Guide:Weapon playthroughs

This guide provides playthrough guidelines for players limiting themselves to certain weapon types. Aside from the main damage types melee, ranged, magic, summon, and, most weapons can be grouped in subtypes, like swords or bows.

Sword
The sword is the most basic melee weapon of the game. They have the shortest range of all weapons of the game. There also are swords that can shoot projectiles, which increases their overall range, but they are rarer. There are 94(PC, mobile)/74(console)/61(old-gen console)/51(ds) swords, 29(PC, mobile)/27(console)/17(old-gen, ds) of which are Hardmode-exclusive.

Pre-Boss
The first weapon you start out with is a Copper Shortsword, but you're going to want to replace this quickly due to its short range and pitiful damage. Upon spawning, it's recommended you immediately craft a Wooden Sword, then quickly go to the Desert and make a Cactus Sword. This is a large weapon with decent damage. You can also quickly venture into the Corruption or Crimson, and chop down some trees to get an Ebonwood or Shadewood Sword, respectively. These are equivalent in power to Iron and Lead Broadswords but can be obtained quite easily and provide a great advantage at the beginning of the game. At night, if you're lucky enough, you have a chance to get a Zombie Arm from a Zombie at night, which is equivalent in power to a Tungsten Broadsword but easier to obtain. If it's Christmas, you can go for the Candy Cane Sword, which is dropped from Presents and is quite powerful and has great range. If its halloween though you can get the Bladed Glove as a rare drop from weak enemies, a fast and strong sword with good range and autoswing.

If a Traveling Merchant spawns, there's a chance he'll have the Katana, a fast and powerful weapon with great range that can be purchased for. Exploring into the Underground Ice Biome, it's likely you'll come across an Underground House that has the possibility of containing an Ice Blade. Ice Blades have autoswing and shoot an icy bolt projectiles which can easily increase your power when you're exploring, and give off light for when you're out of torches.

Venturing 20% of the map width away from the world's center, it's possible to encounter an Enchanted Sword Shrine – there is always one in a small world, three in medium worlds, and 4 in large worlds. (As of Desktop 1.4.0.1, these shrines are not guaranteed in every world.) There is a chance that the shrine will have a 1 block shaft leading down to the top of the cave. Upon breaking these shrines, you have a 2/3 chance for them to be fake and 1/3 for them to be real. (As of Desktop 1.4.0.1, the shrine will always spawn with a real sword.) If they are real, there is a 90% chance of it being an Enchanted Sword – a very powerful weapon that is autoswing, shoots a projectile and deals an impressive damage, and can carry you through most of pre-Hardmode. The Enchanted Sword is also an upgrade to the Ice Blade. Otherwise, there is a 10% chance it'll be a Terragrim /  Arkhalis. This deals damage, but is incredibly fast and easily stun-locks most enemies. Combined with its DPS, it can effortlessly take you through most biomes in pre-Hardmode. However, its short range will require that you have higher defense to shield you from the additional hits you'll take.

Another option is to go to the Corruption or Crimson and smash two Shadow Orbs or Crimson Hearts, respectively. Though you can't obtain a sword from these, they provide the player with two great options for progression. If the player has 200 health, there's a chance a Goblin Army will spawn each morning after an orb or heart is smashed. After it's defeated, the player can access the Goblin Tinkerer, who gives access to mobility with the Rocket Boots (purchased for ) and reforging of accessories and weapons to gain extra critical strike chance, damage, and defense. Also, there's a 50% chance a Meteorite will crash, which gives access to Phaseblades, which deal a good amount of damage and are crafted with 15 Meteorite Bars (45 Meteorite) and 10 of any gem. (As of Desktop 1.4.0.1, the Eater of Worlds or the Brain of Cthulhu need to be defeated before a meteorite can land.)

If you obtained some Gravitation Potions and are brave enough to battle the versatile Harpies that spawn, you can explore Floating Islands. The chests on them have a chance of containing the Starfury, a weapon which deals  damage on its own but also summons a star projectile that falls from the sky to the location of the mouse cursor, piercing enemies and dealing an insane 40 damage. Though it isn't autoswing, the Starfury makes it easier for melee players to battle both bosses and enemies.

You'll probably want to have very high defense if you're playing with swords – or melee weapons in general – as their shorter range will mean you'll be taking for more hits from bosses and enemies. If you plan to do a sword run on, it's recommended you play on a Corruption world.(Console) The 10% less knockback means you will be taking more damage than any other class, which means that the Worm Scarf will give massive amounts of survivability. If playing on normal mode, either the Corruption or Crimson will work.

Once you've obtained either an Arkhalis, Enchanted Sword, Fiery Greatsword, Ice Blade, or Katana, then you'll be ready to take on the bosses.

Eye of Cthulhu
The Eye of Cthulhu fight can be difficult with a melee loadout, but swords with large range (like the Fiery Greatsword or Katana) and/or projectiles (like the Enchanted Sword or Ice Blade) can make the fight quite easy. Though it's optional, you may defeat the King Slime beforehand and obtain the Slime Hook – which has short range but shoots three different hooks – and the Slimy Saddle, whose Slime mount can greatly improve your mobility in the Eye of Cthulhu fight.

You should have the following gear:


 * Iron/Lead, Silver/Tungsten, or Gold/Platinum armor.
 * An Aglet and/or a Shackle, with a critical strike or defense modifier.
 * A Shark Tooth Necklace to eliminate most of the boss's defense.
 * Spectre, Lightning, or Frostspark Boots with a critical strike or defense modifier.
 * A Hook – preferably one of the gem hooks or a Slime Hook – to grapple with in tight situations.
 * ≥180 life.
 * Ironskin, Regeneration, and Swiftness Potions, which provide extra defense, health regeneration, and speed respectively.
 * Lesser Healing Potions. If you can find a Glowing Mushroom biome and craft Healing Potions (which heal 100 health instead of 50), that would make the fight even easier.

Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthulhu
After fighting the Eye of Cthulhu, you'll receive 30 to 87 Demonite or Crimtane Ore (based on whether your world has the Corruption or the Crimson). 3 Demonite or Crimtane Ore can craft one Demonite or Crimtane Bar, respectively. 10 of these bars (30 ore in total) can craft a Light's Bane or Blood Butcherer (these can later be used to craft the ultimate pre-Hardmode sword, the Night's Edge). Though the Light's Bane is much faster than the Blood Butcherer, it also deals less damage and has a smaller range.

In, the Eye of Cthulhu will also drop a Shield of Cthulhu, which provides defense and gives the player a dashing ability. This dashing ability both greatly increases your mobility and also deals damage to the enemies you dash into.

You'll generally be using the same strategies as you used with the Eye of Cthulhu. Despite their different attack styles, the Eater of Worlds and Brain of Cthulhu generally require the same strategies. Fast swinging swords with either large range (like the Blood Butcherer, Fiery Greatsword, or Phasesaber) or projectiles (like the Enchanted Sword or Ice Blade) will help stunlock the Eater of Worlds and will easily kill the Brain of Cthulhu's minions, the Creepers.

You should have the following gear:


 * Silver/Tungsten or Gold/Platinum armor (Molten armor if you've obtained the Reaver Shark).
 * An Aglet and/or a Shackle, with a critical strike or defense modifier.
 * A Shark Tooth Necklace to eliminate most of the bosses' defense.
 * Spectre, Lightning, or Frostspark Boots with a critical strike or defense modifier.
 * A hook – preferably one of the gem hooks or a Slime Hook – to grapple with in tight situations.
 * ≥240 life.
 * Ironskin, Regeneration, and Swiftness potions, which provide extra defense, health regeneration, and speed respectively.
 * Lesser Healing Potions. If you can find a Glowing Mushroom biome and craft Healing Potions (which heal 100 health instead of 50), that would make the fight even easier.

