Guide:Moon Lord strategies

The Moon Lord is the final boss of Terraria, and predictably, there should not be much argument to say that he is quite the most difficult in the game. With lasers, orbs, and explosions shooting at you in every direction, each dealing around 80-150 damage, a leech attack crippling your precious healing abilities, the fact that he possesses almost four times the health of Duke Fishron, and his colossal screen-spanning size, you might have some difficulty dealing with him. However, there are ways to escape his devastating blows, and return some back to him. The strategies down below can help you dodge his attacks, take him down, and become the champion of Terraria!

Movement
Note: Most of these only work before 1.3.04, In the update 1.3.0.4 a new mechanism was added in which the moon lord will teleport to the character if he is off-screen

Two very helpful items for fighting the Moon Lord are the Blessed Apple or Cosmic Car Key. The UFO is very useful for dodging the Moon Lord as it allows you fly for an unlimited amount of time. In addition, the UFO can be used to run away from the Moon Lord as it is faster than him while moving diagonally, however this strategy is not required and beating the Moon Lord is very possible without. The Unicorn is much faster than the Moon Lord, although it is recommended you equip an item with dash such as Master Ninja Gear in order to dash-boost to the max speed of the Unicorn. This makes it extremely easy to escape/kite the Moon Lord on a long open bridge.

A way to counter this is by using a Cobalt Shield and its upgrades and ignoring its attacks and focus on running in case you are trapped between its hands instead of jumping, especially when it's firing its laser beam.
 * Using the unicorn and a skybridge on a space height will make jumps reduce speed, and its attacks will also reduce speed.

The other (but more risky) way is to fly circles around him, again much easier when performed with the Cosmic Car Key. Going around him allows for the player to dodge the head laser. The head laser can also be completely avoided by riding far in front of him and using a long ranged weapon such as any gun with Chlorophyte Bullets.


 * Note that this strategy requires much more dodging than the previous one, and that some of these items require rare drop(s) from the Martian Madness event.

Another strategy is to build a very long Minecart Track and then ride back and forth whilst firing Chlorophyte Bullets at it. Although not entirely negating damage, for most of the fight he will be left offscreen when using this method. The Mechanical Cart is ideal for this, and if you have already defeated him an SDMG will make this fight fairly trivial, even without ranged armor (Beetle Armor and better can work very well with this method). A Chain Gun will do for a first fight though.

One final tactic which only works in multiplayer is to have two players widely spread at most 1500 blocks (3000 feet) apart but far enough away that the others can re-spawn before you die. This puts less importance on movement.

Terrain preparation
If one is having problems fighting the Moon Lord a skybridge can be built to make the fight significantly easier, again this tactic is not required for beating Moon Lord. The skybridge needs to stretch quite far from either side of your spawn point for ideal kiting 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 also makes teleportation a very valuable tactic. The goal here is to be able to run away from the Moon Lord while shooting at him, and the teleporting back to your spawn once you reach the end of the bridge via a Magic Mirror. In order to do this successfully you will need a Blessed Apple ideally, although a Cosmic Car Key can work as well; also useful are any dash items that can be used to immediately reach the unicorn's full speed. As of 1.3.0.4 the Moon Lord now teleports to the player when the player is sufficiently far away. Out running him is still one of the better ways to avoid many of his abilities though, so it is recommended to create a bed in the middle of your sky bridge, or using the Mechanical Cart, in order to jump away from him and continue your running fight. It may be necessary now to stay somewhat within range to avoid causing the Moon Lord to teleport. This fight will probably remain quite easy in multiplayer as one player can sill lead him on a merry chase while the rest heal up. Minecarts work especially well now as you can zoom straight through the Moon Lord without taking much damage using them. Another way is to build a box with heart lanterns and heart statues and a pool of honey. Combined with beetle armour, shroomite, spectre or spooky with stardust dragon this and a sky downwards weapon such as Daedalus stormbow or solar eruption, star wrath, or lunar flare (post moon lord) this fight can be insanely easy. it also helps if 5 heart statues are linked to different timers then you will have a constant stream of health and you will have no problem. Also the moon lord does no melee damage so you can stand still. It is also helpful to house the nurse inside of the room, simply put a table, chair, door, and background. That way when your heath gets too low you can get the nurse to heal you, making the fight even easier.

If you have more time on your hands you could also set up teleporters along your bridge for convenience/fun, but a Magic Mirror should work just fine.


 * Note that the Cosmic Car Key is a fairly rare drop from the Martian Madness event, and the Blessed Apple is a rare drop from the hallowed biome, and Hallowed Mimics.

