Guide:Skeletron Prime strategies

Skeletron Prime, the Hardmode version of Skeletron, is a difficult boss with high damage, HP, and defense. As with all Hardmode bosses, it is best to prepare as much as possible ahead of time.

Boss
Skeletron Prime is a flying boss that consists of five parts:
 * Prime Vice, a melee arm, with 10000 health.
 * Prime Saw, a melee arm, with 10000 health.
 * Prime Laser, a ranged arm that fires lasers, with 6000 health.
 * Prime Cannon, a ranged arm that fires bombs, with 7000 health.
 * Skeletron Prime, the head, with 30000 health.

Note that to defeat Skeletron Prime, it is enough to only kill the head.

Equipment
An optimal gear build for fighting Skeletron Prime for the first time without gear from other Hardmode bosses would be:

Armor: Full Adamantite armor, with the ranged or magic helm. The use of melee is not recommended due to the high contact damage, two melee arms, spinning head attack, and the requirement for close proximity.

Weapons: For ranged, Adamantite Repeater with Cursed Arrow, as they have the highest base arrow damage, and the Cursed Inferno debuff can be applied to the boss. A Clockwork Assault Rifle with Cursed Bullets, which allows for greater accuracy over arrows at the cost of lower damage, can also work. For magic, Laser Rifle or Cursed Flames are preferred due to the rapid fire rates and long ranges. Again, melee is not recommended.

Accessories: Optimal accessories can vary based on playstyle and availability, but some are highly recommended, such as:


 * Obsidian Shield for added defense as well as knockback immunity.
 * Angel Wings/Demon Wings for high speed flying maneuverability and slow fall.
 * Ranger Emblem/Sorcerer Emblem for the 15% damage increase.
 * Mana Flower for the reduced mana usage and auto mana potion consumption (if using magic).

Other useful accessories include:
 * Spectre Boots
 * Philosopher's Stone
 * Band of Regeneration
 * Star Cloak

These should be reforged for defense or damage, possibly movement speed if not using Spectre Boots.

Potions: As with all bosses, potion buffs are easily acquired stat boosts that help significantly. The following should always be used:
 * Ironskin Potion
 * Regeneration Potion
 * Bowl of Soup
 * Archery Potion (if using an Adamantite Repeater)
 * Mana Regeneration Potion (if using magic)
 * Magic Power Potion (if using magic)
 * Swiftness Potion (if not using Spectre Boots)

The following are useful, but not required:
 * Hunter Potion
 * Night Owl Potion
 * Shine Potion
 * Gravitation Potion

PLight's Method
Both of the flying hardmode bosses are likely best solo'd by air while running primarily in one direction. As such, a two or three level skybridge made of wooden platforms running a significant length of the map would give the player a distinct advantage. While gravitation potions would effectively allow you to combat the bosses by air, it can be difficult to work out the leading with ranged weapons while flipping gravity, and Prime's motions are somewhat more predictable if running on a mostly level surface instead of flying all around. This is important - even if ammunition is not a limiting factor, time certainly will be. Once day breaks, his damage goes to over 9000 and his defense renders most of your attacks useless. Hermes Boots are required for the skybridge method - that or a handful of Anklet of the Winds and a Swiftness Potion or four. Any accessories you bring should be reforged to have greater combat power. A well-functioning build consists of full Adamantite armor (melee), a Hallowed Repeater + Cursed Arrows or Hellfire Arrows, a Megashark and/or Clockwork Assault Rifle + Crystal Bullets/Cursed Bullets/Meteor Shot (Crystals have splash damage, but less damage than cursed on average, and lack the Cursed Inferno debuff, while meteors can pierce multiple targets - which is useful for this boss as his orbiting limbs will often get in the way of your attacks), as well as an Adamantite Glaive/Excalibur if you feel like trying to melee. For potions, Ironskin Potions, Regeneration Potions, Thorns Potions, Swiftness Potions, and Gravitation Potions are all useful. Be sure to bring a stack of Greater Healing Potions as well. For accessories, I personally used Angel Wings, Spectre Boots, Obsidian Shield, Cloud in a Balloon, and Diving Gear, all of which had been reforged for defense or speed, and using this build I managed to get it down to 1300 health and kill the Prime Cannon and Prime Laser before sunrise, though I missed most of my shots. Using the outlined Skybridge method should make Prime easier to hit, however.

Necrodoom's Method
Since the main issue with this this boss is killing it before sunrise, ive decided to use a different type of arena, more focused on staying close to boss than running away from it.

The Arena
A box of wood platforms, allowing you to circle around the boss while not destroying your aim with a gravity potion. add a ceiling to block the prime cannon's shot and make it useless.

Items To Use
Most important is rocket boots or wings (rocket boots more recommended, boosts faster), this is the key in circling the boss, without it the boss will beat you up easily. take your strongest gun and remember that the boss has high defence.

The Battle
This is the order of priority of things to shoot at: 1. Prime laser 2. Prime saw 3. Prime head

Ignore the vice and the cannon, since cannon is made useless by ceiling, and the vice's AI will render itself useless against your constant circling.

Simply circle around boss, aim your gun at the prime laser, and pray for it to come down before you die due to using potions too fast. Once its down, the battle suddenly becomes much easier. Destroy the saw to prevent it from depleting the rest of your potions, and pound away at the head undamaged until its down.