User blog:652Graystripe/Loot Guide: Solar Eclipse

The Solar Eclipse really got expanded in 1.3, and it's offering a lot more good loot. I chose to evaluate the loot so that you could know what's worth your time or not. I'd appreciate feedback and tips on this thing!

The basic format for evaluation, under my Solar Eclipse testing, is as follows:
 * Mooks: Swamp Thing, The Possessed, Frankenstein, Psycho, Fritz, Butcher
 * Flying: Deadly Sphere, Vampire, Reaper
 * Ranged: Eyezor, Dr. Man Fly
 * Boss: Nail Head, Mothron

Butcher Chainsaw
A powerful chainsaw with attacking stats, it works like most chainsaws and sparks as it cuts its enemies in two. It's fast and strong, but also very close range; it has no special abilities to help it out other than occasional fire. Flying enemies have a huge advantage over you with this weapon; rangers such as Nail Head will get lots of hits on you before you can get close, often in the thick of battle. It's also hard to turn, unlike a broadsword, and will put you in the line of fire next to stronger, faster mooks - Butcher is a good example of this. Recommended for close-quarters combat against weaker, slower enemies.

Eye of Cthulhu
A powerful, mobile yo-yo that is difficult to use well, like most of its kin. It does, however, have a significant range advantage over its compadres, and should be used to finish off or pick off ranged enemies from afar. It's also feasible for use against bosses, but really does not work well for DPS at all.

Psycho Knife
This knife's sole benefit over the stronger Butcher Chainsaw is that it can turn you invisible, until you kill something. That makes it only good for multiplayer.

Its broadsword nature allowed it to strike the flying enemies, particularly Deadly Spheres, that the Chainsaw had difficulty striking. It should only be used for flying enemies, since its range is worse than most weapons.

Ranged Weapons
Although this event comes with the knockback-immune Mothron, the Nail Gun did manage to hold its own for its devastating explosive ability. Most mooks (including the fast, mobile Butcher and Possessed) were stunlocked by its damage, then destroyed. Its issue comes in that firepower must be placed on a monster for a while until the explosion occurs, or else they will quickly overwhelm the wielder. Lack of accuracy against smaller flying enemies (Vampires and Spheres) also hurt it.

Magic Weapons
The Toxic Flask's main issue is its lack of ability to keep fast mooks under control. Mothron was spammed out of its mind and quickly succumbed to the poison gas, as did Nail Head; however, enemies such as Eyezor, Spheres and Butcher were able to avoid it and outdamage me out of the Flask's range. Use it for crowd control and general utility; beware of the mana cost.