This strategy should work perfectly well for both normal and expert mode, and is especially easy with a group of players.

Again, if you wish to do the multiplayer way, you can simply set up houses spread out with beds in them to set your spawn points, so you can spawn safe distances away and still get back into the fray when it comes your turn.

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.

Gearing up
A set of Spectre Armor (either version, but he does have a tentacle attack that disables healing via this armor or vamp weapons for about 15 seconds. You can potentially outrun the attack that inflicts this debuff using the Blessed Apple as mentioned earlier) or Beetle Armor will do well on him. A good pair of wings such as Fishron Wings will help you dodge his lasers. For melee, equip a Flairon or another melee weapon with an equal or higher DPS rate. For a ranged weapon, a Phantasm Bow with Holy Arrows, or the Vortex Beater with Chlorophyte Bullets. Make sure you bring plenty of Greater Healing Potions, or Super Healing Potions if you can afford any. You may craft the Phantasm Bow and Vortex Beater by intentionally dying during the Moon Lord Boss fight to destroy the Vortex Pillar again when the event is reset.
 * A good idea would to use a 2 floor arena, with the 1st floor being platforms, the second made of thick blocks such as wood.This prevents his strongest attack, the Phantasmal Deathray.
 * If you want complete protection from the Phantasmal Deathray, it could be just as easy to create a small suitable House, assign the Nurse to it (for quick healing), and use the Solar Eruption or any other weapon that can go through blocks.
 * An alternative, although most likely impractical and difficult to use, would be the Ice Rod. If avoiding the Phantasmal Deathray is unavoidable, a roof may be created at will. However, this requires the player to be quick to create their shield, and they will be put at risk of being hit many times by the Moon Lord's other attacks.
 * The Rod of Discord 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.

General Tips

 * It is best to destroy the head first as it may be harder to damage later on.
 * Once an eye (whether on the hands or the head) is destroyed, it will no longer be able to attack. However, this will summon a True Eye of Cthulhu to attack the player with possibly even more intensity. If dodging the Phantasmal Deathray is not a problem, then the head can be left for later, as it typically attacks less often.
 * If you see the eye on the head open, get ready for his powerful laser attack.
 * It may be helpful to have the Nurse living in your arena, so you can heal to full health.

Mage
Armor Weapons
 * Spectre Armor either version will work, but he does have a tentacle attack that disables healing via this armor or vamp weapons for about 15 seconds. You can potentially outrun the attack that inflicts this debuff using the Blessed Apple as mentioned earlier, you can also use the coin gun with platinum coins but it will take a lot of farming.
 * Razorblade Typhoon
 * Nebula Arcanum
 * Spectre Staff
 * Laser Machinegun
 * Blizzard Staff
 * Heat Ray
 * Shadowbeam Staff
 * Nebula Blaze

Accessories
 * Master Ninja Gear/Shield of Cthulhu (Master Ninja Gear is much better for boss fights, but both work)
 * Mana Flower
 * Ankh Shield
 * Celestial Shell
 * Celestial Emblem
 * Any wings

Ranger
Armor
 * Shroomite Armor with headpiece matching your weapon type

Weapons Accessories
 * Vortex Beater with chlorophyte bullets
 * Chaingun with chlorophyte bullets
 * Tsunami with either venom and Chlorophyte Arrow combo, or holy arrows
 * Snowman Cannon with Rockets III
 * Phantasm with Endless Quiver, holy arrows
 * Hoverboard (not needed if player posesses Cosmic Car Key or Shrimpy Truffle)
 * Sniper Scope
 * Destroyer Emblem
 * Celestial Stone
 * Any Hermes Boots (if player is using asphalt skybridge)
 * Magic Quiver
 * Master Ninja Gear

Melee
Armor
 * Beetle armor, use either the scale mail or shell depending on your skill at dodging.

Weapons
 * Daybreak
 * Influx Waver
 * Terra Blade
 * Flairon
 * Scourge of the Corruptor
 * North Pole
 * The Horseman's Blade
 * Solar Eruption

Recommended Accessories (preferably reforged to Warding)
 * Warrior Emblem
 * Master Ninja Gear
 * Avenger Emblem
 * Celestial Shell/Celestial Stone
 * Destroyer Emblem
 * Star Veil
 * A knockback preventing shield
 * Charm of Myths/Philosopher's Stone

Summoner
Armor
 * You will want a full set of Tiki Armor, Spooky Armor or Stardust Armor (if you have already defeated the Moon Lord enough times to make it).

