Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-6218837-20141219224629

I did some thinking last night, and I decided that the "best" weapon in Terraria is actually the worst. Stats aren't the only things that matter. It's also what it encourages you to do.

The worst weapons in Terraria are the ones that do all your work for you: for example, the Flairon or the Razorblade Typhoon. If you let those do all the zooming and homing and ricocheting for you, you will never get better - most likely your skills will degenerate over time.

The best weapons are those that: These are the three key traits, and you'll notice that only one depends on stats. I'll list a few handy examples here:
 * 1) Can hold their own in a fight against mid- to late-Hardmode enemies and bosses, such as Plantera, the Golem and the Pumpkin Moon.
 * 2) Encourage use of tactics development through a key weakness.
 * 3) Are average to difficult to learn.

Razorpine
This weapon, the one that got its 5 minutes of glory before the Blizzard Staff hopped on-scene, is - to this day - my absolute "best" weapon in the game. It's very powerful, able to handle the Pumpking with great ease, and has been a longtime favorite. However...

Its key weakness is a low accuracy. These force a player using it to find ways to combat this, such as leading enemies. Probably the best weapon, the Razorpine is an excellent example of a great weapon.

Pulse Bow
I like the Pulse Bow. While it may be weak (with only 65 damage) against later enemies such as the Golem and the Pumpkin Moon, it is certainly a force to be reckoned with, holding up the longtime motto of the Ranger as the stealthy one, the one that never confronts head-on. I believe weapons such as the Tsunami and Chain Gun have turned the Ranger into a direct attacker, which I dislike quite strongly.

The Pulse Bow ricochets, making it one of the few examples of indirect fire in the Ranger area, especially when not using Chlorophyte ammunition. This encourages tight-space fighting, avoidance tactics and use of terrain. It's a very ranger-like weapon, and I enjoy using it immensely.

North Pole
The North Pole is a strong candidate for the hardest weapon in the game. While it did, at a time, have the top DPS of any weapon - a very hard feat for a melee weapon - few people ever mastered that tactic. It's a very difficult one to learn, and using it wrong can mark you for death in a way wearing a Seahawks jersey in Denver can never approach. It's a hard weapon to learn, period.

But those who can achieve that, or get close, through lots of trial-and-error - that's a feat unmatched by any boss in the game, shredding the Destroyer and moon events like so many tissue-paper piñatas. (Well, they are tissue paper, but not entirely). I approve of the North Pole.

Thanks for reading this! I'd appreciate some comments on my thoughts down below. 