Guide:Wall of Flesh strategies

"The master and core of the world..."

The Wall of Flesh is the final Pre-Hardmode boss. It is composed of two eyes which will blast the player with lasers. In between these two eyes is a mouth. At the beginning of the battle it will spawn many small creatures called The Hungry. They are connected to the Wall of Flesh with long tendrils, which break once the Hungry take enough damage, releasing them to fly towards you. Once the hungry are defeated, the mouth will spawn Leeches which are creatures similar to worms in shape, size, and appearance.

Once the player has beaten the Wall of Flesh, they will receive a message and the world will enter Hardmode.

Spawn Condition
To spawn the Wall of Flesh, you must throw ( or use) the in the Lava.

The Fight
The Wall will steadily move toward you, so keep your distance and plan ahead. If you get behind the Wall, it will pull you in front of it. You will be a little bit disoriented and possibly heavily damaged, so staying in front of it is absolutely a top priority. On the other hand if you move too far away from the Wall it will also pull you back. Be cautious, as this can sometimes fling you into hazards such as Lava, which will usually easily kill a player without Lava Waders or a Lava Charm. A Lava Charm can be found in a Gold Chest.

At the start of the fight you should focus on killing The Hungry, preferably using a melee weapon or piercing/exploding weapons. When the little creatures have been mostly eradicated, you can now focus on the eyes and mouth. Ranged players should, from about this point, take very little damage for the rest of the fight. Melee players, in contrast, may take hits from newly spawned Hungry and the occasional direct hit from the Wall, but will start to deal massive damage if they have a spear or flail. Dodging the eye lasers is easy. Jumping up and down when the lasers are shooting should help you avoid most of them.

The Horrified debuff has the effect of instantly killing you when you use your Magic Mirror, it does so after you return to spawn, allowing you to recover your money and (on mediumcore) items instantly. Obviously, it's a last-ditch strategy, and one that serves no purpose for hardcore players.

Threat Analysis

 * The Wall of Flesh has two large eyes. They shoot lasers at you, so it is good idea to be as far away from them as possible.
 * The two eyes share health. Defeat these to defeat the boss.
 * The eye lasers do not penetrate blocks, so a land bridge effectively eliminates half of the lasers.
 * There is also a mouth, which will deal heavy damage to you if you get too close.
 * It has a slightly higher defense value (0 for the eyes and 15 for the mouth respectively), so you may favor attacking the eyes instead.
 * There are many small creatures in front of it called The Hungry, held to the Wall by long tendrils.
 * If you kill them, they disconnect with one third health and will fly toward you.
 * The Hungries can block you from being able to attack the Wall until they are killed.
 * As you whittle down the Wall's health, the tendrils on any still-attached Hungry can reach out further, making it easier for them to reach you as well as interfere with ranged attacks.
 * The Wall's travel speed will increase as its health is diminished, allowing it to catch up faster/forcing the player to retreat quicker.
 * As the Wall loses health, its lasers will start to shoot faster and more frequently, so it may be harder to dodge them.
 * The Wall of Flesh's lasers will increase in damage the more its health drops.
 * The Wall's mouth will spit leeches, which can damage you, but will also always drop a heart, making them useful to kill when you're low on health, but it is good to kill them almost immediately by aiming a ranged weapon at the mouth, as the leeches are one of the main sources of the Wall's damage.
 * The leeches released from the WoF use the basic worm AI, which means they can move through blocks. It is best to remain out of their reach, as they can be killed by swinging a melee weapon when they emerge from the ground.
 * Building a long stretch of wooden platforms high above the ground can considerably slow down the leeches, as they will not have enough area to tunnel in.

Terrain preparation
There are multiple approaches the player can take for fighting the Wall of Flesh, each having several strategic implications. One terrain strategy is to build a long bridge to go through half the map to the right, then summon it on the left or vice versa.

Full Preparation
The player will benefit from preparing the area ahead when fighting the Wall of Flesh more than with any previous boss. An optimal arena is a perfectly flat land bridge of length at least 1000-2000 tiles. It is also a good idea to make the bridge out of wood platforms, as ranged attacks can hit all parts of the Wall of Flesh this way. But building the platform out of solid blocks will allow the player to change the position of the eyes. This is helpful for targeting the eyes as they have low defense. On mobile, as the Wall of Flesh will not adjust its parts to appropriate height, you may also build your bridge relatively high up, at ~50 blocks below the Underworld's upper boundary. Lighting is relatively optional as the area will be well-lit from lava and other effects. Note that the height of the bridge does not especially matter, as the Wall of Flesh will move its eyes and mouth to the appropriate height for combat on its own (Unless the player is on mobile, in which the Wall of Flesh will move the whole wall to you.)

