Desert Tiger Staff

   

Desktop/Console/Mobile/Switch-Only Content: This information applies only to the Desktop, Console, Mobile, and Switch versions of Terraria.

Desert Tiger Staff

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Statistics

Type	Weapon
Damage	41 / 33 (Summon)
Knockback	4 (Weak)
Mana	10
Use time	36 (Very slow)
Velocity	40 (effective)
Tooltip	Summons a white tiger to fight for you
Rarity	08*
Sell	20
Research	1 required

Grants Buff

Buff	Desert Tiger
Buff tooltip	The desert tiger will fight beside you

Projectile created

• Desert Tiger
  
• Desert Tiger
  
• Desert Tiger (tier 1)
  
• Desert Tiger (tier 2)
  
• Desert Tiger (tier 3)
  

Sounds

Use

• Internal Item ID: 4607
• Internal Buff ID: 263
• Internal Projectile ID: 818, 831, 833, 834, 835

The Desert Tiger Staff is a Hardmode, post-Plantera summon weapon. It summons a Desert Tiger that deals contact damage to enemies. Every six seconds, the tiger can curl up and perform a pounce attack at nearby enemies, dealing 61 / 49 damage (1.5× the base damage), and passing through blocks to reach them. Additionally, it can deal critical hits with this attack. The Desert Tiger Staff can always be found inside the Dungeon's Desert Chest, which can only be unlocked by a Desert Key after Plantera has been defeated.

Tiger damage

	#	Contact	Pounce
Tier 1	1	41 / 33	61 / 49
	2	57 / 44	77 / 60
	3	73 / 55	94 / 71
Tier 2	4	90 / 66	110 / 82
	5	106 / 77	127 / 93
	6	123 / 88	143 / 104
Tier 3	7	139 / 99	159 / 115
	8	155 / 110	176 / 126
	9	172 / 121	192 / 137
	...

The Desert Tiger pouncing toward and proceeding to attack a Mimic.

The Desert Tiger Staff is special in that if used more than once, multiple tigers do not spawn – instead, the spawned tiger becomes stronger ( +16/+17 damage; 40% of the base damage / +11 damage; 33.33% of the base damage) and faster for each additional summon. The tiger will appear as a baby if summoned 1 to 3 times, an adult if summoned 4 to 6 times, and an armored adult if summoned 7 or more times. Other minions may be used in addition to the Desert Tiger.

Its best modifier is Ruthless. The Mythical modifier provides the widest array of stat bonuses, but these primarily affect the initial summon rather than the resulting minion. Additionally, minions cannot deal critical hits. The only lasting advantage a Mythical Desert Tiger Staff has over a Ruthless one is knockback. Note that the minion does deal critical hits when pouncing, though this attack is performed rather infrequently, in comparison.

Notes

• Although classified as a ground melee minion, it can still attack aerial enemies because of its pouncing ability.
• When pouncing, the tiger is capable of dealing magic critical hits, i.e., its critical strike chance can be amplified by both general crit-chance increases, like the effect of the Rage Potion, and magic crit-chance increases, like the Clairvoyance buff. On the  Desktop version,  Console version,  Mobile version, and  Nintendo Switch version, it deals regular, non-class-specific critical hits.
  • Only the initial pouncing attack triggers the Spectre Armor set bonus.
• The cooldown of the pounce attack is reduced to five seconds for a tiger of tier 2, and to four seconds for a tiger of tier 3.
• The tiger can only pounce at enemies that are within a 100×50-tile rectangle centered on the player.
• The tiger will pounce at enemies instantly once it is summoned; re-summoning the tiger will allow it to pounce repeatedly.

Tips

• The reforge cost of this weapon is disproportionately high compared to other summon weapons.
• The tiger kills any critters it comes in contact with. This may lead to a very surprising and unwanted Empress of Light summon, should the Prismatic Lacewing get pounced on by the tiger while it is engaging other enemies; this can be avoided by keeping a Guide To Critter Companionship in the inventory.
• It is better suited for singular targets rather than crowds. This is because, unlike most other summon weapons, additional summons only strengthens the initial summon, rather than summon additional minions. As such, for events or farming, the player may wish to use a different summon weapon instead of, or alongside the Desert Tiger, such as the Pygmy Staff.

Trivia

• The Stardust Dragon Staff and Abigail's Flower are the only other summon weapons that do not spawn a new minion but rather enhance the existing one.
• The Desert Tiger bears resemblance to real-life white tigers.

History

 Desktop version

• Desktop 1.4.3.3: Fixed an issue where Desert Tiger did not bounce on enemies correctly if the Journey Mode's time settings were set to paused or sped up.

• Desktop 1.4.1.2:
  • Now "bounces on" its current target if that target is in the air, staying more firmly latched on and dealing damage
  • Increased scaling damage per "minion slot" expended slightly (from 33% of base damage to 40% of base damage).

• Desktop 1.4.1:
  • Base damage increased from 33 to 41.
  • Hitbox size while using the pouncing attack increased.
  • Can no longer deal magic critical hits while pouncing, only regular critical hits.

• Desktop 1.4.0.1: Introduced.

 Console version

• Console 1.4.0.5.4.1: Introduced.

 Mobile version

• Mobile 1.4.0.5.0: Introduced.