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 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,
View attachment 170778 x20 and
View attachment 170780 x5 @
View attachment 170782
Chestplate: +5 defense, -13% movement speed, +7% melee damage,
View attachment 170778 x35 and
View attachment 170780 x10 @
View attachment 170782
Boots: +4 defense, -10% movement speed, +4% melee crit chance,
View attachment 170778 x25 and
View attachment 170780 x7 @
View attachment 170782
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, View attachment 170778 x80 and View attachment 170780 x22 @View attachment 170782
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 View attachment 170781 @ View attachment 170786
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 View attachment 170783 @ View attachment 170785
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 View attachment 170784 @ View attachment 170785
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
View attachment 170789 Helmet: +2 defense, 13% chance not to consume throwing items, View attachment 170783 x35 and View attachment 170788 x1 @ View attachment 170787
View attachment 170790 Breastplate: +3 defense, +12% throwing dmg,
View attachment 170783 x50 and
View attachment 170788 x2 @
View attachment 170787
View attachment 170791 Leggings: +2 defense, +6% throwing crit chance, +8% movement speed,
View attachment 170783 x40 and
View attachment 170788 x1 @
View attachment 170787
Set Bonus: +20% chance not to consume throwing items, deals 10% of damage taken back
View attachment 170793 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, View attachment 170783 x125 and View attachment 170788 x4 @ View attachment 170787
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:
View attachment 170796 Helmet: +3 defense, +10% throwing crit chance
View attachment 170795 Breastplate: +4 defense, +16% throwing damage
View attachment 170797 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
View attachment 170794 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, -8% ranged speed, View attachment 170823x5 and View attachment 170792x10 @View attachment 170787
Shark Cape
5 defense, +20% ranged damage and crit chance, -12% ranged speed, +5 armor penetration, View attachment 170823x10 and View attachment 170792x20 @View attachment 170787
Shark Pants
3 defense, +10% ranged crit chance, -5% ranged speed, +5 armor penetration, View attachment 170823x8 and View attachment 170792x16 @View attachment 170787
Set Bonus: Critical hits ignore 33% of armor, enemies are less likely to target you
Total: +38% ranged damage, +40% ranged crit chance, -25% ranged speed, +10 armor penetration, critical hits ignore 33% of armor.
Magic Weapons
Whilst the other two core classes get a wooden weapon, mages do not. To solve this, I present:
Starry Wand
4 magic damage, shoots linear star projectile, 18 use time (3.333 shots per sec, ~200 shots per minute), auto-use. Crafted w/ View attachment 170781 x6 and View attachment 170798 x1 @ View attachment 170785
This should work as a balanced magic weapon until you get an ore staff or wand of sparking.
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
Helmet: +1 defense, +12% minion damage, View attachment 170780 x15 and View attachment 170800 x15 @ View attachment 170786
Chestplate: +2 defense, +1 max minions, View attachment 170780 x25 and View attachment 170800 x25 @ View attachment 170786
Boots: +1 defense, +8% movement speed, +4% summoner crit chance, View attachment 170780 x20 and View attachment 170800 x20 @ View attachment 170786
Set Bonus: Summons an earth spirit similar to chlorophyte set bonus. 10 summon damage.
Total: +4 defense, +1 max minions, +12% minion damage, +8% movement speed, +4% summoner crit chance, Earth Spirit, View attachment 170780 x60 and View attachment 170800 x60 @ View attachment 170786
And, something for the now-underpowered Ice Biome:
Frozen Armor
Helmet: +3 defense, +1 max minions, +4% minion crit chance, View attachment 170792x10 and View attachment 170784x20 @ View attachment 170787
Breastplate: +5 defense, +1 max minions, +13% minion damage, View attachment 170792x20 and View attachment 170784x40 @ View attachment 170787
Leggings: +3 defense, +8% movement speed, +4% minion crit chance, View attachment 170792x16 and View attachment 170784x32 @ View attachment 170787
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 crit chance, +8% movement speed, summoning weapons have a 33% chance to inflict chilled, View attachment 170792x46 and View attachment 170784 x92 @ View attachment 170787
I hope you enjoyed my suggestions! Sorry I couldn't make sprites, I'm not very good, but hey, if you really like it, you could make sprites!
(Please comment the gladiator set bonus you preferred and why!)
Old amount of each armor:
Melee: 3
Ranged: 1
Magic: 3
Summoner: 1
Throwing: 2
(unbalanced much?)
New amounts:
Melee: 4
Ranged: 2
Magic: 3
Summoner: 3
Throwing: 4