One of the best ways to defeat the Wall of Flesh is in a Minecart, because you can keep a safe distance with good speed.

Headroom to maneuver above the bridge may be useful, and additional Wooden Platforms can provide further mobility options, especially types for melee users.

If the player has access to the Frostspark Boots, making the arena out of Ice Blocks will allow much faster speeds to outrun the Wall. However this can lead to corruption and hallow enemies to spawn as ice can be changed to purple ice or red ice or pink ice.

Partial Preparation
If a full arena isn't desired, or you're not interested in wasting time on a world you don't intend to keep, you can make less extensive preparations. Run your bridge over any lava pits, make sure there aren't any especially difficult jumps to make, and clear a path through any major outcroppings. You may want to extend your work to closer to 750 blocks, as the fight will drag on while you jump over obstacles.

Partial preparation favors ranged combat, as you won't be within melee range often. You also will need to keep a bigger distance to account for any slow climbing you'll need to do. If you have large flat segments, those would be good times to close to melee.

Armor
Molten armor, especially considering you will have to use this once hardmode starts. Meteor armor, Jungle armor, Necro armor or Bee armor are valid options if you're specializing in non-melee weapons. Crimtane armor is also good with its increased life regeneration, and Shadow armor can be useful with its increased movement and melee swing speed to keep up with the Wall of Flesh. Even if not using Molten armor as a main armor, it's best to have a set to swap into in case things get hairy once you initiate hardmode.

Weapons/Items
Some weapons/Items that will help in some ways are: Vilethorn, Hornet Staff (if You have Bee armor), and Ammo Box (If you use guns, you will need a lot of them especially the minishark as it fires bullets very quickly), Molten Fury (If Mobile use Sharanga), Flamarang, Magma Stone, (to do fire damage) and Fiery Greatsword and finally Beenades.

A nice bow and Cupid arrows from the Valentine's day event can make the boss unable to harm the player, other than the eyes' shots. Firing a bow and Cupid's arrows stuns the boss (if shot at the mouth) completely and as long as you have enough regeneration you will easily kill the boss. It takes at most average 232 arrows and at least average 130 arrows.
 * The Thorn Chakram, the Enchanted Boomerang and Beenades are also good for killing the Hungry.
 * The Water Bolt is effective with sufficent mana.

Melee Weapons
A primary concern about melee in this fight is that you are constantly moving away from the boss. As it is impossible to back up while swinging a sword, weapons like the Night's Edge, The Breaker and Phaseblade, players are forced to stay dangerously close to the boss and catch it on the backswing if they wish to damage it directly. This would be nearly impossible without full terrain preparations. In addition, it is strongly recommended against using Melee weapons against the Wall of Flesh in Expert mode, due to the extreme difficulty caused by the constantly re-spawning Hungries causing massive damage when in melee range.
 * A melee weapon especially helps when fighting the numerous Hungries, as one swing can hit many at once. Balanced characters may wish to start with a melee weapon to clear out the Hungries before switching to range or magic to fight the boss. The Wall of Flesh has low defense, so the player isn't limited to necessarily using the strongest weapon that they have available. If The Wall of Flesh is too close, you can switch to an extremely fast weapon, such as Bladed Glove, which can help clear Hungries easily. The Bladed Glove is only obtainable during the Halloween seasonal event.
 * You can also use a Flail. The Sunfury is recommended because it is the strongest of its tier in pre-hardmode. This is a good choice because it can inflict multiple hits on the Wall of Flesh. The same applies to the Dark Lance. Getting either the Dark Lance or the Sunfury is recommended if the player intends to focus on melee.
 * Possibly the best choice as a weapon for fighting the WoF is to use a Yoyo. Using a yoyo allows the player to run away from the WoF while also attacking it from a distance, once all of the Hungry are killed. It's recommended to use a stronger yoyo such as the Valor (from the Dungeon) or the Cascade (dropped by Underworld enemies after Skeletron has been defeated). Also, using accessories related to the yoyo, such as String and Counterweights can also be beneficial.
 * In Expert mode, the Bee Keeper combined with the Hive pack can be very effective for characters seeking to defeat the WoF with pure melee. The Bee Keeper allows the player to back up while swinging without changing direction, and the bees with the Hive Pack keep the Hungry at a controllable level. Maximizing defense is critical for this strategy.