Weapons
 * Stardust Dragon Staff
 * Stardust Cell Staff
 * Xeno Staff
 * Deadly Sphere Staff
 * Tempest Staff

Accessories
 * Pygmy Necklace
 * Papyrus Scarab
 * A knockback preventing shield
 * Celestial Stone or Celestial Shell
 * Avenger Emblem or Summoner Emblem
 * Master Ninja Gear

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

Armor
Spectre Armor used with a Spectre Hood is required, as this technique relies on its "life steal" ability.

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 Hydra Staff or Rainbow Crystal Staff provide little help, but if you feel more comfortable with them, such can be used.

Potions
It is recommended to have many Greater Mana Potions or higher as this method is very mana intensive, also is recommended Super Healing Potions as a back up. 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, that will probably last the entire fight.

Healing
If the player has low health and is using Spectre Mask while having the Potion Sickness debuff, the player is recommended to use the Life Drain as it drains life much faster than Vampire Knives, although the player needs to worry about the Moon Bite debuff because it makes the player unable to heal. If the player doesn't want to be inflicted by the Moon Bite debuff the player may need to dodge Moon Lord's tentacle, and if the player is fighting Moon Lord in Expert Mode the player is recommended to have some food items because it will grant the Well Fed buff to make the healing more effective.

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 (hammer it once), 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, you should have a Crystal Ball and a Bewitching Table, although it is not required and the battle will probably last longer than 10 minutes.

Combat
Just as you defeat the last tower (it is recommended that you leave vortex as last), quickly use your magic 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 by pressing J and use it once-twice, 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. from now on, there are two variants for this technique.

The complete outrun variant
Just keep outrunning him and shooting backwards. This isn't recommended, as it takes much longer, but it also is way safer than the other technique as you don't have to keep an eye on his tongue.

The same pace variant
Slow down so he is 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 (or teleports foward), slow down again and return on shooting him. If his tongue somehow reaches you, shoot it until it retreats, if you run out of mana, use a mana potion and return shooting him regardless of the mana sickness Debuff, the purpose being avoiding him heal again. 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. To realize it, you will need Tsunami with holy arrows, some Heart Statues, bucket of Honey, Campfire, Heart Lantern, skybridge and stone/other building blocks. At first, make a 1/2 screen-width wide, 6-12 tiles high shelter on the skybridge. Put the honey on floor, set statues to 1-sec timer, place campfire and heart lantern somewhere nearby. 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 Fail-Proof Shoot & Fly Strategy
This strategy doesn't need any other weapon or technique, and won't work with Melee, Caster and Summoner(this is one of those times when you can be really happy to have chosen the Ranger class).
 * This is the most basic, effective and idiot-proof strategy to defeat the Moon Lord. No matter how bad you screw up it is really hard to fail this way. It consists of basically using the UFO Mount while shooting with the Vortex Beater(with Chlorophyte Bullets as ammo,of course) and regularly warping either with a Magic Mirror or with Teleporters. You can basically ignore the tongue, because the Vortex Beater will stop the healing.
 * Be sure to not have any obstructions in the airspace; flying into any obstacles will let the Moon Lord catch up to you.
 * Have the nurse near your spawn location so you can heal when you magic mirror back to spawn.
 * Although some items in this strategy may be a little problematic/hard to find or require at least a small amount of grinding/farming, this is a very effective way to win. The armor needs to be at least Shroomite armor, unless you are lucky enough to beat the boss with inferior armor. You also have to pay a lot of attention to the Deathray he shoots from time to time, because it could easily kill a ranger-class player. The accessories and buffs could variate a lot, since mobility accessories won't be that useful when the boss grabs you with his tongue, but defense-increasing accessories are always good.

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 the nurse cant escape... then simply hide in the house with the nurses heal gui open and heal when ever needed, while using the block piercing weapon
 * To make sure the nurse doesn't die, close the gui and allow her to heal on occasion.... with any armour set besides melee sets this is a vulnerable time for the player though, 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 then normally, but if you do not care about this it is extremely effective if the nurse doesn't die

Obtain and equip the Beetle Armor with Beetle Shell for the Beetle Endurance buff, the Cosmic Car Key, a Magic Mirror or equivalent, the Influx Waver and Scourge of the Corruptor weapons, and the Cross Necklace (or Star Veil) and a Cobalt Shield (or any accessory of which it is a component). Set up a Teleporter from the Nurse's room to one of your Ocean biomes. Set your Spawn in the Nurse's room along with a Sharpening Station to ignore some of the Moon Lord's Defense.

Movement accessories are irrelevant when riding in the UFO, so forget them in favor of accessories that favor offense or defense.

If you have a Crimson world and are against going to another world to get a Scourge of the Corruptor, you can likely substitute it with a Flairon or other ranged melee weapon that is either very fast, such as the Paladin's Hammer, or with a homing effect.

