In-depth Hardmode weapon tier list

I am not convinced that HorseBlade should be tiered any higher than the likes of Butcher's Chainsaw, Psycho Knife, Keybrand, and friends
Horseman's Blade has bad matchups (specifically Empress and possibly Betsy, I haven't tested it too much against her) but the match ups it is good against (Duke, Cultist, Moon Lord) it is one of the best weapons to be using.

I just did a couple of tests against Duke with a tank setup and a damage setup:
Tank setup: 1m28s
Damage setup: 1m1s

It is one of my favorite weapons using against Duke mainly because of the Duke bomb:

Duke Bubbles v Blade.gif


Every bubble you pop with Horseman's Blade triggers it, which can really easily take a chunk out of Duke (in this clip I skipped 99% of phase 2). This weapon is seriously good, I haven't done any serious weapon testing in a year so I'm sure with practice I can get better times.
 
The Moon Lord matchup is weighted very heavily for pillar weapons, seeing as the Moon Lord is the only major challenge remaining in the game. And Daybroken from Solar Eruption is 100 DPS at a stage where weapons are expected to do more than 3000 DPS; it sweetens the deal slightly, but not by much.

The Stardust Cell Staff is already penalized heavily for not being that good against Moon Lord, and the Nebula Arcanum I should probably be penalizing even more. If you use a weapon that doesn't do too well against the pillars but does great against the Moon Lord, you may die a few times but you will beat the game. If you use a weapon that's the opposite, you will die when it actually matters and then do the walk of shame back to the Lunatic Cultist's doorstep.
Hmm... Actually, you might be right. The thing about Solar Eruption for me is that since it offers everything I want for a crowd control weapon I always considered it. It isnt necessary though, because from my experience Terrablade also gets the job done although I think Solar Eruption is better. And I didnt thought Daybroken from The Eruption had 100 dps, lower than I thought. It must be higher in Daybreak since the debuff can stack.


Other than that, it is true that having a weapon that is better for Moonlord is better than having a weapon that will easily clear out the pillars. As far as I remember, Cell staff was worse than the Dragon in both crowds and Moonlord. Nebula Arcanum is good on the pillars, but due to the slow projectiles and sluggish movement it is not a good choice on Moonlord. I think the only Pillar weapons that are almost equal in these terms are the vortex weapons, since both of them are good against both Moonlord and crowds.
 
Horseman's Blade has bad matchups (specifically Empress and possibly Betsy, I haven't tested it too much against her) but the match ups it is good against (Duke, Cultist, Moon Lord) it is one of the best weapons to be using.

I just did a couple of tests against Duke with a tank setup and a damage setup:
Tank setup: 1m28s
Damage setup: 1m1s

It is one of my favorite weapons using against Duke mainly because of the Duke bomb:

View attachment 465730

Every bubble you pop with Horseman's Blade triggers it, which can really easily take a chunk out of Duke (in this clip I skipped 99% of phase 2). This weapon is seriously good, I haven't done any serious weapon testing in a year so I'm sure with practice I can get better times.
This is my first time seeing this and it is glorious, I have to try it now
 
Hmm... Actually, you might be right. The thing about Solar Eruption for me is that since it offers everything I want for a crowd control weapon I always considered it. It isnt necessary though, because from my experience Terrablade also gets the job done although I think Solar Eruption is better. And I didnt thought Daybroken from The Eruption had 100 dps, lower than I thought. It must be higher in Daybreak since the debuff can stack.
I'm pretty sure Solar Eruption used to be an ideal option against Moon Lord back when the optimal strategy to beat him was to just sit in a box, but times have changed.
 
I'm pretty sure Solar Eruption used to be an ideal option against Moon Lord back when the optimal strategy to beat him was to just sit in a box, but times have changed.
Now, Daybreak is much better than it was before and it is a overall better option for Moonlord. And yeah you cant do the "sitting in a box" strategy now.
 