Queen Bee and the Underground Jungle
After your fight with the Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu, you'll have 50 to 100 Shadow Scales or Tissue Samples, respectively. This is almost always enough to craft the Shadow armor or Crimson armor, which are great armor sets if you don't already have Molten armor. In total, the armor sets will require 60 Demonite/Crimtane Bars (180 Demonite/Crimtane Ore) and 45 Shadow Scales/Tissue Samples. The Shadow armor provides defense alongside 21% increased melee speed and a set bonus of 15% increased movement speed. Meanwhile, Crimson armor provides 6% increased damage and a set bonus of greatly increase life regeneration. Both of these armor sets will greatly benefit your power as you progress.

If you are playing, then you'll receive a Worm Scarf from the Eater of Worlds, which reduces all damage taken by the player by 17%. This is one of the most beneficial accessories in the game, especially for a melee loadout which will take a lot of damage. If you're playing Expert mode on a Crimson world, however, you'll receive the Brain of Confusion, a very useful accessory with 1/6 chance to dodge a hit with a 20% critical strike chance boost for small duration and a 60% chance of making nearby enemies Confused / a mostly useless accessory that has a 60% chance of inflicting the Confused debuff on enemies which attack the player. The Brain of Confusion is easily replaced by other accessories and should therefore be mostly overlooked by melee players.

After you've fought the Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthulhu, you'll want to venture into the Underground Jungle. You're going to have three major goals here. First, you'll want to obtain 12 Jungle Spores and 12 Stingers (the latter of which dropped from Hornets and Spiked Jungle Slimes). These can be combined to create a Blade of Grass, which deals a powerful damage and has a 25% chance of inflicting the Poisoned debuff on hit enemies. The Blade of Grass can also be used for the Queen Bee fight as it has both a big range and can inflict Poisoned on the Queen Bee (who, strangely, isn't immune to the debuff (console, old-gen console, 3ds)). More importantly, however, it is one of the four swords that's combined to craft the Night's Edge. Additionally, Jungle Shrines and Living Mahogany Trees will always have an Ivy Chest. These have a 22.5% chance of having the Anklet of the Wind and the Feral Claws. The former is an accessory which increases your movement speed by 10% and is also used to craft the Lightning Boots, a powerful movement accessory. Meanwhile, the latter increases your melee speed by 12% and will later be used to craft the Power Glove, and eventually the Fire Gauntlet in Hardmode.

Next, you'll likely want to fight the Queen Bee. Though she's generally an easy boss, the way she attacks makes her quite difficult for melee players. When she's doing her dashing attack, you'll want to avoid her as she can deal heavy damage. When she is hovering and spawning Bees, you'll want to be right under or next to her. Continue swinging your sword in order to both deal damage and kill the bees she spawns. You'll want a sword that autoswings so you aren't attacked by bees. The Queen Bee will often also hover and shoot stingers at the player. In this case, you'll want a sword that has a large range (such as the Blade of Grass or Fiery Greatsword) or has a projectile attack (such as the Enchanted Sword). This fight will likely take a long time but it will provide you with a few valuable rewards.

You should have the following gear:


 * Shadow/Crimson or Molten armor.
 * A Blue, Green, Pink, or White Horseshoe Balloon (which provide double jump, increased jump height, and negate fall damage) with a critical strike chance or defense modifier.
 * A Bezoar for immunity from the Poisoned debuff which would otherwise be detrimental to your health.
 * A Shark Tooth Necklace to increase armor penetration by 5 and eliminate much of the Queen Bee's defense.
 * In, you should have a Shield of Cthulhu – which increases your mobility greatly and allows you to dash into enemies. If you're in a Corruption world and have defeated the Eater of Worlds, a Worm Scarf is absolutely necessary is it decreases the damage you take by 17%.
 * Spectre, Lightning, or Frostspark Boots (for increased mobility and temporary flight) with a critical strike chance or defense modifier.
 * A hook – preferably an Ivy Whip – to grapple with in tight situations.
 * At least 340 life.
 * Endurance, Ironskin, Rage/Wrath, Regeneration, and Swiftness potions, which provide increased armor penetration, defense, critical strike chance/damage, health regeneration, and speed, respectively.
 * Healing Potions. You should also use the honey, which is provided in great pools within the Bee Hive, to occasionally dip into during the fight. The Honey buff it provides greatly increases your life regeneration for 30 seconds after you've stepped out

Skeletron and the Dungeon
After you've fought the Queen Bee a few times, your next goal will be to defeat Skeletron and access the incredibly bountiful Dungeon. The Queen Bee will have a chance of dropping the Bee Keeper, an autoswing sword that deals  damage, has a 90% chance of inflicting the Confused debuff on an enemy it hits, and will spawn friendly bees to fight for you. In, the Queen Bee will have dropped the Hive Pack. This is an accessory that increases the damage, knockback, piercing, quantity, and size of the friendly bees spawned from the Bee Keeper and other bee-related weapons. It can be very useful and can easily allow massive swarms of bees to collect, dealing high damage to enemies.

If you haven't already ventured to the Underworld and obtained Molten armor and the Fiery Greatsword, then it's recommended you do that to prepare yourself for the Dungeon. It's also recommended you break the Pots you find there, as these often contain very useful buff potions and Healing Potions.

It is also a good idea to build a house for the Witch Doctor, to provide access to flasks which can increase your dps significantly.

You should have the following gear:


 * Molten armor.
 * A White, Blue, Yellow, Green, or Pink Horseshoe Balloon, Fledgling Wings (Desktop), or a Bundle of Balloons.
 * A Shark Tooth or Stinger Necklace
 * Lightning, Frostspark, or Terraspark Boots
 * Feral Claws
 * Shield of Cthulhu in Expert Mode
 * Hive Pack in Expert Mode if using the Bee Keeper.
 * The Worm Scarf if your on a Expert Mode Corruption World and not using the Bee Keeper, while if your on Desktop or Mobile, in an Expert Mode Crimson world, and not using the Bee Keeper use the Brain of Confusion
 * A good hook.

Spear
Spears are relatively versatile weapons, which are used in a stabbing motion rather than swung like swords. Spears have piercing ability, but lack range at times, and although they look like it, they cannot hit enemies through blocks, with two exceptions; the Mushroom Spear’s and Chlorophyte Partisan's sprites cannot hit through blocks, but the spores/mushrooms they create can.

There are 16 different Spears, 5 of which are Pre-Hardmode, 11 are Hardmode. Note that one of them, the Tonbogiri, is -exclusive.

Pre-Boss
The first spear can be found in a Wooden chest, creatively named the Spear. Its high knockback and piercing ability makes it an excellent weapon early-game, especially for fighting off Zombies, but lacks a bit of damage.

It's best to do a Spear playthrough on a Crimson world, as it has The Rotted Fork, a powerful stone skipper if you're lucky enough. If you don't fancy going into the Crimson, the Trident, found in Water Chests is a fine alternative.

Eye of Cthulhu
Little is required for the Eye of Cthulhu fight except range, and that can pose a problem. It's better to dodge all of the Eye's attacks given the gear you have right now, than to tank it all.

You should have the following gear:
 * Iron/Lead, Silver/Tungsten, or Gold/Platinum armor.
 * An Aglet and/or a Shackle, with a critical strike or defense modifier.
 * Hermes Boots (or its counterparts the Flurry or Sailfish Boots) with a critical strike or defense modifier.
 * A Hook – preferably one of the gem hooks – to grapple with in tight situations.
 * ≥180 life.
 * Ironskin, Regeneration, and Swiftness potions, which provide extra defense, health regeneration, and speed respectively.
 * Lesser Healing Potions. If you can find a Glowing Mushroom biome and craft Healing Potions (which heal 100 health instead of 50), that would make the fight even easier.
 * Trident, The Rotted Fork, Storm Spear, or the Swordfish.

If your dodging skills are great, the Eye shouldn't be too much of a problem. What you lack in damage, you will make up in speed and crits. What you lack in health, you will make up for damage.

Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthulhu
You'll likely fight the Brain of Cthulhu. If you do this on a corruption world, the Eater should be no problem, as long as you don't lack damage. The Brain is slightly harder to control, especially with the randomness of the Creepers. Try lining them up and hitting them all at once to maximize area damage.

You should have the following gear:


 * Silver armor -> Gold armor (and counterparts)
 * Hermes Boots and its equivalents and upgrades
 * Shield of Cthuhlu (Expert mode)
 * Band of Regeneration
 * >= 240 life, you'll be taking a lot of hits, regardless of dodging.
 * Ironskin, Regeneration, Swiftness potions.
 * Lesser Healing Potions -> Healing Potions

Skeletron
You MUST be very confident in your dodging skills for this fight, as Skeletron's hands will give you a hard time. The spinning head, especially in Expert mode, is very dangerous without good armor. Stick with the Rotted Fork (or whatever spear you have at the time). Alternatively, you can fish in the ocean and get a chance to receive a Swordfish, a quicker spear that, although lacks range, it makes up for DPS.

You should have the following gear:


 * Shadow/Crimson armor
 * Hermes/Flurry Boots -> Spectre Boots -> Lightning Boots
 * Band of Regeneration
 * Shield of Cthulhu/Worm Scarf (Expert)
 * Cloud in a bottle (and variants)
 * >= 320 life
 * Healing potions
 * Ironskin, Regeneration, Endurance, Speed potions

Wall of Flesh
What you want in the Dungeon is the Shadow Key and the Cobalt Shield. Dig your way to hell, and find yourself a Shadow chest. What you're looking for is a Dark Lance, a powerful Pre-Hardmode spear.

Molten armor can prove to be very helpful, with the damage increase and defense boost. The Wof, however can still pack a punch, so be careful.

For more elaborate strategies on defeating the Wall of Flesh, see Guide:Wall of Flesh strategies

Pre Mechanical Bosses/Early Hardmode
Welcome to Hardmode. Getting better weapons is now easier because you can FINALLY craft the ore spears. When you begin Hardmode, you'll probably spend most of your time on mining the Hardmode ores, so you can get the spears and armor.

Consider getting Titanium armor, for its shadow dodge ability is perfect for withstanding hits. The Titanium Trident is a very powerful spear that can be easily obtained. It's enormous and its knockback is ferocious, making it a very powerful weapon to have. If you don't have Titanium, Frost armor with an Adamantite Glaive will work as well.

Mechanical Bosses
Destroyer

The fight is immensely easier with a spear, as you can pierce many segments at a time, resulting in a kill in less than 2 mins, provided you setup correctly.

Twins

Get in the air and close to the Twins with a Gravitation potion or Wings. It helps to dodge the attacks in the air so that you have more mobility.

Skeletron Prime

Center yourself with Prime and kill his limbs only if they are a nuisance. Time is key as well as damage.

It is noted that you can create a Gungnir using Hallowed Bars, which can be used with devastating effect. Also, you can purchase the more powerful Mushroom Spear from the Truffle after a Mechanical Boss is defeated.

Plantera
If you couldn't afford a Mushroom Spear, you have two options: 1, make a money farm and get the money required, or 2, mine chlorophyte and make a Chlorophyte Partisan. Fishing in lava can give you an Obsidian Swordfish, a powerful spear like the Swordfish, but stronger.

You can get a Tonbogiri, a very powerful spear worthy late game.

Get Chlorophyte -> Turtle armor to withstand Plantera's attacks. Make sure you make a clear area to fight in, so you have space to move and dodge around.

Frost Moon
The Frost Moon holds the North Pole, a very useful and powerful weapon to use Post-Golem. It is dropped by the Ice Queen.

Flails
There are currently 15 different types of Flails, 8 of which are Pre-Hardmode, 7 of which are Hardmode. Flails are exceptional, excellent weapons that are thrown, piercing and high-damaging. There are two types of Flails; thrown and launched. Thrown Flails are affected by gravity, but can be spun around the player, thrown, and can be kept out on the ground as a trap. What they lack in accuracy, they make up for their piercing ability and controllability. Launched Flails aren't affected by gravity, but retract when the flail hits an enemy, or it reaches its maximum range. What they lack in range, they make up for their speed and autofire, with the Chain Knife being the only one without autofire of any kind.

Pre-boss
Much like Spears and Yoyos, it is recommended to get some decent armor before you attempt to fight bosses. Try getting Gold or Platinum armor, and if you're lucky with the Traveling Merchant use a Gi if you value damage over defense.

The easiest flail you can get is the Mace, which is found in Underground Chests. You can also upgrade it with 99 Torches, to make a Flaming Mace. Once obtained, you can try farming for the Chain Knife, a launched flail which will be very useful when enemies are closer to you, and is also a bit easier to aim with since it isn't affected by gravity.

Another suggestion is to break two Shadow Orbs in a Corruption world to possibly get a Ball O' Hurt, an excellent weapon that will help all the way to the Dungeon. If you are in a Crimson world though, or you get unlucky, don't worry as there will be another chance to get a flail later.

King Slime

Fighting the King Slime is best done using the Ball O' Hurt, but if you have a Crimson world you should use the Chain Knife as it is the next best option. If none of the options are available for you to use, then use the Flaming Mace. It is only a bit worse than the Chain Knife as its a bit more risky, but more rewarding when you hit your shots. Once defeated, if you don't already have some decent armor try fighting them again so you can get the full Ninja set as it provides additional movement speed, along with some critical strike chance which can be helpful to deal additional damage and increase your chances of getting that boost in damage.

Eye of Cthulhu
Fighting the Eye of Cthulhu will be a little tedious if you don't have a Chain Knife. Flaming Mace will work regardless, although it will take a while. However, if you have the Chain Knife you'll be able to do tons of damage upclose. Not to mention that you can get in from virtually all angles, including throwing the knife behind you as you run. Hermes Boots are a recommended choice, especially for expert mode. If you have a Corruption world, and got the Ball O' Hurt as previously mentioned, this fight should go a bit smoother. Otherwise, stick with what you have.

EoW/BoC
After beating the Eye of Cthulhu, you should fight the world's evil boss (Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthulhu) The EoW can be easily dealt with by making 2-3 long platforms and using the Ball O' Hurt. Easily dispatch of the segments by throwing the flail and holding the mouse button, allowing the flail head to stay out, allowing you to catch the boss while its going up. Your best bet at getting the most amount of damage while its out is throwing the flail down the way the Eater is going, which will allow you to hit many of its segments speeding up the process to kill the boss.

However, against the BoC, you won't have access to the Ball O' Hurt, so your next best choice is either to attempt fighting the Brain using a Flaming Mace, which will work well as you can swing it around you to protect yourself from the Creepers, and since flails have infinite pierce it will be a breeze keeping the Creepers back. If you fail the fight, you can try using the Crimtane and Tissue Samples to make The Meatball, which is the Ball O' Hurt equivalent in Crimson worlds and even has some slightly improved stats over the Corruption variant. This will allow you to easily beat the Brain much faster and with less effort with the improved stats of The Meatball.

Goblin Army

While this can happen anytime once you've acquired 200 HP (which is a total of 5 Life Crystals) or more, usually this event will occur once the EoW/BoC has been defeated. There isn't much to worry about other than the Goblin Archers as they will be a nuisance that you'll need to focus on, as dodging them will need to be done. Goblin Sorcerers can easily be taken care of as spinning your flail around you will nullify their projectiles.

Once this event has been taken care of, you should try to find the Goblin Tinkerer underground, as they will provide you with the option to reforge your items and grant access to the Tinkerer's Workshop, a fantastic crafting station that allows you to combine accessories. He even sells Rocket Boots, which you can combine with your Hermes Boots or other variant of it to make Spectre Boots, and if you have the option Lightning Boots. Combining your Cloud in a Bottle or other variant of such item with a Shiny Red Balloon would be a good idea too, along with a Lucky Horseshoe if you are lucky enough to get both items.