Part 1
Engage the Moon Lord. Get in your UFO mount and move towards spawn, staying close to the ground. Move diagonally if you need to distance yourself from the Moon Lord. Fire your Scourge of the Corruptor at the ground and let the mini-eaters whittle away at the health of the hands. If you're feeling accurate, fire directly at the hands. They will likely destroy one hand long before they destroy the other, but do not let that stop you. Destroy them both. If you are low on health, use your Magic Mirror to return to the Nurse, heal, sharpen, and use the Teleporter to return to the fight.

Part 2
This is where the "Houdini" part comes in. Now that both of the hands have been defeated, move on to the head. Fly diagonally upward and attempt to strike the head's Eye with the blade of your Influx Waver. This will do a surprising amount of damage very quickly. Ignore all damage you take – it's imperative that you deal as much damage as you can before the head's eye closes. If you reach the top of the map, fall straight down while firing your Influx Waver's projectile upwards at the Eye. When the eye closes, the Moon Lord is about to attempt to heal. Immediately use your Magic Mirror before he can, and heal yourself using the Nurse. Return to the fight and repeat. You will notice that his health has not recovered since your last engagement. If the Moon Lord's mouth is open and he attempts to latch onto you when you get there, don't bother – use your Magic Mirror and try again.

Part 3
After the Head has been defeated, fly straight up and fire the projectile of your Influx Waver downward at the Moon Lord's Core. When you reach the top of the map, fly straight down and attempt to hit it with your blade. If the Moon Lord opens his mouth, he is about to attempt to heal, so stay still and swing your sword to defeat some of the Essences before they are consumed, continuing to aim your weapon's projectiles downward to damage the Core. If you run low on health… you know the drill.

After his stereotypically long and tedious fight, Moon Lord will be defeated.

The Anti-Tongue Technique
If you are capable of handling the moon lord's damage without much trouble, and are capable with the Vampire Knives, the changes done in 1.3.0.4 are actually quite beneficial to those with Teleporters. Before the patch, someone outrunning the tongue would possibly have to guess when it might go away before they go back to the other side. This may include attempting to catch up with him before he prepares another tongue leeching, usually met with less fruitful efforts. Now, it's possible to not only avoid it, you can also keep up the barrage and kill him faster than ever.

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 handle hooking 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 (almost) 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 (Working as of 1.3.0.5)
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 Daybreak 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 death ray/laser, try to maneuver around and above him by changing direction (If you do not have the Rod of Discord).
 * 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 (Phase 1).
 * 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.



Equipment
Especially if playing on expert mode it is important to carefully prepare your equipment for this fight as it is the sole factor for success.

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. This will leave you with 105 Defense before buffs and some flat damage reduction.
 * Celestial Shell
 * Celestial Stone
 * Master Ninja Gear
 * Worm Scarf
 * Fire Gauntlet
 * Destroyer Emblem

Consumables / Buffs
Essential: Recommended:
 * Well Fed from any source
 * Ironskin Potion
 * Endurance Potion
 * Super Healing Potion (After defeating 3 pillars craft one fragment of the remaining type and create one batch of Super Healing Potions; 4 should be enough.)
 * 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 (According to the Wiki he is only immune to the Ichor Flask)
 * Wrath Potion and/or Rage Potion
 * Bewitching Table
 * Summoning Potion
 * Lifeforce Potion (essential if you don't have optimal gear)
 * Regeneration Potion

Preparation

 * Make sure it is night for the Celestial Shell buff.
 * 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. I recommend rejoining the world before fighting the last pillar and picking up hearts as you go.
 * After summoning the boss refresh your Sharpening Station and Bewitching Table buffs and use a Summoning Potion.
 * Summon a 3-Fragment Stardust Dragon (or any other minions if you don't have the 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 will take significantly more damage. It should take you around 3 Minutes to kill him.

The water yoyo gosu style (expert mode)
A very fast aggresive approach either if you facing him for first time or farming him. It requires some arena preparation and post-Plantera gear.

Requirements

 * 1) Shrimpy Truffle mount from Duke Fishron. Shrimpy Truffle is one of the best ways of dealing with him, much more reliable than wings, UFO mount, minecart or asphalt bridges.
 * 2) 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. Yoyo's 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 alot)

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.

Complimentary
You can setup a nurse nearby for emergency, some heart lanterns, water/ichor torches to help you with visibility, a platform of solid blocks, buff potions and food but all of the above are not necessary.

When you kill him you can do the same strategy using Solar Flare armor and of course Terrarian.

