As you all know, it is quite easy for non-mana users to get an early-game weapon. (i.e. rangers get wood bow and melee get a wood sword) However, the mana users (mage & summoner) and the sub-classes (throwing and tank) struggle to get gear. Tanks (sub-class of melee that's more high defense than damage) don't need weapons, but high-defense armor would be nice. Mages and summoners need weapons that you can get before the second day easily, and throwing weapons need some craftables. Class-specific armor early-game would also be nice, so I've got some ideas.
Tank
So, the tank armor. It needs to:
- give high defense boost
- draw aggro
- reduce move speed to balance.
Clay isn't being used for much other than building, and it's heavy, thick and is hard when heated, so how about:
Clay Armor
Mask: +3 defense, -7% movement speed,
x20 and
x5 @
Chestplate: +5 defense, -13% movement speed, +7% melee damage,
x35 and
x10 @
Boots: +4 defense, -10% movement speed, +4% melee crit chance,
x25 and
x7 @
Set Bonus: Enemies are more likely to target you
Total: +12 defense, -30% movement speed, +7% melee damage, +4% melee crit chance, enemies are more likely to target you,
x80 and
x22 @
This should help melee players a bit, and tanks a lot on a multiplayer server.
Throwing
Another sub-class, this time of ranged, throwing could be considered its own class with its own damage, armor, etc. however, it is still a new and small class and I consider it a sub-class, just like summoner before 1.3. Crafting throwing weapons would be nice, yet too many mods do ore throwing weapons (including mine). Some unique ones that, to my knowledge, have not been done, are:
Living Wood Javelin
(cool sprite by @PrashBricks III )
5 throwing damage, pierces thrice, 33/1
@ 
Easy-to-access throwing weapon for fighting hordes of enemies and good for throwing playthroughs, also allows for more living wood content. Deals less damage than cactus shuriken but pierces more.
Cactus Shuriken
(cool sprite by @PrashBricks III )
7 throwing damage, pierces once, 33/1
@
Another easy-to access throwing weapon, deals more damage than living wood javelin but pierces less. Spiky!
Ice Knives
6 throwing damage, pierces twice, 33/2
@
Final throwing weapon, balance between previous two. Req. 2 ice instead of one because it's so common.
Armor Changes
We needn't add new throwing armor, just tweak previous ones. Some tweaks to make:
Cactus Armor
Helmet: +2 defense, 13% chance not to consume throwing items,
x35 and
x1 @
Breastplate: +3 defense, +12% throwing dmg,
x50 and
x2 @
Leggings: +2 defense, +6% throwing crit chance, +8% movement speed,
x40 and
x1 @
Set Bonus: +20% chance not to consume throwing items, deals 10% of damage taken back
Total: +7 defense, +12% throwing dmg, +6% throwing crit, +8% move speed, +33% chance not to consume throwing items, deals 10% of damage taken back,
x125 and
x4 @
These changes should add throwing variety and give the pre-HM desert a throwing feel, whilst not making cactus armor OP by tweaking the recipe.
Gladiator Armor
Gladiator armor is a set that has unused potential. Even the official terraria wiki says:
"Due to the immense power of Hoplites, along with the drop chance for each piece of the set, by the time the player obtains this armor set it wouldn't be worth the effort".
This is a shame because it would make great throwing armor! Here's some changes:
Drop chance to 5% (1/20) (from 1.666% (1/60))
Helmet: +3 defense, +10% throwing crit chance
Breastplate: +4 defense, +16% throwing damage
Leggings: +3 defense, +12% movement speed, +2% throwing crit chance
Set bonus: either a) Throwing attacks ignore 33% of armor OR
b) Throwing a throwing weapon has a 10% chance to also throw a net; does 22 base damage and inflicts "Slowed" for 8 sec
Total: +10 defense, +16% throwing damage, +12% throwing crit chance, +12% move speed + set bonus
Ranger Armor
I agree with @Zoomo and @Sir Edeneric; rangers do get screwed over by a lack of pre-skeletron armor. Reliably getting ranger armor to fight skeletron, EoW, EoC, BoC, etc. is impossible because no such armor exists. I propose:
Shark Armor
Shark armor is a shark-based set that focuses on high-damage, high-velocity shots. This is well paired with shark-tooth necklace (because you need all the armor pen you can get!) and a book of ichor if used in HM (0 defense on most HM mobs!)