Skeletron

Once you've defeated the Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthulhu, you should use the armor from the Demonite/Crimtane in order to make their respective variants, as they provide extra defense regardless of their bonuses. Shadow armor provides extra melee speed, and even a bit of extra movement speed, while Crimson armor provides a bit of extra damage and increased regeneration.

Afterwards, go to the dungeon and fight Skeletron. Defeating them will be crucial, as it will provide you with access to the Dungeon, which is where you can find a much more powerful flail called the Blue Moon. Mobility accessories will be your best friend during this fight, so be sure that you have Hermes Boots or some other variation/upgrade of them, along with a Cloud in a Bottle or any of the other variations/upgrades of them.

Your best bet is to simply dodge during the phase where Skeletron is more calm and smacks you with his hands. Focusing on them is the best idea during this phase when you have the chance, as in Expert Mode this will lower his defense a good bit. In fact, using the Chain Knife isn't a bad idea for attacking their hands as they have a decent range and are easier to aim with, meaning you can hit your shots a bit more often, but this will deal a considerably lower amount of damage than your current flails.

While Skeletron is spinning, you should focus on the head if at least one of the hands are gone, as flails will lag behind with Skeletron while running backwards, which means your flail will hit them a ton of times, dealing a ton of damage. If at least one of the hands aren't taken care of though, try your best to focus on them more. Knowing when to switch gears from dodging his hands to running from his head is best in this fight.

If you're still having a lot of trouble with this fight, it is advised that you go to hell and get Molten armor, as it provides the most defense of any pre-Hardmode gear and grants a 17% boost in melee damage as its set bonus.

Wall of Flesh

After Skeletron has been defeated, go into the Dungeon and acquire the Blue Moon, as it will be a fantastic upgrade to obtain, and will be useful for exploring the Underworld. If you haven't already, get Molten armor. It will be crucial to defeat the WoF, as it will be a very difficult fight, especially in Expert Mode. Your next goal is to get the Sunfury, a fantastic thrown flail that deals massive damage, and even sets things on fire occasionally. Your best bet is to make a hellbridge, a long platform stretching across the entirety of the underworld, and to stay as close as you can without putting yourself in a lot of danger. This is most likely where you may stop only using flails and decide to switch over to melee, but it is very much so possible.

Pre mechanical bosses
First, travel to the desert and farm the materials for a Dao Of Pow. This will be tough, but it is the only way to get a good weapon for the mechanical bosses. If you are on the Desktop Version or Mobile Version, use the flail you just got to farm a blood moon until you have a Drippler Crippler. Mine your worlds adamantite/titanium and make armour. If you got adamantite, use the bars to make frost armour instead. And if you didn’t get a Warrior Emblem from the Wall Of Flesh, now would be a good time to get one.

The mechanical bosses
The first boss you fight should be Skeletron Prime, as he is slow and does mediocre damage. Stay close to his limbs when you are destroying them, as flails don’t have much range. Once you have severed off two of Skeletron Prime's limbs, assault the head, but be careful of his spin attack, as it is extremely deadly to close range players.

Once prime is dead, make hallowed armour and take on the destroyer. He has a lot of health, but his weakness is piercing weapons. Take out the probes as soon as you can, because they stack up in numbers and deal a lot of damage. Try to hit him where you can get a lot of segments, but be careful not to get hit head on.

Final mech boss to kill are the twins, they dash a lot and are fast, so hitting them will be hard. Spazmatism will be almost impossible to hit in his second phase, so take him out first and attack him as much as you can while he is dashing. Use npc attacks if needed in your arena.

Plantera
Before Plantera you can get Chlorophyte and Turtle armor sets, which will help with survivability, and you can get the Fire Gauntlet, which will help with damage. Make sure to circle Plantera and keep launching your flail. Plantera drops the Flower Pow, a powerful flail.

Post-Plantera
Before doing anything, farm Plantera for a Flower Pow if you haven't already obtained it. After that, you have 2 options. Golem, or Duke Fishron. Golem drops the Golem Fist, and allows you to get Beetle Armor, while Duke Fishron drops the Flairon, arguably the strongest flail in the game, depending on if you count the Solar Eruption as a flail or not.

Pre-Moon Lord
After Golem and Duke Fishron, you should have the Flairon and Beetle Armor. You should also make the Destroyer Emblem and the Celestial Shell, to help with damage and survivability. After that, you should fight the Lunatic Cultist. Once you've defeated the pillars, you could make the Solar Eruption if you think it should be classified as a flail. If not, make Super Healing Potions, and the Lunar Hook, the best hook in the game. After that, you should prepare for the Moon Lord.

For more elaborate strategies on defeating the Moon Lord, see Guide:Moon Lord strategies. Reforge all accessories for damage, and your flail to Godly. prepare lots of buffs, and build a skybridge or, on the Desktop and Mobile version, and on Expert Mode, you can get the Soaring Insignia from the Empress of Light.

After the Moon Lord, you can get the Solar Flare Armor, a powerful Post-Moonlord melee Armor Set.

Yoyo
There are 20 different types of Yoyos in the game, 8 of which are from Pre-hardmode, 12 in Hardmode. As their name suggests, Yoyos are "thrown" melee weapons that deal damage a small distance away from the player. Unlike Beam swords, 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 Cthulhu
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 Cthulhu
If you just defeated the Eye with the Wooden Yoyo, it's time to switch that with something more powerful. In a Corruption world, take your Demonite Ore and then craft the Malaise using Bars, or in a Crimson world, use your Crimtane Ore and then make an Artery using the Bars. These are both nice upgrades to get before fighting the Eater of Worlds or the Brain of Cthulhu.

If you defeated the Eye of Cthulhu with the Amazon, you can continue on and defeat the Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu, 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 Cthulhu (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.
 * 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.

The central cavern of the chasm makes a pretty good arena, once make some improvements. Just wall off the tunnels, install some platforms, and place conveniences like a campfire and bed. An arena of some sort is a good idea, as the Creepers are easier to hit as long as you can maintain their height, and the Brain is easier to dodge.

Skeletron
At this point, you may wish to boost your Yoyo with a couple of accessories: White String, (which can be crafted at a loom with cobwebs), will increase your range, and Counterweights double your attack. A variety of counterweights can be bought from the Skeleton Merchant and/or Traveling Merchant. Later (in Hardmode), the Skeleton merchant will sell you the Yoyo Glove, and you can combine the three items into a Yoyo Bag.

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
 * At least one component of the Yoyo Bag
 * 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 -> Lightning 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 obsidian skin potions.
 * 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 off 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. A quicker(higher drop rate) and slightly stronger 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 ( Note that the Frost Wings is heavily nerfed on 1.4, making Fairy Wings or Harpy Wings the alternative choices with the same stats.)

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 and some decent extra damage, Orichalcum for offense, and Mythril as a minimum.

Go find the Skeleton Merchant to buy your Yoyo Glove and make a Yoyo Bag. If you don't like grinding for Yoyos, he can sell you a couple of decent ones 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, drops eventually after some time in those biomes, can be easily grinded with king slime, 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 in Expert mode, Red's Throw and Valkyrie Yoyo are sweet deals as well. Use Hallowed armor as a  bare minimum.( The Hallowed armor is now also considerable, as the Holy Protection buff gives decent boost to Survivability.) Chlorophyte or Turtle armor is ideal. Without good dodging skills, you will be quickly torn to shreds by Plantera, so mobility accessories(e.g. Terraspark Boots, Amphibian Boots) are important.

When fighting Plantera, make a large arena with sunflowers, peace candles, honey, heart lanterns and campfires. This way, it's easier to dodge Plantera's attacks, reduce deadly Moss Hornet spawns(as every 2×2 empty space in the arena can spawn one, and you don't want 14 hornets in the arena), 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 fighting the Golem, you can get close to him, 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 Golem 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, reforge 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 the UFO mount.

After activating Lunar Events, it's crucial that you reserve 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.

