Guide:Moon Lord strategies

Moon Lord is the final boss in Terraria. Because of its high health, massive damage and its numerous, deadly attacks, it is generally considered to be the hardest boss in the game.

The following strategies will give players an easier time defeating this behemoth.

The Fight
The Moon Lord's main attacks come from the Eyes on its hands and forehead, which are also its weak points where it can be damaged.

When the eyes on the hands are exposed, they will alternate between spawning Phantasmal Eyes and shooting Phantasmal Spheres. The eye on its forehead will instead charge up the Phantasmal Deathray, and then fire it based on the player's position.

The eyes can only be damaged on their "active" state and they will always shoot 2 Phantasmal Bolts before closing.

When an eye is defeated, it will detach from the main body and spawn a True Eye of Cthulhu, an unkillable enemy that uses weaker versions of the Moon Lord's attacks. The empty eye sockets will also reveal fangs which do contact damage if touched, however the Moon Lord won't directly attack with them.

Occasionally, a leech will spawn from its mouth and chase the player. If it connects, it will inflict the Moon Bite debuff, which prevents healing from the Vampire Knives and the Spectre Hood. It also has the ability to heal one of the Boss' parts for 1000 HP.

The Phantasmal Sphere is its second strongest attack, so dodging it is very important to survive. It is very hard to run out of their range, so the player will need to go through the gaps between each one of them, Hence, mobility is more important than damage or defense in this fight.

The Phantasmal Deathray is one of the strongest attacks in the game, and the player must always watch out for it, especially on Expert mode. It can very easily finish off a player at medium health, so it must be dodged at all costs. It is only shot on the eye on its forehead, so you must be prepared for it when it opens. The safest way to dodge it is by flying over him with Wings, preferably Fishron's. It can also be dodged with a Rod of Discord by teleporting out of its path. Because of this attack it is a bad idea to keep the Moon Lord offscreen, as the player won't be able to see it coming.

The Phantasmal Bolts don't do a lot of damage, but they are hard to dodge as the Moon Lord doesn't shoot directly at the player; it instead tries to predict their position, and does so very accurately. The eyes will look at the player when preparing the attack, so you can predict it as well.

After all 3 eyes are defeated, the Moon Lord's core will be revealed, and what is arguably the hardest part of the fight will begin. The True Eyes of Cthulhu attack very frequently, quickly overwhelming even skilled players. Running away in this case is better, as the True Eyes' Deathrays have much shorter reach compared to the Moon Lord's.

Terrain preparation
If one is having problems fighting the Moon Lord, a skybridge can be built to make the fight significantly easier. It needs to stretch quite far from either side of your spawn point for ideal fighting of the Moon Lord. The Moon Lord will not despawn unless all players are dead, meaning you can outrun him and heal for a while if need be, without him vanishing on you. It's recommended to create a bed in the middle of your sky bridge, or use a Minecart, in order to jump away from him and continue your fight. It's important to stay close to him to avoid him to teleport near to you. This fight will probably remain quite easy in multiplayer as one player can still lead him on a merry chase while the rest heal up.

Making a roof above Moon Lord can be effective to shut down the Phantasmal Deathray, as it does not go through blocks. You can even make the roof more thick to mitigate the effects of explosions, and prevent the very fast projectiles to clip through.

Asphalt can still be used to dodge the tongue if you value the ability to use Vampire Knives. When the Moon Lord teleports with his tongue already chasing you, the tongue does not go with him. The tip will still be in the same position while chasing you, only its base will be re-angled to the Moon Lord's mouth. This incidentally gives another opportunity to strike with the Vampire Knives where possible.

Armor
For melee users, the Beetle armor is the best set available. The Beetle Shell is preferred for those who can avoid taking damage frequently, while the Scale Mail is more suited for those who want to make the final phase a DPS race.

Ranged users will need to use Shroomite armor with the helmet that fits their weapon. The set bonus will be mostly useless due to the importance of dodging the Moon Lord's attacks, so the chest piece can be swapped with the Valhalla Knight's Breastplate if more survivability is needed.