Ranged Weapons
The ranged approach is safer but slower for this fight. When choosing ranged weapons consider taking the Necro armor, as the set bonus will reduce the ammo consumed, and the lowered defense should be mitigated by the distance between you and the wall.
 * A Hellwing Bow is a fairly common find pre-Wall of Flesh and is an excellent weapon to use against it, dealing high damage with extremely cheap Wooden Arrows. The pierce of the bats can be useful, allowing the player to attack many of the Hungry as well as the Wall itself in one shot.
 * Alternately you can use piercing or exploding ammunition, such as Meteor Shots, Hellfire Arrows or Jester's Arrows. Gun users will want to use a Phoenix Blaster, Minishark or possibly even a Star Cannon (it takes about 150-160 Stars to kill the WoF and the Hungry; this makes the fight fairly easy if you have been hoarding them.). Bow users are best off using a Molten Fury, Hellwing Bow, The Bee's Knees, or Sharanga . With any choice, you will want to bring a significant amount of ammunition (about 1,500 to 2,000) to ensure you do not run out. Other bows and guns should be avoided.

Magic Weapons

 * A Water Bolt, Ruby Staff, Diamond Staff or Demon Scythe can deal a hefty amount of damage to the boss, while also providing piercing to quickly clear the Hungry. Magic weapons such as Space Gun consider using Jungle armor or if made Meteor armor instead. If you just want defense, you can use Molten armor or the highest Armor for defense. A combination of Space Gun with Meteor armor and one of the four initially listed magic weapons as well as accessories with armor buffs can cause constant damage when the main magic weapon is out of mana while having suitable defense for taking damage.
 * Flamelash and Magic Missile perform poorly in this fight. The rate of damage is abysmal when dealing with Hungries or the wall itself. They are good at hitting mobile enemies in a static environment, which is the exact opposite of the situation here. However, they can be used as high damage alternatives to a ruby staff. A Demon Scythe can also come in handy even though it has a somewhat expensive mana cost.
 * Bee Gun's high speed, homing, and bouncing (5 times) ability can be a very powerful weapon for this fight. You can increase their damage by using the Hive Pack if you're in Expert mode.
 * If you have a Crimson world, you will want to bring a Crimson Rod and set up rain clouds periodically. The drops will pierce through the eyes and mouth, speeding up the battle greatly.
 * The battle can be finished easily by building a bridge, using a water bolt and Diamond Staff (Or Ruby Staff), and wearing a Magic Hat or a Wizard Hat (Choose a Wizard Hat if you want a little more damage to the WoF) and wear a Diamond Robe to increase your mana quickly. With a Wizard Hat, you can do just 10% more Crit. Strike change (note Magic Hat also increases your critical strike chance and damage by 6%, however, but the Wizard Hat has 10% Crit and 15% Magic Damage).
 * A Medusa Head can be very useful against The Hungry, as they can hit all The Hungry at once, dealing massive damage.
 * If using the Water Bolt, a good strategy is to fire in a spread across the screen. This will take out The Hungry, and you can switch to targeting one of the Wall's eyes once the Hungry are defeated (spamming the weapon against an eye will cause hefty damage as the closely packed bolts can hit multiple times). Then, when your Mana is drained, you can switch to the Star Cannon, Beenades, or another preferred weapon while your Mana regenerates (if you don't want to use Mana Potions because of the Mana Sickness debuff). Players who use Meteor armor can switch to the Space Gun while Mana regenerates. The Aqua Scepter is very useful for the fight since it has a rapid fire and the Hungries will drop Stars so you can refill your Mana quickly.

Summoning Weapons

 * At this point, an Imp Staff is almost 100% necessary, dealing the highest damage of all the minion summons. In addition, the Imp's piercing properties help with clearing all The Hungry away.
 * Of the sentry weapons sold by the Tavernkeep, the best options are the Ballista Rod and the Explosive Trap Rod. The Ballista Rod has incredibly high damage and their bolts are capable of piercing, while the Explosive Trap Rod inflicts damage in an area of effect. While the sentries themselves are slow to attack, you can continually re-summon them to make them immediately attack, significantly reducing the cooldown time.
 * If this is not your first time (with that particular character), you can use Hardmode summons such as the Optic Staff or Pirate Staff.