Bows
Bows are the earliest type of ranged weapon that the player can obtain. It's the hardest of the four, due to it's projectile travelling slowly, requiring players to aim.

Pre-Bosses
Wooden bow is the first type of bow one may acquire, and a pretty solid option both for surface and underground exploration. Crafting wooden arrows is cheap, and it is recommended to upgrade at least few hundreds of wooden arrows into Frostburn ones as soon as you have collected enough gel to create a couple stacks of torches and some ice. Frostburn arrows substantially increase your damage output, and are better saved for EOC and Skeletron. Upgrade to silver->gold bow as a first priority, as it increases both damage and firing rate. Playing ranged doesn't require as much armor compared to melee, so you can delay armor upgrade, sticking to cactus or low-tier ore equipment set for quite a bit longer. Prerequisites for killing the EOC are quite the same for every class setup, with silver armor and 140 hp being a bare minimum. Don't forget to switch to Frostburn arrows, by adjusting order in your ammo tray(Ammo in top cell is used first, in the last cell - last, and ammo tray ammunition is always used beforehand ammunition from the main inventory). Take into consideration that pre-hardmode bows with basic arrows tend to arc very fast, thus forcing you to adjust your aim accordingly.

Demon and Tendon bows, obtainable right as you kill EOC are a substantial upgrade to ore bows. Note that crimson variant has slower fire rate, but provides more damage per shot, making it a better option vs armored opponents.

Before getting to BOC/EOW fight, make sure to collect a couple dozens of stars - they can be used to craft Jester's arrows, which is one of the two types of piercing arrows obtainable pre-hardmode. Using Jester's arrows makes fighting both these bosses considerably easier. Note, however, that these arrows, while having almost no arc, disappear into thin air after a fixed amount of time after being shot, so you can neither collect them afterwards, nor consistently hit the enemy off-screen.

Pre-WOF
Bee's Knees is an incredible bow, which is dropped from the Queen Bee, and it will increase your output significantly, while providing more utility due to homing properties of bees and the ability to save up on rare ammo, as Knees converts your arrows into the bees anyways, so you are going to be fine by using wooden ones. This bow allows you to shred Skeletron and Queen Bee itself into pieces, as well as being an OK option for WOF.

Hellwing Bow found in Shadow Chests provides very high DPS due to incredible fire rate, and is a great option for WOF but inaccuracy makes it not quite great for the routine tasks.

Molten Fury is an excellent bow, which converts wooden arrows into flaming ones, but allows to use any other kind of arrows retaining their original properties. It also has the highest base damage amongst all the pre-hardmode bows.

Crimtane and demonite bows are still very affordable and sufficient for taking out WOF. Gold/Platinum bows are still the easiest to obtain, but the worst pre-wof options for a bow build. It is definitely an option nonetheless, especially as you can stack up any amount of Unholy Arrows(second pre-hardmode piercing arrows, behaving like the regular arrows but with piercing and higher damage) from the Arms Dealer.

Once you get to the Underworld, Hellfire Arrows become available, being one of the best bow ammunition, proving to be very useful all the way through the game's content. Hellfire arrow's explosion doesn't hurt the player and provides a lot of knockback.

There are no specific bow-related accessories, gear or armor in pre-hardmode, however Necro set is a go-to option for any pre-hardmode ranger. Crimtane, Shadow and Molten Armor may prove to be useful with higher defensive stats, but they won't boost your dps as much.

The mechanical bosses
The Daedalus Stormbow and holy arrows will destroy the destroyer. Use these weapons to farm him until you have full hallowed armour. Use the hallowed repeater, marrow or phantom Phoenix against the other mechs to devastating effect. Accessories include the ranger emblem and molten quiver.

Plantera
Now that you have a drax/pickaxe axe, go to the jungle and mine chlorophyte until you have enough ore to make enough bars for the chlorophyte ranger set (and chlorophyte shotbow if you are on 3ds or old gen console) Now your Weapon should be either a chlorophyte shotbow or a phantom Phoenix. Using the same accessories, take down planters.

Golem
Wait for the travelling merchant to sell the pulse bow, and set up an arena for golem. It should be a large box with standard arena things. Stay on the ground and aim for the head so that the pulse bow pierces both one of the fists and the head, so that golems fist attack is stopped and the projectile bounces off of a wall and hits golem again. Use shroomite armour so that it’s set bonus increases your dps.

Duke Fishron
This is an essential fight, as this boss drops the weapon you will be using to fight the lunatic cultist. Use the pulse bow and any arrows to kill the duke. Flying up and down, and dodging when you should is the best strategy. Again, shroomite armour with ranger emblem, any quiver, a golem eye, steampunk wings, tabi, and if your in expert mode, soaring insignia/ one of the evil biome expert boss drops. If you need, you can use the cosmic car key to stay stationary in certain situations. Farm this guy until you have the tsunami and fishron wings.

Lunatic Cultist
This boss should be a breeze if you deal good damage and keep dodging.Use the tsunami with venom arrows. Use all the accessories you did last time, but swap the steampunk wings for fishron wings, and if your on expert mode, the shiny stone should replace the soaring insignia. Just move around, focus your attacks, and dodge when needed.

Lunar Events
First things first, assault the Vortex pillar. Create a box with stairs on the inside on the out skirts of the pillars range. About 15 tiles away, create a large wall, and when the vortex pillar enemies come, pulse bow away! The box will protect you from the enemies because none of their attacks go through walls. Once the pillars shield is down, kill the pillar and collect the fragments. Craft a phantasm and take on the other pillars.

The Moon Lord
Once you have destroyed the others pillars, use your minute countdown to craft some super healing potions with your fragments. When you have crafted them, go to your arena, preferably a sky bridge if you’ve built one and fight the Moon lord. Fly up and down while attacking. Once the moon lord is dead, craft vortex armour.

Guns
Guns are another type of ranged weapon, which becomes available by smashing the first Shadow Orb or Crimson Heart. It's the easiest of the four, due to projectiles being very fast, making aiming easier.

Pre-boss
You have 5 choices in terms of weapons. The easiest is to go to the corruption or crimson and smash a shadow orb or crimson heart, which will drop a musket or undertaker (along with some musket balls),respectively. Your second choice is to change your devices date and time to December 20th, so that presents drop from enemies. These have a chance of dropping a red Ryder, which functions exactly like the musket. If you are willing to risk a trip to the jungle, the Boomstick is an excellent weapon. The revolver sold by the travelling merchant is a good choice, with decent damage.Your final choice is to wait for the arms dealer to arrive so you can buy a Minishark. The flintklock pistol is a bad weapon, so don’t bother buying it.

Skeletron
Your weapon options don’t change until you beat this boss. The only weapon still viable for skeletron's defeat is the boomstick, so use that. On normal mode, target the head. On expert, the hands must be defeated to deal decent damage. Dodge the hands and use target lock on the head if you can.

Pre-WoF
Your weapon choices diversify a little as the dungeon grants you the handgun. Once you have the weapon,mine obsidian then travel to the underworld and mine hellstone until you have enough bars to make the Phoenix blaster. The Star cannon can be used, if you can farm for star. Those are the weapon that you will fight the WoF with. Good luck!

Destroyer
your weapons for now are the gatligator and the harder to obtain Uzi. The gatligator is sold by the travelling merchant and the uzi is a rare drop from angry trappers. The destroyer drops souls of might, an ingredient in the megashark, so fight this boss first. The destroyer has a lot of health, so having traps (and if they spawned in a convenient location, temple traps)and houses for the dryad and nurse will help during the fight. Once you have the megashark, all pre-cultist bosses (except perhaps the empress of light) will be a breeze.

Lunar Events
By now you should have a Xenopopper or a chain gun. The cultist is an easy fight, but the vortex pillar will be hard without the use of your best friend- blocks. Since none of the vortex pillar enemies travel or attack through blocks, attacking from behind them will guarantee the pillars death, so long as you don’t do this close to the pillar. Once the pillar is dead, collect the fragments, craft a vortex beater, kill the other pillars, and wait for the moon lord to spawn.

