Hooks

Hooks are a class of tools that aid the player in traversing terrain. When used, a chain is fired that latches a surface and hoists the player towards it. A Hook becomes an essential tool, as it offers significant freedom from terrain height restrictions, and will often be the first major mobility aid a player acquires. Hooks are acquired in various ways depending on their type (see table below).

The hotkey activates the equipped Hook in the player's equipment slot, or the first Hook from the inventory (reading it from left→right, top→bottom) without requiring that the Hook be in the player's hotbar. On the, dragging from the player outwards casts the Hook in the drag direction. On the, hooks can be fired with.

Several higher-tier Hooks, like the Ivy Whip, allow the player to grapple multiple surfaces simultaneously. If the character grapples one surface, then fires the Hook a second time, another chain extends from the player without dislodging the first. Upon grappling a second surface, the player will be suspended in midair at a point midway between the two surfaces. This allows players more freedom during construction, or for navigating hazardous areas, such as those above lava.

When the player first acquires a hook on or, a small tutorial box will pop up telling the player how to use it.

Types
Hooks vary in their range, velocity, number of deployable hooks, and number of hooks that can remain latched simultaneously.


 * All crafted Hooks are crafted at the Iron Anvil or Lead Anvil, with the exception of the Lunar Hook, crafted at the Ancient Manipulator.
 * Single Hooks dislodge immediately when firing again while already latched to a surface.
 * Multi-Hooks without simultaneous latching (Dual Hook; also the Fish Hook prior to 1.3) can fire a second chain, but will dislodge the first chain when the second latches a surface.
 * A Multi-Hook can be fired again only after the previous chain latched a surface or fully retracted. The Fish Hook, Dual Hook, Web Slinger, and Lunar Hook are exceptions, and can be fired very rapidly; nearly as fast as the player can press the button.

Tips

 * When sprinting accessories are equipped, the burst of speed provided by a Hook upon latching a surface can be used to accelerate a player to sprinting speed instantly.
 * The Ice Rod can provide blocks to grapple while flying with Wings, repeatedly resetting flight time in midair.
 * Characters that have hooked to a block are immune to gravity and knockback. Grappling the ground in dangerous locations, such as near lava, can ensure you don't fall in when taking damage from an enemy.
 * Players can also exploit immunity to gravity by shooting the hook to the ground to prevent fall damage.
 * Simultaneous-latch multi-hooks are more useful for intricate maneuvers. When fast travel is preferred, individually-latching multi-hooks allow faster transit, since they immediately sling the player across gaps, rather than automatically suspending them midway.
 * Hooks that can be fired in rapid succession (Dual Hook, Web Slinger, Fish Hook, etc) provide greater security when falling. In case the first hook fails to latch onto a surface, the other fired hooks offer you a better chance at survival.
 * If a player grapples onto the middle of a door and opens it while suspended, the player will fly out with immense speed in the direction that he or she grapples onto the door with. The same effect can be achieved with Actuators. When there are Frozen Slime Blocks on the other side of the door, this speed will be kept and can be used for very rapid transportation in a skybridge, etc.
 * However, the Static Hook doesn't seem to apply to this, because it does not pull the player to the latched location directly.
 * On the s, doors are opened automatically when the player gets near one, so this is easier to perform.
 * Moving whilst latched with the Anti-Gravity Hook doesn't count as movement with regards to mana regeneration. It also provides a simple way to dodge quickly even when under the effects of reduced movement speed (such as from the Vortex armor's special ability).
 * The Anti-Gravity Hook is very effective in avoiding quick enemies like Mothron, provided there is enough space.
 * The Anti-Gravity Hook can make traversing maps easier. Throw the hook behind you with a downwards angle and release the hook immediately. If you repeat this method, you can fly at about 54 mph.
 * You can climb smooth walls extremely quickly with the Anti-Gravity hook by pressing your grapple key quickly and holding your up key whilst your mouse is in the top and slightly to the right of the middle of your screen.
 * If you want to change hooks from your inventory to the Hook slot, right-click the hook in the inventory to quickly equip it.
 * As a balance for Web Slinger high number of hooks, it has the lowest range of all hooks (16 tiles).

Trivia

 * The Fish Hook is a play on words, using the term for the real-life fishing tool for a grappling hook with the same appearance.
 * The tooltip for the Grappling Hook, "Get over here!", is a reference to Scorpion's catchphrase in Mortal Kombat.
 * The tooltip for the Lunar Hook "You want the moon? Just grapple it and pull it down!" is a possible reference to It's a Wonderful Life's famous quote from George Bailey: "You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down."
 * The Bat Hook is most likely a reference to DC's Batman, who uses a grappling hook that reels in very quickly, usually launching him up onto ledges.
 * The Web Slinger may be reference to Marvel's Spider-Man, who is often referred to as the "Web Slinger" due to his ability to sling webs and attach them to enhance movement.
 * When you use the Lunar Hook, the color fired always follows this order: First orange (Solar), second green (Vortex), third pink (Nebula), and finally blue (Stardust).
 * Because the Lunar Hook always follows this pattern, it's possible to cycle through the different hooks and latch onto objects with whichever color you want. Therefore it's also possible to have four of the same type of hook out (four Solar, Nebula, Vortex or Stardust hooks) at a time.
 * The Candy Cane Hook has the same sell value as the Hardmode hooks, although it can be obtained Pre-Hardmode. It is also one of the few items with Lime rarity that can be obtained Pre-Hardmode.
 * The Thorn Hook resembles a miniature version of Plantera's Hooks.
 * If a player switches Hooks while already hooked, the existing hook will keep the previous hook's sprite. However, reshooting the hook will update the sprite.
 * When switching hooks from a older hook that has more ends to a newer hook with less ends, the new hook will initially replace the first hook shot out, but then will subsequently always replace the older hook. This is extremely buggy and can allow strange effects such as two static hooks latched at the same time.
 * The Static Hook is a Tier 10 (Red rarity) Item despite being acquirable after only one of the Mechanical Bosses has been defeated. It is also the only item with this rarity that can be bought.

History
Greifhaken Grappins 钩爪