A magic user will be forced to use Spectre armor with the Mask, as the Hood won't reliably heal the player because of the debuff. Alternatively, mages can opt for a tanky build with the Hallowed Headgear, Valhalla Knight's Breastplate, and Dark Artist's Leggings to maximize offensive bonuses while keeping the regeneration from the breastplate.

A summoner should summon their minions with Spooky armor, then switch to Tiki armor for higher defense and an extra, weaker minion.

Weapons
Every class will benefit the most from the weapons made with Celestial Fragments, with some exceptions.

For Melee users:
 * is the strongest weapon available, being able to deal massive damage to all parts.
 * is an acceptable alternative, trading power for longer range.
 * remains viable for its homing properties.
 * can still heal the player in the brief moments where the Moon Bite debuff isn't in play.

For Ranged users:
 * is the strongest gun available. provide the highest DPS, while  are more useful for the second phase.
 * with for the highest DPS, or  due to their higher velocity.

For Magic users:
 * deals decent DPS and is accurate, but costs an incredible amount of mana.
 * The has comparable DPS to the Nebula Blaze and lower mana cost, but has short range.
 * deals extremely high DPS if you can manipulate the Moon Lord into staying in roughly the same position.
 * may be weaker than all the others, but it has a fast, mana efficient projectile which can hit all 3 parts with the same shot.
 * inflicts a potent defense-lowering debuff that the Moon Lord is not immune to.

For Summoners:
 * and the are the best ones available.

Accessories
Due to the amount of high damaging attacks during the fight, it is better to focus on mobility and damage rather than defense. Every accessory should also have the Lucky or Menacing Modifiers.
 * The and  are essential for mobility. A  makes wings significantly faster, which helps a lot when dodging.
 * The can be used as a replacement for the above, trading mobility for extra accessory slots.
 * Damage increasing accessories are very important, such as any Emblem, or.
 * The knockback from the Phantasmal eyes could hinder mobility at a bad time. A or better help prevent this.
 * The effects of the are only applied the second a Healing Potion is drunk, so it can be kept in a vanity slot until the player needs to heal.

Potions

 * ,, , and will greatly increase survivability.
 * Any food item that provides the buff will work.
 * is absolutely mandatory for mages.
 * will increase mobility.
 * and will improve DPS.
 * ,, or  and  will further improve damage output for Mages, Rangers, Melee, and Summoner users respectively.

Miscellaneous
 * As mentioned above, the is another way to avoid the Phantasmal Deathray. There is no need to worry about Chaos State, as the Moon Lord uses the attack on a timed interval, allowing for the teleport debuff to wear off.

Minecart technique
This technique is meant to help players having trouble with Moon Lord. With this technique, you can avoid most of the damage, plus avoiding his tongue, resulting in a massive save of health potions.

Accessories
It is recommended to have Sorcerer Emblem and Celestial Cuffs or Magic Cuffs, there is no need for Philosopher's Stone or Charm of Myths, as little damage will be suffered.

Weapons
It is recommended to have the Stardust Dragon Staff as it deals extra damage.

As main weapon, it is recommended some homing projectile, the best one is probably Razorblade Typhoon, as it pierces through enemies, but it is probably doable with Nebula Arcanum. Sentry minions, such as the Staff of the Frost Hydra or Rainbow Crystal Staff are almost completely inconsequential to the fight and are not recommended.

Potions
It is recommended to have many Greater Mana Potions or higher as this method is very mana intensive. Also, make sure to have some food items, at least enough for 30 minutes, it is recommended to have around 5 or more Cooked Fish, as it is fairly easy to get and lasts 20 minutes or bacon, which will probably last the entire fight.

Terrain preparation
For such method, a long railway should be made, in a straight line, in open terrain, then, use a hammer to select the bumpy end on both sides of the track, then place a teleporter under the last few tracks, on each side. Make sure to leave 2-3 rails between the end of the teleporter and the bumpy end. Finally, change the track above the first part of the teleporter with a pressure plate track, on both sides, and then connect all with Wire.

You should have a launching platform with some Booster Tracks and Minecart Tracks in a ramp formation with no end, so you get launched into the track already at max speed. Also, make sure to set your spawn near the arena, so you can go quickly via Magic Mirror.

