Rate the Weapon: Day Eleven - Nimbus Rod

[Ami]

Inspired by another topic, it occurs to me that many of us think weapons are bad or unusable, simply because we know what we like. But, do we know what we DON'T like? What's a worthy investment of your time and resources? In the case of polls which have multiple items bunched together, such as the ore swords, pick only the best one. If you love silver sword, but think iron sword is a waste of the bars, vote as if this were a poll for silver sword. I'll be logging these in a spreadsheet and making a compilation of which items users think are good, bad, OP, or a waste of space.
If they're bad, what would make them better? Lower cost? Autoswing? Projectiles? Different attack animation?
If they're OP, what would make them balanced?

Day Eleven: Nimbus Rod

It's sustained damage for a minimal mana cost. It can be used on every character efficiently, and it's got a highly respectable 1/15 drop rate. If I'm not playing for speed, or in a challenge that restricts the use of this item, I'll try to farm for it every single game as a top priority when it's raining. Despite the fact you can farm for this the second you enter hard mode, this weapon is amazing vs monsters as late as the celestial pillars, as is shown in the hardcore videos in my signature. If there was a stronger endgame version of this, I'd straight up call it overpowered.

Pre-Hardmode items
Day 7 - Pistols - 4.14 - (34 votes)
Day 4 - Yoyos - 4.00 - (12 votes)
Day 8 - Covered in BEES! - 3.81 - (21 votes) - Surpassed by yoyos
Day 5 - Boomerangs - 3.44 - (18 votes)
Day 2 - Ore Bows - 3.48 - (25 votes)
Day 10 - Gem Staves - 3.37 - (8 votes)
Day 3 - Grenades - 3.34 - (23 votes)
Day 9 - Throwing knife/shuriken family - 2.69 (13 votes)
Day 1 - Ore Swords - 2.52 - (21 votes) - Everyone agrees these are not very good, but have no idea how to improve them.
Day 6 - Flails - 2.04 - (24 votes)

 

[Aurora3500]

Anytime it's raining at the start of Hardmode, this weapon is the next thing I get after getting Ice Feathers and Frost Cores from killing Ice Golems.

It's extremely useful against the Mech bosses and the Destroyer in particular, so useful that it has made me regret underestimating and not actively trying to get this weapon back in the days of early 1.2 when I couldn't beat any Mech Boss without the Mushroom Spear.

Aside from it's use with bosses, it is very useful for events such as the Solar Eclipse/Pirate Invasion making it easier to safely kill enemies from a mostly protected area you've built for yourself. Along with farms underground when you want to farm many enemies in a biome for materials, and it's inefficient to run around killing everything.

Taking this into account, I decided that 6 - Always fit my vote the most.

 

[Trash Boat]

Inspired by another topic, it occurs to me that many of us think weapons are bad or unusable, simply because we know what we like. But, do we know what we DON'T like? What's a worthy investment of your time and resources? In the case of polls which have multiple items bunched together, such as the ore swords, pick only the best one. If you love silver sword, but think iron sword is a waste of the bars, vote as if this were a poll for silver sword. I'll be logging these in a spreadsheet and making a compilation of which items users think are good, bad, OP, or a waste of space.
If they're bad, what would make them better? Lower cost? Autoswing? Projectiles? Different attack animation?
If they're OP, what would make them balanced?

Day Eleven: Nimbus Rod

It's sustained damage for a minimal mana cost. It can be used on every character efficiently, and it's got a highly respectable 1/15 drop rate. If I'm not playing for speed, or in a challenge that restricts the use of this item, I'll try to farm for it every single game as a top priority when it's raining. Despite the fact you can farm for this the second you enter hard mode, this weapon is amazing vs monsters as late as the celestial pillars, as is shown in the hardcore videos in my signature. If there was a stronger endgame version of this, I'd straight up call it overpowered.

Pre-Hardmode items
Day 7 - Pistols - 4.14 - (34 votes)
Day 4 - Yoyos - 4.00 - (12 votes)
Day 8 - Covered in BEES! - 3.81 - (21 votes) - Surpassed by yoyos
Day 5 - Boomerangs - 3.44 - (18 votes)
Day 2 - Ore Bows - 3.48 - (25 votes)
Day 3 - Grenades - 3.34 - (23 votes)
Day 9 - Throwing knife/shuriken family - 2.69 (13 votes)
Day 1 - Ore Swords - 2.52 - (21 votes) - Everyone agrees these are not very good, but have no idea how to improve them.
Day 6 - Flails - 2.04 - (24 votes)

I'm my god that weapons useful. It murders the destroyer and really helps with skeletron prime. I use it on all of my playthroughs

 

[CthuluIsSpy]

Its a good weapon for events, and adds a bit of extra DPS for bosses. At first I wasn't too keen on it, as I thought you could only cast 1 cloud, but the fact you could cast 2 makes it more viable.

Also, where's day 10 on your recap?

 

[Okkusen Man]

I almost always use it. For me the Nimbus Rod is one of a few weapons that I'll use throughout most of Hardmode. It isn't the strongest, but it still offers a bit of extra damage that makes it worth not passing up.

 

[Rául cannonball 13]

Nimbus rod .... This would be in the top 13 mana weapons for me. even in late game I'd still carry it around with me I play in 1.2.4

 

[Khaelis]

3 - Sometimes.

If I'm using magic and I happen to get one, I use it. Otherwise I tend to forget it even exists.

 

[Ezel]

4 - Often.

If I get the Nimbus Rod during rain, I use it as a help with Pirate Invasions, The Destroyer and even against the Martian Saucers. I also used it once against Plantera.

 

[Xylia]

What can I say about the Nimbus Rod?