"The non-expert cheese platform" a simple way that does not require much.
An extremely cheesy tactic, but is good for players who have not yet got the end-game armor.

Equipment
For armor, Beetle Armor with the shell will do if you don't yet have solar armor. For weapons, a Solar Eruption is crucial for this tactic as it attacks through blocks. For accessories, anything will do but for this tactic it's better to focus on defense rather then attack. This does not require potions but a Lifeforce Potion and Ironskin Potion are good if you have them. This does also not require a mount or minions. You will need a decent amount of money as you will be healing lots.

Arena
The arena is simple. It's just a bridge at least around 100 blocks (you do not need to use asphalt but if you can it will help a lot) with a roof 3 blocks above to keep you safe from some of the Moon Lord's attacks, including his devastating Phantasmal Deathray from his top eye. Also, it is essential to have a room housing the Nurse nearby. If you already have an arena, just build this directly under it, having your arena's floor as the roof for this one.

Procedure
You run around the arena, and shoot the Solar Eruption at his hands first, and then the eye on his head. Surviving gets hard when you defeat one of its hand eyes and the True Eye of Cthulu spawns, as its attacks are hard to dodge and can attack through walls. When it forms a line of eyes, look for gaps in the line and go to it. When it forms a hexagon-like shape with other eyes, there's no point in trying to dodge it unless you have asphalt as the floor. Don't worry about the tongue as whatever direction the Solar Eruption is attacking, it will attack the tongue so he won't heal. If you do need to heal, go to the Nurse when you have around 200 health so it's low enough to be worth the trip to the Nurse, but high enough so that you won't die when trying to heal. Try not to use potions as you have the Nurse, as it would be a waste.

The (Ordinary) Minecart Strategy
In this strategy, you don't need the fancy Mechanical Cart. The time it takes to defeat Moon Lord is not short, but it is a sure-win strategy, and if done correctly with the proper gears, your health will never go below 75%.

Equipment
What you need are all pre-Moon Lord gears:
 * A long minecart track (preferably the length of the map) with both end hammered to bumpers
 * Vortex Beater
 * Endless Musket Pouch
 * Stardust Dragon Staff or Stardust Cell Staff
 * Beetle Armor with Beetle Shell
 * Charm of Myths
 * Ankh Shield for its 4 extra defense
 * Any other accessories you want, all Warding
 * All battling buff available, most important is Ironskin Potion
 * Optional: Daybreak, Chlorophyte Bullet, Phantasm and Endless Quiver

Battle
Mount your minecart and move at max speed when Moon Lord is spawning. As the player max speed while on the minecart is 66mph, much faster than the Moon Lord, you are safe from any melee attack. With all the equipment as above, your defense should be well over 100, making Moon Lord's projectiles trivial because they do at most ~5 damage. The only problem now is the beam shooting from his main eye, which can deal around 50 damage. But as you are moving at high speed, more than half of the time the beam will miss you (its range is limited), the other half you will be healed by the Charm of Myths.

To damage Moon Lord, simply shoot your Vortex Beater backward. If you use Chlorophyte Bullet, it will track the eye for you and cause more damage, but the amount of bullets used are high, so Endless Musket Pouch is better. Every few seconds the gun will shoot a homing explosive, combining with your minions and the random hit from the strayed bullet, Moon Lord will be killed for sure. Shooting straight backward while on the cart also destroys the all souls dragged out from Moon Lord's tongue, and therefore eliminates all his opportunities to recover.

The boss will be defeated in about 10 minutes at most, and 5 minute on average. Over the course of the battle, you will never have to use a single potion, as the damage is minor and no mana used.

Summoner
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 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 Hear 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 Stone (Melee bonus)
 * Ammo Box (Chance to save on ammo)
 * Crystal Ball (Magic bonus)
 * Bewitching Table (+1 Minions)

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

Summary
Moon Lord is a pretty hard boss to beat as a solo caster as he will rip you apart at close range, and few spells have the range needed to actually hit him. It is still doable as a caster; but in general a Ranger setup is highly recommended, especially for Expert Mode. If you are playing in expert mode it is important to keep in mind that defense is worth more, and enemies deal massively more damage, so all of your accessories should be reforged to warding. In normal you can probably get away with reforging some items as damage though. If needed, the Nebula Arcanum can be crafted prior to fighting the Moon Lord as its materials drop from the precursor events. The Ankh Shield can be replaced with a Destroyer Emblem, but you lose 4 defense and dealing with the knockback effects can be rough.

Though on multiplayer he can be a bit of a joke, if the players keep their distance from each other, though still capable of killing each player multiple times during the fight, he will fall.