Well, 1.4.5 is taking a LOT longer to come out than I thought. So I decided now would be a good time to do a big update to the tier list.
First of all, I rewrote & streamlined the introductory text, as well as rewriting the tier definitions/criteria. As for the ranking itself, I've changed a bunch of placements for mainly one reason: I favor Hybrid Summoner builds a lot more than when I first made the list, since they outshine Whip Summoner most of the time. Additionally, many descriptions were changed or entirely rewritten, like Blade Staff and Dark Harvest.
Hornet Staff A- to B+: Aerial minions are simply not as good as grounded minions in pre-Hardmode. Hornet Staff has a low of raw power, but a lot of it is wasted by its low projectile velocity leading to a bunch of missed shots.
Imp Staff A- to B+: As I just said, aerial minions aren't as good as grounded minion in pre-Hardmode. And Imp Staff itself has disappointingly low damage output for a Hellstone weapon.
Blade Staff S to S-: It doesn't pair very well with Hybrid Summoner builds, and even Whip stacking builds don't hold a candle to optimized Hybrid builds.
Optic Staff A- to A: It proved itself as the overall best minion for Plantera. Blade Staff can beat it in builds that stacks multiple whips, but Hybrid is better anyway. Optic also has satisfactory performance against the post-Plantera Solar eclipse.
Firecracker A+ to A: Hybrid builds competition
Cool Whip A+ to A: Hybrid builds competition
Durendal A+ to A: Hybrid builds competition
Dark Harvest A+ to A-: Hybrid builds competition, but it's also clear at this point that it's outclassed by Morning Star despite being obtained later in progression. Yes, you can use both, but being bullied into a Whip stacking slave, which isn't even remotely necessary for the Tiger + Firecracker combo on EoL, is not indicative of an A+ weapon.
Obsidian Armor A+ to A-: Hybrid builds competition, especially against WoF where it's much more practical and viable to fight at distance with Bee armor + a sidearm
Bee Armor A- to A: Benefits Hybrid builds. Most if not all optimal Pre-Skeletron DPS sets uses Bee Armor at least partially.
Spider Armor: A+ to S-: Similar to Bee Armor's case, it long proved itself as one of the best and most consistently used armor in pre-Mech. Whether using the full armor set or partially using it alongside a "class helmet", minmaxing almost always involves using the Spider Armor in some way shape or form (or Forbidden Armor pieces, which are way more difficult to get and don't make a huge difference). And it's very easy to obtain. I considered rising Forbidden Armor up to A-, but hardmode sandstorms are too controversial with the mainstream playerbase.
I'm still not ranking OOA stuff because I still haven't used all of them enough. Stuff like Dark Artist would be an easy S for the leggings alone, but if I wanted to rank OOA stuff I'd need to rank ALL of it. It's all or nothing.
