Guide:Weapon playthroughs

So you know the basic classes, melee, range, magic, and summoner. However, some of these classes have a specific type of weapon that stands out from others. This guide will cover info for these type of "weapon playthroughs".

Note: this guide is in development and will need support to be updated and accessible for others.

Yoyo
There are 20 different types of Yoyos in the game as of Terraria 1.3.0.8. 8 of which are from Pre-hardmode, 12 in Hardmode. Yoyos, as their name suggests, are "thrown" melee weapons that deal damage a small distance away from the player, but their range is limited.

Pre-Boss
Few yoyos are quite useful before any boss has been defeated, but it is possible to go into the underground jungle and get enough materials to craft the Amazon, a powerful yoyo that can be crafted with a few jungle items easily found.

If going into the jungle is impossible for you, or if you aren't brave enough, it's best if you stick to a Wooden Yoyo, find heart crystals to increase life, and mine for ore to make armor.

Eye of Cthuhlu
If you have the Amazon, this fight should be no problem, although you should mind your armor and health.

However, if you stuck to the wooden yoyo, keep in mind that it doesn't do much damage, so the fight could be a bit tedious.

You should have the following gear:

If using wooden yoyo
 * Iron armor -> Silver armor -> Gold armor (and counterparts)
 * Shackle, preferably with damage or defense modifiers.
 * Aglet -> Hermes Boots/Flurry Boots, mobility is important.
 * Other accessories optional, but can prove nice for the fight.
 * Lesser Healing Potions, save higher tiers for beefier bosses.
 * Swiftness and Ironskin potions, mobility and defense are important for a long fight.
 * >=140 life. Depends on dodging skills.

For a quicker battle, use damage-increasing modifiers for accessories.

If using Amazon


 * Same types of armor and accessories above, though you'd probably tough out the fight easily with lower-tier armor.
 * Lesser Healing Potions, although these could prove unnecessary combined with great mobility.
 * >=140 life

Accessories are best reforged to speed or defense modifiers, these prove to give a safer fight.

If you can get your hands on other potions, i.e. regeneration, these can prove useful, but are best saved for another fight.

While mining, it is possible to get a Rally, a better yoyo than the wooden yoyo, but still relatively weak.

Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthuhlu
If you just defeated the Eye with the Wooden Yoyo, it's time to switch that dinky hunk with something a little bit more macho. In a Corruption world, take your demonite (smelt them) and craft a Malaise, or in a Crimson world, use your crimtane and make an Artery. These are both nice upgrades to get before fighting Eow or Boc.

If you defeated the Eye with the Amazon, you can continue on and defeat the Eow/Boc, but get some better armor and accessories to ensure protection against these bosses. Alternatively, the Traveling Merchant can sell the [Code 1]], a slightly better yoyo than the Amazon.

You should have the following gear:


 * Silver armor -> Gold armor (and counterparts)
 * Hermes Boots/Flurry Boots
 * Band of regeneration
 * Shield of Cthuhlu (If you're doing an Expert Mode playthrough
 * Anklet of the wind (Jungle)/Aglet (with good modifier)
 * Lesser Healing Potions -> healing potions, only if you're bad at these bosses
 * >=200 life. If not careful, the Eow/Boc can actually dish out a lot of damage if one's not careful.
 * Ironskin, Speed, Regeneration potions. If you've gone fishing, endurance potions make the fight easier.

Eater of Worlds

Without a piercing weapon, the Eow is not as efficient to kill, so focus on damaging segments when the Eow is arching. When head areas are low, hack them off with your Yoyo.

An arena is advisable, but unnecessary, as long as you can withstand the Eow's hits. Campfires can help and always remember, especially in Expert mode, that the head does the most damage of all the worm's segments.

Brain of Cthuhlu

Your Yoyo should make killing Creepers easy, as the Yoyo gets knocked around, damaging more Creepers at a time. As the Brain gets into second form, focus on predicting the Brain's movements, as a hit from the Brain can lead you into the hungry mouths of Blood Crawlers.

