Weapons

Weapons are essential items used for combat against enemies, bosses, and even other players during PvP games. Some weapons can be crafted at a Work Bench or a Pre-Hardmode/Hardmode Anvil, while others can only be found in Chests, as enemy drops, or purchased from NPCs. Terraria has a wide variety of weapons and weapons classes, each suited to particular play styles or specific tasks.

Many tools also can be used as weapons despite it not being their primary purpose. In an even wider sense, traps, self-defending NPCs  and lava can also be used as weapons.

Pre-Hardmode Swords
Swords are melee weapons which can be divided into 2 basic categories: Shortswords, and Broadswords. Shortswords have a very limited range and attack with a horizontal stabbing motion instead of an arc. Broadswords are swung overhead, which makes it easier to defeat flying and jumping enemies than shortswords.

Pre-Hardmode Yoyos
Yoyos are melee weapons that are flail-like, and when thrown, seek after the player's cursor.

Pre-Hardmode Spears
Spears are melee weapons that have decent range (somewhat better than swords), but attack using a stabbing motion (like a shortsword, except that spears can be aimed). Spears also have a good chance of hitting targets more than once, especially large enemies.

Pre-Hardmode Boomerangs
Boomerangs are melee weapons that come back to the player after being thrown. Their damage is listed as melee likely because they're physically thrown and use no ammo.

Pre-Hardmode Flails
Flails are melee weapons that consist of an object linked to the player by a chain, which can either be thrown or fired. Thrown flails can be suspended around the player indefinitely, whereas launched flails immediately return to the player.

Hardmode Other
These are Hardmode melee weapons that possess unique means of attack. Most also launch projectiles.

Pre-Hardmode Bows
Bows are ranged weapons that fire arrows as ammunition. Although several Bows deal no knockback, the arrows do (with the exception of the Bone Arrow and Heart Arrow).

Pre-Hardmode Others
Note: Water Gun and Slime Gun are pure vanity weapons. They cause purely aesthetic debuffs but don't do any damage or knockback and cannot be placed on a Weapon Rack.