Moon Lord
Fly up and down in a v shape pattern while attacking is the best none cheese strategy for gunners, as the moon lords attacks are slow, and hits are almost guaranteed. When the central eye opens,attack it while breaking the pattern to dodge its lasers.

Once the Moon Lord is dead, craft vortex armor with vortex fragments and Luminite bars.

Rockets
Rockets are a Hardmode subclass of Ranged, which becomes available by defeating Plantera. It's the most damaging ranged subclass, but also the most risky and expensive one.

Golem
The rocket subclass starts at golem, as plantera is the first way to get a rocket launcher. The rocket launcher is a good weapon as it has high damage. If you have one, a snowman cannon will do even better. Flying above golem and shooting will result in an easy kill.

Lunar Events
the snowman cannon is the only useful weapon for the cultist as the other launchers are too weak and the celebration (only pre cultist in 1.4) is too inaccurate. Flying around the cultist and attacking is the standard strategy.

there is no vortex rocket launcher, so pillar progression doesn’t start with the vortex pillar. Instead, kill the stardust pillar first so you can craft a summon weapon. Dealing with large groups of pillar enemies can be easier with a celebration (only pre moon lord if in 1.4)

Moon Lord
using a snowman cannon while performing the same strategy as with guns is a good idea. As with all moon lord fights, dodge the phantasmal death ray while attacking. Once you have beaten the moon lord, farm him till you get a celebration/celebration Mk II. Craft vortex armour with fragments and luminite bars.

Dart
Darts are a minor type of ranged weapon consisting of the pre-hardmode Blowpipe and Blowgun and the hardmode Dart Pistol and Dart Rifle.

Pre-Queen bee
the only weapon you can use for this fight is the blowpipe, so make sure you have the best armour, the best health and the best health regeneration possible, also use as many potions as you can as well as using the nurse when needed.

Pre-brain of Cthulhu/Eater of worlds
Buy the blow gun and use that to kill them with the same arena as queen bee. Once you have killed them, craft crimson/shadow armour and make your way to the dungeon.

Skeletron
Use the same arena for when you are dealing with the hands. When you are fighting the head, try and use a hook to trap skeletron in a small loop, as this will be much easier.

Wall of flesh
Build a long hell bridge with lots of space and block shields to block the lasers. House the nurse halfway along for healing and make some honey pools for healing.

Farm the wall until you get the ranger emblem.

The mechanical bosses
First things first, kill evil mimics until you get the dart gun/pistol. Use traps to help you as they have a lot of health. You should also craft a lot of cursed/ichor and crystal darts.

Magic
The mage class is really mana-dependent and requires you to have maximum mana at some point in the game for maximum DPS. You use mana-consuming weapons, and accessories are important to keep mana high.


 * Spell Tomes
 * Spell tomes are weapons that resemble books. The earliest accessible one is the Water Bolt Via Dungeon searching. Typically post-Skeletron, but if you're lucky, you can find it on the top of your dungeon. But generally not the most common of the mage weapons.


 * Staffs
 * Staffs are generally a little more common than the Spell Tomes, but it's pretty evened out in rarity. The earliest obtainable staff is the Amethyst Staff.


 * Magic Guns
 * These are generally gun-shaped, and still do consume mana and not ammo/bullets. The earliest accessible one is the Space Gun.

Pre-Boss
You will want to have Gold/Platinum armor, and the Topaz or Amethyst Staffs. If accessible at that given time the Water Bolt is also recommended. If you break a Crimson Heart or Shadow Orb, there is a chance a meteorite will hit (on the PC version of terraria this only happens after either EoW or BoC have been defeated). This allows you to access the Space Gun and Meteor armor, before any boss fight. If possible, obtain a full set of Meteor armor and use the Space Gun, and it will never consume Mana. Here's a quick summary of what you need:


 * Gold/Platinum/Meteor armors
 * Topaz/Amethyst Staves
 * Water Bolt (if accessible)
 * Space Gun (if desired)
 * Lesser Mana Potions
 * Nature's Gift (or even Mana Flower, if accessible)

Pre-Eye of Cthulhu
The Meteor Armor and Space Gun is good to keep if you got them, Make an arena for EoC, Switch out your Topaz or Amethyst Staffs for an Emerald Staff. Finding a Water Bolt is worth making a new world for (it's no longer accessible pre skeletron on PC), but for maximum DPS you need to make a specific type of arena. Get the band of Starpower via Shadow Orbs, and craft the Mana Flower. Try to get Meteor armor, but you may keep Gold/Platinum Armor for now.


 * Gold/Platinum/Meteor Armors (meteor armor has been moved to a post-EoW/BoC stage on PC)
 * Emerald Staff
 * Space Gun
 * Water Bolt (if accessible)
 * Lesser Mana Potions (regular Mana potions are available however not necessary)
 * Band of Starpower
 * Mana Flower

Pre-Eater of Worlds or Brain of Cthulhu
At this point it is advised to get a Vilethorn and the Jungle Armor set. You should also have close to max mana at this point. you'll also need a Band of Starpower (which is dropped from Shadow orbs so it's recommended to create a new world with a corruption world evil to get it if you're in a crimson world as you'll need it later on), you should also switch your Emerald Staff for a Ruby or diamond staff. at this point you should have:


 * Jungle/Meteor armor (meteor armor has been moved to a post-Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthulhu stage on PC)
 * Vilethorn / Ruby/Diamond Staff
 * Band of Starpower
 * Mana Flower
 * Lesser Mana Potions (regular Mana Potions are recommended however not necessary)

Pre-Skeletron
There isn't much new magic gear you get access to between the evil biome boss and skeleton (except on the PC version of Terraria where you can now make a set of meteor armor) you will need to brew some potions in order to become more powerful however this is not necessary and Skeletron is still beatable without them so you can simply build an arena near the dungeon.


 * Jungle/Meteor Armor /Robe + wizard hat + Meteorite/Jungle Pants
 * Space Gun /Ruby/Diamond staff
 * Celestial Cuffs (magic cuffs if a traveling merchant didn't sell a celestial magnet)
 * Mana Flower
 * Mana Potions

Pre-Wall of Flesh
By now you should have a demon scythe, water bolt, jungle armour, and all the pre skeleton accessories. As usual, lots of mana potions. The demon scythe will destroy the wall of flesh, while the water bolt can help take care of the hungries. Farm the wall until you get a laser rifle and sorcerer emblem.

Mechanical bosses
First, find and destroy about 12 altars. Mine cobalt/palladium make pick axe, mine orichalcum/mythril, and if you got orichalcum, make armour out of it. If you got mythril, mine adamantite until you can make the armor. Next, make a Meteor Staff, and a Golden Shower/Cursed Flames. Get flame/frost wings, and prepare an arena for the mechs.

Your best bet for weapons are a mix between cursed flames/ golden shower and the meteor staff, as they have great single target damage. First kill the twins, as they don’t move much and their attacks are quite easy to avoid. Once you’ve killed them, craft a rainbow rod with pixie dust, crystal shards and the twins drops. Next, move onto prime, using the same strategy. Before you know it, he’s dead.

For the destroyer, craft desert armor and use the set bonus to your advantage, as it (ironically) destroys the Destroyer.

Plantera
Go to the jungle and make chlorophyte armor, and summon plantera, the rainbow rod will be a sufficient weapon. If you are on a corruption world do not use cursed flames, as plantera is immune to it.

Thrower
The thrower is a tough class to play as. It is similar to the ranged (and in 1.4 it IS a type of Ranged), although you use throwing weapons. Accessories are most important in the run!

Pre-boss
Upon joining a new world, you need to get some weapons. Your options are to either obtain snowballs, which you can get from snow blocks, or you can open chests/pots to get shurikens and throwing knives. Building houses for NPCs are the most important thing in this run, as you buy your weapons from them. Fishing is your friend in this run, as the Extractinator is found in wooden crates, and frost daggerfish are found in snow biomes this way.