Shark Cap
3 defense, +18% ranged damage and crit chance, -6% ranged speed and spread,
x5 and
x10 @
Shark Cape
5 defense, +20% ranged damage and crit chance, -10% ranged speed and spread, +5 armor penetration,
x10 and
x20 @
Shark Pants
3 defense, +10% ranged crit chance, -4% ranged speed and spread, +5 armor penetration,
x8 and
x16 @
Set Bonus: Critical hits ignore 33% of armor, enemies are less likely to target you, +20% velocity
Total: +38% ranged damage, +40% ranged crit chance, -20% ranged speed, +10 armor penetration, critical hits ignore 33% of armor, +20% velocity.
Wasp Armor
This is an idea that I have written down in a doc but never actually wrote stats for. I think it will make pre-HM jungle even more substantial and make Queen Bee even more important to beat. Also, this will be the 3rd ranged armor pre-HM (and I want my favorite class to have something other then necro and shark). It's the polar opposite of Shark armor; it's late-pre-HM (instead of early-ish middle), it adds spread and fire rate but doesn't increase ranged damage (versus the shark armor being low-speed high damage shots), and it's in the jungle (instead of the ocean).
Wasp Mask
4 defense, +7% ranged speed and spread, +6% ranged crit chance,
x6 and
x4 @
Wasp Stingmail
6 defense, +11% ranged speed and ranged spread, getting hit deals 15% of damage taken back,
x10 and
x8 @
Wasp Pants
5 defense, +8% ranged and movement speed and spread,
x8 and
x6 @
Set Bonus: Ranged attacks have a 6.666% chance to inflict Venom
Total: +26% ranged speed and spread, +8% movement spread, getting hit deals 15% of damage taken back, Ranged attacks have a 6.666% chance to inflict Venom
To summarize (and exaggerate the effects): Wasp Armor turns a sniper rifle into an AK-47, and Shark Armor turns an AK-47 into a sniper rifle.
More Ranged Weapon Options
Another thing that bothers me about Pre-HM; why are there not every type of ranged weapons? (i.e. flamethrowers and rocket launchers)
Grenade Gun
20 Ranged Damage, 40 use time (1.5 shots per second, 90 shots per minute), auto-use.
Drops from Skeletron (12.5%) (33% on Expert)
Uses grenades as ammo
Grenades bounce once and are affected by gravity
There is no upward velocity if aiming straight ahead, so you must aim up to hit enemies not close
Gee Mr. Awesomperson, isn't this massively underpowered? I mean, it only has 30 DPS!
No, it has 120. The grenades do 60 additional damage, for a total of 80. Times 1.5 is 120 DPS.
Isn't that OP?
See the abysmal 40 use time. It's great for crowd control and helps in the dungeon to get necro armor (especially if you're wearing shark armor; it does 109 damage per shot with it equiped! Although its shots per minute do get lowered to 72, it doesn't matter when you one-shot weak enemies!)
Frostthrower
(cool sprite by @PrashBricks III )
13 ranged damage
Same use time and attack type as Flamethrower
Uses Gel as ammo
Each hit has a 10% chance to inflict Frostburn (although Flamethrowers shoot 5 projectiles, believe it or not)
Crafted w/
x12 and
x25 @
These 2 new weapons will help with the hordes of enemies that the player will face in the Jungle and Dungeon (along with Wall of Flesh's hungry on Expert).
Magic Weapons
Whilst the other two core classes get a wooden weapon, mages do not. To solve this, I present:
Starry Wand
6 magic damage, shoots linear star projectile, 18 use time (3.333 shots per sec, ~200 shots per minute), auto-use. Crafted w/
x6 and
x1 @
This should work as a balanced magic weapon until you get an ore staff or wand of sparking.
Speaking of wand of sparking, its damage is buffed up to 10.
Mages do not need more armor, they have 3 sets.
Summoner
Summoner always gets screwed over when it comes to gear, not only do they only have bee armor pre-HM, but they also have a lot less weapons than throwing. To solve the latter:
Rock Staff
(summon is 
)
Summons a rock spirit w/ deadly sphere minion AI. 4 damage. Crafted with 25 stone and 10 wood @ Living Loom.
Armor
Armor Sets: (one easy to obtain and one mid-pre-HM)
Earth Armor
Helmet: +1 defense, +12% minion damage,
x15 and
x15 @
Chestplate: +2 defense, +1 max minions,
x25 and
x25 @
Boots: +1 defense, +8% movement speed, +4% minion size,
x20 and
x20 @
Set Bonus: Summons an earth spirit similar to chlorophyte set bonus. 9 summon damage.