An arena is recommended here, as the Creepers are easier to hit as long as you can maintain their height, and the Brain is easier to dodge. Campfires work excellently here.

Skeletron
At this point, you should venture underground to find the Skeleton Merchant, as he can sell some yoyo accessories needed to make a Yoyo Bag. What you're looking for is Yoyo Glove and Counterweights, two components of the Yoyo Bag, minus White String, which can be crafted at a loom with cobwebs. Combining these accessories will require a Tinkerer's workshop, which is sold by the Goblin Tinkerer, which is found underground after a Goblin Invasion, which should happen soon after breaking a Shadow orb/Crimson heart. If you haven't already, the Amazon is a crucial upgrade, proving necessary to destroy Skeletron with.

After defeating the Eow/Boc, you should make Shadow/Crimtane armor for their melee benefits. These armor will prove lifesaving in later situations.

Before you fight Skeletron, it's best to build an arena to fight him with ease, especially in his spinning attack. Campfires are good for regeneration, and multiple layers of platforms should help with dodging the hands.

It is very helpful to use a Grappling Hook, as they can put you up to full speed easily with Hermes Boots equipped.

You should have the following gear:


 * Shadow/Crimtane armor
 * Hermes Boots/Flurry Boots -> Spectre Boots -> Lightning Boots, if you can get your hands on them.
 * Tiger Climbing Gear, optional but can be effective to scale up walls
 * Yoyo Bag, or at least one component
 * Shield of Cthulhu & Worm Scarf (Expert mode corruption), this will be great for absorbing the damage expert Skeletron can do.
 * Band of Regeneration
 * Any type of Cloud in a bottle. Great for dodging.
 * 360-400 life
 * Healing potions, conserve them.
 * Ironskin, Speed, Endurance, Regeneration, Heartreach potions, and if possible, Rage/Wrath potions

Two main factors: damage and mobility. Defense is only a last resort, especially if your dodging skills are great, because even at this stage, Skeletron is relatively powerful, especially in Expert Mode.

Wall of Flesh
Every meleer knows that the Wof is annoying to fight, and the Yoyo is no exception. If you haven't already, go and loot the dungeon, so you can get two crucial items; a Cobalt Shield, and a Valor, a nice yoyo to have with you.

The dungeon can also place you closer to the underworld, so mine down if you haven't made a hellevator. If you can, a Cascade could help nicely, as it does lots of damage, as well as giving the On Fire! debuff.

Molten armor is optional, but can be useful in terms of damage. For speed, choose Shadow armor (Corruption only), and for ease of regenerating life, Crimtane armor (Crimson only). Anything under this gear is practically suicide for you.

You should have the following gear:


 * Any armor listed above
 * Spectre Boots -> Ligtning Boots
 * Cobalt Shield -> Obsidian Shield
 * Shield of Cthuhlu/Worm Scarf (Expert Mode)
 * Lava Charm -> Lava waders, only if you don't make a bridge, or you don't use proper potions
 * Yoyo Bag
 * Healing Potions
 * At least 380 life
 * Swiftness, Ironskin, Endurance, Regeneration, Obsidian Skin, Water Walking potion. If you can get your hands on them, Rage/Wrath and Inferno potions greatly help.

When you fight, focus on hitting the eyes for a quicker fight. It's worth taking the damage than risk being licked.

Watch your potions when you can, the worst scenario is when you're walking on lava and your Water Walking buff runs out.

Pre-Mechanical/Early Hardmode
Welcome to Hardmode! Things are going to get a lot harder from now on. Enemies will get tougher, so you're going to need better gear to ward of monsters.

A good start would be to farm more monsters in the underworld, so you can get a Hel-Fire, a great yoyo to get. An alternative is the Amarok, a similar yoyo found in the ice biome. While you're in the ice biome, it's nice to get an ice feather so you can craft Frost Wings, which will help greatly with movement.

Destroy at least three altars, then use the ore to make Pickaxes/Drills, and use only ores better than Cobalt/Palladium for armor. Adamantite for stat buffs, Titanium for survivability, Orichalcum for offense, and Mythril as a minimum.