Combat
Just as you defeat the last tower, quickly use your mirror to get home and use the Bewitching Table and Crystal Ball, you may also heal yourself at the nurse, although, if you still have high health, you may not need it, as you heal completely before he appears. Then, get yourself launched into the rail and use your Stardust Dragon Staff and any other sentry minion, you should eat the food.

When he spawns, you should spam the Razorblade Typhoon until running out of mana, then heal yourself, making so you recharge the used mana in the 5 seconds duration of the mana sickness Debuff, when it's over, return to spamming Razorblade Typhoon, he should be out of screen, but you should be able to hit him, when you are about to end the track, you should be teleported to the beginning, avoiding having to pass under him to bounce, which would leave you vulnerable to his tongue.Keep doing this until you notice he's frequently using his laser, meaning he probably lost one or the two hands.

Slow down so that he's in sight; when he is about to open his eye, spam Razorblade Typhoon until he stops the laser attack. If you see he is trying to reach you with his tongue (which is faster than him), increase your speed to outrun it. After he retracts his tongue, slow down again and return on shooting him. If his tongue somehow reaches you, shoot it until it retreats. Using a Stardust Dragon should be really helpful.

The GCD hide strategy
This strategy is based on well-constructed shelter and shooting at Moon Lord from it through walls. You will need Tsunami with Holy Arrows, skybridge and stone/other building blocks.

At first, make a 1/2 screen-width wide, 6-12 tiles high shelter on the skybridge. If you don't have the Rod of Discord, make an entrance on either left or right side. When all is done, prepare your Tsunami with holy arrows and summon the Moon Lord. As soon as he appears, enter your shelter, activate statues, and keep shooting the ceiling with your Tsunami, exactly beneath his vital points. The arrows won't directly damage the Moon Lord, but the falling stars will probably crush him in few minutes. Remember, however, to dodge projectiles that pass through walls.

It works best when the player buffs themselves with defensive potions, and uses shelter's height for effective horizontal dodging.

The Easy Shoot & Fly Strategy
Preparation
 * You will need the UFO Mount, the Vortex Beater with Chlorophyte Bullets, and a Magic Mirror.
 * Be sure to not have any obstructions in the airspace that you'll be using.
 * Have a large stack of Super Healing Potions in your inventory and use them whenever you've lost about 200 HP (For maximum efficiency). Greater Healing Potions heal 150 HP. Using the Philosopher's Stone will help reduce the potion cooldown from 60 to 45 seconds, letting you heal more often.
 * It is best that you use the Shroomite armor with Mask (although Beetle armor and Solar Flare armor provide higher defense, Shroomite provides ranged bonuses, such as 15% increased bullet damage, 13% ranged damage, 25% ranged critical strike, 20% chance to not consume ammo).
 * Potions are essential. It is recommended that you use the Endurance, Regeneration, Lifeforce, Rage, and Ironskin Potions.
 * You should also get some of the accessories that are recommended for the ranged class. Each accessory reforged with the "Warding" modifier will add 4 to defense and "Menacing" adds 4% to damage.

The Battle
 * Pick a direction to go (right or left) as your airspace (This should be the area you completely cleared). Once you spawn in the Moon Lord continue in that direction, firing continuously at the Moon Lord (it doesn't matter what you attack first), and dogging the attacks as necessary. Once you reach the edge of the world use your magic mirror to return to the spawn point and repeat until the Moon Lord is dead. (When you teleport back to your spawn the Moon Lord will take a moment to get to you, use this time to get a head start)
 * If he opens his head eye, get as close as you can to it without actually touching it. Once he fires the laser you should be able to dodge it easily.

The Nurse Strategy

 * Make a small, enclosed area with the nurse inside. Get a Solar Eruption or some other effective weapon that goes through blocks. Block off the house so that she can't escape, then simply hide in the house with the nurse's heal GUI open and heal whenever needed while using the block piercing weapon.
 * Additionally, the Stardust Dragon Staff with summoning armor and accessories will do significant damage to the Moon Lord, even in Expert mode. This is a great way to farm the Moon Lord quickly and easily.
 * To make sure the nurse doesn't die, close the GUI and allow her to heal on occasion. Unless the player is wearing a melee armor set, this is a vulnerable time for the player, so the player should be careful and drink healing potions during this time.
 * Many players do not like this strategy because they feel it makes the fight more boring and less satisfying than normal, but if you do not care about this it is extremely effective, as long as the nurse doesn't die, which is almost impossible because she heals herself.
 * Enable Auto Pause so you can heal by the nurse without hurting yourself.

