. A player wants something that can hit hard and often. The two mentioned Repeaters fire the fastest ("Very Fast") while doing significant damage (even more with buffs and bonuses).

Hellfire Arrows will hit 4-5 parts in most cases. Holy Arrows do slightly less damage per hit, but summon 3 fast, penetrating stars, easily making up for the lack of brute power. Holy Arrows also have the added benefits of helping to control Probes/mobs that spawn during the fight and possible re-use. The true downside to Holy Arrows is acquiring them: Pixie Dust is easy enough to farm from Pixies, but you also need Unicorn Horns from Unicorns, which are a rarer spawn. On the bright side, 1 Horn = 35 arrows. (Hellfire Arrows are easy to acquire once you have 1.1 equipment to use down in the Underworld to mine for Hellstone.)

A Clockwork Assault Rifle could be viable with Crystal Bullets, though that method may take a while due to The Destroyer's fairly high defense ratings. It might pay to keep that weapons to deal with the Probes and mobs, however. [Note: I've personally attempted this with a Megashark and Crystal Bullets, as I was trying to farm Soul of Might. While viable, damage over time suffers from the Megasharks lower damage. It'll work. It just takes longer. The Clockwork Assault Rifle is comparable to the Megashark. I wound up switching back to my Repeater and Arrows.]

A Ranger Emblem helps a bit with the extra damage. Also, if possible, a Star Cloak is advisable. You will get hit often, so taking advantage of that fact by returning the favor in the form of stars helps. The Destroyer is very long, so you're bound to hit it.

Accessories should be reforged to either increase defense (if you're not good at evasion) or damage (if you're a decent dodger.) An Obsidian Shield is advised for the increased defense and no-knockback effect.

As for potions:
 * Hunter Potion - To track The Destroyer movements underground and dodge it. Also makes sighting mob spawn easier since this is a night fight.
 * Ironskin Potion - Self explanatory.
 * Bowl of Soup - Further stat boosts.
 * Swiftness Potion - Easier dodging.
 * Archery Potion - Higher damage and easier to aim arrows (assuming you're using Arrows and not Guns.)
 * Thorns Potion - Take damage, give some back.
 * Regeneration Potion - Gotta keep that health up. (Possibly optional if you're a good evader.)

Shine Potions and Night Owl Potions are helpful, but not really essential. They just make sighting other mobs and the terrain easier. Featherfall Potions and Gravitation Potions are also useful if you want more control while in the air or have limited access to the three flight accessories.

Just remember you can only have 10 buffs active at any one time.

Lastly, the best range-themed armor you have on hand.

Terrain
Wide, open, flat, with plenty of clear space for flying and dodging. The Destroyer can clear a lot of vertical space. Like any other borrowing enemy, it can only control its movements in tiles/blocks. Having block in the sky close enough to the ground it can jump into make the fight that much harder/irritating since it can attack you from above as well. You want to control the fight and the best way to do that is restrict its movements. No blocks/tiles = no movement. Note that borrowing enemiies can "borrow" through platforms. Use them at your own risk.

If possible, make sure the area you plan the fight in is decently below the spawn zone/height for Harpies and Wyverns. Regular mobs can and will spawn during the fight and one of the last things you want is a Wyvern harassing you during the fight because you jumped a little too high.

It's recommended NOT to attempt the fight during a Blood Moon (especially if you're at a high altitude: You run the risk of spawning Wyverns). At lower altitudes on normal dirt or grass that can spawn weak/easily killed mobs (The Hallow isn't a good idea, by the way), it might work for you since you can use them as a health restore source (via colecting any Hearts they drop.)

Tactics
Fly. The trick is to stay above The Destroyer and not get trapped under it. If you do, take the hit from the body and get out from under it. It's VERY long and can easily turn back in on itself and not give you breathing room. Also, if you're using Hellfire Arrows, you run the risk of killing yourself from the AoE damage. Keep at range and above it as much as you can while letting loose fire on it. Even if you can't see it, keep firing if you at least know the general direction it's in. It's long, so "spray and pray" is actually a viable tactic. (If you hear the metallic "clinking" hit sound effect, just keep shooting in that direct until you see it again or the sound changes.)

The Probes are both a blessing and a curse. A curse as they get in your way and can attack you for decent damage with their lasers (a bit more if you collide with them). They are a blessing in disguse, however, as they can be a source of health by killing them when you have less that full health: They can drop Hearts for later healing. The same can be said of the regular mobs that spawn during the fight. Careful management of Health Potion usage and Heart collecting will keep you nice and stocked on health (along with use of the Renegeration Potion.) Just drop to the ground when it relatively clear and gather some. The Hunter Potion will let you see The Destroy in the ground, so you'll know if you have to evade instead or can keep going for the hearts.

A secondary weapon for use against the Probes and mobs can be handy, especially if using Hellfire Arrows as your main weapon. The Probes follow you, so you can easily damage yourself with Hellfires if they rush into close right before you fire on them (or get in the way when firing on The Destroyer.) It's even mopre important if you end up on the ground. Inadvertantly firing at your feet with Hellfires can easily ruin the fight for you.

If you're fighting on a wide, flat plain, it might pay to occasionally just run across it until The Destroyer appears. Doing so might cause it to spread a large portion of its body along the ground, making it an easy target from the air. If you have the horizontal space (and speed), make use of it by flying a decent distance back and forth instead of only staying in a particular (horizontal) area to help spread its body out. The more of the body you can keep exposed (and accessible to attacks), the more opportunities you have to deal damage.

On the other hand, if you want to hit the ground (say for gather Hearts), you can fly straight up and hover a while until The Destroyer jumps straight up at you. You can then drop to the ground quick to gather what you need/want while the The Destroyer recovers from its attack attempt. It takes a while for it to loop back around from a high jump. Remember, outside of solid blocks/tiles, borrowing enemies have little control of their movement. This give you the time to take a breather or collect some pick-ups on the ground.