Armor
So you got the Extractinator! Time to do one of the most tedious mining quests possible. You need an evil ore pick (or, prior to 1.4, the Reaver Shark) to mine desert fossils. You need 75 sturdy fossils, and they have a 14% drop from desert fossils in the Extractinator. It's worth it though, because it's the best Thrower armor you can get. At all. (In 1.4, this is still valuable before you have access to the Dungeon for bones and the Necro Armor--however, if you DO manage to beat Skeletron first, you can instead skip the Fossil Armor and go straight for Necro.)

King Slime
After getting armor, you're going to need a lot of gel for sticky grenades. Where to look..... The giant slime is still an easy fight, and if you have a big enough stack of weapons, you should be fine.

Queen Bee
The boss progression is much different as a thrower. As with King Slime, the fight is easy when you're prepared. Poisoned Knives made from Throwing Knives and the powder of the world's evil should be a good weapon. Bee Wax is good for making Beenades. Speaking of bees, if you play in Expert, then it drops the Hive Pack. An extra 7.5% damage from bees is nothing to scoff at.

Eye Of Cthulhu
Well, it's time to fight the usual bosses now. Fight as you would with a bow. On Expert mode, it gives the Shield of Cthulhu, the dash of which is useful for all classes.

Eater Of Worlds
Sticky Grenades. Kaboom. Easiest fight in the game. On Expert mode, however, explosives do a lot less damage against it. Other piercing weapons like Spiky Balls or Molotov Cocktails should be used.

Brain Of Cthulhu
Might be an idea to pull out those Daggerfish now, as the 3x pierce they grant is good against the Creepers.

Goblin Invasion
Worth mentioning because of 2 useful items. Spiked balls, and the Tinkerer's workshop from the Goblin Tinkerer.

Blood Moon
The Shark Tooth Necklace is dropped by Blood Moon foes, so hopefully you can rely on your strength for this.

Skeletron
Skeletron's hands have high defense, so you need something to counteract that. (Of course, you could use bombs instead) Aiming may be tough in this fight. To compensate, high-velocity weapons such as the Bone Javelin are recommended. If you manage to pull the fight off in Expert, congrats! You got the Bone Glove. (It may be wise to farm the Dungeon for bones once you beat Skeletron-- Not only are they throwing weapons, they are thrower ammo for the bone glove and the Necro Armor, the strongest pre-hardmode Ranged set.)

Wall Of Flesh
You've now got one challenge left: The Wall of Flesh, the last pre-hardmode boss. First off, you're going to need good accessories. For this battle you're gonna want Frostspark Boots, Obsidian Shield, Shark Tooth Necklace, variants of the Cloud in a Balloon, and if playing Expert Mode, Shield of Cthulhu or Worm Scarf. The Wall of Flesh is a difficult fight, as you'd expect. More than ever, an arena is required. Start the fight at the world's edge, and throw spiky balls for when it moves over them. Keep throwing Beenades, javelins, or bones from the glove at the eyes until it's dead.

Hardmode
Due to the complete lack of Hardmode gear for throwers, it is almost impossible to beat the rest of the game as the class, so you should switch to another one at this point--if you're playing 1.4, another form of Ranged is the most natural transition. However, one could still use melee class throwing-type weapons, such Boomerangs, Shadowflame Knife and the Daybreak.

Minions and Whips
Since your Minions will automatically do damage for you, Whips will be your only option to do manual damage. Whips and Minions are a great and essential combo.

Summoner Playthroughs are very difficult, especially in the beginning, due to a lack of weapons. Summoners will have to use low-DPS weapons in less than ideal situations, so being able to dodge attacks is a must.

Pre-Bosses (PC/Mobile)

At the very start of a playthrough, you should immediately search any and all Living Tree s to find the Finch Staff (Note that Journey Mode characters already start with this weapon). This is the most basic summon weapon, and while not ideal, is a decent enough start. If you plan on using the staff for a while, it is recommended to collect Fallen Star s at night to make Mana Crystal s. Using this, you can target an enemy, and repeated click or tap on them to cause the finch to remain in one spot, dealing rapid damage. This can be very helpful with dealing with early foes, but will become unnecessary as soon as you get stronger weapons.

After the Finch Staff has been obtained, the next step players should take should be to explore the Ice biome. Notably, players will want to kill as many unique enemies as they can find, as well as create a platform of non-snow or ice blocks in order to farm Snow Flinx es. This is because Flinxes will not spawn on normal ice or snow blocks. The main drop that is needed from the Flinxes is Flinx Fur. This will be used to craft the Flinx Fur Coat, a must have early game armor piece that allows an additional minion, and the Flinx Staff, which is a decent improvement to the Finch Staff, with more damage and accuracy, but without the capability of flight.

At this point, players should also be exploring underground as much as they can, for Life Crystal s, which are a must-have as they increase the number of hits a player can take, effectively giving them a greater margin of error. They should also attempt to add 50 entries to the bestiary, which will allow the Zoologist to spawn. The Zoologist sells the Leather Whip right off the bat, which is the first offensive weapon a summoner can use. It is greatly recommended that this item be obtained, simply as it allows players to gain increased control over enemies and bosses. Whips also deal summon tag damage, increasing the output of your minions.

Once the player feels well prepared, it is a good idea to wait for a blood moon, and set up an area and fishing area to attempt to fight Wandering Eye Fish and Zombie Merman to obtain the Vampire Frog Staff. This summon weapon drops as a 1/8 chance from the two previously mentioned enemies, and deals 11 base damage, 5 more than the Flinx Staff and 6 more than the Finch Staff. Players can alternatively forgo the Flinx Staff entirely in favor of this weapon, however, due to the difficulty of blood moon enemies, especially in the early game, and in Expert/Master mode, this is not recommended.

Players should also explore the underground jungle to craft the Snapthorn, an upgraded whip that deals 4 more base damage than the leather whip. Players should also create a fishing area, since Variegated Lardfish can be used to craft Summoning Potion s, adding an additional minion to a player's arsenal.

With these weapons prepared, players will likely be ready to take on some bosses.

Early Bosses

Because of the nature of the summoner class, and it's lack of weapons in pre-hardmode, players should not feel required to take out the King Slime or the Eye of Cthulhu, as neither of these bosses drop any major power ups to the class. There are still some good reasons to defeat these bosses early though.

The King Slime drops the Slime Hook and the Slimy Saddle, both of which can enhance player movement. It also drops a decent amount of money.

The Eye of Cthulhu does not drop any items useful to a summoner, but they can use the ore at a later stage in progression or sell it. The boss also drops a decent amount of money.

Because of this, these bosses are effectively not required.

Brain of Cthulhu/Eater of Worlds

This is the point where things start to get tough. Players will need to beat one of these bosses to progress (The Queen Bee can be beaten first), and with the basic gear this can be difficult. The usual tips for boss fights apply, however. Get plenty of Buff potions, create an arena, and be as overprepared as you can. Summons can deal plenty of damage to these bosses, but it is recommended that players attempt to also deal damage with their whip.

After beating one of these bosses, players should use the Shadow Scale s/Tissue Sample s and Demonite/Crimtane to craft a Nightmare/Deathbringer Pickaxe. Players should then travel to the underworld, and mine enough hellstone to make an Imp Staff (17 Hellstone Bars, or 51 Hellstone ore and 17 Obsidian) Players should also mine an extra 60 Obsidian, as well as be on the lookout for cobwebs, since they will need the 60 obsidian, as well as 30 silk (210 cobwebs) and (PC Only)15 Shadow Scales/Tissue Samples to craft the Obsidian Outlaw Armor, which aside from the additional defense, provides a massive boost to minion and whip damage, rivaled only by some of the late hardmode armor sets. It also allows 1 extra minion, however if players already had a Flinx fur coat, this is not a change.