The Gravitation Mage
This strategy is for those who are too lazy to build an arena and/or have to use the mouse pad. It does require quite a few potions, especially mana potion, and obviously, the gravitation potion. This strategy does require good timing, and being able to predict the deathray, so it might take a few tries. It relies on the fast falling speed to dodge most of the attacks, and moving around the eye to avoid the deathray.

Preperation

 * Spectre armor with Mask
 * Demonic Nebula Blaze
 * (All Menacing) Mana Flower, Worm Scarf, Frozen Turtle Shell, Charm of Myths and Star Veil
 * 2 of each potions: Inferno, Wrath, Rage, Mana Regen, Lifeforce, Regen, Gravitation, Endurance, Ironskin, Swiftness
 * Clear Sky (so no Floating Island)
 * Around 60 Super Mana Potions
 * 1 - 4 Super Healing Potions

The Fight
Buff around 30 seconds before he gets summoned to save potions. While fighting, you only have to periodically press up (W) and move left and right to dodge attacks. One of the most annoying way of being killed is by fall damage, so remember to look out for the ground on your map. Try to stay in between the ground and air when he opens the eye to dodge the deathray. As always, don't kill one eye at a time, but rather reduce them to low health and kill all 3 simultaneously. Only heal when you are below 100 HP, because it will maximize the effect of the frozen turtle shell. Also, time the healing to be just before killing the eyes, because the damage you take while attacking the core is increased significantly and you'll need to heal while doing it.

The Anti-Tongue Technique
This involves the use of Vampire Knives, so make sure to at least include Master Ninja Gear and Star Veil to allow bigger build-up times for regaining health. Ankh Shield is recommended but may not be needed if you can hook yourself to the teleporter's pressure plate.


 * Set up a very long line of Asphalt. A good 800-2000 blocks will be idealistic to ensure the tongue is very far away when you teleport.
 * Set up two teleporters on either end of the asphalt with two pressure plates on the outermost portion of the teleporter. While the focus is going to be on teleporting just after he shoots his tongue at you, having some run space to recover will help.
 * Avoid removing the head from the fight until last. You can bring it down to almost depleted health if you wish first, but if the tongue catches you, focus fire on the siphoning life forms going to his mouth.
 * Heart statues coupled with the heart reach buff will also help keep the player alive, but if this is needed, make sure to teleport back to the other side with the heart statues after his tongue retreats. This allows you to stay more exposed than not to spawning hearts and allow less dependency on the Vampire Knives.

The Fight

 * Fight him as one normally would, using any of the strategies listed here, but bring and use the Vampire Knives, Master Ninja Gear, and Star Veil when needed. Make sure to get a little distance from the teleporter during the fight, so you have some space to run when the tongue emerges.
 * The tongue comes in a stage after the head's laser has fired. Pay attention to when he blinks. He will blink once and expose his head's eye for about two seconds which will do nothing, and then it will start to close.
 * Ground yourself to the asphalt after his first blink while still throwing the knives if you need health. Otherwise, use whatever works best to damage him the most.
 * Dash or hook your way over to the teleporter just after his eye stays shut. You'll have about 0.5 to 1 seconds span of time to get moving before the tongue comes out.
 * Teleport after the tongue emerges. If you are successful enough to not be debuffed, then he should teleport shortly after you, and the tongue will appear to be retreating towards his mouth, possibly with a broken texture, if not outright removed.
 * The tongue may wind up disappearing from time to time, which is in your favor.
 * Also in your favor is the fact that he takes until the screen turns completely white when teleporting, which masks him suddenly appearing again on top of you.
 * Keep attacking relentlessly through your favored manner. Tactics will change if the eye in his head is destroyed.