If you don't like grinding for Yoyos, the Skeleton Merchant can sell good Yoyos as well, namely Format C and Gradient. If you want something more damaging, collect a few Crystal Shards from the Hallow, salvage the dinky Wooden Yoyo you put away before, and craft a Chik, a nice damaging yoyo. However, it is still recommended you get a Hel-Fire or an Amarok, as they both inflict status effects, as well as do more damage.

Mechanical Bosses
In preparation of destroying some Mechanical bosses, get some good armor, good mobility and a Yoyo Bag to take down these bosses quicker. Also, use good potions to help yourself in these battles.

Destroyer

Same strategy for defeating the Eow, but since the whole destroyer shares one bar of health, hit anywhere you please. A higher arena will help, but not so high you can't reach the Destroyer itself.

Probes could serve a problem without a Yoyo Bag. One Yoyo isn't good enough to take down several probes, and the lasers don't help, either.

Twins

Treat them like two REALLY powerful Eyes of Cthulhu, one that shoots lasers (keep distance) and one that spits cursed fire (dodge well). The Twins are best fought in a sky battle, so if you don't have wings, use a Gravitation potion.

Spazmatism's second form's "flamethrower" can be a big problem, so only attack him when he's ramming, or position your Yoyo so that it's over or under the Eye's fire (requires practice without burning to a crisp).

Skeletron Prime

Skeleton Prime is relatively hard without range, and the Yoyo is no exception. Always stay center to Prime, so you can hit his head more than his limbs. If the limbs become a nuisance, remove them, but at the cost of time.

It is worth noting that after a Mechanical Boss has been defeated, the powerful Yelets becomes available in the Jungle, as well as the infinite-flying Code 2, sold by the Traveling Merchant. Also, after defeating one Mechanical Boss, life fruits can appear, which can increase total life to 500.

Plantera
Before you fight Plantera, obtaining a Yelets or Code 2 is really helpful, and if you're on Expert mode, Red's Throw and Valkyrie Yoyo are sweet deals as well. Use Hallowed armor as a BARE MINIMUM. Without good dodging skills, you will be quickly torn to shreds by Plantera. Chlorophyte or Turtle armor is ideal.

When fighting Plantera, make a large arena with honey, heart lanterns and campfires. This way, it's easier to dodge Plantera's attacks, and you have the best health regeneration.

Golem
After defeating Plantera, you now have access to two better Yoyos; the Kraken, found in the Dungeon, and The Eye of Cthulhu, dropped in a Solar Eclipse by Mothron. The Eye of Cthulhu is the more damaging Yoyo, doing 115 base damage, however the Kraken has more knockback. The Pumpkin/Frost Moon events are irrelevant in this playthrough, because it drops nothing the player can benefit from, other than coins and familiars.

When defeating the Golem, you can go close, but only when he's not jumping. Always maintain good mobility, as the Golem's attacks are unpredictable and quick. In his first stage, use regeneration and wrath/rage potions to tank down the Golem fast.

As soon as the Golem is in its second form, kick in the defensive buffs (ironskin, endurance, lifeforce) as the Goldman can now attack from two points. You'll likely soak up many hits, so these potions prove beneficial.

Moon Lord/Endgame
After Golem is defeated, the Beetle Armor set will prove useful to fight the Moon Lord with. Before you do, reformed all your accessories and Yoyos to damage or crit modifiers, as they will make quick work of the Moon Lord. Do not attempt Martian Madness, because it's a time waster, unless you want to get he UFO mount.

After activating Lunar Events, it's crucial that you deserve your solar fragments to create Solar Flare Armor, with the Lunar Hook and Super Healing Potions being exceptions.

For more elaborate strategies on defeating the Moon Lord, see Guide:Moon Lord strategies.

Once you obtain the Terrarian from the Moon Lord, you should rake up your Luminite (Defeat Moon Lord as many times as needed) and craft Solar Flare Armor. Once these things are achieved, it's time to take a long rats, and wait until the next update...