It's an awesome item, it has tons of utility, it absolutely rips the Destroyer apart like no other weapon can (okok, Daedalus Stormbow notwithstanding), and you don't even need to be wearing magic armor. It's effective throughout most of Hardmode, up to and including the Lihzarhd Temple, and it is entirely viable to kill the Golem using JUST the Nimbus Rod, provided you take a few solid blocks of any kind and make a wall for him to get stuck up against.

It's essentially a turret weapon that you set up and let it do it's thing while you're free to do your thing for a couple minutes and it can rack up some kills if you pick a good spot to set the clouds up on.

This is everything the Crimson Rod failed to do. I was so happy when I found out an Easymode variant existed until I saw just how weak it was then I cried inside because I wanted the Crimson Rod to actually be viable (it isn't).

I almost always get a Nimbus Rod, no matter what kind of playthrough I'm doing unless I'm limiting myself to certain weapons. I prioritize getting a Nimbus Rod during the rain if I already had gotten a Frost Feather (that comes first). I'll set up workbenches with water candles in the forest to get Nimbus Rods. I bring guns to kill the clouds with. I WANT the Nimbus Rod ASAP!

 

[ManaUser]

Honestly I'm not a big fan of turret type weapons of any sort. I don't like have to switch between two different weapons unless I really need to. That said, this is clearly the best weapon in that category considering how early in hardmode you can get it.

 

[Xakk]

Nimbus Rod is well known as one of the most damaging weapons in the game, for good reason. Anything foolish enough to stand underneath one of these things for an extended period of time is going to get pulverized. It, like the Magic Dagger, simply hits so fast that it well outpaces it's sub-par damage value on volume. My last playthrough, the Destroyer fell with very little effort from me, simply because I dragged it back and forth underneath dual clouds. Add to that the fact that it keeps hitting without having to be recast, and has very long range (not even sure how far), and there you have it. I usually don't go after the Nimbus Rod - rain clouds are common enough to just wait for it. But if I didn't have it by the time I was gearing up for a mech boss I certainly would make a point to.

There are cons, of course. It has zero knockback, and most enemies move laterally, which means they'll only take at max 3 hits at a time from a cloud under normal circumstances. And of course, you're not hitting anyone on the level with you with this thing, you gotta wait for them to pass under it. All told not a great weapon against harpies. But against many things, especially bosses, and especially as a supplement to other weapons, it shines.

 

[Xylia]

simply because I dragged it back and forth underneath dual clouds.

My favorite trick is to try to get the worm to jump out of the ground vertically and then place both clouds above it.

The DPS man, the DPS is absolutely ridiculous. If you get lucky enough to where the worm exits the ground almost exactly vertical and has at least 10-15 segments exposed... you can shear off half of its HP in about 10 seconds.

 

[Mille Marteaux]

i never really liked the nimbus rod that much, other than killing things directly one tile below me. like, it's nice, but it's not anywhere near as essential as it's made out to be.

the earlygame crimson clone of it is slightly more useful, just because there's not much that fills that niche at that point in the game. the moment nimbus is available you can also just start farming for hallowed mimics.. and stormbow has a lot more staying power than nimbus rod does.

 

[Xylia]

i never really liked the nimbus rod that much, other than killing things directly one tile below me. like, it's nice, but it's not anywhere near as essential as it's made out to be.

the earlygame crimson clone of it is slightly more useful, just because there's not much that fills that niche at that point in the game. the moment nimbus is available you can also just start farming for hallowed mimics.. and stormbow has a lot more staying power than nimbus rod does.

Stormbow has very limited usefulness in enclosed spaces, yet the Nimbus Rod still rules the Dungeon and the Lihzarhd Temple, lol. I have set up Paladin farms where all you need is a specially-shaped nook and a nimbus rod and you can kill the Paladin and not take a single point of damage if done right. And of course the Lihzarhd Temple... killing scores and scores of Lihzarhds while doing practically nothing...

Stormbow can't do that.

 

[Mille Marteaux]

Viable list of alternatives to the Nimbus Rod at that progression stage, for either single-target or crowd control:
Flying Knife
Shadowflame Knife
Mushroom Spear
Terra Blade (if lucky enough through farming Eclipses)
Chlorophyte Shotbow

If restricting yourself to magic weapons:
Magic Dagger
Shadowflame Hex Doll
Crystal Serpent
Nettle Burst
Venom Staff

Depending on your skill level, you could argue for early Fishron drops, but anybody at the point where they can defeat Fishron early enough for those isn't exactly in the running to grind for a Nimbus Rod anyway.

Like, if you like using the weapon, that's fine. I just think it is far from "essential" as many people say.

 

[Turjan]

It's not really an either/or situation. The Nimbus Rod usually just falls into your lap, and it remains useful for a long time. To compare it with the likes of the Terra Blade and similar is beside the point, as you just click it once or twice in a minute, and I guess you do something else in the meanwhile. Of course, I think that the Daedalus Stormbow is more useful against the Destroyer, but for some reason, the RNG usually thinks I should not have that one. Also, the Daedalus Stormbow is more or less useless underground.

I don't think the Nimbus Rod is overpowered though. It depends on exact positioning and the target not moving, or lots of targets moving past. Its use is very situational, but it has its moments of glory.

 

[Varsia]

The Nimbus Staff seems to be one of the weapons I tend to just sort of get in HM. I'll use it now and then, but the passive nature of it makes it a weapon I'll often forget about, and ends up residing it that area just below my toolbar for spare weapons and tools. It's nice for helping deal with the mechs, but it ends up lasting too long to actively use but not long enough that I can fire-and-forget in a boss fight. Overall, gets a 3.

 

[terrafunbum]

I use it a lot.

Destroyer boss- build a platform high up where it can't reach then just use this item to rain down on it. Seempeelz