Head Eye Destroyed

 * When the head's eye has been removed from the fight, he will start to use his tongue a lot more often. Keep on the run and try to avoid running into his hands. It may take anywhere from 2-3 seconds after the tongue expires. Try to strike a middle ground to keep enough distance from his head while there's enough time to burst-speed over to the teleport and make you follow him again.
 * When the core opens, you will need air time to surface the core, otherwise it'll remain underneath the entire time. Try not to fly too high, and start using a grappling hook to dismount if mounted, to help reel yourself in away from the tongue.
 * If things become overwhelming, use a minion to do damage for you while you work on staying alive. Focus upon keeping away from the tongue, and keep nailing him with Vampire Knives to help your survival until he dies.

"Keep Distance" Strategy, No Arena Needed
Note: Quite a bit of skill is needed for this strategy. Do not rely on luck, however this does still involve some cheesing as you are not on top of the Moon Lord.

Equipment

 * Daybreak
 * Beetle armor with Shell
 * Cosmic Car Key
 * Rod of Discord (not required but exceptional for dodging lasers)
 * All Warding: Master Ninja Gear, Ankh Shield, Star Veil, Fire Gauntlet/Celestial Stone, Hoverboard (for gliding and fall damage negation), On Expert, also use Charm of Myths.
 * Pumpkin Pie, Ironskin Potion, Sharpening Station's Sharpened buff

Procedure

 * Pick a direction, left or right. As soon as the Moon Lord spawns, mount on the UFO, and go that direction immediately, while throwing spears at him.
 * Keep going in that direction. When he gets too close, dismount the UFO very quickly, dash 1-3 times, then remount.
 * When he shoots the deathray, try to maneuver around and above him by changing direction.
 * If you have the Rod of Discord, teleport to the other side of the laser.
 * When you reach the edge of the world, maneuver around him and change direction.
 * Kill his hands as late as possible.
 * The key is keeping distance, especially in his second phase.

Arena Setup
Create a 15x10 Box with a double floor using any kind of solid blocks. Place at least 4 Heart Statues in the corners of the box and wire them to a 1 second timer. If you are having problems, just place more statues. Cut a 1x2 hole in the middle of the upper floor and fill it with Honey. Place a Heart Lantern beneath the box. Optional: Place a teleporter in the fourth corner for easy access. Adding a Campfire helps.

Armor

 * Beetle armor with Shell

Weapon

 * Godly Solar Eruption
 * Recommended: Stardust Dragon Staff

Accessories
Reforge all of your accessories to Warding. This is vital for success.
 * Celestial Shell
 * Shiny Stone
 * Star Veil
 * Worm Scarf
 * Charm of Myths
 * Destroyer Emblem

This will leave you with 101 Defense before buffs and some flat damage reduction.

Consumables / Buffs
Essential: Recommended:
 * Well Fed from any source
 * Ironskin Potion
 * Endurance Potion
 * Heartreach Potion (This allows you to stand in the center of the box and instantly pick up the spawned hearts.)
 * Sharpening Station
 * Flask of Cursed Flames or Flask of Fire
 * Wrath Potion and/or Rage Potion
 * Bewitching Table
 * Summoning Potion
 * Lifeforce Potion
 * Regeneration Potion

Preparation

 * Before summoning the boss make sure your statues are active and are spawning hearts. If they are not, this is most likely because too many hearts exist on the map which is common after defeating the pillars and not picking up the hearts. Rejoining the world before fighting the last pillar and picking up hearts as you go is recommended.
 * After summoning the boss refresh your Sharpening Station and Bewitching Table buffs and use a Summoning Potion.
 * Summon a Stardust Dragon.
 * Equip your combat gear as described above, teleport to your bunker and use all the buff potions you prepared.

Procedure
The fight is incredibly simple and you really can't do much wrong if you prepared correctly. Stand in your pool of honey in the middle of the bunker and start slashing away at his eyes. Make sure you split the damage evenly between the eyes and try to kill them roughly at the same time. Take into account that your summons will not follow your tactical advice. Use the first healing potion as soon as you drop below 250 life so it will be ready again later. Never leave the center of the box; at the edges you will take significantly more damage.

