Flails

Flails are weapons that can be used in a limited ranged manner, but inflict melee damage. A Flail consists of an object linked to the player by a chain, and is automatically reeled back in after being thrown.

Types
There are two styles of Flails: thrown and launched.

Thrown
Thrown flails have special mechanics unlike any other weapon. Holding down will cause the flail to be rapidly swung around the player, dealing half of the flail's listed damage. Letting go of during this state will throw the flail in the direction of the mouse cursor, dealing full damage and piercing enemies infinitely. After the flail is thrown, holding again will cause the flail to suddenly drop to the ground and stay there, dealing contact damage to enemies for as long as  is held. Thrown flails have special physics that allow you to swing them around continuously without refiring, efficiently attacking enemies on both sides of the player. To do this, simply throw the flail without letting go of the attack button, and when the ball reaches its maximum distance and is about to return, head in the opposite direction, and the flail will go to the other side, where you repeat this process. You can also hold the left click button and not move to let the ball part of the flail fall to the ground, where it will damage enemies who walk, fly, or burrow into it. When single clicked, thrown flails are heavily influenced by gravity, making them good weapon to attack from above with. However, by holding down the mouse button when throwing, the player can execute a more powerful throw, making the flail fly farther. Thrown flails will ricochet off walls, but pierce through multiple enemies on both its forward and return trips. They work exceptionally well against Worms, as holding the attack button will repeatedly damage anything that comes up from the ground.

Launched
Launched flails lack the physics of thrown flails, cannot pierce, and cannot be swung around by holding the attack button. However, they make up for this by firing rapidly and being unaffected by gravity (except for the Anchor). This generally makes it easier to aim launched flails, particularly upwards, and grants them higher damage potential. Rather than smoothly stretching and then swinging back, a launched flail will extend at a fixed speed until it strikes a block or reaches its maximum length, and then retract at a slightly faster fixed speed. Most launched flails can auto-fire &mdash; this makes them extremely effective at short ranges. Enemies that are vulnerable to knockback can be pushed away easily, and enemies that are immune to knockback, like bosses, can be quickly dealt a large amount of damage by the rapidly-firing flail.

History
철퇴류 连枷