Guide:Goblin Army strategies

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The Goblin Army is an event that can be fought once a Shadow Orb/Crimson Heart is smashed or a Goblin Battle Standard is used. The event consists of goblin-like enemies. Once initiated, the event will continue until enough enemies are defeated.

The Event

Pre-Hardmode

The event enemies consists of Goblin Peons, Goblin Thieves, Goblin Sorcerers, Goblin Archers, and Goblin Warriors. Each enemy does what its name describes (except thieves and peons). The enemies can also break down doors to attack NPCs, stressing the player. When an enemy is defeated, it can drop Spiky Balls and the Harpoon.

Hardmode

In Hardmode, a new enemy, the Goblin Summoner, can spawn. This enemy attacks by conjuring Shadowflame Apparations and Chaos Balls. Defeating the Summoner can result in it dropping the Shadowflame Knife, Shadowflame Bow, or the Shadowflame Hex Doll.

Preparation

General Tips

This content is transcluded from Guide:Practical tips § Combat.

• Boss battles can be won or lost before the battle ever starts. Choose your equipment and have it ready; find and/or make potions and placed buffs; use the highest-tier food you have available; set up an arena appropriate to the boss; learn the strategies for the boss you're facing.
• Prepare your Boss-fighting arena with adequate lighting, Campfires and Heart Lanterns for health regeneration, and Stars in Bottles for mana regeneration if you use magic. Bast Statues will provide a significant defensive boost. Garden Gnomes and (if underground) proper torch placement will reduce damage taken and increase damage dealt due to the luck. Note Torch God's Favor helps with this. Honey pools can also be used for extra health regeneration.
• Sunflowers provide the Happy! buff to players within a 50-tile radius, which grants a +10% movement speed bonus and 17% reduction in enemy spawn rate.
• Always carry around a stack of the highest-tier healing potion available, as relying only on natural Health Regeneration is not a good idea. Depending on the game stage, this can include items such as Mushrooms or Honeyfins. On the  PC,  Console,  Mobile, and  tModLoader versions, Restoration Potions are healing potions with a shorter cooldown.
  • Likewise carry mana potions, if you use Magic.
  • The Strange Brew is also an option, but its weak healing effect will trigger the Potion Sickness cooldown as well as Mana Sickness. On the  Old-gen console version,  Windows Phone version,  Old Chinese version, Nintendo 3DS version, and  tModLoader 1.3-Legacy version, Restoration Potions can save a slot, but will likewise trigger both cooldowns.
• It is suggested to build houses for the Dryad and the Nurse NPCs in your arena. The former casts the Dryad's Blessing buff, which increases your defense and provides you with a thorns-like effect, while the latter can heal and remove debuffs instantly, at the cost of some coins.
• Bosses are displayed on the Minimap: Follow the boss's icon to track it when you're struggling to find it. You can identify the boss icons by checking their respective wiki pages.
• Once you have freed the Mechanic in the Dungeon, you can use Wire to enhance your arena with Traps and helpful Heart and Star Statues. The former helps to damage the enemies, though be careful to set them up correctly in order not to hurt yourself during the battle. The latter will spawn heart and star pickups, respectively. Connect these devices to timers.
• It may be useful to summon and kill the Eye of Cthulhu or King Slime before summoning any harder boss in order to spawn an extra one-use pool of Hearts. Note that this will prevent any Heart Statues from spawning new Hearts.
• Remember to use the Sharpening Station, Ammo Box, Crystal Ball, Bewitching Table, and Slice of Cake before you go to explore or battle bosses/invasions. These will give boosts that are useful to take, with the first four being class-specific. They give Sharpened, Ammo Box, Clairvoyance, Bewitched, and Sugar Rush, respectively.

Terrain Preparation

Due to the Mechanic likely not being available and most enemies are grounded, a simple lava pit with a thin layer of lava is ideal. The lava should just thick enough to burn the enemies but not drops. Once hardmode is entered and the Goblin Tinkerer found, raise the lava levels so it burns copper coins but not silver. Don't worry about the spiky balls as you can buy them and there are better sources of damage. Make sure there are Town NPC's nearby if you wish to perform this strategy or the goblins will not spawn, and be wary of Goblin Sorcerers and the Goblin Summoner. You can also add a roof in order to hang the relative Banner.

