Onyx Blaster

The Onyx Blaster is a Hardmode ranged weapon that is a direct upgrade to the Shotgun. It can be crafted before defeating any of the Mechanical Bosses.

Similar to the Shotgun, it fires a spread of 4 bullets whist only consuming one unit of ammunition, but it also fires a single dark energy projectile that explodes upon impact with an enemy or a block, or after traveling 36 tiles. The explosive projectile does twice the listed damage of the weapon.



Tips

 * The Onyx Blaster is good for ranger players during early stages of Hardmode due to its availability and excellent crowd-control capabilities. The size of the dark energy blast makes it especially adept at hitting large targets.
 * The Onyx Blaster is very easy to get, requiring a small amount of farming in a Corrupt/Crimson Desert for Shards, Underground Corruption/Crimson for Souls, and a Shotgun, which can easily be purchased from the Arms Dealer.
 * The Onyx Blaster pairs well with Ichor Bullets, as the bullets go in front of the dark energy blast, lowering the enemy defense, enhancing the Onyx Blast's damage.
 * This is useful during a Solar Eclipse. Attaching oneself to a tall structure and firing down would easily render most of the enemies easy to kill.
 * This weapon can take on Mechanical Bosses with comparable efficiency to the Megashark, however, it also has an explosive blast, making it an excellent choice and, when paired with Ichor Bullets, is an incredible weapon against all Mechanical Bosses. Do note that this does not apply for The Destroyer since it is immune to all debuffs. In that case, Explosive Bullets might work better.
 * When paired with Crystal Bullets, the Onyx Blaster can shoot 12 projectiles at once (disregarding the Onyx Blast), as each bullet projectile breaks into three.
 * The weapon is not only incredibly powerful for how early the player can acquire it, but also very versatile, with crowd control, velocity, and pure.

Trivia

 * is a mineral commonly found in America.
 * It's possible that the name and appearance are a reference to the Onyx Roses from, since the weapons have similar appearances, both reference Onyx in their names and both are shotgun-type weapons.
 * This is one of a small "set" of weapons made with two Shards apiece, the other members being the Sky Fracture and the Dao of Pow. Their recipes, names and appearances link the weapons to themes of Darkness, Light, and Balance, with the Onyx Blaster representing Darkness. The set also includes one weapon for each of the three "classic" damage types (melee, magic, and ranged), where the Onyx Blaster is the ranged weapon.

History
Fusil onyx