Guide:Wall of Flesh strategies

"The master and core of the world..."

The Wall of Flesh is the final Pre-Hardmode boss. It is composed of two eyes which will blast the player with lasers, and a mouth inbetween. Defeating it is required to enter Hardmode.

Summoning
To summon the Wall of Flesh, you must throw the in the lava in The Underworld while the Guide is alive. Its sweep direction is determined by its spawn location. Summoning it anywhere left of the center of the world will cause it to sweep from left to right, while spawning it right of center will cause it to sweep right to left, regardless of the direction the doll was thrown into lava from. Maximum fight space can be achieved by spawning it at the extreme right or left of the world, though these areas have fewer natural structures and may require additional lava survival gear or construction.

The Fight
The Wall will steadily move toward you, so keep your distance and run. If you get behind the Wall, it will pull you in front of it. You will be a little bit disoriented and possibly heavily damaged, so staying in front of it is absolutely a top priority. On the other hand if you move too far away from the Wall it will also pull you back. Be cautious, as this can sometimes fling you into hazards such as Lava, which will usually easily kill a player without a or an obsidian skin potion.

At the start of the fight you should focus on killing, preferably using piercing weapons or Explosives. When they get killed however, they detach, meaning that they will come to you. Kill them as fast as possible, while trying to damage the rest of the swarm.

When the Hungry have been mostly eradicated, you can now focus on the Eyes and Mouth. They share health, and the Eyes don't have defense. Prioritize Eyes over Mouth.

Close-ranged players may take hits from newly spawned Hungry and the occasional direct hit from the Wall. Dodging the Eye lasers is easy: Jump up and down when the lasers are shooting, you'll avoid most of them. Just remember that the lasers come from both Eyes.

Be careful though, as you will have to deal with the. As they're worms, they need solid blocks in order to navigate around. Be mindful of the terrain (and bridge), and use your penetrating or melee weapons against these. They drop helpful heart pickups, so make sure to take them.

As the Wall takes more damage, it goes faster. And it increases the fire rate and damage of the lasers. Keep dodging, as make sure to never stop running, even once.

The Horrified debuff has the effect of instantly killing you when you use your or. It does so after you return to spawn, allowing you to recover your money (and items on Mediumcore) instantly. Do that if you ran out of space to defeat it. However, it's not useful on hardcore difficulty.

Expert Mode
The already hard-to-obtain hearts are now more rare: Leeches have a 20% chance of dropping at least one, meaning that you get healed from the boss less often.

Not only does the Wall of Flesh have more health, but it's also faster. At low health, it'll almost outrun you, while lasers can reach Retinazer-esque fire rate. You can minimize the chance of getting caught by making the last stretch more open beforehand.

The Hungry will respawn over time, making non-penetrating ammo less effective against the Wall.

Terrain preparation
The Wall of Flesh benefits from having an arena prepared more than other bosses.

The simplest arena is a long bridge of about 750 blocks with some space above it for the player to maneuver. Placing the player out of danger from falling into lava and ensuring that they can keep a steady pace of progression allows the fight to go quickly and smoothly. Players may also wish to place lights and along the bridge.

Note that Underworld map generation tends to place Ruined Houses towards the middle third of the map, leaving the eastern and western wings mostly clean.

The Wall of Flesh begins its attack from whichever side of the Underworld's map edge you're closest to. This allows you to control its direction of approach. Fight in the direction you're most comfortable with.

Killing the Wall of Flesh will generate a bricked-in treasure box above your bridge. The bricks can serve as kill-markers, but they may interfere with movement if your next fight runs close to that spot.

Alternatively, you can build the arena with, because you can keep a safe distance with a with decent speed.

Gearing up
You really should have 400 health before fighting the Wall of Flesh, or else it will be extremely difficult surviving the early hardmode.

Armor
Molten armor, especially considering you will have to use this once hardmode starts. Meteor armor, Jungle armor, Necro armor or Bee armor are valid options if you're specializing in non-melee weapons. Crimson armor is also good with its increased life regeneration, and Shadow armor can be useful with its increased movement and melee swing speed to keep up with the Wall of Flesh. Even if not using Molten as a main armor, it's best to have a set to swap into in case things get hairy once you trigger Hardmode.

Weapons
For Melee users: A primary concern about melee in this fight is that you are constantly moving away from the boss. As it is impossible to back up while swinging a sword (with some exceptions), players are forced to stay dangerously close to the boss and catch it on the backswing if they wish to damage it directly. This would be extremely hard to execute without full Terrain preparations.