Gearing Up

Armor

Pre-Hardmode

• Crimson Armor should be used due to many armors being unavailable.
• Shadow Armor can also be used if one prefers mobility over defense.
• A mage can use the Wizard Set with the Meteor Leggings for magic damage.
• The Meteor Armor is also useful for mages.
• After the player has defeated Queen Bee, Summoners can use Bee Armor.

Hardmode

• Palladium Armor can be used with the corresponding head piece for regeneration.
• Orichalcum Armor can be used with the corresponding head piece for crowd control.
• Titanium Armor gives the most defense and should be used with the corresponding head piece.
• If one does not mind hybrid sets, warriors and rangers should use theFrost Breastplate, Forbidden Treads, and their corresponding Adamantite Head piece.
• A mage can use the Wizard Set with the Forbidden Treads, however, this is very frail. Otherwise, a wizard should use Adamantite armor if the other sets are unavailable.
• A summoner should use Spider Armor with the Forbidden Treads. Summon all your minions with Spider armor, then switch to the Treads for one more.

Weapons

Pre-Hardmode

For Melee Users

• the Enchanted Sword is useful as it has high damage for its obtainment and shoots a projectile. If it is unavailable, the Blood Butcherer can be used. If in a corruption world, the Phaseblade should be used, as it has more range and is only slightly slower than the Light's Bane.
• The Starfury, if you are able to obtain it, produces a strong projectile that can pass through blocks, allowing for use from inside a closed space. Sorcerer attacks will still reach the player.
• The Code 1 is useful for dealing damage while under cover. If it has not been obtained, the Amazon is a good backup.
• As the goblins come in mass hordes, the Swordfish or The Rotted Fork can be used for piercing multiple enemies.
• The Thorn Chakram is useful for dealing with pesky Sorcerers and Archers from a distance.
• The Ball O' Hurt or The Meatball can be used to disrupt enemy lines. On the  PC version,  Console version,  Mobile version, and  tModLoader version, they can also be swung around to easily block attacks by Sorcerers.

For Ranged Users

• The best bows available are the Demon Bow and the Tendon Bow. However, if Queen Bee Has been defeated, The Bee's Knees is an excellent option.
• The Minishark should be used due to its rapid rate of fire. The Star Cannon is also useful due to its high damage.

For Magic Users

• TheRuby Staff or Diamond Staff are the best gem staves, but the Vilethorn is useful for piercing damage and the Crimson Rod can be used for damaging passing goblins.
• The Space Gun is useful due to its rapid rate of fire.
• The Water Bolt is useful for piercing damage.

For Summoners

Options are limited before Hardmode:

• The Slime Staff is rare and weak, but will at least allow attacking from shelter.
• After the player has defeated Queen Bee, the Hornet Staff is quite useful.
• TheImp Staff is even more powerful, but requires a dangerous trip down to the Underworld.

For Throwers

Some Beenades can be used for crowd control.

Spiky Balls are also a strong choice for crowd control.

Normal Grenades can be used if you have a large quantity of them.

Using Frost Daggerfish can also be useful.

Hardmode

For Melee Users

• the Titanium Sword is useful as it has high damage. If it is unavailable, the Adamantite Sword can be used. The Ice Sickle is also useful.
• The Amarok is useful due to the Frostburn Debuff.
• The Adamantite Glaive and the Titanium Trident are good piercing weapons.
• The Flying Knife is useful for dealing with the Goblin Summoner as it can be controlled.
• The Dao of Pow can be used to disrupt enemy lines due to the Confused Debuff (although some goblins are immune).
• The Shadowflame Knife is very useful if one can acquire it during the event.