Excalibur can rise to somewhere in B, but if I do that, Chlorophyte Saber also needs to rise.
No no, the aura is that good. Chloro saber doesnt have an aura, excalibur does. Its not just the increased reach, the increased coverage is also extremely important. As much as i like Chloro saber (im weird) that little cloud doesnt do much

In fact, raise True Excalibur further. The reach is seriously massive, it has 6 pierce instead of 3 which is huge against Plantera Phase 2, and really the weakness of not having a projectile isnt important where you actually use this, underground jungle, dungeon, old one's army and plantera are all cramped spaces or dont punish true melee as much as other tiers

It's funny, if you read 1.4.4 changelogs you'll see that it lost a piercing projectile and got a base stat nerf to being like 15% stronger than Excalibur, yet i can say its a better weapon than before.

RB Typhoon and Snowman Cannon can both be A, I see nothing wrong with that.
Id probably go A+ or S-, being able to cheese pillars with M1 is that good
Tactical Shotgun can drop, but no further than B- because it is a heck of a lot better than the likes of rocket launcher and candy corn rifle
One is basically a suicidal weapon, and the other is one that should by all means be better than Dungeon guns

That bar is pretty damn low
 
It is one of my favorite weapons using against Duke mainly because of the Duke bomb.

View attachment 465730

Every bubble you pop with Horseman's Blade triggers it, which can really easily take a chunk out of Duke (in this clip I skipped 99% of phase 2). This weapon is seriously good, I haven't done any serious weapon testing in a year so I'm sure with practice I can get better times.
This makes me wonder if you make the weapon better against its bad matchups by summoning a King Slime during the fight to generate dozens and dozens of Pumpkins with little risk. I'll have to try that soon too!
 
but the match ups it is good against (Duke, Cultist, Moon Lord) it is one of the best weapons to be using.
Idk about cultist but from experience it kinda sucks agaisnt moonlord, the pumpkins can’t catch up with moonlord and considering how close you need to be to use it the starlight worked better for me + can aim it to any direction. Though, it worked quite well for the pillars.
 
Since I said I would tell my opinions about the list, I am going to now. Kinda forgot this existed lol. Anyways, this isnt all, just a few of them. We can talk about a few entries at a time, no need for all of them in one comment.

One thing I noted before and noting it again: I am not a professional weapon ranker, I am just someone who is speaking from their own experience and trying to give his 2 cents of opinions. My opinions or takes might not be correct for someone else like you or any other person in this thread, but we all play differently so it would be understandable if someone thinks a weapon is worse or better than how you or I say how it is. Just keep the discussion calm and I am okay lol

Anyways lets start

(by the way, after the breaker blade one, I realized how laggy my phone gets when I try to reply to your ranking posts, so I am not using the "quote" feature from now on)

Breaker Blade: C-
Very satisfying to one-shot weak enemies with, but its special ability is somewhat mismatched with the fundamental nature of the weapon. As large as it is, the Breaker Blade still has shorter range than most weapons from other classes, and short range is not a desirable trait for a weapon that's meant to be used as an opener. You can use it for the first few seconds of the Destroyer fight for amazing DPS, but outside of that it's probably worse than whatever weapon you killed the Wall of Flesh with.
 I dont really agree to be honest. I think breaker blade is one of those weapons that gets undeserved disslike? I am not really sure. Though for me, Breaker Blade, while not the best, still a good weapon in early hardmode. C- tier seems uncorrect for this weapon.
I think the thing that makes the Breaker blade kind of/slightly better than the Night's edge is that Night's edge cant kill early hardmode enemies in 1 to 2 hits, but Breaker blade can do that. If this ever drops in a melee run, I dont disslike what Wall of Flesh dropped for me. Like you said, it one shots weak enemies, which while early hardmode isnt full of, still good. Night's edge is safer to use due to it's 360° swing, Breaker blade is good to one shot the enemies.
I think it can get C+ for me. Isnt really any better than C-, but anyway.


"Sky Fracture: B+"
Nah. It is too slow to be viable against twins, and the projectiles just cant land on them. Not an awful weapon but there is better. Good for it's easy obtaining, though. B- from me maybe? I am not sure to where I can place it.