Total: +4 defense, +1 max minions, +12% minion damage, +8% movement speed, +4% minion size, Earth Spirit,
x60 and
x60 @
And, something for the Ice Biome:
Frozen Armor
Helmet: +3 defense, +1 max minions, +4% minion range,
x10 and
x20 @
Breastplate: +5 defense, +1 max minions, +13% minion damage,
x20 and
x40 @
Leggings: +3 defense, +8% movement speed, +4% minion range,
x16 and
x32 @
Set bonus: Summoning weapons have a 33% chance to inflict the chilled debuff, +1 max minions
Total: +11 defense, +3 minion count, +13% minion damage, +8% minion range, +8% movement speed, summoning weapons have a 33% chance to inflict chilled,
x46 and
x92 @
I hope you enjoyed my suggestions! Credit to @PrashBricks III for making every idea sprite on this page except my Starry Wand: they look great!
(Please comment the gladiator set bonus you preferred and why!)
Votes: 1 in favor of 2nd set bonus (vote(s) from @PrashBricks III).
Reasons submitted for 2nd bonus:
The 2nd is more creative.
Old amount of each armor:
Melee: 3
Ranged: 1
Magic: 3
Summoner: 1
Throwing: 2
(unbalanced much?)
New amounts:
Melee: 4
Ranged: 3
Magic: 3
Summoner: 3
Throwing: 4
Tank
So, the tank armor. It needs to:
- give high defense boost
- draw aggro
- reduce move speed to balance.
Clay isn't being used for much other than building, and it's heavy, thick and is hard when heated, so how about:
Clay Armor
Set Bonus: Enemies are more likely to target you
Total: +12 defense, -30% movement speed, +7% melee damage, +4% melee crit chance, enemies are more likely to target you,
This should help melee players a bit, and tanks a lot on a multiplayer server.
Throwing
Another sub-class, this time of ranged, throwing could be considered its own class with its own damage, armor, etc. however, it is still a new and small class and I consider it a sub-class, just like summoner before 1.3. Crafting throwing weapons would be nice, yet too many mods do ore throwing weapons (including mine). Some unique ones that, to my knowledge, have not been done, are:
Living Wood Javelin
5 throwing damage, pierces thrice, 33/1
Easy-to-access throwing weapon for fighting hordes of enemies and good for throwing playthroughs, also allows for more living wood content. Deals less damage than cactus shuriken but pierces more.
Cactus Shuriken
7 throwing damage, pierces once, 33/1
Another easy-to access throwing weapon, deals more damage than living wood javelin but pierces less. Spiky!
Ice Knives
6 throwing damage, pierces twice, 33/2
Final throwing weapon, balance between previous two. Req. 2 ice instead of one because it's so common.
Armor Changes
We needn't add new throwing armor, just tweak previous ones. Some tweaks to make:
Cactus Armor
Set Bonus: +20% chance not to consume throwing items, deals 10% of damage taken back
These changes should add throwing variety and give the pre-HM desert a throwing feel, whilst not making cactus armor OP by tweaking the recipe.
Gladiator Armor
Gladiator armor is a set that has unused potential. Even the official terraria wiki says:
"Due to the immense power of Hoplites, along with the drop chance for each piece of the set, by the time the player obtains this armor set it wouldn't be worth the effort".
This is a shame because it would make great throwing armor! Here's some changes:
Drop chance to 5% (1/20) (from 1.666% (1/60))
Set bonus: either a) Throwing attacks ignore 33% of armor OR
b) Throwing a throwing weapon has a 10% chance to also throw a net; does 22 base damage and inflicts "Slowed" for 8 sec
Ranger Armor
I agree with @Zoomo and @Sir Edeneric; rangers do get screwed over by a lack of pre-skeletron armor. Reliably getting ranger armor to fight skeletron, EoW, EoC, BoC, etc. is impossible because no such armor exists. I propose:
Shark Armor
Shark armor is a shark-based set that focuses on high-damage, high-velocity shots. This is well paired with shark-tooth necklace (because you need all the armor pen you can get!) and a book of ichor if used in HM (0 defense on most HM mobs!)
3 defense, +18% ranged damage and crit chance, -6% ranged speed and spread,
5 defense, +20% ranged damage and crit chance, -10% ranged speed and spread, +5 armor penetration,
3 defense, +10% ranged crit chance, -4% ranged speed and spread, +5 armor penetration,
Set Bonus: Critical hits ignore 33% of armor, enemies are less likely to target you, +20% velocity
Total: +38% ranged damage, +40% ranged crit chance, -20% ranged speed, +10 armor penetration, critical hits ignore 33% of armor, +20% velocity.