For Ranged Users

• The Marrow and the Ice Bow (with Cursed Arrows or Venom Arrows), and the Daedalus Stormbow (with Holy Arrows) are all good bows. Even the Hellwing Bow (with the Endless Quiver) is still useful due to its infinite pierce.
• The Adamantite Repeater and Titanium Repeater (with the Endless Quiver) can be used if one has not obtained them.
• The Clockwork Assault Rifle (with Crystal Bullets or Ichor Bullets), the Onyx Blaster (with Ichor Bullets), the Phoenix Blaster, the Star Cannon, and the Uzi (with the Endless Musket Pouch) are excellent choices. The Megashark (with the Endless Musket Pouch) is even better if you've beaten The Destroyer.
• The Dart Rifle/Dart Pistol and the Toxikarpare great for debuffs. Use Ichor Darts for the Summoner, Cursed Darts for singular enemies, and Crystal Darts for crowds. The Flamethrower is also good if one has beaten Skeletron Prime.

For Magic Users

• The Flower of Frost is useful for debuffs. The Flower of Fire is a weaker version. The Life Drain is great against crowds, while the Clinger Staff is useful for barriers. The Nimbus Rod can be used for damage for passerby. The Frost Staff is also good.
• The Golden Shower, the Cursed Flames, and the Crystal Storm are all good weapons for debuffs and rapid damage respectively. The Demon Scythe can be used for close combat.
• The Sky Fracture is a very powerful weapon and can decimate the goblin forces. However, it requires a Magic Missile, which the player may not have. The Medusa Head can kill multiple goblins at once fully charged. However, it is a rare drop from Medusas . The Spirit Flame is also good. The Crystal Serpent is good against crowds. The Unholy Trident is a good weapon, but it is dropped by deadly Red Devils.

For Summoners

• The Spider Staff is available early, and a solid improvement over the Pre-Hardmode options, especially with the spiders' ability to latch onto Summoners (putting walls behind your arena can make the spiders more mobile). Later staffs such as the Pirate Staff are also good.
• For sentries, one should use the Queen Spider Staff as it is the best one available.

Potions

• Any food that gives the Well Fed buff gives minor stat buffs to everything. Good ones are the Bowl of Soup, Christmas Pudding, and Pumpkin Pie.
• Ironskin Potions, Endurance Potions and Regeneration Potions will help tremendously with survivability.
• Swiftness Potions will aid in your dodging.
• Ammo Reservation Potions and Archery Potions are good for rangers.
• Magic Power Potions and Mana Regeneration Potions are must have for mages.
• If you already have a minion, a Summoning Potion lets you bring an extra one to the fight.
• Rage Potions or Wrath Potions are useful for almost all classes.

Accessories

Pre-Hardmode

• Any Cloud in a Bottle-like item is great for jump boosts. If you can, combine them with a Shiny Red Balloon.
• Hermes Boots are a great option, due to the speed increase.
• A Band of Regeneration can help with healing. It's best to put it in the Vanity Accessories slot until you need to heal.
• An Anklet of the Wind can help with evasion. An Aglet is easier to find, but doesn't work as well.
• A Frog Leg will give you improved jumping abilities, including increased height and automatic jumping but it can only be found by fishing, with an incredibly rare 1:500 chance to get it.
• If you're playing in Expert Mode, the the Shield of Cthulhu is a great choice for quick evasion and extra damage.
• If you've found the Goblin Tinkerer, Hermes Boots, an Anklet of the Wind, an Aglet, and purchased Rocket Boots, you can make Lightning Boots, or, if you have Frostspark Boots. If you have Lava Waders, you can make Terraspark Boots, which is even better, although only possible on the  PC version,  Console version,  Mobile version, and  tModLoader version.
• The Shark Tooth Necklace is a very good increase to DPS, especially on Expert Mode.
• If you are going for a melee approach, the Magma Stone is a slight increase to your DPS.
• The Worm Scarf will dramatically reduce damage.

Hardmode

• Wings are extremely useful in hardmode.
• Mobility accessories such as the Shield of Cthulhu or Frog Leg are very useful as well.
• Damage increasing accessories such as any Emblem, the Mechanical or Fire Gauntlet and Magic Quiver are always a good choice.
• Variants of the Cobalt Shield and Cross Necklace can prevent hits.
• Magic Cuffs are still good for regaining Mana.

Strategies

• It is recommended that you build a sky base to keep your NPCs from ground troops.