 * A Melee weapon especially helps when fighting the numerous Hungry, as one swing can hit many at once. Unclassed characters may wish to start with it to clear out the Hungry before switching to Ranged or Magic to fight the boss. The Wall of Flesh has low defense, so the player isn't limited to necessarily using the strongest weapon that they have available. If the Wall of Flesh is too close, you can switch to an extremely fast weapon, such as Muramasa, Bladed Glove, or a Falcon Blade which can help clear the Hungry easily.
 * You can also use a Flail. The Sunfury is recommended because it is the strongest of its tier in pre-hardmode. This is a good choice because it can inflict multiple hits on the Wall of Flesh, and you can kill the Hungry in a safe distance.
 * The Thorn Chakrams are useful for killing the Hungry that it spawn at the start at a safe distance.
 * Spear users can use the Dark Lance.
 * Possibly the best choice as a weapon for fighting the WoF is to use a Yoyo. Using a yoyo allows the player to run away from the WoF while also attacking it from a distance, once all of the Hungry are killed. It's recommended to use the Valor or the Cascade. Also, using accessories related to the yoyo, such as String and Counterweights can also be beneficial.
 * In Expert mode, the Bee Keeper combined with the Hive pack can be very effective for characters seeking to defeat the WoF with pure melee. The Bee Keeper allows the player to back up while swinging without changing direction, and the bees with the Hive Pack keep the Hungry at a controllable level. Maximizing defense is critical for this strategy.

For Ranged users: The ranged approach is safer but slower for this fight. When choosing ranged weapons consider taking the Necro armor, as the set bonus will reduce the ammo consumed, and the lowered defense should be mitigated by the distance between you and the wall.
 * A Hellwing Bow is a fairly common find before Wall of Flesh and is an excellent weapon to use against it, dealing high damage with extremely cheap Wooden Arrows. The pierce of the bats can be useful, allowing the player to attack many of the Hungry as well as the Wall itself in one shot. You need to find the Shadow Key in order to obtain it, however.
 * Alternately you can use piercing or exploding ammunition, such as Meteor Shots, Hellfire Arrows or Jester's Arrows. Gun users will want to use a Phoenix Blaster, Minishark or possibly even a Star Cannon (it takes about 150-160 Stars to kill the WoF and the Hungry; this makes the fight fairly easy if you have been hoarding them.). Bow users are best off using a Molten Fury, Hellwing Bow, The Bee's Knees, or . With any choice, you will want to bring a significant amount of ammunition (about 1,500 to 2,000) to ensure you do not run out. Other bows and guns should be avoided.

For Magic users:
 * A Water Bolt, Ruby Staff, Diamond Staff or Demon Scythe can deal a hefty amount of damage to the boss, while also providing piercing to quickly clear the Hungry. Magic weapons such as Space Gun consider using Jungle armor or if made Meteor armor instead. If you just want defense, you can use Molten armor or the highest Armor for defense. A combination of Space Gun with Meteor armor and one of the four initially listed magic weapons as well as accessories with armor buffs can cause constant damage when the main magic weapon is out of mana while having suitable defense for taking damage.
 * Flamelash and Magic Missile perform poorly in this fight. The rate of damage is abysmal when dealing with the Hungry or the wall itself. They are good at hitting mobile enemies in a static environment, which is the exact opposite of the situation here. However, they can be used as high damage alternatives to a ruby staff. A Demon Scythe can also come in handy even though it has a somewhat expensive mana cost.
 * Bee Gun's high speed, homing, and bouncing (5 times) ability can be a very powerful weapon for this fight. You can increase their damage by using the Hive Pack if you're in Expert mode.
 * If you have a Crimson world, you will want to bring a Crimson Rod and set up rain clouds periodically. The drops will pierce through the eyes and mouth, speeding up the battle greatly.
 * The battle can be finished easily by building a bridge, using a water bolt and Diamond Staff (Or Ruby Staff), and wearing a Magic Hat or a Wizard Hat (Choose a Wizard Hat if you want a little more damage to the WoF) and wear a Diamond Robe to increase your mana quickly. With a Wizard Hat, you can do just 10% more critical strike chance (note Magic Hat also increases your critical strike chance and damage by 6%, however, but the Wizard Hat has 10% Crit and 15% Magic Damage).
 * If using the Water Bolt, a good strategy is to fire in a spread across the screen. This will take out The Hungry, and you can switch to targeting one of the Wall's eyes once the Hungry are defeated (spamming the weapon against an eye will cause hefty damage as the closely packed bolts can hit multiple times). Then, when your Mana is drained, you can switch to the Star Cannon, Beenades, or another preferred weapon while your Mana regenerates (if you don't want to use Mana Potions because of the Mana Sickness debuff). Players who use Meteor armor can switch to the Space Gun while Mana regenerates. The Aqua Scepter is very useful for the fight since it has a rapid fire and The Hungry will drop Stars so you can refill your Mana quickly.
 * A good strategy is to use a mixture of bee gun and space gun. When using a bee gun, use all of your mana, then use your space gun while your mana recharges. This will only work with full meteor armor, otherwise you are better of using another strategy.