Throwable Weapons

 * Spiky Balls are a good way to start the fight. If you are going to use ranged weapons throughout the entire fight these can help you kill some of the Hungries quickly and dealing some additional damage to the WoF.
 * Molotov Cocktails can be used to kill some of the Hungries. The fire left behind after the Molotov Cocktail has hit will do some extra damage to the WoF. These are recommended if you are not very accurate with your explosive throwing skills(100-150 to kill the WoF).
 * Beenades are a powerful weapon against the WoF and minions alike, and the bees' homing ability is invaluable.
 * Explosives, such as Grenades, may work as well, quickly clearing the Hungries. Even Bombs can be used, although the timing may require some practicing it is not a great deal if the area is damaged, as you won't return to there till the fight is over. Perhaps the better option of explosives are Beenades. By the time you are prepared to fight the Wall of Flesh farming them from the Queen Bee should be trivial.
 * Although expensive, Holy Hand Grenades are a great option on the . They deal extreme area of effect damage, capable of quickly killing The Hungry and hitting multiple parts of the Wall itself.

Accessories
Without full arena preparations, an Obsidian Shield is recommended for not taking damage from Hellstone. Furthermore, Spectre Boots, Lightning Boots or Frostspark Boots, and a Cloud in a Balloon or the Sandstorm in a Bottle will help you maneuver around easier, while also helping you evade the lasers shot by the WoF. Other good Accessories are the Feral Claws for melee users and a Band of Regeneration for all users. In addition, a Lava Charm or Lava Waders can be useful as an alternative to Obsidian Skin Potion. If you have one and have either a bad aim or a relatively small amount of ammo, the Ammo Box should be activated before the fight, and it usually will last the whole fight and provide a chance not to consume ammo.

Reforging your accessories for more defense or damage will help with this fight. Reforging for movement speed will help later on in the battle, but Spectre Boots usually will outrun the WoF.

Potions

 * Ironskin Potions will give the much needed defense boost. Each point of defense is more valuable than the last; the effects of this potion will be quite noticeable to most players.
 * Regeneration Potion is another useful survivability boost, and also Heartreach Potion can be useful if you are close enough to the hearts. Although the Heartreach Potion can only be crafted with worlds with The Crimson, it can also be found by destroying pots in The Underworld.
 * Swiftness Potion is extremely useful to keep outrunning the WoF, especially once it's low on health, as it moves far faster than normal.
 * Obsidian Skin Potion and Water Walking Potion are good if you have no full arena preparations or if you meet the end of your arena.
 * Also using Gravitation Potion and Featherfall Potion will help you if you have no full arena preparations.
 * Shine Potions, Night Owl Potions and Hunter Potion can help as well, even though there is some light already.
 * A Bowl of Soup, Cooked Marshmallow, or Pumpkin Pie will give you a small buff in most stats.
 * An Inferno Potion will help a lot, as it can quickly get rid of The Hungry, and hit the WoF itself when you are in close range.
 * Gun users should bring an Ammo Reservation Potion this will give you your greatest chance not of run out of bullets during the fight.
 * A Calming Potion works well too, as the player will be able to mainly focus on the WoF most of the fight.
 * An Archery Potion can aid bow users well, as the increased damage helps to end the fight quicker and reduces the necessary size needed for the arena.
 * A Wrath Potion or Rage Potion increases overall damage against the WoF, which also helps in finishing it off faster.
 * If you have defeated Turkor the Ungrateful, using the Horn o' plenty should work well if you don't have very many healing potions.

Boulders Head-start
If you can jump, then you should set up a few at the beginning of the run and Wire them to a Pressure plate in the course, so you can step on the pressure plate, and the Wall of Flesh gets hit by a few boulders, but them hitting you can seriously affect the battle, because they do a lot of damage. Explosives (or just thrown Dynamite) can be used in a similar manner for even greater damage.

Mouth-only Tunnel Strategy
One strategy which has worked for some players is to build a 3-7 block high tunnel so that the WoF can not use the laser eye attack since it cannot shoot through blocks. For regeneration purposes use full crimson armor and campfires every 20 blocks to help. A good weapon to use is the diamond staff but if you have multiple people the ruby staff will work as well. If you intend to solo the WoF use molten armor. Only Use Shadow/Crimson armor if you are a very good at dodging the WoF's Lasers and the hungries.

Aftermath
After defeating the boss, the loot will be enclosed suspended in a box, so that lava is not a problem. However your world will enter Hardmode if it isn't in Hardmode yet.

After defeating the Wall of Flesh, you will have access to stronger weapons, Emblems, and stronger armor, making the fight a lot easier when you come back to it. Furthermore, after killing the WoF you can immediately summon him again (of course waiting for the Guide to respawn!) This can be a great source of income or loot.