Guide:Pumpkin Moon strategies

The Pumpkin Moon is a post-Plantera Hardmode event triggered by activating the Pumpkin Moon Medallion. The event is very rewarding if you can successfully keep pace, providing a large amounts of money and good weapons by the end of the night.

However, the event is also difficult and requires a lot of preparation.

The Event
The event consists of 14 waves, with a final Wave 15 which will last until the end of the night. As the event goes on, stronger enemies and unique bosses will appear.

During the first few Waves, a large number of, and  will appear. These enemies only have average stats, so a weapon with good crowd control abilities will clear the first waves fairly fast.

The first miniboss, the Mourning Wood will start appearing on Wave 4. This enemy will walk towards the player, and then shoot Flaming Wood when it stops moving. It can also leave Greek Fire on the ground. While it can prove to be rather easy to kill, on later waves many of them will spawn, so one can easily get overwhelmed by their projectiles.

From Wave 5 the and  will start appearing. These are weaker than the Boss enemies, but much stronger than the average ones. Even if they are not a threat by themselves, they can be very dangerous combined with the minibosses.

On Wave 7, the main Boss of the Event will appear, the Pumpking. It behaves similarly to Skeletron; attempting to stay above the player and attacking with the blades on its arms. The most dangerous attack it has are its Flame Scythes: a large, highly damaging projectile that speeds up over time, similar to Demon Scythes. It's rather slow for a boss enemy, so it can be easily outran and dodged by moving in wide circles.

The further the player has progressed, the more boss enemies will be able to spawn at once, and their chance to drop an item will also increase. On the Final Wave, up to seven of each boss can appear, and they will always drop an item and their respective trophy.

Gearing up
The event can be summoned at any time post-Plantera, but it is usually done after Golem and Duke Fishron have been defeated, and before the Frost Moon.

Armor

 * For melee, DPS is maximized with the, , and.
 * with Scale Mail can also be used, but is ideal only when using the Terra Blade.
 * Rangers should use with the headpiece that suits their weapon.
 * Shroomite armor's set bonus becomes useless in later waves, so it can be replaced with for two extra minions or  for a 1% advantage in critical strike chance.
 * For a mage, the highest DPS is attained by using with  in the head slot, using the Spectre Hood only when at low health.
 * can be used along with Hallowed Headgear in place of Spectre Pants, but does not facilitate armor switching.
 * Summoners should use . They can also switch to the and  after summoning, losing one minion to gain constant regeneration greater than that provided by Palladium armor.

Weapons

 * For Melee users:
 * The is a very strong weapon for both crowd control and single targets.  works similarly.
 * and are very strong swords. The former should only be used against the bosses, as the latter has better crowd control.
 * The is very good for crowds and decent against bosses.
 * is fast and deals decent damage, but it becomes ineffective in the later waves, as there will be too many boss enemies for it to handle.
 * The deal extreme damage to Mourning Woods and other grounded enemies.
 * can be used to quickly heal in critical situations, but have lower DPS than most other options.
 * Once you've killed your first few Pumpking s, the event can be made a cakewalk by using The Horseman's Blade with any type of Statue that summons a hostile mob on a timer in a enclosed safe space above the ground. Using this method will cause the blades effect to activate upon hitting the entity spawned by the statue safe distance allowing the Flaming Jacks summoned by the sword to do all the damage, while allowing the player to remain in safety. This will become troublesome after wave 4 as Mourning Wood s will attempt to shoot the player between intervals with their Flaming Wood projectile being able to pass through solid ground. In this time it is recommended to leave the statue chamber, wait for the barrage to end and then retreat back to the statue chamber. This can also be applied to the Frost Moon before wave 11 when the Ice Queen spawns.


 * For Ranged users:
 * is one of the best weapons to use. With s, they can deal massive damage to all enemies. Prior to 1.4, the is a weaker alternative (it is too weak past 1.4)
 * The, or  are very effective for crowd control.
 * The paired with  is very strong against the bosses.


 * For Magic users:
 * The  excels against both enemies and bosses.
 * The, or  are good against the bosses.
 * The, , and  are all very good secondary weapons.
 * The is decent for crowd control.


 * For Summoners:
 * , or  are the best minions available.
 * and, or their respective Canes, are the best sentries available.

Accessories
Accessories should be modified to Lucky or Menacing for the event.
 * Wings are important for every boss fight. The best ones available are the . The 's hover ability may also come in handy.
 * The makes all wings ascend significantly faster, making dodging attacks easier.
 * The greatly helps in dodging the attacks and is recommended for all classes.
 * Damage increasing accessories such as any Emblem, the, , the or the  are extremely important for the Moon events.
 * The will restore mana when hit.

Mounts
The use of mounts can save accessory slots that would've been used for mobility.
 * The is very helpful, as the Scutlix has very high movement speed, a very high jump and extra laser attacks.
 * The or  provide permanent but slower flight.

Potions

 * ,, , and will greatly increase survivability.
 * Any food item that provides the buff is good.
 * is incredibly useful when picking up the hearts dropped by Mourning Woods or Pumpkings.
 * is a must for mages.
 * will increase mobility.
 * and will improve DPS.
 * ,, or  and  will further improve it for Mages, Rangers, Melee, and Summoner users respectively.

Specific strategies

 * A very good way to go through waves, until any Pumpkings arrive at wave 7, and even kill some if aiming correctly, is to use a Cannon at a platform 37 blocks high from the ground (where the enemies are) as each Cannonball deals 300 damage, which is devastating for the early waves even for Mourning Woods. In addition, most attacks cannot hit the player.
 * Using Dynamite with an explosion-proof arena causes splash damage that can demolish early waves. During the later waves, with Mourning Woods and/or Pumpkings, this is less effective as there are less grouped enemies around.
 * With the Cosmic Car Key, an effective technique against Pumpking is to move in a diamond formation around him while targeting him. This is especially effective if you place sentries such as the Frost Hydra or Queen Spider to deal with enemies below.
 * While the Martian Saucer which you must defeat to obtain the car key are just as difficult or more than the Pumpking, you can cheese them by staying in a house and attacking via minions, sentries, or a yo-yo.
 * Both Pumpkings and Mourning Wood drop some hearts upon being defeated. In later waves (especially the final one), when you're swarmed by several of these monsters at once, a player with a Cross Necklace, Heartreach Potion, high Defense and a damaging weapon can potentially heal from killing them faster than they can damage you.