Setup
For the most part, the preparation is similar to the Bunker Down strategy, with a few notable exceptions.
 * Your accessories will vary slightly. With all warding, the revised list is:
 * Celestial Shell
 * Frozen Turtle Shell
 * Star Veil
 * Charm of Myths
 * Worm Scarf (Expert Mode)
 * An accessory of your choice
 * Your armor must include the Squire's Helm and Valhalla Knight's Chestplate. The leggings are player-choice, though Valhalla Knight's Greaves are a good option.
 * As the name implies, you don't need any potions buffs (Not even well fed is necessary). Although, it goes without saying that they will certainly help.
 * Your bunker will require similar dimensions to the one listed above. However, you don't need heart statues. Instead, get a Heart Lantern and a campfire and drown yourself in honey.

Procedure
This is one of the most embarrassing ways to kill the Moon Lord. If done correctly, you have about 20-30 life per second, and with the Star Veil and high defense, the Moon Lord has trouble getting you down even to half health. Even if he does, you get buffed by the Frozen Turtle Shell, making it nigh impossible to die. The Solar Flare doesn't do a lot of damage, but it reliably kills him. If necessary, use a potion or two before you finish his eyes, as going into the second phase at full health is important.

Once you kill even one of his eyes, it's a DPS battle. You'll slowly start dying, and he'll do the same. If you stand your ground and damage him effectively, healing properly, he should go down without much of a fight.

The Water Yoyo Strategy
A very fast aggressive approach either if you are either facing him for the first time or farming him. It requires some arena preparation and post-Plantera gear.

Requirements

 * Shrimpy Truffle mount from Duke Fishron.
 * A large water arena (at least 100x10, recommended 400x100 or more) large enough that you can maneuver, float and jump easily so you can avoid his attacks/tongue and keep the mount buff up.

You can take advantage of any large open areas/biomes filled with water such as the ocean to help you speed up with the construction.

Armor

 * Beetle armor with Scale Mail chest.

Weapon

 * The Eye of Cthulhu. Highest damage yoyo before Terrarian. Yoyos offer reliable damage from a distance for fast moving targets in comparison to Terra Blade or Influx Waver.
 * Stardust Dragon Staff (not required but helps a lot)

Accessories
(All reforged to Menacing +4% damage or 3 menacing and 3 Violent. Extra attack speed means more range)
 * Yoyo Bag
 * Celestial Stone
 * Celestial Shell
 * Destroyer Emblem
 * Warrior Emblem
 * Fire Gauntlet

Procedure
The idea is simple enough. The Truffle mount is the fastest mount in the game when in water and for some seconds when out of water. You take advantage of its enormous speed to have in your preferred range the boss, avoid his tongue by moving away, circle around his laser, dodge his eyeballs and his laserballs and with that gear setup you will deal constant insane damage so you are looking for phase 2 under 30 seconds and relative safe. Just be careful not be to very close to him and get stunlocked, remember this is full offense no Star Veil or Ankh Shield.

The Neo-Summoner Tank Strategy
Essentially, it involves the ability to turn a summon-based build into a tank now.

Equipment
 * Valhalla Knight armor set
 * Stardust Dragon Staff
 * Ballista Staff or Staff of the Frost Hydra

Accessories (All Warding):
 * Pygmy Necklace
 * Necromantic Scroll
 * Papyrus Scarab
 * Cross Necklace or Star Veil
 * Black Belt or Master Ninja Gear. Optionally, a Celestial Shell at Night may replace the Master Ninja Gear, though in practice the Ninja Gear often ends up negating more damage when combined with the Star Veil or Cross Necklace.
 * Worm Scarf.

The Valhalla Knight set only gets a single bonus to crit rate for personal damage and is not specific to weapon type as far as the tool tip says, so this is personal preference. Solar Eruption works well, or if the arena is designed for it a strong Yoyos such as the Kraken or The Eye of Cthulhu, or certain magic spells. Remember however that no accessories or pieces of the armor set lower MP usage so Mana Sickness may become an issue for DPS if a magic weapon is used.

Food for the Well Fed buff. Bowl of Soup works well for its easily obtained ingredients and long lasting time. If the weapon of choice is magic, Mana Potions are also required.