Wasp Armor
This is an idea that I have written down in a doc but never actually wrote stats for. I think it will make pre-HM jungle even more substantial and make Queen Bee even more important to beat. Also, this will be the 3rd ranged armor pre-HM (and I want my favorite class to have something other then necro and shark). It's the polar opposite of Shark armor; it's late-pre-HM (instead of early-ish middle), it adds spread and fire rate but doesn't increase ranged damage (versus the shark armor being low-speed high damage shots), and it's in the jungle (instead of the ocean).
4 defense, +7% ranged speed and spread, +6% ranged crit chance,
6 defense, +11% ranged speed and ranged spread, getting hit deals 15% of damage taken back,
5 defense, +8% ranged and movement speed and spread,
Set Bonus: Ranged attacks have a 6.666% chance to inflict Venom
Total: +26% ranged speed and spread, +8% movement spread, getting hit deals 15% of damage taken back, Ranged attacks have a 6.666% chance to inflict Venom
To summarize (and exaggerate the effects): Wasp Armor turns a sniper rifle into an AK-47, and Shark Armor turns an AK-47 into a sniper rifle.
More Ranged Weapon Options
Another thing that bothers me about Pre-HM; why are there not every type of ranged weapons? (i.e. flamethrowers and rocket launchers)
Grenade Gun
20 Ranged Damage, 40 use time (1.5 shots per second, 90 shots per minute), auto-use.
Drops from Skeletron (12.5%) (33% on Expert)
Uses grenades as ammo
Grenades bounce once and are affected by gravity
There is no upward velocity if aiming straight ahead, so you must aim up to hit enemies not close
Gee Mr. Awesomperson, isn't this massively underpowered? I mean, it only has 30 DPS!
No, it has 120. The grenades do 60 additional damage, for a total of 80. Times 1.5 is 120 DPS.
Isn't that OP?
See the abysmal 40 use time. It's great for crowd control and helps in the dungeon to get necro armor (especially if you're wearing shark armor; it does 109 damage per shot with it equiped! Although its shots per minute do get lowered to 72, it doesn't matter when you one-shot weak enemies!)
Frostthrower
13 ranged damage
Same use time and attack type as Flamethrower
Uses Gel as ammo
Each hit has a 10% chance to inflict Frostburn (although Flamethrowers shoot 5 projectiles, believe it or not)
Crafted w/
These 2 new weapons will help with the hordes of enemies that the player will face in the Jungle and Dungeon (along with Wall of Flesh's hungry on Expert).
Magic Weapons
Whilst the other two core classes get a wooden weapon, mages do not. To solve this, I present:
Starry Wand
6 magic damage, shoots linear star projectile, 18 use time (3.333 shots per sec, ~200 shots per minute), auto-use. Crafted w/
This should work as a balanced magic weapon until you get an ore staff or wand of sparking.
Speaking of wand of sparking, its damage is buffed up to 10.
Mages do not need more armor, they have 3 sets.
Summoner
Summoner always gets screwed over when it comes to gear, not only do they only have bee armor pre-HM, but they also have a lot less weapons than throwing. To solve the latter:
Rock Staff
)Summons a rock spirit w/ deadly sphere minion AI. 4 damage. Crafted with 25 stone and 10 wood @ Living Loom.
Armor
Armor Sets: (one easy to obtain and one mid-pre-HM)
Earth Armor
Set Bonus: Summons an earth spirit similar to chlorophyte set bonus. 9 summon damage.
Total: +4 defense, +1 max minions, +12% minion damage, +8% movement speed, +4% minion size, Earth Spirit,
And, something for the Ice Biome:
Frozen Armor
Set bonus: Summoning weapons have a 33% chance to inflict the chilled debuff, +1 max minions
Total: +11 defense, +3 minion count, +13% minion damage, +8% minion range, +8% movement speed, summoning weapons have a 33% chance to inflict chilled,
I hope you enjoyed my suggestions! Credit to @PrashBricks III for making every idea sprite on this page except my Starry Wand: they look great!
(Please comment the gladiator set bonus you preferred and why!)
Votes: 1 in favor of 2nd set bonus (vote(s) from @PrashBricks III).
Reasons submitted for 2nd bonus:
The 2nd is more creative.
Old amount of each armor:
Melee: 3
Ranged: 1
Magic: 3
Summoner: 1
Throwing: 2
(unbalanced much?)
New amounts:
Melee: 4
Ranged: 3
Magic: 3
Summoner: 3
Throwing: 4
Last edited:
