Guide:Pirate Invasion strategies

Type	Boss Part
Environment	Pirate Invasion
AI Type	Rider AI
Damage	30/60/90 (melee); 60120180 (ranged)
Max Life	2000/4000/6000
Defense	20
KB Resist	100%
Immune to	All debuffs except Whip debuffs
Hurt
Killed

Type	Boss
Environment	Pirate Invasion
AI Type	Flying Dutchman AI
Damage	0
Max Life	50/100/150 (core) + 80001600024000 (4 cannons)
Defense	100
KB Resist	100%
Immune to	All debuffs
Hurt
Killed

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Issues:
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The Event[]

The Pirate Invasion is an event where numerous pirates invade the spawn point. It can occur in Hardmode randomly or by using a Pirate Map after an altar has been destroyed and the player has 200 or more max health. If those requirements have been fulfilled, there is a 3.27% chance if one has yet to be defeated, and a 1.96% chance if one has been defeated.

Enemies[]

The Parrot will fly about, trying to deal contact damage. It does not drop much and killing one will not help complete the event.
The Pirate Captain uses a gun and a cannon. The gun rapid-fires bullets, and the cannon will fire projectiles that explode on contact with a solid object, dealing very high damage. The captain drops a vast amount of loot. Only one can exist at a time.
Pirate Corsairs are the sword-wielding scalawags. They deal melee damage and move fairly rapidly. They drop even more loot than the Captain.
Pirate Crossbowers are one of the ranged pillagers of the event. They use their crossbows to fire flaming arrows from a distance. They drop the same amount of loot as their low-class cousins (all but the captain, his parrots, his ghost, and his ship). With their debuff and considerable damage, they are one of the larger threats if in the open.
Pirate Deadeyes carry bullet-firing guns. They are very inaccurate and are likely to miss. Nevertheless, one should take care to avoid their bullets if in the open.
Unarmed Pirate Deckhands can only attack via contact damage.
Pirate's Curses are the skeletal remains of the captain. They appear after the captain dies. They act like wraiths, flying through blocks, and are immune to traps. Specifically designed to thwart exploitation of the grounded enemies, these are a large threat to those in enclosed shelters.
The mini-boss of the event, the Flying Dutchman has four cannons that fire towards the player, and goes down once all four are destroyed. The Dutchman has the highest chance of loot drops.

Rewards[]

General Strategies[]

General Tips[]

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

For nocturnal bosses, starting the battle just after the sun sets (7:30 PM) will provide the maximum amount of time to defeat the boss. In Hardmode, the Moon Charm and/or Moon Stone and their upgrades are also useful at night.
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[]

Do not attempt to fight the Pirate Invasion in an open space during early Hardmode. The amount of enemies coupled with their abundant projectiles will quickly overwhelm an inexperienced or underequipped player. Instead, consider some simple preparation. With a secure, enclosed space, the event can be made easy. Simply construct a box-shaped building on or off the ground. When inside the box, no enemies will be able to reach the player. Attacking enemies will require weapons that can attack around or through blocks. If the player does not possess such weapons, their only option will be to place holes in the walls and fire projectiles through them, taking care not to be hit by enemy projectiles. It is best to place these holes in ceilings or floors to make it harder for ground enemies to fire into them. The Flying Dutchman cannot pass through blocks, so it will remain stuck against the walls of the box where the player can easily destroy its cannons. Do note that the Pirate's Curses, with trap immunity and the ability to fly through blocks, will be a large threat to those in shelter. It can help to make the shelter larger for space to dodge and fight the Curse.

Gearing Up[]

Armor[]

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 minions with Spider armor, then switch to the Treads for one more.

Weapons[]

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. Yoyos as a whole are useful for attacking from within shelter, though they have limited range.
The Adamantite Glaive and the Titanium Trident are good piercing weapons.
The Flying Knife is useful for attacking from within a safe box.
The Dao of Pow can be used to disrupt enemy lines due to the Confused Debuff.
The Shadowflame Knife can be used at range against both crowds and single targets, but requires the defeat of a Goblin Summoner during the Hardmode Goblin Army.

For Ranged Users[]

The Marrow and the Ice Bow (with Cursed Arrows or Venom Arrows) are all good bows. Even the Hellwing Bow (with the Endless Quiver) is still useful due to its infinite pierce.
- The Daedalus Stormbow (with Holy Arrows) is especially useful because it can attack from shelter.
- The Adamantite Repeater and Titanium Repeater (with the Endless Quiver) can be used if the stronger bows are unavailable.
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 The Destroyer has been defeated.
The Dart Rifle / Dart Pistol and the Toxikarp are great for debuffs. Use Ichor Darts for single targets, 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 damaging passersby. 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 deal high damage to both crowds and single targets. However, it requires a Magic Missile, necessitating exploration of the Dungeon.
The Medusa Head can attack multiple enemies at once if obtained.
The Spirit Flame has homing and powerful damage.
The Crystal Serpent is good against crowds.
The Unholy Trident is a good weapon, but it is dropped by deadly Red Devils.
The Crystal Vile Shard is weak and possesses limited range, but attacks directly through blocks and is useful for attacking enemies stuck outside the player's shelter.

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 enemies (putting walls behind the arena can make the spiders more mobile). If the Dreadnautilus has been defeated, the Sanguine Staff is a very powerful option.
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 dodging.
Ammo Reservation Potions and Archery Potions are good for rangers.
Magic Power Potions and Mana Regeneration Potions are must have for mages.
If the player possesses a minion, a Summoning Potion will increase capacity by 1.
Rage Potions or Wrath Potions are useful for almost all classes.

Accessories[]

Wings are extremely useful for mobility.
- The Frog Leg and its upgrades will dramatically increase the vertical mobility of wings.
Mobility accessories such as the Shield of Cthulhu 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 good for regaining Mana.

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