Arena

Similar to the Bunker Down strategy above, with possible alterations based on weapon choice such as platform floors at either end if using a Yoyo. The essentials are 4 Heart Statues with 1 second times in easy reach, a pool of Honey, Campfire, and Heart Lanterns. Have a platform or surface below the arena to re-place Sentry Minions when the Moon Lord's core becomes vulnerable during the fight's second half and off the top corners for the first half, allowing them to hit the hands and head easily.

Optional

Any buff potions that decrease damage taken or increase life regen, Flasks that will work (the Moon Lord is immune to Ichor). A Bewitching Table can further improve DPS, along with other placable stations depending on weapon choice.

Explanation

The Valhalla Knight armor provides defense similar to Vortex Armor and a large life regen buff. His tongue cannot stop the life regen. The arena described plays into the life regen buff, and the armor set also gives +60% minion damage and the ability to place up to 4 Sentry Minions. The Pygmy Necklace, Necromantic Scroll, and Papyrus Scarab together provide the ability to summon 3 additional normal minions and add +25% more minion damage. This is a total of +85% minion damage effecting both the 4 sentries and 4 normal minions. The Stardust Dragon is essentially able to ignore the arena walls while hitting for high damage with its 4 segments. Since the strategy involves not dodging much of anything, the Cross Necklace or Star Veil is absolutely essential for taking less damage, and synergizes very well with the Black Belt or Master Ninja gear. Optionally, the Celestial Shell provides extra Defense and even more Life Regen, especially at Night... however, in practice the Black Belt or Ninja Gear seem to be noticeably more effective.

Use the weapon of choice to hit the Moon Lord's highest health Eye to make sure your minions don't kill one eye earlier than the others as well as speed up the fight. The Health Potions should be used if health gets low, most likely in the second half of the fight. Start the fight with Sentries on the platforms coming off the upper corners of the box and when the Moon Lord's core becomes exposed switch them to the bottom platform. If done correctly the Eyes should not be detached until the very end of the fight, which is when the Moon Lord is likely to have enough DPS to force a potion use. The DPS of the dragon, your Sentries, and the weapon of choice combined will take him out before he can kill you.

Summoner kiting
This strategy has been tested with Expert mode.

Arena

 * A long minecart track with both ends hammered to bumper
 * A long line of solid blocks 7 tiles directly above the minecart track. There should be 6 tiles between the solid blocks and the track. The solid blocks will block most of the Moon Lord's attacks and the space is there so the explosions from the blocked attacks do not hit you.

This strategy has been tested with an arena of 999 tile length. The longer the arena the easier the fight will be, significantly.

Equipment
It is not mandatory to have all of these items but skip too many and you might lose.

Offense: Optional:
 * Spooky armor
 * Stardust Dragon Staff
 * Menacing Summoner Emblem
 * Menacing Hercules Beetle
 * Menacing Avenger Emblem
 * Menacing Destroyer Emblem
 * Warding Papyrus Scarab
 * Warding Necromantic Scroll
 * Bewitching Table
 * Summoning Potion
 * Menacing versions of the Papyrus Scarab and Necromantic Scroll
 * Vortex Beater preferably with Endless Musket Pouch or Chlorophyte Bullet

Defense: Optional:
 * Warding Pygmy Necklace
 * Warding Celestial Shell
 * Warding Celestial Stone
 * Warding Worm Scarf
 * Minecart or Mechanical Cart
 * Stopwatch
 * Beetle armor with Beetle Shell (Significantly easier if you have this. Emphatically recommended if you do not have a mechanical cart or is your first time fighting the moon lord.)

Potions: Optional
 * Regeneration Potion
 * Ironskin Potion
 * Greater Healing Potion
 * Lifeforce Potion
 * Endurance Potion (Only if you're not using the Worm Scarf)
 * Buckets filled with Honey
 * Charm of Myths
 * Super Healing Potion

Preparations

 * Equip everything listed in the offense section.
 * Activate the Bewitching Table's buff.
 * Drink a summoning potion if you have one.
 * Summon the Stardust Dragon 6 times.
 * Swap out the Avenger Emblem with the Pygmy Necklace.
 * Summon another Stardust Dragon.
 * Swap out your Spooky Armor with your Beetle Armor.
 * Swap out the Summoner Emblem, Destroyer Emblem, and Hercules Beetle with the Celestial Shell, Celestial Stone, and Worm Scarf.