"Flying knife: B"
Why is this B? It is so sluggish to use, to the point where you dont feel like you are using the weapon. Like you said, this weapon is also mentally hurting to use, you are probably gonna get severe headaches while using this. Like I said, I am speaking from my experiences with the weapons, and I honestly cant stand this weapon. Its unique in its function, but I would rather use a Shadowflame knife over this on Mechs. C at best, for me. I don't know about "cheesing" strategies though.


"Golem fist: D+"
Nah. It is far worse than this. I would say, that this is not even a D+ for the stage you get this thing. You probably kill Golem with a Terra Blade or Vampire Knives, and those are infinitely better than this. Not even a competition. D-, not F because attacking with a pickaxe wouldnt be better than it.


"Terrarian: A+"
"Meowmere: B"
"Star Wrath: B-"

This is a multiple weapon review at the same time but it does not matter
Anyways so for the rankings and analysis section, how is Terrarian objectively better than Meowmere and Star Wrath? Well, Terrarian has homing and is probably the only unique Yoyo in the game. It doesnt even need a Yoyo Bag to be better. But Meowmere and Star Wrath has more range and Star Wrath's stars, despite being inaccurate, falls so fast and spread to a large area (I think?) that inaccuracy of them does not matter. Terrarian has more consistent damage, but Meowmere and Star Wrath lands projectiles so fast that they basically become the same as The Terrarian, maybe even better. I think Terrarian can stay A+, but I also think that Star Wrath and Meowmere should be highered up in ranking. I might be wrong, though.


"Celebration Mk2: A+"
"S.D.M.G: S+"
I would swap their ratings.
SDMG does not have any unique aspects, while Celebration mk2 has unique functions depending on the rockets it shoots (different coloured rockets, each has their own effect). Not only that but Celebration mk2 covers a large area in top of having insane damage numbers. SDMG can do a similar thing, but Celebration mk2's unique effects, insane damage number and large area cover makes me think that it is better than the SDMG which is just a faster firing gun.



Okay I am done lol, I would add more but like I said, there is not a need to put everything I have different takes on to one comment. We can focuse on more later. For now, I can discuss about these.
 
"Sky Fracture: B+"
Nah. It is too slow to be viable against twins, and the projectiles just cant land on them. Not an awful weapon but there is better. Good for it's easy obtaining, though. B- from me maybe? I am not sure to where I can place it.
Aim issue

"Flying knife: B"
Why is this B? It is so sluggish to use, to the point where you dont feel like you are using the weapon. Like you said, this weapon is also mentally hurting to use, you are probably gonna get severe headaches while using this. Like I said, I am speaking from my experiences with the weapons, and I honestly cant stand this weapon. Its unique in its function, but I would rather use a Shadowflame knife over this on Mechs. C at best, for me. I don't know about "cheesing" strategies though.
Flying Knife is great at picking at if not outright cheesing mobs. Paired with DoTs like from Frost Armor and Cursed Flask, it becomes REALLY good at clearing mobs in general even in open spaces.
 
Aim issue
Really sad

Flying Knife is great at picking at if not outright cheesing mobs. Paired with DoTs like from Frost Armor and Cursed Flask, it becomes REALLY good at clearing mobs in general even in open spaces.
I do know your video about the Flying knife... I may try it once again to see how well it does as a early hardmode weapon. But for some reason I still cant stand the weird mechanic of it, despite being a "boomerang" it doesnt function like one and it was really mentally damaging to use. But I will consider trying it out again, thank you for this
 
Is the Obsidian Swordfish actually good? I haven't used it in my Master mode Spears only playthrough because it has low range. But does it actually do good DPS against the Destroyer? I've only been using the Dark Lance, Storm Spear and Titanium Trident.
 
I used to main Sky Fracture all the time in the past but eventually I tried other early Hardmode magic weapons and just decided that it's not worth it in most scenarios.
 
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