For Summoners:
 * At this point, an Imp Staff is almost 100% necessary, dealing the highest damage of all the minion summons. In addition, the Imp's piercing properties help with clearing all The Hungry away.
 * Of the sentry weapons sold by the Tavernkeep, the best options are the Ballista Rod and the Explosive Trap Rod. The Ballista Rod has incredibly high damage and their bolts are capable of piercing, while the Explosive Trap Rod inflicts damage in an area of effect. While the sentries themselves are slow to attack, you can continually re-summon them to make them immediately attack, significantly reducing the cooldown time.
 * If this is not your first time (with that particular character), you can use Hardmode summons such as the Optic Staff or Pirate Staff.

For Throwing users:
 * Spiky Balls are a good way to start the fight. If you are going to use ranged weapons throughout the entire fight these can help you kill some of the Hungry quickly and dealing some additional damage to the WoF.
 * Molotov Cocktails can be used to kill some of the Hungry. The fire left behind after the Molotov Cocktail has hit will do some extra damage to the WoF. These are recommended if you are not very accurate with your explosive throwing skills(100-150 to kill the WoF).
 * Beenades are a powerful weapon against the WoF and minions alike, and the bees' homing ability is invaluable.
 * Explosives, such as Grenades, may work as well, quickly clearing the Hungry. Even Bombs can be used, although the timing may require some practicing it is not a great deal if the area is damaged, as you won't return to there till the fight is over.
 * Perhaps the better option of explosives are Beenades, as by the time you are prepared to fight the Wall of Flesh farming them from the Queen Bee should be trivial.
 * Although expensive, Holy Hand Grenades are a great option on the . They deal extreme area of effect damage, capable of quickly killing The Hungry and hitting multiple parts of the Wall itself.

Accessories
Without full arena preparations, an Obsidian Shield is recommended for not taking damage from Hellstone.


 * Spectre Boots, Lightning Boots or Frostspark Boots, and a Cloud in a Balloon or the Sandstorm in a Bottle will help you maneuver around easier, while also helping you evade the lasers shot by the WoF.
 * Other good Accessories are the Feral Claws for melee users and a Band of Regeneration for all users.
 * In addition, a Lava Charm or Lava Waders can be useful as an alternative to Obsidian Skin Potion.

Reforging your accessories for more defense or damage will help with this fight. Reforging for movement speed will help later on in the battle, but Spectre Boots usually will outrun the WoF.

Potions

 * Ironskin Potions will give the much needed defense boost. Each point of defense is more valuable than the last; the effects of this potion will be quite noticeable to most players.
 * Regeneration Potion is another useful survivability boost, and also Heartreach Potion can be useful if you are close enough to the hearts. Although the Heartreach Potion can only be crafted with worlds with The Crimson, it can also be found by destroying pots in The Underworld.
 * Swiftness Potion is extremely useful to keep outrunning the WoF, especially once it's low on health, as it moves far faster than normal.
 * Obsidian Skin Potion and Water Walking Potion are good if you have no full arena preparations or if you meet the end of your arena.
 * Also using Gravitation Potion and Featherfall Potion will help you if you have no full arena preparations.
 * Shine Potions, Night Owl Potions and Hunter Potion can help as well, even though there is some light already.
 * A food item such as Cooked Fish, a Bowl of Soup, or Pumpkin Pie will give you a small buff in most stats.
 * An Inferno Potion will help a lot, as it can quickly get rid of The Hungry, and hit the WoF itself when you are in close range.
 * Gun users should bring an Ammo Reservation Potion this will give you your greatest chance not of run out of bullets during the fight.
 * A Calming Potion works well too, as the player will be able to mainly focus on the WoF most of the fight.
 * An Archery Potion can aid bow users well, as the increased damage helps to end the fight quicker and reduces the necessary size needed for the arena.
 * A Wrath Potion or Rage Potion increases overall damage against the WoF, which also helps in finishing it off faster.
 * If you have defeated Turkor the Ungrateful, using the Horn o' plenty should work well if you don't have very many healing potions.

Boulders Head-start
If you can jump, then you should set up a few at the beginning of the run and Wire them to a Pressure plate in the course, so you can step on the pressure plate, and the Wall of Flesh gets hit by a few boulders, but them hitting you can seriously affect the battle, because they do a lot of damage. Explosives (or just thrown Dynamite) can be used in a similar manner for even greater damage.

Mouth-only Tunnel Strategy
One strategy which has worked for some players is to build a 3-7 block high tunnel so that the WoF can not use the laser eye attack since it cannot shoot through blocks. For regeneration purposes use full crimson armor and campfires every 20 blocks to help. A good weapon to use is the diamond staff but if you have multiple people the ruby staff will work as well. If you intend to solo the WoF use molten armor. Only use Shadow/Crimson armor if you are very good at dodging the WoF's Lasers and the Hungry.

Aftermath
After defeating the boss, the loot will be enclosed suspended in a box, so that lava is not a problem. However your world will enter Hardmode if it has yet to enter it.

After defeating the Wall of Flesh, you will have access to stronger Weapons and Emblems, making the fight a lot easier when you come back to it. Furthermore, after killing the WoF you can immediately summon him again (of course waiting for the Guide to respawn). This can be a great source of income or loot.