Battle

 * Move on the minecart track at 55mph. This speed will allow you to dodge most of the Moon Lord's attacks while giving your stardust dragon a few seconds to attack the Moon Lord before he is out of range.
 * If you have a Vortex Beater you can hit the Moon Lord's hands and core with it but his head can only be hit by your dragon.

That's it. The solid line of blocks will block the Moon Lord's death ray, your minecart will dodge all of the Moon Lord's Eye attacks, the Beetle Shell's Endurance Buff and the Worm Scarf coupled with the 6hp regeneration per second from the Celestial accessories and regeneration potion will shrug off the rest of the Moon Lord's attacks. The dragon will be doing about 1500~2200 DPS when he is attacking;

If you are feeling confident (you are full hp and your beetle endurance buff is at maximum) you can reduce your speed until you're the same speed as the moon lord's so that your Stardust Dragon can deal a ridiculous amount of damage.

If you are below half hp, accelerate to maximum speed until you are full hp. With the mechanical cart the moon lord will be too busy teleporting to you to do any damage. If you master this technique the Beetle Armor becomes unnecessary however, a arena length of at least 3000 minecart tracks is recommended.

If the Eye closest to you is destroyed, switch directions. The Stardust Dragon is incapable of killing the eye on the far side.

The "Hoik and Run" Method
This the easiest, but longest way of fighting/farming the Moon Lord. It doesn't require much in the means of equipment, other than what you would probably have already at this point in the game. It will require patience as the battle will be lengthy, but this is a sure-fire way of winning that only requires clicking the mouse to use.

For those unfamiliar with "hoiking", see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeysbJAFIa0

Terrain Preparation

 * Create a hoik box 250-300 blocks long and 200-250 high.
 * Create a smaller non-hoik box (roughly 200 blocks long and 150 high) within the hoik box.
 * Create a (50-75 block) wide space in each of the vertical walls of the non-hoik box and two smaller (15- 20 block wide) ones in the horizontal walls.

The finished product should look similar to this:

Equipment/Gear
All you would need in terms of Armor and/or Accessories is what you would normally have at this point (optimized for Warrior, Ranger, Mage or Summoner), but you must make sure your TOTAL DEFENSE is 86 or above. For weapons, you'll need to use a Razorblade Typhoon either the Mythical, Godly or Demonic modifiers (Mythical is prefered to save mana). You can also use either Nebula Blaze or Arcanum, due to the homing ability as well, though this might not be as effective. A Flairon, Solar Eruption, or Scourge of the Corruptor with the Godly modifier could substitute, if you are just going to go full-on Warrior Mode. Any Hardmode Ranged weapon with homing projectiles can make use of this as well. Summoners, use either the Stardust Cell or Dragon with a Mythical, Godly or Demonic modifier.

Other items:

 * Four Campfires (placed near the hoik box's corners).
 * Four Heart Lanterns (same)
 * Super Healing Potion (4-8)
 * Endurance, Ironskin and Regeneration Potions (10-12 of each)
 * Any food item ("Well Fed" buff)

Optional Based on Class

 * Sharpening Station (Melee bonus)
 * Ammo Box (Extra chance not to consume ammo)
 * Crystal Ball (Magic bonus)
 * Bewitching Table (+1 Minion capacity)

How it all works
'''No matter how you play this, it's going to be a long battle! Activate your buffs before the battle starts and during the battle as needed.'''

The objective of this setup is to cause as much damage as possible to the Moon Lord, while taking the least amount of damage in the process. The hoik moves you around so fast that you'll avoid the Moon Lord's tongue; the inner "block box" protects against his laser and projectile attacks, while giving you avenues to damage him safely. Let the hoik do the job of moving you around! All you need to do is click the mouse to attack at the right time and heal/buff as you go. This will be a marathon match, lasting anywhere from 25-40 minutes. Don't worry! In the process you'll develop an "attack rhythm" of when to click your mouse to attack.

This is not an AFK FARM!

You'll have to pay attention to your health, because you will still get damaged sometimes by the Moon Lord's attacks and his Eyes.

Best example of this method is shown here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL4xDzPaJBo