Queen Bee
Another option players have, although it is likely to be more difficult, is to fight the Queen Bee before the Eater of Worlds/Brain of Cthulhu. The first part of this section will give strategies dealing with the Queen Bee before the EoW/BoC, and the second part will discuss strategies for beating it after those bosses.

Players who are fighting the Queen Bee prior to the EoW/BoC should focus on dodging, especially in Expert/Master modes, as without stronger armor the Queen Bee can deal large amounts of damage to players. Once again, basic tips apply, but it is recommended that players deactivate their summons before entering the hive to avoid accidently starting the boss fight unintentionally.

Players fighting the boss after the EoW/BoC will likely have a much easier time, as the Imp staff and Obsidian Outlaw Armor grant a much increased damage output compared to earlier gear. Players should still be cautious, though.

After defeating the Queen Bee, players will be able to craft the Hornet Staff, a useful staff on par with the Imp staff in some cases. More importantly, players will be able to craft the Bee Armor, which increases your max number of minions by 2. This is a potential alternative to the Obsidian Outlaw Armor if players desire more minions as opposed to more damage. Players will also unlock the Witch Doctor who sells useful items later on (They also sell the Pygmy Necklace at night as of 1.4.1).

Wall of Flesh
Not much is different between the Queen Bee and Wall of Flesh fights. If you can get the Witch Doctor to spawn in, you can buy the Bewitching Table, use the Pigmy necklace and use a Summoning Potion to achieve the maximum amount of Pre-Hardmode minions, 6. A large number of buffs is recommended for this fight, because doing it with 6 is quite tricky. Once in Hardmode, locate a Spider Nest and get Spider Armor and the Queen Spider Staff. Or alternatively, locate the Underground Hallow and farm Enchanted Swords for the Blade Staff, a high speed summon which ignores 25 defence which is effective against early Hardmode enemies. You can also continue to use the obsidian armor, combine with the Firecracker, for unreal DPS, at the cost of low defense. Another alternative is trying to kill Duke Fishron for the Tempest Staff, although this isn't recommended due to the difficulty of Duke Fishron and the low damage output that you'll have at the beginning of Hardmode. You can go up to a Floating Island and farm Wyverns for Wings. The Twins are the first Mechanical Boss you should fight.

The Twins
For wings, the Frost Wings is an easy option or Flame Wings which require more risk since you'll need to fight in the The Underworld with high damaging enemies. Then create platforms 25-50 blocks apart, have a Mana summoner and Heart Lantern. Afterwards, you can craft the Optic Staff and take on the other two Mechanical Bosses.

The Destroyer
Use the Optic Staff and create a sky platform about 150 blocks into the air, too high for the boss to reach you. You should have a Heart Generator, Bewitching Table and Heart Lantern. Re-summon your minions for control of the probes. The destroyer fight may take a long time. It is also optional to do the Old One's Army or get the Ballista Cane/Lightning Aura Cane if you did The Twins before this boss.

If you find The Destroyer easier to fight than The Twins, try using the same tactic. Instead of using the Optic Staff, use the Spider Staff. The Spiders will fall down the platform and latch on The Destroyer. Re-summon the spiders to fight the probes.

Skeletron Prime

Make a big horizontal platform and use Wings. Keep moving around him in a big circle and the Optic Staff will do most of your work. Use a Durendal to let your minions focus a specific hand of your choice. His Laser and Cannon hand are the ones you want to handle first.

Plantera
For Plantera, you can either use the Optic Staff, Spider Staff, or the Pirate Staff. Nothing will ever change in fighting bosses, so no further explanation is necessary.

Golem
Golem can easily be killed with any Hardmode summon, but after he dies, you can get the very useful Xeno Staff. At this point, get Tiki Armor, Papyrus Scarab, Cosmic Car Key, Necromantic Scroll, and Pygmy Necklace, and get ready for the Lunar Events.

Empress Of Light

The Empress of Light is an incredibly difficult boss but also useful since she drops the Terraprisma, arguably the best summon in the game. To fight her, a very large arena is recommended due to her large scale attacks and insta-kill projectiles (day-mode). It is recommended to use the Xeno Staff due to its insanely fast attacks to counter The Empress of Light's fast movement speed. If you're going for a mixed class playthrough, fighting the Nebula Pillar and getting the Nebula Blaze to fight the Empress of Light is highly recommended due to its off-screen homing capabilities and high damage. However, a true summoner playthrough will be very difficult and take much longer to kill her. You'll need to dodge plenty and since the range of whips is rather low, using whips to increase damage output of summons is not recommended and very risky. Fishron Wings and recommended for their increased flight capabilities and also killing the Empress of Light during the night for the Soaring Insignia (Expert and Master mode only), which greatly increases flight speeds and grants infinite flight for the day-time fight. The fight will essentially be a endurance boss fight, dodge and stay close for your summons to deal damage otherwise they'll not attack and greatly decrease damage output.

Lunar Events
The Lunatic Cultist is easy. Just run away from him. The Lunar Events are a matter of dodging attacks. Do Stardust first so you can get the Stardust Dragon Staff and the Stardust Cell Staff. The Stardust Cells are recommended in the Lunar Events, as they will be able to attack most of the enemies near you. As long as you can dodge the Moon Lord's attacks, you can tear through him in seconds. The Stardust Dragon and Terraprisma will be your go-to in this fight, because of their high 'single' target dps.

Sentries
First things first, kill the queen bee and get bee armour

Old Ones Army tier one
so fight with whips until you kill this boss.

Your priority is now finding the tavern keep, as he will sell most of your weapons, armour and accessories.Once you have found him, buy a sentry and prepare for the old ones army.

Your load out should be bee armour, shark tooth necklace, snapthorn, and anything else that helps with dps. Collect as much etherian crystals as possible and keep summoning sentries.

Try and stockpile defender medals so you can buy the tier 2 armour and sentries before you fight tier 2.

Wall of Flesh
once the old ones army is defeated, your next target will be the Wall of flesh. Your platform should be very long as this will be a long fight. Using the same load out as you did with the old ones army, farm the WoF until you obtain the summoner emblem and firecracker.

Skeletron Prime
Farm black recluses until you have full spider armour and queen spider staff. Alternatively you could farm enchanted swords for a blade staff if you are playing on pc.

The destroyer deals high damage and spider armour won’t be enough defense. The twins are agile and deal high focused damage, so that leaves prime. Use a cool whip to manually deal damage while also staying away from his limbs.

Old Ones Army tier 2
Those defender medals you’ve been stockpiling will come into use! Buy the next tier of your sentry and it’s respective armour, and craft a durendal with hallowed bars, and prepare defences for the old ones army.

While most of the enemies will be cleanly kept away from the Crystal, the ogre mini boss represents a real threat. As soon as he spawns, target him and kill him as quickly as possible. He deals high damage, so wings are a priority when fighting the event.

Once you have defeated the army, start farming it for the same reason as last time: stockpiling defender medals. The next set of gear will cost a lot of them, so you should stock a lot of them.

Old Ones Army final tier
Buy your respective sentry, armour and accessory. Use fishron wings, papyrus scarab, Hercules beetle, a shield, a necromantic scroll, and if you are in master/expert mode, use a brain of confusion/worm scarf and a spore sack. This tier will be incredibly tough, so use as many traps as possible. Your whip should be a kaleidoscope, dropped from the empress of light.

The boss, Betsy ,is very tough, on par with Plantera in terms of health, and the empress of light in terms of damage, so she should be your top priority when she spawns.

Lunar Events
since there are no stardust whips or sentries, progression is not bound to stardust being first. So vortex will probably be your first target, as none of its enemies can travel through walls.

save your fragments to crafting stardust fragments and the lunar hook.

The Moon Lord
Use a standard arena instead of a skybridge, and run around in circles while attacking with your kaleidoscope and summoning sentries. Use the nurse regularly and house the dryad next to her.

Once this behemoth is defeated, and it has dropped a rainbow crystal staff, craft stardust armour, and if you were on master mode, you have completed one of the toughest challenges in Terraria: a master mode sentry play through